The present invention relates to a process for acylating cyclic peptides bearing an amino group and to the application of said process in the preparation of anidulafungin and micafungin.

Cyclic peptides can be naturally occurring compounds but may also be obtained by total synthesis or by synthetic or genetic modification of naturally occurring or naturally produced precursors. The latter class is referred to as semi synthetic cyclic peptides. When cyclic peptides bear one or more lipid tails or acyl chains, such cyclic peptides are referred to as cyclic lipopeptides. Cyclic lipopeptides with antibiotic and/or antifungal activity include compounds such as daptomycin and amphomycin and an excellent example of cyclic lipopeptides is the class of echinocandins which are potent antifungals. Echinocandins are amphiphilic hexapeptides with an N-linked acyl lipid side chain and a molecular weight of between 1000 and 1400 Da. Examples of medicinally useful echinocandins are the cyclic hexapeptides anidulafungin (formula (A)), caspofungin, cilofungin and micafungin (formula (B)) which are useful in treating fungal infections, especially those caused by Aspergillus, Blastomyces, Candida, Coccidioides and Histoplasma. Anidulafungin (1-[(4R,5R)-4,5-dihydroxy-N2-[[4″-(pentyloxy)[1,1′:4′,1″-terphenyl]-4-yl]carbonyl]-L-ornithine]echinocandin B), caspofungin (1-[(4R,5S)-5-[(2-aminoethyl)amino]-N2-(10,12-dimethyl-1-oxotetra-decyl)-4-hydroxy-L-ornithine]-5-[(3R)-3-hydroxy-L-ornithine]pneumocandin B0) and micafungin (1-[(4R,5R)-4,5-dihydroxy-N2-[4-[5-[4-(pentyloxy)phenyl]-3-isoxazolyl]benzoyl]-L-ornithine]-4-[(4S)-4-hydroxy-4-[4-hydroxy-3-(sulfooxy)phenyl]-L-threonine]pneumocandin A0) are all semi synthetic cyclic hexapeptides derivable from naturally occurring echinocandins such as for instance echinocandin B, pneumocandin A0, pneumocandin B0 or FR 901379. In industry, FR 901379 is the generally accepted code for 5-((1S,2S)-2-((2R,6S,9R,11R,12R,14aS,15S,16S,20S,23S,25aS)-20-((R)-3-amino-1-hydroxy-3-oxopropyl)-2,11,12,15-tetrahydroxy-6-((R)-1-hydroxyethyl)-16-methyl-5,8,14,19,22,25-hexa-oxo-9-palmitamidotetracosahydro-1H-dipyrrolo[2,1-c:2′,1′-l][1,4,7,10,13,16]hexaazacyclohenicosin-23-yl)-1,2-dihydroxyethyl)-2-hydroxyphenyl hydrogen sulfate (CAS 144371-88-0; C51H82N8O21S).
Natural cyclic lipopeptides are typically produced by micro-organisms. Daptomycin is produced by the soil bacterium Streptomyces roseosporus. Amphomycin is produced by Streptomyces canus. Natural echinocandins such as echinocandin B, echinocandin C, aculeacin Aγ, pneumocandin B0 and FR 901379 are also typically produced by various micro-organisms. For example, echinocandin B is produced by the fungus Aspergillus nidulans and FR 901379 is produced by the fungus Coleophoma empetri.
The acyl chain of cyclic lipopeptides has shown to be an important determinant of antifungal activity and toxicity (Debono M. & Gordee R. S., Annu. Rev. Microbiol. 48, 471 (1994)). For instance the naturally occurring cyclic antifungal lipopeptide FR 901379 bearing a fatty acid acyl group attached to the N-terminus shows potent in vivo antifungal activity (Iwamoto, T., Fujie A., Nitta, K., Hashimoto, S., Okuhara, M., Kohsaka, M., J. Antibiot. 47, 1092 (1994). Unfortunately, just like some other naturally occurring echinocandins it also shows high hemolytic activity. Enzymatic removal of the fatty acid chain and replacement for an octyloxybenzoyl acyl chain showed that the original activity of FR 901379 was retained but that hemolytic activity was significantly reduced. Another example is micafungin, which is produced by exchanging the lipid tail of FR 901379 for a complex 3,5-diphenyl substituted isoxazole acyl group (Fujie, Pure Appl. Chem. 79, No. 4, pp. 603-614 (2007)). Deacylation of the natural acyl chain of cyclic lipopeptides thus allows for the introduction of alternative side chains which improve antifungal efficacy and decrease hemolytic activity.
Deacylation of cyclic lipopeptides, such as echinocandins, has been established by means of the Aculeacin A acylase from Actinoplanes utahensis. JP 4228072(A) discloses an enzyme that catalyzes the deacylation of the lipid acyl portion of lipid cyclic peptide metabolites such as echinocandin B and aculeacin. JP 4075585 describes that this acylase can be cultured in Streptomyces as host organism. After Aculeacin A acylase is collected from a culture solution it is directly used to deacylate a substrate. In the course of optimizing the enzymatic deacylation it was discovered that some acylases of Streptomyces species were more efficient. EP 0885957 A1 describes cyclic lipopeptide acylases from the genus Streptomyces which are capable of deacylating the acyl chain of a cyclic lipopeptide compound, e.g. the abovementioned echinocandin FR 901379 or analogs thereof and a method of producing a cyclic peptide compound which comprises using said acylases. Finally, deacylation of cyclic lipopeptides on industrial scale by providing a method that applies an acylase that is producible in a functional form in an industrially preferred production host such as Pseudomonas has been reported in WO 2014/044803.

Subsequent acylation introducing alternative side chains has been the subject of several reports. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,965,525 the acylation of a precursor for anidulafungin, a compound herein referred to as echinocandin B nucleus (C34H51N7O15; formula (C); (2R,6S,9R,11R,12R,14aS,15S,16S,20S,23S,25aS)-9-amino-23-((1S,2S)-1,2-dihydroxy-2-(4-hydroxyphenypethyl)-2,11,12,15-tetrahydroxy-6,20-bis((R)-1-hydroxyethyl)-16-methylhexadecahydro-1H-dipyrrolo[2,1-c:2′,1′-l][1,4,7,10,13,16]hexaazacyclohenicosine-5,8,14,19,22,25(9H,25aH)-hexaone), has been described using the 2,4,5-trichlorophenol ester of 4″-(pentyloxy)-[1,1′:4′,1″-terphenyl]-4-carboxylic acid to yield anidulafungin.
Similarly, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,107,458 and 6,265,536 the acylation of a precursor for micafungin, compound FR 179642 (CAS 168110-44-9; C35H52N8O20S; formula (D); 5-((1S,2S)-2-((2R,6S,9R,11R,12R,14aS,15S,16S,20S,23S,25aS)-9-amino-20-((R)-3-amino-1-hydroxy-3-oxopropyl)-2,11,12,15-tetrahydroxy-6-((R)-1-hydroxyethyl)-16-methyl-5,8,14,19,22,25-hexaoxotetracosahydro-1H-dipyrrolo[2,1-c:2′,1′-l][1,4,7,10,13,16]-hexaazacyclohenicosin-23-yl)-1,2-dihydroxyethyl)-2-hydroxyphenyl hydrogen sulfate), has been described using benzotriazole activation of 4-(5-(4-(pentyloxy)phenyl)isoxazol-3-yl)benzoic acid to yield micafungin.
An improved production of micafungin is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,199,248. This method also comprises a step of adding the isolated activated micafungin side chain, i.e. 1-[4-[5-(4-pentyloxy)phenyl)isoxazol-3-yl]benzoyloxy]-1H-1,2,3-benzotriazole to the deacylated micafungin peptide core. Ohigashi et al. (Organic Process Research & Development 9, 179 (2005)) discloses an optimized industrial micafungin production process which also involves isolating the activated micafungin side chain. In WO 2012/136498 an approach is presented involving activation of the micafungin side chain in the presence of a carbodiimide coupling reagent and subsequent coupling to the micafungin peptide core in a one-pot procedure.
The approaches for acylation of a cyclic peptide bearing an amino group described above have the disadvantage that hazardous chemicals are used. Although carbodiimides are dehydration agents that are frequently used in peptide chemistry, they have as drawback that many (i.e. dicyclohexylcarbodiimide) are potent allergens. Several clinical reports of individuals who cannot enter rooms where peptide coupling agents are used have been released. It is therefore desirable to avoid the use of carbodiimide-based coupling agents in micafungin production. Benzotriazole derived activating agents on the other hand are in general explosive and for that reason not suitable for industrial or even laboratory use, unless elaborate and expensive safety equipment and procedures are installed.
Hence, there is a need for improved methods for acylating cyclic peptides bearing an amino group that avoid the drawbacks of hazardous auxiliary chemicals.


On or more techniques and/or systems are provided for rapidly resuming processing of client requests after a system failure event. Accordingly, during a boot-up process, a storage system, upon detecting a system failure event of the storage system, conditions its system memory to reflect a state of the system memory at a time of the failure by processing client requests or commands stored in a non-volatile operations log. The storage system can resume processing client requests after processing the operations in the nonvolatile operations log and prior to flushing data to storage devices.

