Phosphonium-based ionic conjugates (PBICs) are described. The PBICs each include a cationic binding partner comprising a phosphonium ion and an anionic binding partner comprising a pharmaceutically active compound, or prodrug, or derivative thereof. The conjugate can have at least one enhanced physiochemical, pharmacokinetic and/or therapeutic quality as compared to the pharmaceutically active compound when not provided in a PBIC. The phosphonium-containing cationic binding partner can also serve to enhance delivery of the anionic binding partner to the cytosol and/or the inner mitochondrial space. Methods of preparing the PBICs and using the PBICs to treat disease are also described.

The development of new molecular entities for the treatment of diseases has become increasingly complex and expensive. The probability of success is typically low and the time for development very long, leaving large numbers of patients without potential remedy for extended periods of time. A significant number of drugs and drug candidates have disadvantages relating to their physiochemical properties, their pharmacokinetics, or their bioavailability that reduce their effectiveness. Such disadvantages include, for example, lack of or low solubility. This can affect the ability to formulation these drugs and drug candidates, and/or result in low absorption rates from various sites of administration, poor bioavailabilty, lack of dose proportionality, poor stability, poor penetration of the blood/brain barrier, excessive first-pass metabolism, excessive enterohepatic recirculation, ineffective compound resease at the site of action, and dose-related side effects.
Accordingly, there is an ongoing need in the art for methods of improving the physiochemical properties, pharmacokinetic properties, and/or bioavailability of a wide range of pharmaceutically active substances. In particular, there is an ongoing need for more effective pharmaceutical agents with improved therapeutic profiles.


A portable communication device has a modular inner chassis containing a main printed circuit board and an outer housing for releasable engagement over the inner chassis so as to substantially completely enclose and conceal the inner chassis. The outer housing has at least two parts. A first part of the outer housing contains a keypad and a separate keypad printed circuit board for connection with a keypad connector on the main printed circuit board when the housing is engaged over the inner chassis. The outer housing and inner chassis have releasable interengaging formations for releasably securing the first and second parts of the outer housing over the inner chassis.

Portable communication devices such as cellular phones come in many shapes and designs, and with different surface ornamentation. There are various types of cellular phone, some with a fixed outer housing and some with relatively movable parts. Cellular phones commonly referred to as having a "candybar" configuration have a single rectangular outer housing, with the screen and keypad always exposed. Another configuration commonly referred to as having a "clamshell" or flip phone configuration has a base on which the keypad is provided and a hinged cover or "flip" for covering the keypad when the phone is not in use, with the earpiece and user display screen being provided in the flip and linked to a main printed circuit board in the base by a flex connector. A slide phone has a slide member which covers the keypad when not in use, leaving the user display screen exposed. The slide member slides down to reveal the keypad when the user wishes to make a call.
Candybar style portable phones have been provided with removable outer housing covers or face plates which are detachably secured to the body of the phone and which can be used to change the color or graphics on the phone housing. However, these still typically leave part of the body of the phone exposed and cannot entirely modify the external appearance of the phone or the keypad. The shape and dimensions of such covers are typically constrained by the shape and dimensions of the particular phone body to which they are to be secured. Thus, each new phone model requires a new set of removable covers which will work only with that phone model. There is currently no removable cover option for cell phones with housings having relatively movable parts, such as clamshell phones. This means that each new phone design must go through extensive design verification testing, even if the only changes are in outer housing shape or keypad design.

Modular portable communication device with interchangeable outer housing assembly


An implanter provides two-dimensional scanning of a substrate relative to an implant beam so that the beam draws a raster of scan lines on the substrate. The beam current is measured at turnaround points off the substrate and the current value is used to control the subsequent fast scan speed so as to compensate for the effect of any variation in beam current on dose uniformity in the slow scan direction. The scanning may produce a raster of non-intersecting uniformly spaced parallel scan lines and the spacing between the lines is selected to ensure appropriate dose uniformity.

In a typical ion implanter, a relatively small cross-section beam of ions containing a desired atomic species is scanned relative to a substrate to be implanted, typically a semi-conductor wafer.
The beam may be scanned transversely in two dimensions relative to the stationary wafer, or the wafer may be scanned in two dimensions relative to a stationary beam. There are also hybrid scanning techniques when the beam is scanned in one dimension whilst the wafer is mechanically scanned in a second typically orthogonal direction.
The various techniques have advantages and disadvantages. For batch processing of semi-conductor wafers, the wafers of a batch can be mounted on a rotating wheel and the axis of rotation of the wheel can then be scanned to and fro to provide two-dimensional mechanical scanning of the wafers across a stationary beam. An example of batch implanter of this kind is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,389,793.
Single wafer implanters can employ the hybrid mechanical and electrostatic or electromagnetic beam scanning outlined above. Such an arrangement is described in our commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,898,179. Here, the ion beam is electromagnetically scanned in a first direction perpendicular to the beam axis in the ion implanter, whilst the wafer is mechanically moved in a second generally orthogonal direction.
It is important in implanting to ensure that the total dose of desired species implanted into the semi-conductor wafer or other substrate has the desired level of dose uniformity over the entire substrate surface. In the above-described batch-type of implanters, this is achieved by spinning the implant wheel at high speed and scanning the wheel axis to and fro so that the wafers mounted on the wheel pass across the beam many times during an implant process. In the hybrid single-wafer implanters also mentioned above, dose uniformity is maintained by performing the electrostatic or electromagnetic beam scanning at a relatively high rate compared to the mechanical movement of the wafer to be implanted. Dose uniformity over the wafer surface in the direction of mechanical movement of the wafer is ensured by controlling the rate of this mechanical movement, but the rate of mechanical movement is always much slower than the beam scanning rate.