In order to strike a proper balance between performance, reliability, and cost, some disk-based data storage systems temporarily read data from and write data to system memory (e.g., volatile randomly accessible memory), prior to writing data to disk storage. Because system memory is volatile, to prevent data loss in the case of a system failure, non-volatile memory is utilized to store a log of all operations that have been written into system memory, but not yet written to disk storage. Accordingly, the performance increase realized from utilizing system memory for temporarily reading and writing data is achieved without negatively impacting the reliability of the data storage system.
FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a network-attached storage system 10 configured to operate as described above. The storage system 10 provides a high-availability data storage service to one or more clients, such as client 12, over a network 14. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the storage system 10 comprises a system memory 16 and a non-volatile memory with an operations log, such as NVLOG 18. In addition, the storage system 12 is connected to a group of storage devices 20 (e.g., disk drives or disk shelves).
When the storage system 10 receives a write command from the client 12, the storage system 10 logs a write operation in NVLOG 18 and then writes the data to system memory 16 on behalf of the client. If a subsequent client-initiated read command is received at the storage system 10, the storage system 10 reads the data from system memory, or from the storage devices 20, depending on whether the data are in system memory or the storage devices 20. When the system memory 16 reaches some predetermined capacity, or the operations log 18 reaches some predetermined capacity, data previously written to system memory 16 can be written to disk storage 20 and the corresponding operations can be cleared from the operations log, thereby freeing system memory 16 and the operations log 18 for processing new read/write commands.
In the event of a system failure (e.g., such as a power failure), data stored in volatile system memory 16 may be lost. To ensure that the data are not permanently lost, a recovery process can be executed. FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a current recovery process executed during a boot-up routine. For example, referring to FIG. 2, at method operation 22 a recovery process can be initiated during a boot-up procedure (e.g., reboot of the failed system). Generally, the recovery process may be initiated during a first boot-up sequence after the system failure event to mitigate a client attempting to access data stored in system memory and potentially lost during the system failure event. Until the boot-up sequence has completed and the file system has been initialized, client-initiated requests directed to the storage devices 20 of the storage system 10 are not processed. This procedure prevents a client from reading incorrect data, before such data has been returned to its proper state by the recovery routine.
At operation 24, the operations that were previously recorded in the operations log, such as NVLOG 18, of the non-volatile memory are "replayed". That is, for example, respective operations stored in the operations log are processed to condition the state of the system memory 16 as it was when the failure event occurred. At method operation 26, the system memory (e.g., or the relevant portion thereof) can be flushed (e.g., written) to the storage devices 20 of the storage system 10. At operation 28, the storage system 10 begins processing new client-initiated requests directed to the storage devices 20 of the storage system 10.
As illustrated in FIG. 2 by the dash outlined box with reference number 30, one problem with this approach is that the storage system 10 may not be able to process client-initiated requests during the time that the operations in the operations log are being replayed (e.g., method operation 24) and system memory is being flushed to disk (e.g., method operation 26). Some client applications may be very sensitive to delays and a timeout error during a data storage operation (e.g., a client-initiated read/write operation) may lead the client to fail or malfunction in some manner. Other client applications, for example, such as a stock exchange trading or quotation application, are extremely time sensitive and data storage operations in this example typically have a low latency in order for the application to function properly. Therefore, decreasing a time that the data storage system is unable to process client-initiated requests is desirable.
When two storage systems are configured in a cluster such that one serves as a back-up to the other in the case of a system failure event, a similar problem occurs during the takeover procedure that is initiated after the system failure event. In general, a takeover procedure comprises a surviving storage system (e.g., non-failed) preparing to process client-initiated requests on behalf of a failed storage system. When a takeover procedure takes longer than desired, clients may experience delays and/or timeouts, thereby causing the clients to fail or malfunction in some manner, for example. An example of this problem is illustrated in FIGS. 3 through 5.
FIG. 3 illustrates an example of two data storage systems (e.g., storage system A and storage system B) configured in a cluster such that either system can serve as a back-up system to the other in the event one system fails. For example, during a normal operating mode, respective data storage systems A and B operate independently of each other. In the normal operating mode, storage system A can provide clients with access to storage devices A, and storage system B can provide clients access to storage devices B. Further, for example, storage system A is said to "own" storage devices A, while storage system B "owns" storage devices B.
However, when a system failure occurs at either storage system, a takeover routine can be initiated by the surviving storage system to facilitate clients continuing to access data stored on the data storage devices of the failed storage system. Accordingly, as illustrated in FIG. 3, storage system A is coupled not only to storage devices A, but also to storage devices B. Similarly, storage system B is coupled to both storage devices A and storage devices B. Furthermore, respective storage systems A and B comprise an interconnect adapter (not shown) by which they may be connected to one another via an interconnect cable, for example.
Referring again to FIG. 3, respective storage systems are shown to comprise system memory (e.g., system memory A and B). Further, respective storage systems A and B comprise a non-volatile memory (e.g., NVLOG A and NVLOG B) where an operations log and log mirror may be stored. For example, storage system A can comprise NVLOG A, which may be partitioned to comprise a first portion (e.g., operations log A) for storing operations directed to storage system A, and a second portion (e.g., operations log mirror (B)) for storing operations directed to storage system B. In this example, when a client directs a write command to storage system A, an operation is logged in operations log A of NVLOG A, and the associated data is written to system memory A, where it is stored until a later time when the data is flushed to storage devices A. Additionally, in this example, the operation can be mirrored to operations log mirror (A) of NVLOG B, thereby allowing storage system B to replicate a state of storage system A's system memory (e.g., system memory A), if necessary, during a takeover routine.
Referring now to FIG. 4, one embodiment of storage systems A and B are illustrated where storage system A has experienced a system failure. In this embodiment, storage system B may be referred to as the surviving storage system, while storage system A may be referred to as the failed storage system. When storage system B detects that storage system A has failed, storage system B can initiate a takeover procedure so that storage system B can continue providing clients with access to the data on storage devices A.
FIG. 5 illustrates a current method for performing such a takeover routine associated with a system failure event at one system in a cluster configuration. At method operation 50, data storage system B detects a system failure event at data storage system A. In one embodiment, the system failure event may be detected by B, or alternatively, storage system A may notify storage system B of the system failure event. In any case, after the system failure event, client-initiated requests directed to storage devices A of storage system A can be redirected to, and received at, surviving storage system B. In this example, storage system B, however, may not be able to begin processing client-initiated requests directed to storage devices A until storage system B completes a takeover procedure and initializes a file system of storage devices A. In particular, for example, storage system B can update its system memory to reflect the state of storage system A's system memory at a time storage system A failed. In this example, this can mitigate a client-initiated request directed to data that was stored in storage system A's system memory at the time of the system failure event from being processed with incorrect data from storage devices A.
In this embodiment, to update its system memory, at operation 52, the surviving storage system B "replays" operations stored in the operations log mirror (A) of NVLOG B, thereby writing into system memory B the data contents that were in storage system A's system memory (e.g., system memory A) at the time storage system A failed. At operation 54, the data stored in system memory B (or the relevant portion thereof) are flushed to storage devices A. In one example, the relevant portion of system memory B may comprise the portion of system memory B storing the data generated by replaying the operations log mirror (A). After the operations log mirror (A) has been replayed, and the system memory flushed to storage devices A, storage system B can resume processing new client-initiated requests directed to the storage devices of the failed storage system (e.g., storage devices A of storage system A) at operation 56. In many current or prior systems, after the takeover routine has executed, there is a presumption that the storage system has been reset, for example, back to a clean state. That is, for example, there is a presumption that after the takeover routine, the operations log is empty or free, and that all client data have been committed to storage devices.
As with the recovery procedure described above in connection with FIGS. 1 and 2, the takeover procedure creates a situation in which client-initiated requests are subject to timeout. For example, the dash outlined box with reference number 58 in FIG. 5 indicates time during which the surviving storage system A may not process client-initiated requests. Specifically, storage system B may not process client-initiated requests during a time that the operations in the operations log mirror (A) are being replayed (e.g., method operation 52) and system memory B is being flushed to storage devices A (e.g., method operation 54). Therefore, for example, decreasing the time that the data storage system is unable to process client-initiated requests during a takeover procedure is desirable.


A shunt pulsation trap for a scroll compressor reduces gas pulsations, NVH and improves off-design efficiency. Generally, a scroll compressor with the shunt pulsation trap has a pair of orbiting and stationary scrolls for forming a compression chamber that moves gas pockets from a suction port to a discharge port with internal compression. The shunt pulsation trap is configured to trap and attenuate as pulsations before the discharge port and comprises a pulsation trap chamber adjacent to the compression chamber, therein housed various gas pulsation dampening means or gas pulsation containment means, at least one trap inlet port branching off from the compression chamber into the pulsation trap chamber and a trap outlet port communicating with the compressor discharge chamber after the discharge port.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of scroll compressors, and more particularly relates to a shunt pulsation trap for reducing gas pulsations and induced vibration, noise and harshness (NVH), and improving compressor off-design efficiency.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A scroll compressor (also called scroll pump and scroll vacuum pump) is a device for compressing air, gas or refrigerant. It is used in air conditioning and refrigeration, as an automobile supercharger and as a vacuum pump. A scroll compressor operating in reverse is known as a scroll expander, and can be used to generate mechanical work from the expansion of a fluid, compressed air or gas. Many residential central heat pump and air conditioning systems and a few automotive air conditioning systems employ a scroll compressor instead of the more traditional rotary, reciprocating, and wobble-plate compressors.
A scroll compressor consists of a stationary scroll, which has a discharge port at the center, and an orbiting scroll that revolves around the stationary scroll without rotating around its own axis. The gas is first sucked into the compression pockets from the peripheral side of the scroll. Then the gas is compressed as the volume of the trapped pockets becomes decreased, and is released near the center of the scrolls to a discharge port to finish the cycle. It is essentially a positive displacement mechanism but using an orbiting scroll instead of a reciprocating piston so that displacement motion can be much faster without experiencing any shaking forces. The result is a more continuous and smoother stream of flow with a more compact size and replacing the traditional reciprocating or rolling piston types.
It has been well known that scroll compressors generate gas pulsations at discharge due to inherently possessing a fixed-compression ratio. The pulsation amplitudes are especially significant under high pressure conditions as in air conditioning and refrigeration or for operating under either an under-compression or an over-compression when pressure at the discharge port is either greater or less than the pressure of the compressed gas pocket just before the opening. According to the conventional theory, an under-compression produces a rapid backflow of the gas into the pocket while an over-compression causes a rapid forward flow of the gas from the pocket. These flow pulsations are periodic in nature and very harmful if left undampened, such as inducing noises and exciting structural and system vibrations.
To lessen the problem, a pulsation dampener typically in the form of a large volume chamber, is required at the discharge side of a scroll compressor to dampen the gas borne pulsations. But its effectiveness is limited for gas pulsation control and produces other problems like inducing structural vibrations and exciting noises of other frequencies. At the same time, a more effective pulsation dampening as used today often creates more pressure losses that reduce compressor overall efficiency that suffers already at off-design conditions like an under-compression or an over-compression. So with the ever demanding energy conservation and stringent NVH regulations from the government plus growing public awareness of the comfort level in residential and office applications, there is more and more an urgent need for quieter and more efficient scroll compressors.
In addition to the commonly used serial discharge dampener, a skewed porting method using a flow equalizing strategy is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,370,512 to Fujitani et al. The idea, say for under-compression as an example, is to feed back a portion of the outlet gas through an enlarged leakage slot to the compression chamber prior to discharging to the outlet, thereby gradually increasing the gas pressure inside the gas pocket, hence reducing discharge gas pressure spikes when compared with a sudden opening at discharge. However, its effectiveness for gas pulsation attenuation is limited in practice to only 5-10 dB reduction, not enough for today's demands from both the market and the general public. Moreover, compressor efficiency suffers due to enlarged leakage area from skewed porting as reported.
It is against this background that prompts a new gas pulsation theory by the present inventor postulating that a composition of large amplitude waves and induced fluid flow under the off-design conditions (an under-compression or an over-compression) are the primary causes of high gas-borne pulsations and low efficiency. The new gas pulsation theory is based on a well studied physical phenomenon as occurs in a classical shock tube (invented in 1899 by French scientist Pierre Vieille) where a diaphragm separating a region of high-pressure gas p4 from a region of low-pressure gas p1 inside a closed tube. As shown in FIGS. 1A-1B, when the diaphragm is suddenly broken, a series of expansion waves is generated propagating to the high-pressure p4 region at the speed of sound, and simultaneously a series of pressure waves which quickly coalesces into a shockwave is propagating to the low-pressure p1 region at a speed faster than the speed of sound. Between the oppositely travelled shock wave and expansion waves, a unidirectional flow is induced in the same direction as the shockwave but travels at a slower velocity ΔU. The interface separating low and high pressure gases, referred to as the contact surface, travels at the same velocity ΔU as the induced flow.
By analogy, the sudden opening of the diaphragm separating the high and low pressure gases in a shock tube is just like the sudden opening of the compressed gas pocket to discharge port under off-design conditions, because both are transient in nature and driven by the same forces from a suddenly exposed pressure difference. In this way, the well established results of the Shock Tube theory accumulated over the past 100 years can be readily applied to examine hence reveal the gas pulsation mechanism of a scroll type compressor or expander.
To understand the gas pulsation generation mechanism, a cycle of a classical scroll compressor as illustrated in FIG. 3A is examined by following one flow pocket marked dark in the illustration (in reality, two pockets are formed symmetrically as two scrolls are engaged with each other). In suction phase in FIG. 3A, low pressure gas first enters circumferentially the spaces between spirals of a pair of orbiting and stationary scrolls from the peripheral side of the scroll. Then gas becomes trapped in a crescent-shaped pocket as it is moved to the center and simultaneously being compressed as the trapped volume between the spirals decreases as shown in trapping and compression phases from FIG. 3A. The discharging phase shows the moment that the compressed gas is suddenly opened to the discharge port. A serial dampener, typically a large volume chamber located right after the discharge port, is commonly employed to attenuate pulsations generated in the gas stream as shown in the dampening phase before flows out to a downstream pipe.
According to the conventional theory when the pocket is opened to the discharge port in case of an under-compression, a backflow would rush into the pocket compressing the gas and equalizing the pressure inside the pocket with the discharge pressure. Since it is almost instantaneous and there is no volume change taking place inside the pocket, the compression is regarded as a constant volume process, or an iso-choric process that inherently consumes more work compared with an internal adiabatic compression (as indicated on P-V diagram by the additional "horn" area).
However, in light of the shock tube theory, the discharging phase as shown in FIG. 3A resembling the diaphragm bursting of a shock tube as shown in FIG. 1B would generate a composition of pressure waves (due to 3D effects and limited pocket size inside scroll compressor, these pressure waves may not be able to coalesce into a real shockwave as taking place in an one-dimensional long shock tube), expansion waves and induced flow. The pressure wave front sweeps through the low pressure gas inside the pocket and compresses it at the same time at the speed of sound as in case of the under-compression. While for the over-compression, a fan of expansion waves would sweep through the high pressure gas inside the pocket and expand it at the same time at the local speed of sound. This results in an almost instantaneous adiabatic wave compression or expansion well before the induced flow interface (backflow as in conventional theory) could arrive because wave travels much faster than the fluid, as illustrated by the wave propagation pattern in FIGS. 3C-3D. In this view, the pressure waves are the primary driver for the compression as in case of the under-compression while the backflow is simply an induced flow behind the pressure waves after compression takes place. Moreover, as the pressure waves travel to low pressure pocket as shown in FIG. 3C, a simultaneously generated expansion wave front travels in the opposite direction causing rapid pressure reduction and inducing a rapid backflow down-stream. It is believed, by the new theory, that this expansion wave front and the accompanying induced back flow are the main sources of gas pulsations experienced at discharge port for a scroll compressor during an under-compression. While for the over-compression, the gas pulsations at discharge are a composition of the pressure wave front and induced forward flow into the pipe downstream, as the simultaneously generated expansion waves travel into the high pressure pocket as shown in FIG. 3D. Any effective pulsation control should address all of these bi-directional waves and induced unidirectional flow at the same time while minimizing potential flow losses in the process.
Based on this new insight, the pre-opening to discharge as disclosed by Fujitani et al is predicted to be able to reduce gas pulsations, to a degree, by feeding back part of the gas fluid to elongate the discharging time. However, it failed to recognize hence attenuate the simultaneously generated expansion or pressure waves at the pre-opening that eventually would travel down-stream unblocked, causing high gas pulsations. Moreover, the prior art failed to address the high flow losses associated with the high induced fluid velocity through the serial dampener and discharging process, resulting in low compressor off-design efficiency.
The theory underlining the present invention can be summarized into the following Pulsation Rules for industrial applications because the large amplitude of most of the industrial gas pulsations that far exceed the upper limit of 140 dB of the classical Acoustics would invalidate the small disturbance assumption and the use of linearized wave equation. The Pulsation Rules are intended as a simplified way to answer some fundamental questions of gas pulsations such as: What is the physical nature of gas pulsations? What exactly triggers them to happen? Where and when are they generated and how to predict quantitatively their behaviors at source such as amplitude, travelling direction and speed? In principle, these rules are applicable to different gases and for gas pulsations generated by any industrial PD type gas machinery or devices such as engines, expanders, or pressure compressors, vacuum pumps, or even for pulsations generated by valves say in a pipe line.                1. Rule I: For any two divided compartments, either moving or stationery, with different gas pressures p1 and p4, there will be no or little gas pulsations generated if the two compartments stay divided (isolated).        2. Rule II: If, at an instant, the divider between the high pressure gas p4 and the low pressure gas p1 is suddenly removed in the direction of divider surface, gas pulsations are instantaneously generated at the location of the divider and at the instant of the removal a composition of a fan of Compression Waves (CW) or a quasi-shockwave, a fan of Expansion Waves (EW) and an Induced Fluid Flow (IFF) with magnitudes as follows:CW=p2−p1=p1[(p4/p1)1/2−1]=(p4×p1)1/2−p1   (1)EW=p4−p2=CW*(p4/p1)1/2=p4−(p4×p1)1/2   (2)ΔU=(p2−p1)/(ρ1×W)=CW/(ρ1×W)   (3)Where ρ1 is the gas density at low pressure region, W is the speed of the lead compression wave, ΔU is the velocity of Induced Fluid Flow (IFF);        3. Rule III: Pulsation component CW is the action by the high pressure (p4) gas to the low pressure (p1) gas while pulsation component EW is the reaction by low pressure (p1) gas to high pressure (p4) gas in the opposite direction, and their magnitudes are such that they approximately divide the pre-trigger pressure ratio p4/p1, that is, p2/p1=p4/p2=(p4/p1)1/2. At the same time, CW and EW pair together to induce the third pulsation component, a unidirectional fluid flow IFF in a fixed relationship of CW-IFF-EW.
Rule I implies that there would be no or little pulsations during the suction, transfer and compression (expansion) phases of a scroll cycle because of the absence of either a pressure difference or a sudden opening. The focus instead should be placed upon the discharge phase, especially at the moment when the discharge port is suddenly opened and during off-design conditions like either an under-compression, UC (over-expansion, OE) or over-compression, OC (under-expansion, UE).
Rule II indicates specifically the location and the moment of pulsation generation are at the discharge and at the instant the discharge port suddenly opens. Moreover, it defines two sufficient conditions for gas pulsation generation:                a) The existence of a pressure difference p4−p1;        b) The sudden opening of the divider separating the pressure difference p4−p1.
Because a scroll compressor or an expander converts energy between shaft and fluid by dividing incoming continuous fluid stream into parcels of pocket size and then discharges each pocket separately at the end of each cycle, there always exists a "sudden" opening at discharge phase to return the discrete fluid parcels back to a continuous fluid stream again. So both sufficient conditions are satisfied at the moment of the discharge opening if scroll compressors and expanders operate at the off-design points such as UC (OE) or OC (UE).
Rule II also reveals the composition and magnitudes of gas pulsations as a combination of large amplitude Compression Waves (CW) or a quasi-shockwave, a fan of Expansion Waves (EW) and an Induced Fluid Flow (ΔU). These waves are non-linear waves with ever changing wave form during propagation. This is in direct contrast to the acoustic waves that are linear in nature and wave fronts stay the same and do not induce a mean through flow. It is also noted that the three different pulsations (CW, EW and IFF) are generated as a whole simultaneously and one cannot be produced without the others. This makes gas pulsations very difficult to control because it's not one but all three effects have to be dealt with.
Rule III shows further that the interactions between two gases of different pressures are mutual so that for every CW pulsation, there is always an equal but opposite EW pulsation in terms of pressure ratio (p2/p1=p4/p2). Together, they induce a unidirectional fluid flow pulsation (IFF) in the same direction as the compression waves (CW).
Accordingly, it is always desirable to provide a new design and construction of a scroll compressor that is capable of achieving significant gas pulsation and NVH reduction at source and improving compressor off-design efficiency while being kept compact in size and suitable for quiet, efficient and variable pressure ratio applications at the same time.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Scroll compressor with a shunt pulsation trap