Method of implanting a substrate and an ion implanter for performing the method


A method and system for providing online comparison shopping are disclosed. The system provides online comparison shopping through a designated website accessible by a user via a communication network such as the Internet The method includes the steps of compiling a shopping list identifying specific items to be purchased, receiving optimization criteria specified by the user, optimizing, by the system, the shopping list based on the optimization criteria to produce an optimal shopping order, and displaying the optimal shopping order to the user if the optimal shopping order exists.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to online comparison shopping and, more particularly, to a method and system for providing improved online comparison shopping.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
There are a number of websites that offer online comparison shopping. These websites maintain searchable databases containing a variety of different vendor and product information supplied by online vendors. Conventionally, these websites are configured to search for the lowest prices on products requested by a user. Some websites such as http://www.pricegrabber.com provide more sophisticated online comparison shopping wherein the user can enter a shipping location so that shipping and tax costs are included in the compared prices. Other online comparison shopping websites such as http://www.travelocity.com allow the user to purchase the lowest cost flight from a range of different airlines.
PCT Patent Publication No. WO 00/43850 (PCT International Application No. PCT/US00/01401) discloses another online comparison shopping system. In this system, a user is able to purchase multiple items online from different online vendors using a single purchase order. For each item to be purchased, the system compares prices from different vendors and provides a comparison list of vendors that offer the requested item along with the price of the item offered by each vendor. The user views this list and selects one vendor from the list as well as the quantity of the item to be purchased. The user then adds the selected item to his "virtual shopping cart". This process is repeated for each item that the user wishes to purchase. Once all the items are placed in the virtual shopping cart, the user enters his or her shipping and payment information. This causes the system to generate a single purchase order identifying the user's selected items from multiple vendors. The system disaggregates this order by sending an appropriate portion of the order to each vendor.
Problems, however, exist in such conventional online comparison shopping systems. A price comparison between multiple vendors who offer a requested product is made only for one product at a time. This means that, for each item to be purchased, the user must individually request for a comparison list, view the comparison list and manually select an item/vendor from the list. This process can be time consuming and tedious to the user, especially when a large number of items are to be purchased. Furthermore, once the shopping order has been placed to different vendors, the user must track a plurality of different shipments of the purchased items by the different vendors. This process also takes a considerable amount of the user's time, and can often aggravate the user.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved method and system for providing online comparison shopping which overcomes the above-described problems and other problems associated with conventional online comparison shopping methods and systems.

Method and system for providing online comparison shopping

International Business Machines Corporation


A garment creaser which may be used both to apply new creases to an item of clothing and to freshen preexisting creases. It consists of a wide blade fabricated from metal or a similarly rigid and heat-resistant material with a very slender thickness, and a plurality of semi-circular clips which fit closely over the edges of the blade. An item of clothing is creased therewith by folding it over one of the longitudinal edges of the blade, clipping it in place, and ironing over the edge of the blade. One of the longitudinal edges is equipped with a measuring scale which enables precise measurement of the length of the creases, as well as of their placement relative to other features on the item of clothing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to devices for use in conjunction with fabrics and garments. More specifically, the present invention relates to a straight-edge blade and clip assembly used as an accessory to ironing to create folds or creases in fabrics and garments.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is well-known that the military requires soldiers to maintain an external appearance which is neat and clean to the utmost degree. Part of the required appearance in many types of military apparel involves the presence of creases at pre-determined locations in various items of clothing. In keeping with the general character of the military dress-code, it is strongly desirable that these creases be of an extremely clean, sharp, and straight character, and that they be located the proper distances relative to one another and relative to other features of the clothing item on which they are present.
The task of ironing creases into clothing can be time-consuming and highly imprecise if the task is undertaken merely with the use of the naked eye to discern the proper lengths and locations of the creases thereon. Thus, a need exists for a device which can aid the process of ironing creases into garments by assuring that the creases themselves are straight and sharp, that they are of the proper length, and that they are in the proper location relative to one another and to other features of the garment. It is, moreover, desirable that a device of this type be easy to use and convenient to store, as military personnel are frequently in a situation where available storage space for personal belongings is extremely limited.
Garment creasers have been the subject of earlier patents. U.S. Pat. No. 562,276, issued to Boyd, discloses a device specifically designed to create front and rear creases in trousers. The device consists of a plurality of boards which are used to sandwich the legs of the trousers in a single stack, and a set of clips to apply pressure to the resultant stack. U.S. Pat. No. 718,939, issued to Pike, describes a similar configuration involving the use of a plurality of boards in conjunction with a pressure clamp which is tightened by means of thumb screws. U.S. Pat. No. 970,586, issued to Whitaker, describes a pair of hingedly connected boards operating on a principle similar to that employed in the two aforementioned patents, but intended to tightly hold together different layers of cloth to facilitate their being whipped-stitched together.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,439,845, issued to Lester, Jr., describes an apparatus for creasing trousers operating on a somewhat different principle from the aforementioned inventions. The device consists of a pair of C-shaped elements whose outer longitudinal edges are of a substantially triangular cross-section, and which are interconnected by means of thumb-screws. The outward-facing apices of these triangles are used to apply pressure along the length of pant-legs on opposite sides thereof by suitable adjustment of the locations of the C-shaped elements relative to one another. The triangularly cross-sectioned edges create creases by the passage of electrical current therethrough to heat them. The creasing effect resulting from this heating process may be augmented by the application of steam to the pants from steam-chambers built into the creasing edges.
A device based on yet another operating principle is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,042,155, issued to Sprong. This patent discloses an adjustable fabric pleater guide intended for employment in the spacing and forming of pinch pleats in draperies. It consists of a blade-shaped base member having a plurality of fingers perpendicularly attached thereto. Some fingers are permanently affixed; others are variably positionable along the length of the base by means of sliding and are affixed thereto by a nut and bolt combination. By positioning these fingers appropriately and folding the drapery therebetween according to a specific method, it is possible to create a set of evenly spaced pleats therein.
However, none of the aforementioned devices are aptly suited for use by military personnel because they all take up a considerable amount of storage space. Moreover, the majority of these devices are specifically geared to creating lengthy creases in the front and rear sides of pants or along a significant portion of the length of drapes. It is therefore not possible to use them to create creases having shorter, precisely defined lengths, and exact positions relative to other features in a garment. Moreover, the aforementioned devices are altogether difficult to employ in conjunction with any type of garment other than the type for which they were specifically designed.
The prior art also discloses some devices differing significantly from the invention to be claimed herein as regards function, but bearing more structural similarity thereto than the previously cited references. These include U.S. Pat. No. 83,115, issued to Wilcox, which discloses a combination paper cutter and ruler; and U.S. Pat. No. 742,373, issued to Alden, which describes a combination envelope opener, folder, and ruler. Both inventions lack a structural feature which, as described below, is essential to the structure and function of the present invention, namely, the presence of a plurality of clips which closely fit over the edges of the ruler. Moreover, neither of the two aforementioned inventions is specifically constructed from heat-resistant material, rendering them both entirely unsuited to the purposes fulfilled by the invention to be claimed in the present specification.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 3,766,613, describes a garment clip bearing similarities in some respects to the clips comprising part of the present invention. The facing sides of that particular clip are designed to exert pressure against one another, however, and differ in this respect from the clips comprising part of the present invention.
For these reasons, none of the above inventions and patents, taken either singularly or in combination, is seen to describe the present invention as claimed.