Missing data is addressed in a medical decision support system. The classifier applied to the patient record with missing data is obtained as a function of the available data. For example, one of a plurality of different classifiers is selected based on the features available in the patient record to be classified. The different classifiers are developed using different feature sets. The classifier developed using a feature set closest to or a sub-set of the features available in the patient record is selected for classifying the patient record. As another example, features in a training set corresponding to features available in the patient record are used to build a classifier. The classifier is applied to the patient record by inputting the available features of the patient record.

The present embodiments relate to medical decision support systems. In particular, medical decision support systems operation is provided even with missing data. One problem in designing decision support classification is missing data. Some machine learning techniques do a better job in handling missing data than others.
In the case of clinical decision support for physicians, the issue of handling missing data has not been significant. Most machine learning algorithms have been based on interpretations of images. For example, classification is used in mammography computer assisted diagnosis (CAD) products to help identify potential lesions or calcifications. Since the only source of features is the image and the image is present, there is no issue of missing data. However, as decision support systems are extended to include heterogeneous sources of patient data, missing data may become an issue.
Not every patient will have all potential sources of information recorded in their patient record, either because a particular test was not done or results were not recorded. In an example of a decision support system to assist a physician in diagnosing breast cancer, the patient record may contain information about the woman, such as age and family history of cancer. In addition, the woman may or may not have screening mammograms from the past. Finally, some women may have undergone genetic tests, such as identification of the BRCA gene, to determine a propensity to breast cancer, but other may not have had the tests. Any one individual woman's patient record may only have a subset of information. Classifiers may not operate properly with missing inputs.
The missing values may be replaced with a substitute. In one approach, a global value replaces the missing data. The global value is an average, mean, median, or mode from a training set of data. Such a simple approach, however, could lead to incorrect conclusions.
In another approach, the most probable value replaces the missing data. The value may be estimated using inference, such as a Bayesian network. The value may be estimated from a distribution. Consider a set of features:x={x1x2 . . . xN}  (1)where xn is a feature, n=1 . . . N and N is the total number of possible features. Assuming only the first m features, m<N, are known for a particular patient, then one could estimate the joint probability as:P(xm, xm+1, . . . , xN|x1 . . . xN)   (2)There are several approaches to solve this joint probability from a set of training data. However, as the number of features grows large, the ability to solve this problem becomes increasingly difficult. If a learning-based approach is used, then the amount of data to learn this conditional joint probability becomes extremely large. In the case of the breast cancer example, the number of pieces of information (i.e., features), such as the history information, physical examination, current and prior mammogram features, genomics data, and other information, can grow extremely large, such as being on the order of hundreds or even thousands of pieces of information. The creation of a joint probability may be difficult to construct.

Two classifier based system for classifying anomalous medical patient records


A computer-implemented system for facilitating communication between a plurality of building automation subsystems and a plurality of applications includes a first database storing a hierarchical model of a building automation system. The system further includes a messaging engine configured to receive a message from one of the disparate building automation subsystems and for one of the plurality of applications. The messaging engine is configured to use the information in the second database to transform the message into a standard format, to append the projected semantic type string to the transformed message, and to provide the transformed message to one of the plurality of applications.

The present invention relates generally to the field of building management systems. The present invention more particularly relates to systems and methods for facilitating communication between a plurality of building automation subsystems.
A building automation system (BAS) is, in general, a hardware and software system configured to control, monitor, and manage devices in or around a building or building area. BAS subsystems or devices can include heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) subsystems or devices, security subsystems or devices, lighting subsystems or devices, fire alerting subsystems or devices, elevator subsystems or devices, other devices that are capable of managing building functions, or any combination thereof.
As BAS systems become more complicated or as a building is upgraded to include different types or versions of BAS subsystems, system integration issues become challenging and difficult to address. For example, conventional BAS subsystems have difficulty exchanging information due to protocol differences or other incompatibilities. Queries or commands that require information from multiple subsystems are difficult to implement.

Systems and methods for facilitating communication between a plurality of building automation subsystems


A skin treatment composition, comprising an effective combination of ingredients selected from cumin, cloves, peach kernel, olibanum, eagle wood, giant hyssop, almond, and pachira macracarpa is provided. The composition can be used as a skin cleanser, as a deodorant, and to treat a wide array of skin problems, including signs of aging, such as wrinkles, and skin sagging, dark spots, skin infections, skin irritation, cuts, scarring, acne, cold sores, chapped lips, and varicose veins.

Expanding efforts are constantly made to find improved compositions which have beneficial skin treatment properties for treating a wide variety of possible skin disorders. Extracts of herbal and other natural plant ingredients such as clove oil, cumin oil and olibanum have been used in various skin care preparations. The beneficial effects of plant extracts are well recognized and new combinations providing improved skin treatment preparations are constantly being discovered.


A power converter circuit of a low power illumination device includes a boost converter circuit, a buck converter circuit, and a control circuit, for cooperating with a dimmer and an electric transformer. The control circuit configures the boost converter circuit to alternatively operate in a current conducting mode and an off mode, to draw current from the electric transformer in the current conducting mode, and to stop drawing current from the electric transformer in the off mode. The control circuit further configures the buck converter circuit to generate the required output signals to the low power illumination device according to the configuration of the dimmer so that the low power illumination device may perform the required dimming function.

The disclosure generally relates to a power converter circuit of an illumination system and, more particularly, to the power converter circuit with better compatibility.
Due to the depletion of natural resources, people are paying more and more attention to energy conservation and environmental protection issues. Accordingly, illumination devices with less energy efficiency (e.g., incandescent lamps, or halogen lamps) are gradually replaced by illumination devices with higher energy efficiency. The light-emitting diode (LED) has advantages of high luminous efficiency, long life time, compact size, fast start time, high reliability, good durability, etc. Therefore, low power illumination devices such as the LEDs have become more and more popular and been adopted in home, office, street signs, street lights and other indoor and outdoor places for replacing traditional illumination devices.
Many low power illumination devices are manufactured in the form of standard bulbs or tubes to directly replace traditional bulbs or tubes. For example, LEDs may be made into T8 tubes, E27 bulbs, and MR16 lamps. It is, however, difficult to replace many circuit components of the illumination system already installed in the building (e.g., dimmers, electric transformers, and ballasts). If the traditional bulbs or tubes are directly replaced by the low power illumination devices, the low power illumination devices usually have problem when cooperating with traditional circuit components installed in the building. Therefore, the low power illumination device may not be lighted up or may flicker.
The electric transformer is so compact that it is usually utilized in the illumination system. The electric transformer comprises oscillating circuits and other circuit components for providing the required voltage signal with a higher oscillating frequency. The load of the electric transformer must draw enough current to enable the normal operation of the electric transformer. The energy consumption of the low power illumination devices, however, are usually far less than the energy consumption of the traditional lamps, and the low power illumination device may not draw enough current from the electric transformer. Consequently, the low power illumination device usually may not function normally when cooperating with traditional circuit components in the illumination system.
Besides, the phase-cut dimmer is usually adopted in many traditional illumination devices to adjust the brightness of the illumination device. The phase-cut dimmer usually adopts a diode or a triode for alternating current (TRIAC) to cut off a portion of an alternating current (AC) signal so as to adjust the brightness of the illumination device. When the AC signal is cut off, the voltage or the current of the AC signal is configured to be zero or a small value. The brightness of the low power illumination devices (e.g., LEDs), however, may not be adjusted properly when cooperating with the dimmer and the electric transformer. Thus, the low power illumination devices may flicker or may not be lighted up when cooperating with the dimmer and the electric transformer.
U.S. Patent Application No. 2012/0169246A1 discloses an illumination device and a driving method to solve the aforementioned compatibility problem by alternately operating the power converter circuit between a current generating mode and an off mode. Even if the technique of the aforementioned application is adopted, the compatibility problem still occurs when the low power illumination device cooperates with the dimmer and the electric transformer. Thus, the brightness of the low power illumination device still may not be adjusted properly.

Power converter circuit for low power illumination device, control circuit thereof and method thereof


In nuclear magnetic resonance tomography apparatus operable with a pulse sequence according to the echo-planar method, only a part of the k-space is scanned in the phase-coding direction per data acquisition, i.e., per radio-frequency excitation pulse. A phase-coding gradient is used such that regions of the k-space which are interleaved relative to each other are scanned in successive data acquisitions in the phase-coding direction. The number of echoes employed for the raw data matrix, and thus the resolution in phase-coding direction, or the length of the individual pulses of the read-out gradient, and thus the resolution in read-out direction, can thereby be enhanced.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a nuclear magnetic resonance tomography apparatus of the type operable using a pulse sequence according to the echo-planar imaging method.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the known echo-planar imaging method, a read-out gradient is employed which consists of a number of sub-pulses of alternating polarity and at least one phase-coding gradient are simultaneously generated after a radio frequency excitation pulse per data acquisition. The arising signals are digitized and are entered into a row of a raw data matrix in the k-space for each sub-pulse of the read-out gradient. The rows are ordered according to the phase factors defined by the phase-coding gradient. A sequence of this type according to the echo-planar method is described in European Application 0.076 054. Although extremely short image registration times (30 through 100 ms) can be achieved with this known EPI method, the image resolution in the phase-coding direction is limited by the limited number of achievable echoes, and is limited in read-out direction by the area under the sub-pulses of the read-out gradient, which cannot be arbitrarily increased. In conventional EPI methods, a 128.times.128 raw data matrix is typically employed.

Nuclear magnetic resonance tomography apparatus operable with a pulse sequence according to the echo planar method


An exploding foil initiator system comprises a substrate having a first side and a second side, an exploding foil initiator and surface mount pads. The exploding foil initiator is formed on the first side of the substrate and comprises a first contact, a second contact and a channel that electrically connects the first contact and the second contact. A first surface mount pad is formed on the second side of the substrate. As second surface mount pad is also formed on the second side of the substrate. A first via extends through the substrate to electrically connect the first contact with the first surface mount pad. Analogously, a second via extends through the substrate to electrically connect the second contact to the second surface mount pad.

The present invention relates in general to initiators for setting off detonation events, and in particular, to surface mount exploding foil initiators.
In various industries, such as mining, construction and other earth moving operations, it is common practice to utilize detonators to initiate explosives loaded into drilled blastholes for the purpose of breaking rock. In this regard, commercial electric and electronic detonators are conventionally implemented using hot wire igniters that include a fuse head as the initiating mechanism to initiate a corresponding explosive. Such hot wire igniters operate by delivering a low voltage electrical pulse, e.g., typically less than 20 volts (V), to the fuse head, causing the fuse head to heat up. Heat from the fuse head, in turn, initiates a primary explosive, e.g., lead azide, which, in turn, initiates a secondary explosive, such as pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), at an output end of the detonator. Thus, conventional hot wire igniters cannot directly function a high density secondary explosive and must rely on an extremely sensitive primary explosive to transition the detonation process from the fuse head to a corresponding explosive output pellet.
An exploding bridgewire detonator (EBW) can serve as an alternative to the hot wire initiator. The EWB includes a short length of small diameter wire that functions as a bridge. In use, explosive material beginning at a contact interface with the bridgewire transitions from a low density secondary explosive to a high density secondary explosive at the output end of the detonator. The secondary explosive is normally PETN or cyclotrimethylene trinitramine (RDX). Like conventional hot wire initiators, an EBW cannot directly initiate a high density secondary explosive. To initiate a detonation event, a higher voltage pulse, e.g., typically, a threshold of about 500 V is applied in an extremely short duration across the bridgewire causing the small diameter wire to function the explosive material.


An electromagnetic flow measuring tube is manufactured by forming an inner member which consists substantially of plastic and thereafter coating the inner member with a material which has a lower coefficient of thermal expansion and a higher mechanical strength than the material of the inner member to form an outer member which surrounds the inner member in a form-stabilizing stiffening manner. Thus, when the inner member is formed from plastic in hot condition, as for instance by injection molding, it can cool down and solidify in a relaxed condition, so that it is free of intrinsic mechanical stresses when the outer member is applied. This eliminates the danger of a detachment of the inner member from the outer member and of subsequent occurrence of cracks in the material of the inner member. Mounting flanges, stiffening webs and other structural elements are integrally formed with the plastic inner member. This permits a simple and economic manufacture of flow measuring tubes having a complicated shape.

1. Introduction
This invention relates generally to electromagnetic flowmeters, and in particular to an electromagnetic flow measuring tube comprising an inner member formed substantially of plastic and an outer member which surrounds the inner member.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In an electromagnetic flowmeter, a magnetic field is generated in a flow measuring tube through which the fluid to be metered is conducted. The lines of flux of the magnetic field are perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the flow measuring tube and to a transverse axis along which two electrodes are located at diametrically opposed positions. According to Faraday's law of induction, a voltage proportional to the flow velocity is induced in the fluid flowing through the flow measuring tube if the fluid is electrically conducting. This voltage is measured between the two electrodes and depends inter alia on the electrode spacing and the strength of the magnetic field. These two quantities are influenced by the geometrical dimensions of the flow measuring tube so that it is desired that the mechanical stability of the flow measuring tube be as high as possible.
As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,186,600, it is known for this purpose to provide a rigid tubular outer member, preferably a metal tube, the interior surface of which is coated with a plastic liner which is applied in a hot condition, usually by injection molding. The plastic liner serves to insulate the outer member from the electrically conducting fluid and also to protect it from damage if the fluid is chemically aggressive or corrosive. Compared with metals, plastic generally has a high thermal coefficient of expansion and low mechanical strength, in particular as regards tension, pressure and shearing. In the prior art flow measuring tubes of this kind, the plastic liner does not contribute to the mechanical stability of the flow measuring tube which is entirely provided by the rigid tubular outer member. If the flow meter is provided with mounting flanges, these are parts of the rigid tubular outer member.
When the plastic liner cools down after completion of the injection molding, the high thermal coefficient of expansion leads to a shrinkage of the plastic liner. This shrinkage can cause an at least partial detachment of the inner lining from the outer member and permanent mechanical stresses in the plastic. The detachments change the geometrical dimensions of the cross-section of the flow measuring tube, and this can lead to falsifications of the measuring voltage causing measuring errors. The mechanical stresses which are undissipated increase the risk of cracks occurring in the plastic.
It is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,592,886 to fill the gaps formed by the detachments between the metal outer member and the plastic inner liner with a suitable material, for example a two-component epoxy, to insure in this manner the dimensional stability of the measuring tube cross-section. Introducing the filler into the intermediate spaces is however difficult. In addition, formation of a homogeneous internal cross-section is complicated.

Electromagnetic flow measuring tube and method of making same


An exemplary imaging system operates by capturing image information as a lens moves within a defined focal length range during image exposure, where a focused image having an extended depth of field can be generated by using a profile of lens motion in processing the image.

When taking pictures, a photographer controls the focus distance by using various lenses or by adjusting the shutter size and/or lens distance from the point in the camera that records the picture. The focus distance is the distance from the camera in which objects are maximally focused relative to the rest of the picture. Around the focus distance is an area which is essentially focused at least above a certain threshold level. The picture can be adjusted to have certain areas focused and certain areas blurred. For example, an object at a specific distance can be focused with objects at other distances blurred. Alternatively, the picture can be focused from a specific distance, up to a specific distance, or between two distances. Typically, the focused area with a reasonable level of clarity is referred to as the depth of field.

Enhanced image processing with lens motion


A method, computer program product and system are provided for performing automated linking between sheets of a drawing set depicting an electronic representation of an electrical wiring diagram. The method, computer program product, and system automatically transform drawings into a format that provides enriched electronic display and navigation among drawings. Connections and relationships among large sets of drawings are automatically discovered and extracted by utilizing complex graphical recognition and logical inference. Links are then created that represent the connections and relationships between common elements of the drawings. As such, the present invention automatically produces an interactive electronic representation of a drawing set that allows a user to quickly and accurately view, highlight and/or alter a portion of a drawing and all of the drawings that connect to or also depict that portion.