An information device includes a main unit, a display unit which opens and closes rotatably with respect to the main unit, a first horizontally polarized antenna and a first vertically polarized antenna both provided in a first position of the display unit, and a second horizontally polarized antenna and a second vertically polarized antenna both provided in a second position of the display unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information device such as a notebook personal computer having a plurality of antennas that vary in polarization characteristics or directivity characteristics.
2. Description of the Related Art
In radio communication, a receiving antenna often adopts a diversity system to take measures against fading.
Two diversity systems are well known: one is a space diversity system in which two antennas are arranged in view of a distance between them, and the other is a polarization diversity system in which two antennas are arranged in view of an angle between them.
For example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2000-114848 discloses an antenna using a diversity system. The feature of the antenna lies in that two patch antennas are arranged on an insulating substrate symmetrically with respect to a point at a distance of a three-fourths wavelength of a transmit/receive frequency. These two antennas adopt a diversity system.
There may be a case where polarization components of transmitted waves vary among radio communication devices of communication partners and, in this case, it is desirable to configure a space diversity system by antennas capable of receiving high-level polarization components. If the levels of horizontal polarization components received by two antennas are both high, these antennas are used as horizontally polarized antennas to configure a space diversity system. In some cases, a right-side antenna can be operated as a horizontally polarized antenna and a left-side antenna can be operated as a vertically polarized antenna.
As described above, in order to secure a wide communication-capable range, the configuration of a diversity antenna can flexibly be varied according to the antenna polarization characteristics of radio communication devices of communication partners.
In the above publication, however, one of the space diversity system and the polarization diversity system has to be chosen. This causes a problem that a considerably wide communication-capable range cannot be attained.
Under the circumstances, it is desired to provide an information device having a wide communication-capable range as a diversity antenna.


A removable battery assembly is configured to provide electrical power to a device. The device may include, for example, an oxygen concentrator, a ventilator, a respiratory therapy device, an electromagnetic radiation therapy device, a nebulizer, and/or other devices. The battery assembly is configured to securely engage the device, while allowing for quick and easy disengagement and removal. The mechanism for disengaging the battery assembly from the device may be intuitive to users, such that users may not have to spend substantial time learning how to remove the battery assembly from engagement.

1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure pertains to a removable battery assembly configured to be removed from a battery compartment, and, in particular, to a flexible handle assembly to draw the battery assembly out of the battery compartment such that the tensile force of the pulling causes an elongation at least a portion of the battery assembly that disengages battery assembly from the battery compartment.
2. Description of the Related Art
Devices that are powered by removable battery assemblies are known. Generally, a battery assembly is either locked into place on the device, or enclosed entirely within a compartment by a battery door that securely locks into place. Known mechanisms for securing battery assemblies to devices can be either difficult to operate or insecure. Generally, the more secure an engagement that is maintained by a securing mechanism, the more force, dexterity, and/or time it takes to disengage the securing mechanism. This may be frustrating for users and/or may result in reduced usage, breakage or increased wear caused by improper use, and/or other drawbacks.


Provided are a virtualization based high availability cluster system and a method for managing failures in a virtualization based high availability cluster system. The high availability cluster system includes a plurality of virtual nodes, and a plurality of physical nodes each including a message generator for generating a message denoting that the virtual nodes are in a normal state and transmitting the generated message to virtual nodes in a same physical node. One of the virtual nodes not included in a first physical node among the plurality of the physical nodes takes over resources related to a service if a failure is generated in one of virtual nodes included in the first physical node.

A virtualization based system provides a plurality of virtual nodes through virtualizing a physical node. That is, the virtualization based system improves the utilization of resources by dynamically allocating and releasing resources to/from a corresponding node according workload of a virtual node, which varies according to the abrupt change of business. In order to dynamically allocate and release resources, a physical node is divided into a plurality of virtual nodes through a virtual platform.
A high availability system improves the safety of a service that is directly provided to target users through an Internet or a cellular network according to a type of company operation or a type of business. In general, contents for a corresponding service are clustered through N nodes that are shared through a sharing storage.
Such a high availability clustering system generally provides an active/backup node structure by connecting two servers. The backup node monitors the active node while the active node occupies resources and provides services based on the occupied resources. Here, if failures are generated in the active node, the backup nodes takes over the resources of the active node and continuously provides a corresponding service based on the resources. As described above, the seamless service can be provided to a target user through such an active/backup node structure.
Hereinafter, a 1+1 high availability system according to the related art will be described with reference to FIG. 1.
As shown in FIG. 1, the 1+1 high availability system includes one active node 100-1 which is a server for providing a service and a backup node 100-2 for monitoring the active node 100-1.
The active node 100-1 and the backup node 100-2 include high availability managers 110-1 and 110-2, respectively. The high availability manager 110-1 of the active node 100-1 transmits a state of the active node 100-1 as a form of a HEARTBEAT message to the backup node 100-2 at a regular interval in order to inform the high availability manager 110-2 that the active node 100-1 successfully provides a service.
If the backup node 100-2 is informed that failures are generated in the active node 100-1, the backup node 100-2 determines that failures are generated in the active node 100-1 and performs a failover process for taking over the resources of a service that the active node 100-1 provides.
However, the 1+1 high availability system has availability limitation because the 1+1 high availability system cannot continuously provide a corresponding service if failures are generated in a backup node. Also, the 1+1 high availability clustering system constituted of two servers cannot form a multiple backup system which is required according to the importance of business. Therefore, it is difficult to apply the 1+1 high availability clustering system to a communication equipment server that forms a multi-level high availability system.
Hereinafter, a 1+m high availability system according to the related art will be described with reference to FIG. 2.
As shown in FIG. 2, the 1+m high availability system includes one active node 200-1 and (N−1) backup node 200-2 to 200-N. The active node 200-1 and the backup nodes 200-2 to 200-N include high availability managers 210-1 to 210-N for generating and transmitting a HEARTBEAT message that informs the state of each system.
For example, if a failure is generated in the active node 200-1, all of the backup nodes 200-2 to 200-N vote to select a backup node that will perform a failover process for taking over the resources of a corresponding service by transiting a state of the selected backup node as an active node. The selected backup node takes over the resources of a service that was provided by the active node 200-1.
However, the 1+m high availability system constantly generates a HEARTBEAT message to enable all of nodes to share cluster membership information although the 1+m high availability system provide better high availability than the 1+1 high availability system because the 1+m high availability system include (N−1) backup nodes. The constant generation of the HEARTBEAT messages causes the increase of cluster nodes, thereby generating the large amount of overhead for processing the HEARTBEAT message at a network and at each of nodes. Also, the utilization of resources deteriorates in the backup nodes except the active node, and the management cost increases due to the increment of nodes that do not provide actual services.

Virtualization based high availability cluster system and method for managing failure in virtualization based high availability cluster system

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


Methods and systems that allow recovery of the program counter or instruction pointer for a target (non-native) instruction that is translated into a host (native) instruction, and that allow recovery of other information about the translator or the target system state, are described. The program counter or instruction pointer can be recovered, for example, after an exception has been processed or incident to a rollback operation.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate to processors and microprocessors. More specifically, embodiments of the present invention relate to registers used by processors and microprocessors.
2. Related Art
Innovations in processor design have yielded processors (or microprocessors) that consume less power and operate at cooler temperatures in comparison to other types of processors (or microprocessors). These improved processors accomplish this in part by transferring some processor functions to software. More specifically, processor functions keyed to determining what instructions (micro-instructions) to execute, and when, are transferred to software in a process that may be referred to as "code morphing™" or "translation." Using code morphing™ or translation software "non-native" instructions (e.g., conventional x86 or 80x86 instructions) are translated into "native" instruction sets that can be used by the improved processors. Non-native instructions are also referred to as target instructions, and native instructions are also referred to as host instructions. Translated instructions are demarcated by "commit points," which are points in the translation where a host processor state and a target processor state would be consistently represented in the host processor.
In a code morphing™ or translation-based system, the program counter (PC) or instruction pointer (IP) of the target instruction is not maintained explicitly. In some implementations, the program counter value associated with a commit point (referred to herein as the "at-commit" or "after-commit" program counter, or ACPC) is stored in a register. The ACPC can sometimes be used to reconstruct the PC or IP of the target instruction.
However, there are instances in which there is a mapping of multiple PCs or IPs to a single ACPC value. In these instances, the ACPC cannot be used to reconstruct a particular PC or IP. Accordingly, a method and/or system that can be used to recover the PC or IP of a target instruction would be of value.

Methods and systems for maintaining information for locating non-native processor instructions when executing native processor instructions


A disclosed lift axle is suitable for a vehicle that has a first wheel for supporting the vehicle on a road surface. The lift axle system includes a lift mechanism that is coupled to the vehicle and is configured to reciprocate an axle between a stowed position and deployed position. The lift axle system further includes a second wheel coupled to the axle. The second wheel engages the road surface when the lift mechanism is in the deployed position, and the second wheel is disengaged from the road surface when the lift mechanism is in the stowed position. The second wheel has a lower rolling resistance than the first wheel.

A vehicle's fuel economy is the result of its total resistance to movement. This includes overcoming inertia, driveline friction, road grades, air drag, and tire rolling resistance. The relative percent of influence that these factors represent during stop-and-go city driving are very different from steady, state highway driving.
Over road vehicles, such a trucks and cars, typically use pneumatic tires to decrease weight and improve the vehicle ride. Pneumatic tires of this type include a reinforced polymer tire filled with compressed gas. The reinforced polymer and the compressed gas allow the tire to flex, i.e., deform, in order to absorb vibrations; however, the deformation of the tires contributes to tire rolling resistance. Specifically, a given portion of a pneumatic tire will repeatedly deform and recover as the tire rotates under the weight of the vehicle. This repeated deformation and recovery is not perfectly elastic and results in a loss of energy that contributes to rolling resistance.
To improve the fuel efficiency in the transportation industry, various approaches have been employed in order to reduce the rolling resistance of a vehicle tire. Generally described, some of these methods include the utilization of harder material or employment of greater inflation pressures in order to achieve lower rolling resistance. While these approaches reduce rolling resistance, they are not without drawbacks. Specifically, increasing the hardness or inflation pressure of known tires increases vehicle vibration and reduces ride quality.
The transportation industry is continuously looking for ways to improve fuel efficiency of a vehicle by reducing rolling resistance without compromising ride quality. The disclosed subject matter aims to provide such a system.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Lift axle drag reduction system and method


The invention provides an apparatus for absorbing energy in a collapsible steering column of a vehicle. A portion of the apparatus is deformable in response to an excessive frontal impacting force to the steering column so that injury to the vehicle operator is reduced. The apparatus includes a first steering column member and a second steering column member connected to one another such that the first steering column member slides relative to the second steering column member. The apparatus also includes a first anvil associated with a said first steering column member and a second anvil associated with said second steering column member. The apparatus also includes an energy absorbing member having a first portion extending around and operable to be drawn over said first anvil and a second portion extending around and operable to be drawn over said second anvil.