Complex illustrations of large structures or intricate arrangements, such as electrical wiring diagrams, are commonly depicted in a hard copy form consisting of multiple pages of drawings. Alternatively, the separate drawings may be depicted in electronic form. The drawings contain large amounts of information regarding each element of the drawing and the connections and relationships among the elements and among the set of drawings. Some of the information contained in the drawings is explicit, such as labels or other text. Other sources of drawing information are implicit, such as the symbols or configurations.
When a user needs information concerning a relatively small part of the structure or arrangement depicted in the set of drawings, the user must manually search through each page of the large sets of drawings, either on paper or on-line. For example, in industries that depend on complex technical drawings, manuals and parts catalogs for information about its systems, users must manually search many drawings before they can perform maintenance or troubleshoot the system. This typically becomes a lengthy process because the user must study the drawings to determine the way in which the drawings relate to each other and ensure he has all the drawings concerning the particular part of the system at issue. For instance, a wire or circuit from one drawing may be continued on one or more of the other drawings in the set. Similarly, the same circuit breaker may appear on several drawings, implying that wires connected to the circuit breaker on each drawing form a continuous circuit across the drawings. In addition to searching the drawing sets, the user also may have to refer to large parts catalogs or other manuals for more information about a certain element represented in the drawings. Searching the hard copies of the parts catalogs and/or manuals is tedious and time-consuming because of the massive amounts of information they contain. Even if the drawing sets, parts catalogs and/or manuals are on-line, the user nevertheless must repeatedly "pan" and "zoom" to find the exact information that they need.
Once users collect all of the drawings necessary to provide a comprehensive view of the system upon which they plan to work, they must carry the drawings, catalogs and/or manuals with them to perform the work. Otherwise, the user runs the risk of having to repeatedly return to the central repository of the drawings, catalogs and manuals. If the user realizes he needs drawings of another part of the system while working, then he must again commence the lengthy searches described above. In addition, if the tasks the user performs upon the system require the user to change the system in any way, then the user must manually annotate and mark up all the drawings to reflect the change. The users often keep the marked-up drawings for future reference, but the marked-up drawings become out-of-date with the next drawing revision if the annotations are not provided to the draftsperson and included in the revisions.
As the above discussion illustrates, the process of manually locating and attaining specific drawings from a large set of drawings for a complex structure or intricate arrangement, such as an electrical wiring diagram, is a daunting task, even for an experienced user. The process gets much more complicated when the user must also obtain all the drawings connected or related to a respective portion of the drawings at issue and/or all the information regarding particular elements within the drawings that is provided by part catalogs or other manuals. For example, finding each occurrence of a particular part number, detail label or text that appears on more than one sheet generally becomes a very lengthy process. Thus, manually searching large sets of drawings for particular parts of a system and obtaining all the drawings and/or information related to that part, is an inefficient, error-prone and expensive endeavor.
The conventional approach to providing users with faster and more accurate access to information contained in large sets of drawings is based upon manually inserting links and supporting information into an electronic drawing. The conventional approach to electronic graphic linking begins with converting all legacy electronic or hard copy drawings to an electronic format that will allow the drawing to be interactive, such as a computer graphics metafile (CGM) format. Once the drawings are formatted, the system builder manually re-authors the data in the drawings. To manually re-author the data, the system builder must examine each electronic drawing and manually create hundreds of individual selection device sensitive areas ("hotspots") for each drawing. The multitude of hotspots contain the specific drawing's information and all the links and relations to other drawings. The system builder also must create programs to instruct the system on what to do when the user points at or clicks on each hotspot with his selection device, such as a mouse. This approach eventually creates a system for providing users with fast access to information contained in large sets of drawings, such that the user can use a selection device, such as a mouse, to point and click on an electronic drawing to access information regarding a particular element of the drawing or connect to a related drawing. Unfortunately, this approach is also inefficient, error-prone and prohibitively expensive because of the significant amount of manual labor required to re-author the drawings. Thus, electronic information system builders often resist re-authoring a set of drawings even though the resulting drawings would provide users with fast and accurate access to information contained in large sets of drawings, parts catalogs and/or manuals.
For the reasons discussed above, there exists a need for a system that processes complex graphic files to provide users with fast and accurate access to information contained in large sets of drawings, parts catalogs and/or manuals. More particularly, the need is for a system that efficiently creates the intelligent graphic linking between common elements depicted on different drawing sheets.

Method, computer program product, and system for performing automated linking between sheets of a drawing set


A part tracking system comprised of an array of photoelectric sensors positioned at various angles with respect to a conveyor transporting parts such as pieces of poultry to create a field of detection. The angle arrangements of the array of photoelectric sensors circumscribes the parts with lines of varying angles to approximate the part outline or closed line integral with a polygon. As a part is conveyed through the array of photoelectric sensors each transition of the sensors provide a side of the polygon that circumscribes the part. From this the vertices of the polygon can be determined which allows the centroid and angle of the major axis of the part to be calculated thereby providing the coordinates for the part's location on the conveyor. The coordinates are then conveyed to a robotic controller which manipulates an end effector to grasp the part.

A number of industries today commonly integrate a high level of automation into their manufacturing processes. Such automation is capable of increasing quality and reducing the lead time required to produce many modern products such as electronic devices. Machines and electronically controlled robots are capable of tasks that require great accuracy which in many cases humans cannot do well. Examples of such tasks are placing integrated circuits on circuit boards at a specification plus or minus 1 millimeter which, for all practical purposes, is impossible for humans to perform. Robots in particular are able to perform tasks that humans do not want to do or that are dangerous to humans, and in many cases can perform these functions more efficiently.
Many of these tasks are relatively simple so that robots can be programmed or "taught" easily. Yet the problem with these types of robots is their lack of intelligence and high cost. Without training or programming, these robots arc of little use. In addition, a programmer is needed to communicate with the robot whenever changes need to be made to its functions. While the robots found in the prior art find their place in many manufacturing settings they are not practical in all environments. The poultry industry, for example, has many different sizes of chicken pieces ranging from the whole chicken to chicken legs and breast fillets. Not only are these pieces not of a prescribed dimension, but they are deformable, wet and could be easily damaged by prior art robots. Specialized concerns of the poultry industry are that robots do not harm the product and that the robots be able to survive in the rugged environment typically found in the poultry industry and that they be capable of satisfactory cleaning to comply with USDA health standards.
An additional drawback with most robots found in the prior art and used in a number of industrial manufacturing settings, is the immense capital investment necessary to finance such equipment. The poultry industry, on the other hand, is particularly concerned with a quicker payback period, typically one to two years which has led to the demand for a low cost, flexible robot that can pick-and-place a variety of poultry parts while surviving in the harsh environments.
A more flexible pick-and-place robot could be utilized by the poultry industry to gain competitive advantages. Some of the tasks required are pick-and-place operations easily accomplished by humans. While the poultry industry currently has a great deal of fixed automation, people still must perform a number of repetitive tasks that are currently difficult for robots to perform. It would be advantageous to use robotics because they can perform tasks more consistently and function 24 hours a day. Also, the cost of operating a robot is much less expensive in the long term. For these reasons, a demand would exist in the poultry industry if a robot could manipulate slippery, different-sized, deformable pieces of product at an affordable price installation and maintenance.
To perform pick-and-place operations of individual poultry parts, a robot must have an end effector or hand that is capable of grasping a variety of parts. The Intelligent Machines Branch of the Georgia Tech Research Institute has developed the first human level performance robot called the Intelligent Integrated Belt Manipulator. This robot is a three degree of freedom, pick-and-place robot which interfaces with a conveyor. The end effector models the grasping of the human hand which allows a limited tolerance or error in the determination of the center of gravity of the part that is to be picked up.
While pick-and-place robots are capable of handling parts, such as pieces of poultry, the robots must be told the location of the part in relation to itself and exactly where to go to pick up the part. Several methods in the prior art have been used to determine the location of parts on conveyors. Machine vision has frequently been used for this purpose, which can be done in both two and three dimensions. Machine vision is typically implemented using a black and white camera to capture images of the parts on a conveyor. A predetermined algorithm can then be used to calculate centroid and major axis from the pixels of the image. To fully implement such a machine vision system, the following equipment and software is necessary: a gray scale camera, substantial lighting equipment, an image digitizer and processor, software which calculates the centroid and major axis of individual images and software to interface the machine vision system to the pick-and-place robot's control system. The described machine vision system has the advantage of excellent accuracy in that the centroid can be computed to within one pixel. For a camera with 256 by 256 resolution and a field of view of three feet by three feet, the dimension of a pixel is a square of 0.14 inches per side. This greatly exceeds the accuracy needed for use with objects such as pieces of poultry. Despite its accuracy, there are numerous disadvantages to machine vision tracking which include a high expenditure for vision hardware and lighting, sensitive equipment not capable of withstanding harsh environments found in poultry processing plants, the inability to wash the machine vision hardware effectively and a delay of close to half a second to capture images before processing them.
An alternate approach to part location used in the prior art employs photoelectric sensors. These sensors can be used for parts of known dimensions and specific orientations to determine part location coordinates. In one known application photoelectric sensors are used to determine if broken bottles exist in a beverage processing line. If a broken bottle is detected, a plunger pushes the case of bottles off the processing line for reprocessing. This particular example is a one dimensional tracking system.

Conveyor tracking system for part detection using an array of photoelectric sensors

Georgia Tech Research Corporation Office of Technology Licensing


A method and system for a fair exchange of user information over a network is disclosed. The method comprises the steps of: transmitting over the network the user information encoded in association with a hidden value selected as one of a plurality of values distributed in a sequence wherein a difference between adjacent ones of said values increases and decreases symmetrically about one of the values of a known order; transmitting over said network a first set of the values and a last value in the sequence, wherein the values in said first set have increasing differences between adjacent ones of the values; and transmitting, individually, and in response to receipt of the other user's values, the remaining values in said sequence.

The exchange of information that may identify and/or validate a user's approval of a transaction, for example, a digital signature, a credit card number, etc., is an important aspect of commercial transactions. Contract signing is one important operation in commercial transactions wherein the signatures of a buyer and seller on a single textual document obligate each party to fulfill the terms of the contract.
With the significant increase in electronic transactions occurring over networks such as the Internet or World Wide Web (WWW), where parties do not necessarily trust one another, there is need for establishing the validity of the identity of the parties entering and authorizing an electronic transaction. Digital signatures have emerged as the leading mechanism for such validation. However, the mere exchange of digital signatures may render a significant advantage to one party at the expense of the other party.
Considerable efforts have been devoted to develop protocols that mimic the features of "paper contract signing," particularly the "fairness" aspect. As is recognized in the art, current contract signing protocol, or more generally, an exchange of digital signatures, is fair if at the end of protocol, either both parties have valid signatures or neither does. Early work on fair exchange of digital signatures or secrets that hid digital signatures has focused on the gradual release of a portion of "key" information that allows both parties to substantially concurrently decode the other's signature or secret information. See for example, "Practical and Provably Secure Release of a Secret and Exchange of Signatures," I. B. Damgard, Journal of Cryptology, 8(4) pp 201-222, Autumn 1995, which disclosed that if each party alternately releases a small portion of the secret information, then neither party has a considerable advantage over the other party. However, the method disclosed has drawbacks in real situations. One problem is that of an uncertain termination. In this case, if one party fails to receive information from the other party, the receiving party will not be certain whether there was a failure in the network or the transmitting party has decided not to continue in the transaction. Another problem is that one party may obtain an advantage over the other party by deriving the other party's secret information using significantly more computing power.
These problems have been investigated and reported in "Timed Commitments (extended abstract)," D. Boneh and M. Naor, Advances in Cryptology—CRYPTO '00, volume 1880 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pp. 236-254, Springer-Verlag, 2000. To overcome the problems noted, an elegant "timing" mechanism based on modular exponentiation, an operation which is believed not well suited to being solved by using multiple computers operating in parallel, i.e., parallelization or parallelized processing, was proposed. Using this proposed mechanism, a variety of timed primitives, including timed commitment, timed signature and timed contract signing, are shown to fairly exchange Rabin and RSA signatures having a modulus that is a Blum integer, i.e., a special type of modulus that fits the time structure. As would be known to those skilled in the art, Rabin and RSA are methods of signing information using public and private keys.
However, this method is limited to special kind of signatures, i.e., Rabin and RSA signatures with a modulus that is a Blum integer. Accordingly, there is a need for a method and system that allows for a fair exchange of digital signatures without the restriction above, and which further allows both parties to reconstruct the other's information substantially concurrently in case of a break in communication.

Method and system for fair exchange of user information


This encrypted database system is constituted by the connection of client terminal, which encrypts and outputs a first table having row a and row b data that has been input and a second table having row c data by means of a secret key stored in advance and sends a partial connection command that connects the row b and row c as a key for data in which the value for row a is greater than or equal to p and less than q in this table to the outside with a range search key generated from the secret key, and an encrypted database server, which receives and records the encrypted first and second tables, extracts data for each in which the values for row a from the encrypted first and second tables are greater than or equal to p and less than q using the range search key, and connects and returns row b and row c for this extracted data as a key.

With computerization of business core in enterprises and the like, most enterprises have a large scale database to contain a great amount of data used for business purposes. Because these pieces of data are important for their businesses and because of the aspect of personal information protection, they should never leak out to the outside. For this reason, it is often the case that, in such a large scale database, data contained therein is encrypted.
A database can be regarded as a set of a large number of tables. Hereinafter, a description will be given of an encryption method described in NPL 1, which is called a searchable encryption and is used in a database wherein data contained therein is encrypted (hereafter, referred to as an encrypted database), for the purpose of linking between two tables without decrypting individual elements.
In this method, a cryptographic hash function Hash and a common key cryptography (Enc, Dec) are used. When a plaintext is expressed by m and an encryption key is expressed by k, the encryption function Enc generates a cryptogram c by c=Enc(k, m), and when the cryptogram is c and the encryption key is expressed by k, the decryption function Dec decrypts the cryptogram c by m=Dec(k, c).
The searchable encryption encrypts a plaintext m as shown by a following equation 1 by using a set of secret keys (K, k). Its decryption can be processed in the form of a following equation 2.C:=(C[1],C[2])=(Hash(K,m),Enc(k,m))  [Equation 1]m=Dec(k,C[2])  [Equation 2]
In this method, when the plaintexts m are same, the first elements C[1] of cryptograms are always same. That is, determination of identity between plaintexts is possible without decrypting their cryptograms, and accordingly, natural linking between tables in terms of the same elements becomes possible.
FIGS. 9 and 10 are explanatory diagrams showing data in tables before linking, in the searchable encryption method, which is an existing technology. FIG. 9 shows a table "I" 901, and FIG. 10 shows a table "II" 902. The table "I" 901 has a column "IA" 901a and a column "IB" 901b, and the table "II" 902 has a column "IIB" 902a and a column "IIC" 902b.
FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing a table "III" 903 which is obtained by linking the table "I" 901 shown in FIG. 9 with the table "II" 902 shown in FIG. 10. Because a column "IB" 901b in the table "I" 901 and a column "IIB" 902a in the table "II" 902 are each a column for "card number", it is possible to link the tables with each other by a condition of column "IB"=column "IIB" (by linking a piece of data having an element value in the column "IB" with a piece of data having the same element value in the column "IIB"), and by that way, the table "III" 903 can be obtained.
FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing a table "III′" 904 which is obtained by extracting a row having a value "Ueda" in the column "IA (name)" from the table "III" 903 shown in FIG. 11. In the above-described process, individual elements in the tables "I" 901 and "II" 902 are not encrypted.
However, the above-described process practically needs to be performed in a state where the individual elements are encrypted, without decrypting the individual elements. To enable it, it is necessary to make it possible to determine whether or not an element value in the column "IB" is the same as that in the column "IIB". Then, the above-described encryption method referred to as the searchable encryption is used.
FIGS. 13 and 14 are explanatory diagrams showing, respectively, an encrypted table "I" 911 and an encrypted table "II" 912, which are obtained by encrypting the table "I" 901 shown in FIG. 9 and the table "II" 902 shown in FIG. 10, respectively, by the searchable encryption. In the encrypted table "I" 911 and the encrypted table "II" 912, each element is encrypted according to the above-described equation 1 by using the set of secret keys (K, k).
FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram showing an encrypted table "III" 913 which is obtained by linking the encrypted table "I" 911 shown in FIG. 13 with the encrypted table "II" 912 shown in FIG. 14. In order to link the encrypted table "I" 911 with the encrypted table "II" 912, it is necessary to determine whether or not an element value in the column "IB" 901b is the same as that in the column "IIB" 902a before encrypted.
According to the searchable encryption, because it is possible to determine whether or not m and m′ before the encryption are equal by determining whether or not Hash(K, m) and Hash(K, m′) from encrypted elements are equal, the same can be determined, the encrypted table "III" 913 can be obtained by that way.
FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram showing an encrypted table "III" 914 obtained by extracting a row having a value "Hash(K, Ueda)" in the column "IA (name)" from the encrypted table "III" 913 shown in FIG. 15. As mentioned above, the encrypted table "III" 914 can be obtained without decrypting the individual elements so far. A right user having the set of secret keys (K, k) can know the element, which is the "expiration date" of a credit card held by "Ueda" in this case, in the column "IIC" 902b related to this.
As other technical documents related to the above-described technology, the following ones will be mentioned. PTL 1 describes a relational database in which, using an index table obtained by generating ranking of items and encrypting it, a range search can be performed in a state where the items are kept encrypted. PTL 2 describes an encrypted database search device which performs a matching process in a state where a keyword is kept encrypted.
PTL 3 describes a technology which generates an index file using an encrypted keyword and thereby enables searching an encrypted file. PTL 4 and PTL 5 each describe a technology which reduces a time required for table linking in a distributed database system.

Encrypted database system, linking method, and medium


A shift range switching apparatus connects with a motor for switching a shift range of an automatic transmission. The shift range switching apparatus includes a switching unit that is operated by the motor for switching the shift range. The shift range switching apparatus further includes a control unit that outputs a driving current to the motor for switching the shift range to one of a P range, an R range, an N range, and a D range. The control unit controls the driving current at one of a plurality of set values in accordance with a switching pattern of the shift range. The switching pattern may be defined by a combination of two of the P range, the R range, the N range, and the D range.