Steering column assemblies for vehicles often include kinetic energy absorption devices that act to control the collapse of the column in the event of a crash to reduce the likelihood of injury to the driver. One form of an energy absorbing device comprises a metal strap that is bent and drawn over an anvil to absorb kinetic energy of a collapsing column. Examples of this type of energy absorbing device include U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,170,874; 6,189,929; 6,322,103; and 6,652,002.

Adaptive energy absorbing system using pin pullers


A system for automatic positioning, wrapper and strap cutting, wrapper removal, wrapper and strap takeaway, and debundled stack positioning and delivery of bound mail pieces, magazines, catalogs, brochures and other similar flat items (collectively “bundles”) for subsequent sorting and processing, all without damaging the contents within the bundle. Incoming bundles are supported on two supporting plates configured to move horizontally toward and away from each other, and spaced to expose a portion of the bottom surface of the bundle. A cutting device cuts the wrapping and straps on the exposed bottom portion of the bundle, and the supporting plates are moved away from each other to increase the spacing. As the spacing is increased gripping devices atop both supporting plates grab and pull the cat edges of the wrapping, until the bundle falls through to a holding device.

The Postal Service receives daily a large amount of bound mail pieces, magazines, catalogs, brochures and other similar flat items for opening, sorting and subsequent delivery. These items arrive in a variety of forms including stretch wrapped pallets stacked with bundles (see FIG. 1), loose flats in postal trays, large bags of loose flats, and many other specialized containers, and are typically bound in bundles with combinations of plastic wraps and straps. The straps may be inside or outside of the plastic wrap. Before the items can be delivered to their specific addresses, the bundles and trays need to be opened, sorted, and delivered to a mail carrier.
The process of debundling, namely, the removal of the plastic wrap and/or straps from the bundles, has traditionally been done manually by an operator. See for example FIG. 2 showing a manual debundling station including a work surface for supporting the film wrapped bundles of flat articles to be sorted, an inclined surface on which the bundles are sliding toward the operator, and a bin for wrap and strap disposal. Generally, the operator picks up the bundle and manually cuts the straps and the plastic wrap using a hand held knife. The operator then removes the remnants of the wrap and straps and places the stack of loose items on a cart or a conveyable bucket for subsequent processing. This manual debundling process is both time consuming, expensive, prone to cause personal injuries to the operator (carpel tunnel syndrome, cuts, etc.), and it slows down the sorting process, which is normally highly automated. Also, generally the plastic wrap and the straps are cut on top of the bundle which then requires the operator to lift or move the bundle sideways to remove the wrapping and the straps from the bundle. Such a removal not only requires application of an additional force to lift or move the bundle to be able to remove the wrapping and the straps but also destroys the integrity of the loose bundle.

Systems, devices, and methods for automatic unwrapping of bundles


The present invention relates to a multi-ply sheet including a first ply (12) and a second ply (14) each made of tissue paper and each exhibiting a specific surface weight between 12 and 35 g/m2, the first ply including a first embossing pattern which is imprinted in first zones (16) and which has first protrusions (18) projecting from the inner surface of the first ply and corresponding to alveoles on the outer surface that constitute in particular first arrays, at least part of the protrusions' tops (19) being linked to the opposite inner surface of the second ply (14). This sheet is characterized in that the first ply (12) includes a second embossing pattern constituted by second protrusions (38) projecting from the first ply's inner surface and of which the height relative to the first protrusions is shallower, the density with respect to area of the second protrusions being greater and at least part of their tops being situated in the same plane as the tops of the first protrusions and at least part of the first ply's second protrusions' tops being linked to the inner surface of the second ply.

It is known in this field to make paper sheets consisting of several creped plies exhibiting a specific surface weight between 12 and 30-35 g/m2 and fitted with protrusions made by embossing.
Embossing imparts bulk to the sheet and improves touch, softness and liquid absorption. Attempts already have been made to further improve absorptivity by means of multi-ply sheets made by linking at least two plies, each consisting of at least one of the embossed foils.
In this manner a sheet of several plies is attained which offers specific mechanical features, such as tensile strength and absorptivity.
Presently there are two embossing and ply-joining modes depending on the desired properties of the end product.
The first mode relates to "nesting". It consists in first embossing each ply separately so as to form at the surface generally substantially frustoconical or frusto-pyramidal protrusions. Next, an adhesive is deposited on the top of the protrusions of one of the plies following its embossing but before it is detached from the embossing cylinder. The plies are mutually lined up in such a way that the protrusions of one ply face the protrusions of the other and that these protrusions of one side and the other shall nest between one another. Finally they are assembled by moving them close together. Accordingly, the two plies are connected by films of adhesive at the protrusion tops of one ply and unembossed zones which are situated between the protrusions of the other ply. The cavities subtended in this structure reliably assure improved absorption. Furthermore, the outer sides offer a smooth and velvety touch on account of the alveoles constituted by the backs of the protrusions. This technique is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,867,225.
The second joining mode is known in the field as "tip-to-tip". It differs from the preceding mode by the relative configuration of the two plies. After these were separately embossed, they are moved one on the other in a way to make the tips of the protrusions coincide in part or in whole. The plies are connected to each other by the tip-to-tip arrayed protrusions. This technique is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,414,459.
The products manufactured by the above techniques have long exhibited a plain embossing pattern wherein the protrusions were uniformly arrayed in two crossing directions. While such a pattern allows attaining homogeneous properties, its visual attractiveness is modest.
For several years already attempts have been made to enhance product appearance by spreading the protrusions in different ways. Applicant; for example, is marketing a paper towel of which the surface alveoles are arrayed in concentric circles suggesting the propagation of a liquid which was poured on an absorbent sheet being absorbed, or also surface wave propagation when a drop of water falls on a liquid. More specifically, such a pattern can consist of distinct first disk-shaped zones defined by three or four concentric circles. The disks in turn are regularly configured along crossing directions. Second zones defined between adjacent disks generally assume a diamond shape.
Provided such a pattern is visually perceptible to the user, it will be commercially significant.


The present invention provides a dendrimer-based biochip, wherein a flow channel through which a solution containing biopolymer molecules is flowed is formed in the substrate of the biochip, a plurality of dendrimer molecules one end of each of which is bound to the walls of the flow channel are formed thereon, and probe biopolymer or antibody molecules are bound to the tips of the dendrimer molecules so that, if the probe biopolymer molecules are bound, then target biopolymer molecules can be captured by means of a complementary combination and, if the antibody molecules are bound, then protein can be extracted by means of antigen-antibody reaction, whereby biopolymers can be retrieved in a highly efficient manner.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and a biochip for efficiently retrieving (or alternatively referred to as "extracting") biopolymers such as DNA, RNA and protein from affected cells, for example, by producing dendrimer molecules in the flow channel of the biochip's preprocessing area.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The prior art is explained hereinafter by taking DNA as an example of a biopolymer. The target DNA used for DNA chips is retrieved by means of preprocessing.
Methods of retrieving DNA from affected cells or the like dissolved in blood serum, lymphocyte-clastic solution or lysis buffer solution, for example, are roughly classified into two types: the centrifugal separation method and the magnetic bead method.
Since the centrifugal separation method involves the use of large-scale apparatus, the magnetic bead method is expected to become mainstream in the future where downsizing is required.
Accordingly, the magnetic bead method is discussed hereinafter. (See non-patent document 1, for example, for details on examples of applications of magnetic beads. It should be noted that the material on which this method is based, is referred to not only as magnetic bead, but also as magnetic particle or magnetic body. See patent document 1, for example, for details on examples of applications of the method in which the material is referred to as magnetic particles. Likewise, see patent document 2, for example, for details on examples of applications of the method in which the material is referred to as magnetic body.)
The magnetic bead method is a DNA retrieval method in which molecules of probe DNA or probe antibody are bound to the surfaces of magnetic beads at a specific density, and DNA in a solution is retrieved by means of a complementary combination of target DNA molecules in the solution and probe molecules. Then the magnetic beads are collected and cleaned using a magnet and the DNA is dissociated from the surfaces of the magnetic beads using a solution and is thus retrieved.
Non-Patent Document 1
    Haruko Takeyama and Hideki Nakayaka, Chapter 7 "DNA Chips Using Magnetic Beads" in "DNA Chips and It's Application" published by CMC Publishing Co., Ltd. in July 2000 under the editorship of Tadashi MatsunagaPatent Document 1    Japanese Laid-open Patent Application 1996-176212Patent Document 2    Japanese Laid-open Patent Application 1999-313670
However, while apparatus using the magnetic bead method is smaller and more convenient than those using the centrifugal separation method, the magnetic bead method has difficulty in binding probes to the surfaces of magnetic beads at an appropriate density. Thus, the efficiency of DNA retrieval is currently at issue. In addition, it is cumbersome to collect magnetic beads with a magnet and then retrieve DNA from the surfaces of the beads. Therefore, an even simpler method of DNA retrieval is required in order to transform the preprocessing area into a chip in the future.

Dendrimer-based DNA extraction methods and biochips


A method of forming a double polysilicon NPN transistor using a self-aligned process flow. The method includes use of a sacrificial oxide layer deposited over an epitaxial silicon layer prior to deposition and doping of the polysilicon layer from which the base electrode is formed. The sacrificial oxide layer acts as an etch stop for the plasma etch used to pattern the polysilicon layer. After patterning of the doped polysilicon layer, the sacrificial layer is removed using a wet etch. Etching of the oxide layer is performed in a manner which undercuts the doped polysilicon layer. Polysilicon is then deposited by a CVD process in the undercut region from which the initial polysilicon layer has been removed. The CVD deposited polysilicon fills in the gap between the doped polysilicon layer and the underlying epitaxial silicon layer caused by the oxide etch. The CVD deposited polysilicon is then oxidized. The portion of the CVD deposited polysilicon between the doped polysilicon layer and the single crystal silicon remains unoxidized. The oxidized CVD deposited polysilicon is then etched to form sidewall spacers. A second polysilicon layer is then deposited over the substrate and then implanted with an appropriate N+ type dopant. The transistor structure is then annealed to form junctions for the device.