In recent years, a shift by-wire system is adopted in vehicle control. For example, a shift by-wire system includes an actuator for changing of a vehicle state. The actuator is electrically controlled with a by-wire control circuit in accordance with a passenger's instructions. According to JP-A-2001-271917, the shift range of an automatic transmission of a vehicle is changed in accordance with a vehicle passenger's instructions in a shift by-wire system.
In this structure, a range position switching unit switches the shift range of an automatic transmission according to a driving current, which is output from a range control unit.
The range control unit sets the driving current in order to steadily switch the shift range of the automatic transmission. The range position switching unit includes a motor that regularly generates driving force sufficient to switch the shift range of the automatic transmission.
By contrast, the driving force required for switching varies according to a switching pattern of the shift range in the automatic transmission. For example, when the shift range of the automatic transmission is present in a P range, rotation of an output shaft of the automatic transmission is mechanically restricted by a lock mechanism. Therefore, when the shift range of the automatic transmission is switched over from the P range to an R range, force is needed for release of the lock mechanism. Consequently, when the shift range is switched over from the P range to the R range, the maximum driving force is required of the motor of the range position switching unit. Hereupon, output of the motor of the range position switching unit is set on the basis of the driving force, which is required when the shift range of the automatic transmission is switched over from the P range to the R range.
However, when the switching pattern of the shift range of the automatic transmission is other than switching-over from the P range to the R range, the shift range can be switched over even when the driving force generated from a motor is small. Thereby, even when the switching pattern of the shift range is other than switching-over from the P range to the R range, the driving current is supplied to the motor to correspond to the maximum driving force, which affords switching-over from the P range to the R range. Consequently, power consumption of the motor increases. In addition, the driving force increases a load applied to the range position switching unit and the automatic transmission.

Shift range switching apparatus and method for switching shift range


A tibia implant for tightening the patella tendons, has a vertical cross section which in mounted position tapers downward, an essentially vertically arranged base plate which carries a sponge structure, wherein the sponge structure on both sides rests against a respective vertical cut surface of a vertical knee proximal incision of the tibia.

The present invention relates to a tibia implant for tightening the patella tendons
The following discussion of related art is provided to assist the reader in understanding the advantages of the invention, and is not to be construed as an admission that this related art is prior art to this invention.
From US 2010/0076564 an implant has become known with which in particular in the veterinary medicine the tendons of a knee can be tightened again. For this, the tibia is split from above in the knee proximal region so that a wedge shaped incision is created. However, the tibia section must not be cleaved off completely. The implant is inserted into the incision so that the tibia section is braced toward the front. The implant is a wire frame which is constructed in the manner of a conductor path structure and is flexible with regard to the wedge angle. After inserting the implant into the tibia incision the implant is bent upwards until the side surfaces of the implant rest against the cut surfaces of the incision. Bending of fastening loops out of the plane of the cut surfaces in the direction of the outer surface of the tibia and the tibia section can now allows fastening the implant to the tibia by means of screws.
However, it has proven disadvantageous in this case that the implant is much too filigree and incapable of absorbing forces and deforms very rapidly. In addition, the implant is only poorly connected or anchored to the bone.
DE 10 2005 037 141 A1 discloses an implant which has an open-pore metal sponge as thermoset bone substitute. DE 32 24 265 A1 mentions a method for producing an implant in which a model from continuous open-pore material is used wherein a model material with a three dimensional grid or net structure is used.
It would therefore be desirable and advantageous to provide an improved tibia implant which is more dimensionally stable and which better grows together with the bone

Tibia implant for tightening the patella tendons


An internal combustion engine and method of engine control that selectively shifts the combustion mode carried out in its cylinder between stratified charge combustion and homogeneous charge combustion. A fuel supply device supplies the cylinder with fuel. A condition detecting device detects the operating conditions of the engine. A mode determining device determines the preferred combustion mode in accordance with the detected operating conditions. If the mode determining device determines that homogeneous charge combustion is to be performed, a first controller sets a first fuel supply amount and controls the fuel supplying device accordingly so that the engine torque fluctuation approaches a predetermined target value. If the determining device determines that stratified charge combustion is to be performed, a second controller sets a second fuel supply amount and controls the fuel supplying device accordingly so that the engine torque fluctuation approaches a predetermined target value. This permits smooth fuel control and prevents torque shocks.

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for controlling combustion in internal combustion engines, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for controlling combustion in an internal combustion engine that injects fuel directly into its cylinders and performs both stratifed charge combustion and homogeneous charge combustion.
In a typical automotive engine, fuel is injected into an intake port by a fuel injection valve to charge the associated combustion chamber with a homogeneous mixture of fuel and air. The air fuel ratio of the mixture is stoichiometric. An air intake passage is opened and closed by a throttle valve, which is operated in cooperation with an acceleration pedal. The opening of the throttle valve adjusts the intake air amount (and ultimately the amount of homogeneously mixed air and fuel) that is supplied to the combustion chambers of the engine. This controls engine power.
To improve fuel efficiency, lean combustion may be performed. When performing lean combustion, the air fuel ratio of the homogeneous mixture drawn into the combustion chamber is increased to a value greater than the stoichiometric air fuel ratio. The lean air fuel mixture is then swirled and burned. Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 8-4568 describes an apparatus for controlling combustion in an engine that performs such lean combustion.
The apparatus first determines a basic fuel injection amount in accordance with the depression degree of the acceleration pedal. The apparatus then corrects the basic fuel injection amount to obtain an actual fuel injection amount, which is the actual amount of injected fuel, in accordance with the difference between the air fuel ratio of the mixture supplied to the engine and the maximum air fuel ratio permitted for stable combustion (lean limit). This enhances fuel efficiency while preventing uncomfortable engine torque fluctuations (power fluctuations).
However, when performing homogeneous charge combustion, the throttling action of the throttle valve drastically decreases the pressure in the intake passage regardless of whether the air fuel ratio of the mixture corresponds to the stoichiometric value or to the lean limit value. This increases energy loss due to pumping (pumping loss) and decreases efficiency. Stratified charge combustion solves this problem. In stratified charge combustion, the throttle valve is opened wide, and fuel is supplied directly into each combustion chamber. This delivers a rich, highly combustible air-fuel mixture to the vicinity of the spark plug and improves ignition.
Stratified charge combustion is performed when the engine load is small. The concentration of fuel in the vicinity of the spark plug further increases fuel efficiency, and pumping loss is reduced. When the engine load increases, the combustion mode is shifted from stratified charge combustion to lean homogeneous charge combustion. During lean homogeneous charge combustion, the fuel injected from the fuel injection valve is dispersed homogeneously in the cylinder.
In such an engine that shifts combustion modes, it is desirable that the engine torque fluctuation be as close as possible to a target value when performing stratified charge combustion just as when performing lean homogeneous charge combustion. However, when performing stratified charge combustion, a rich mixture is delivered to the vicinity of the spark plug. Thus, it is difficult to minimize the difference between the torque fluctuation and its target value just by computing the actual fuel injection amount by correcting the basic fuel injection amount in the same manner as when performing lean homogeneous charge combustion.
In the prior art, this problem is dealt with by installing an exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) mechanism, which reduces engine emissions, in the engine to minimize the difference between the torque fluctuation and the target value when performing stratified charge combustion. The EGR mechanism includes an EGR passage, which connects an engine exhaust duct with an air intake passage, and an EGR valve for opening and closing the EGR passage. If the engine load is small, the EGR valve is opened to recirculate the exhaust gas. This enhances the reduction of NOx.
When the torque fluctuation is greater than the target value, the EGR amount is reduced to decrease the torque fluctuation to a value lower than the target value. When the torque fluctuation is smaller than the target value, the EGR amount is increased to minimize the difference between the torque fluctuation and the target value. Thus, the increase or decrease of the EGR amount during stratified charge combustion minimizes the difference between the engine torque fluctuation and the target value. The correction of the basic fuel injection amount is not carried out when performing stratified charge combustion. The basic fuel injection amount, which is obtained in accordance with the depression degree of the acceleration pedal, is directly used as the actual fuel injection amount.
More specifically, as shown in FIG. 10, if the engine load (which is represented by the basic fuel injection amount Q.sub.f0) is in a stratified charge combustion range, the actual fuel injection amount Q.sub.f is equal to the basic fuel injection amount Qf.sub.0, which is obtained in accordance with the acceleration pedal depression degree. Thus, in the stratified charge combustion range, as the acceleration pedal depression degree changes, the actual fuel injection amount Q.sub.f and the basic fuel injection amount Qf.sub.0 are directly proportional as indicated by solid line L1. When the engine load enters a lean homogeneous charge combustion range, the actual fuel injection amount Q.sub.f is obtained by correcting the basic fuel injection amount Q.sub.f0. Thus, as the acceleration pedal depression degree changes, the actual fuel injection amount Q.sub.f and the basic fuel injection amount Q.sub.f0 shift as indicated by dotted line L2 or L3. As apparent from the graph of FIG. 10, at the point of shifting of the combustion mode, a sudden increase or decrease occurs in the actual fuel injection amount Q.sub.f. This produces a torque shock, which degrades the performance of the engine.

Apparatus and method for controlling combustion in internal combustion engines