Currently used process flows for forming double polysilicon NPN transistors typically deposit the first polysilicon layer directly on an active silicon region in order to obtain electrical contact between the two layers. The polysilicon layer is then patterned to form the base contacts (electrodes) for the device. The patterning step can cause problems because the polysilicon layer must be etched (typically in a plasma etch) without etching too much of the underlying silicon layer. Since plasma etches are almost equally selective to both polysilicon and the active silicon (i.e., polysilicon and single crystal silicon are etched at nearly the same rate), any amount of over-etching of the polysilicon will remove the single crystal silicon beneath the polysilicon layer. This recesses the active silicon region of the device and alters the characteristics of the final transistor. For example, critical transistor parameters such as .beta. (the transistor gain), BV.sub.ebo (the emitter-base breakdown voltage), BV.sub.ceo (the collector-emitter breakdown voltage), and the base resistance can be affected by the polysilicon over-etch. Thus, in the case of a self-aligned double poly NPN process, over-etching of the polysilicon layer has undesirable consequences for the NPN device.
However, it is desirable in most double poly NPN process flows to significantly over-etch the polysilicon layer to prevent inadvertent shorting of the device due to formation of polysilicon "stringers". But, as noted, performing such an over-etch in a self-aligned polysilicon process will lead to etching of the underlying single crystal silicon. Thus, in such processes, a polysilicon over-etch is generally not performed, and, as a result, the process has a low yield.
Another disadvantage of conventional double polysilicon process flows is a lack of control of the characteristics of the emitter-extrinsic base junction. The location and dimensions of a recess used to form the junction, which is produced during the polysilicon (over)etch, is difficult to control and is a variable and often significant source of base resistance. This is because the base resistance is a strong function of the recess dimensions. Thus, the use of a polysilicon over-etch in a self-aligned double poly process flow has significant disadvantages that can overcome the advantage of reducing polysilicon stringers. These competing factors are subjected to a trade-off in most processes, with the result that sub-optimal transistors are produced with a medium to poor yield.
FIGS. 1(A) through 1(F) are side views showing the process flow for a conventional self-aligned double poly NPN transistor. As shown in FIG. 1(A), the process begins with a single crystal silicon substrate 102 in which is formed an N+ type buried layer 104 by implantation and diffusion of appropriate dopants. Next, an N- type epitaxial silicon layer 106 is grown over the surface of substrate 102. Isolation regions 108 (labelled "field oxide" in the figure) are then formed to define the epitaxial silicon active device region. A first polysilicon layer which will be used to form the base contact (electrode) for the device is then deposited over the surface of substrate 102. The polysilicon layer is doped to a P+ type by standard masking and implant steps. The device structure is then annealed to drive in the P+ type dopant, a producing P+ doped polysilicon layer 110. A layer of interpoly oxide 112 (or nitride) is then deposited over the surface of P+ type polysilicon layer 110.
Next, standard masking steps known in the semiconductor industry are used to pattern polysilicon layer 110 to define a location for the base contact. During the patterning step(s), an interpoly oxide layer 112 (or a nitride layer if one is used) is etched to remove appropriate portions of interpoly oxide layer 112 from the base contact location. This is followed by an etch of doped polysilicon layer 110 to remove appropriate portions of that layer. A link base implantation may then be performed (if desired) to reduce the base resistance of the final device. Note that if a polysilicon over-etch is performed to eliminate poly stringers, a recess 120 is formed in epitaxial silicon layer 106. The resulting structure is shown in FIG. 1(B).
Next, an oxide layer 122 is deposited over the surface of substrate 102. Oxide layer 122 will be used to form sidewall spacers for electrically isolating the transistor emitter from the source and drain regions. As shown in FIG. 1(C), oxide layer 122 fills in recess 120 formed in epitaxial silicon layer 106.
Sidewall spacers 123 are then formed using an etchback step which is more selective to oxide layer 122 than to interpoly oxide layer 112. The resulting structure is shown in FIG. 1(D).
An appropriate dopant is then implanted into the base region to form the intrinsic base (shown as P- base 124 in the figure). A second layer of polysilicon 126 is then deposited over the surface of substrate 102. Polysilicon layer 126 is then implanted with an appropriate N+ type dopant (e.g., Arsenic or Phosphorus) as part of the process of forming the emitter for the device. The resulting structure is shown in FIG. 1(E).
Next, a final anneal step is performed to drive in the implanted dopants and form the junctions for the device. As shown in FIG. 1(F), the anneal step causes the P+ type dopant in polysilicon layer 110 to be driven into epitaxial silicon layer 106 in the areas surrounding the P- type intrinsic base region 124. The anneal step also causes the N+ type dopant implanted into polysilicon layer 126 to be driven into epitaxial layer 106. As discussed, although the appropriate structure for the device can be constructed using these steps, the over-etch of polysilicon layer 110 causes etching into the epitaxial silicon layer 106. This reduces the depth of the active region and also leads to a poorly defined emitter-base junction (i.e., where the N+ and P- type dopant concentrations are approximately equal). Both of these results have a negative impact on the operational characteristics of the device.
What is desired is a method of forming a double polysilicon NPN transistor using a self-aligned process which does not result in an etching of the silicon layer 106 underlying the base contact polysilicon layer 110. Such a method would allow the desirable over-etching of the polysilicon layer 110 without the presently associated disadvantages of such a step.

Method of fabricating a self-aligned double polysilicon NPN transistor with poly etch stop


A venting device is provided at one side of a battery pack to discharge a venting gas generated in an inner space of the battery pack to the outside. The venting device includes a cylinder block configured to communicate with the inside of the battery pack and a venting gas flow path for discharging the venting gas to the outside, a piston assembly configured to move upward along an extension direction of the cylinder block by receiving a force caused by the increase of the internal pressure of the battery pack so that the inner space of the battery pack communicates with the venting gas flow path and a magnet unit installed in the cylinder block and configured to restrict upward movement of the piston assembly by a magnetic force so that the communication between the venting gas flow path and the inner space of the battery pack is blocked.

When venting of a battery cell occurs inside a battery pack due to overcharging, an internal short circuit caused by failure, or the like, the pressure inside the battery pack suddenly rises. Since the battery pack is generally manufactured to maintain a sealed state, if the internal pressure rises abnormally high as above, there is a risk of deformation and damage of the battery pack.
In order to prevent the internal pressure of a battery pack from rising above a certain level, an element for lowering the internal pressure of the battery pack to the level of atmospheric pressure by being opened when the internal pressure exceeds a certain level, such as a burst disc or a gore vent, is sometime applied to the battery pack itself. However, such venting elements are just disposable elements that cannot be used again once venting is performed.
Therefore, if such devices are applied, the corresponding device must be replaced even when the device is opened due to an internal pressure rise caused by other causes than venting according to an abnormality in the battery cells inside the battery pack, which makes it impossible that the device is used repeatedly.
In addition, if such devices are applied, it is not possible to accurately figure out whether an abnormality occurs at the battery cells inside the battery pack, and therefore, it is difficult to accurately determine whether or not to stop using the battery pack.

Venting device and battery pack assembly including same, and vehicle including the battery pack assembly


A complementary fin field-effect transistor (FinFET) includes a p-type device having a p-channel fin. The p-channel fin may include a first material that is lattice mismatched relative to a semiconductor substrate. The first material may have a compressive strain. The FinFET device also includes an n-type device having an re-channel fin. The n-channel fin may include a second material having a tensile strain that is lattice mismatched relative to the semiconductor substrate. The p-type device and the n-type device cooperate to form the complementary FinFET device.

1. Field
Aspects of the present disclosure relate to semiconductor devices, and more particularly to complementary strain materials in field effect transistor (FET) structures using fin (FinFET) channels.
2. Background
Strain engineering for FET performance has been viewed as an alternative to reducing gate oxide thickness. In standard FET geometries, imparting a strain in semiconductor chip regions, such as the source and drain regions of a FET, is an approach employed in the related art. In FinFET structures, however, the volume of the fin available for strain engineering is small. In addition, the compressive strain along the channel direction that is beneficial for p-channel (e.g., hole charge carriers) FinFETs is detrimental to the n-channel (e.g., electron charge carriers) FinFETs. The volume and compressive strain issues have limited the ability to apply strain engineering in FinFET devices.

Complementarily strained FinFET structure


A power control system in combination with a three-phase AC motor coupled to a water pump enables the operation of the motor at speeds up to 10,800 RPM so as to provide improved pumping capacity with a smaller motor and smaller pump. The control system supplies AC power to the motor with a frequency of the power being increased at a first high rate up to a frequency at which pump pressure is about equal to a value at which water is being pumped from the outlet pipe of the pump. Thereafter, AC power frequency is increased to the second, slower rate up to a maximum operating frequency of the motor. During the time that frequency of the AC power is being increased, motor current is continuously monitored and compared to a maximum allowable current. If monitored current exceeds allowable current, the frequency of operation is decreased until monitored current is less than the allowable current. Thereafter, frequency is again increased so long as monitored current is less than allowable current. Preferably, the allowable current is set to maintain operation of the motor at about its pullout torque level throughout the range of operation.

The present invention relates to electric motor driven submersible pumping systems and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for controlling operation of a submersible pump or other variable torque load.
Deep well, residential service, submersible pumps presently available in the market are driven with two pole, alternating current (AC) induction motors which have been packaged to survive immersion in the well. The stator portion of the motor is encapsulated with an epoxy making it impervious to moisture and the encapsulated motor is enclosed in a housing assembly with water lubricated bearings. The enclosure is then filled with ethylene-glycol. The motor output shaft is directly coupled to a shaft of a pump which has a stack of impellers to force water into an outlet pipe. The outlet pipe has a pressure level determined by the depth of the well and the pressure level at the associated residence. A check valve is included in the pump outlet pipe to prevent water draining into the well when the pump outlet pressure is less than the pressure in the outlet pipe.
The most popular motor rating for residential water pumping systems is 3/4 horsepower with a 1.6 service factor having a net continuous rating of 1.2 hp. The motor and pump are coupled in line and typically fit into an outer casing 4" in diameter with a total length of the assembly of about three to four feet. The pump/motor assembly with wiring and supply pipe attached is lowered into the well to a depth that keeps it a short distance from the bottom to avoid sand and other contaminants from fouling the water inlet. Maximum operating depth can be up to 400 feet and the pump capacity is preferably sufficient to maintain 60 psi plus the pressure needed to overcome the 400 foot head.
The pumping system at the top of the well includes a storage tank with a spring loaded or air initiated bladder to minimize the change in pressure with dropping water level in the tank as water is used by the residence. A pressure switch with adjustable hysteresis is interfaced to the storage tank to switch the pump "ON" when the pressure drops below a minimum set point and "OFF" when the pressure reaches a maximum set point.
There are several deficiencies with the present commercially available design including, for example, the following: (1) a four inch pump-motor diameter requires a five inch well casing at a substantial well drilling cost; (2) if a well is pumped dry, the pump may be damaged because the bearings are water lubricated and the lack of water leads to bearing failure unless a flow restrictor is added to the waterline at the well head to prevent the output flow from exceeding the well recovery rate; (3) sand, stone chips or other debris in the well may cause the pump to seize or bind leading to a stalled motor condition that may cause motor overheating and damage; (4) if line voltage is low, the motor is forced to operate at less than rated magnetic flux, thus requiring more current to produce the same torque leading to motor overheating and the possibility of eventual failure; (5) starting the motor by connecting it across the AC power line results in a significant surge in input current with each start and frequent restarts, such as those experienced when the power is frequently interrupted during thunderstorms, can also lead to motor overheating and failure; and (6) because of the heating penalty associated with each start, the hysteresis in the pressure switch must be increased to a value great enough to ensure that the motor doesn't restart too frequently forcing the homeowner to endure pressure variations of as much as 50% between pump starts.
An AC induction motor typically has a pullout torque (maximum torque on the motor characteristic curve) which is 3 to 4 times the rated torque and a current at stall which is 5 to 6 times the rated current. In an application where the motor is started by simply connecting it across the power source using a switch or contactor, there is an initial inrush current of 5 to 6 times the rated current which gradually reduces to rated current as the motor accelerates to rated speed. During the acceleration, the torque increases with increased speed until the pullout torque speed is reached, after which the torque and current begin to fall as the speed increases further. The speed will settle to a constant value when the motor torque is equal to the load torque.
Torque loads presented to the motor by pumps and other variable speed loads, such as compressors and fans, vary with shaft speed. With these types of loads, the load torque at zero speed is very small and increases with increasing speed. The torque available to accelerate the load is the difference between the motor torque and the load torque. The ideal fan torque characteristic is a torque which varies with the square of speed. Pumps and compressors are oftentimes similar to the fan load torque, but in some instances may depart significantly from the ideal characteristics due to variations in back pressure, for example. In general, torque can be considered to be a function of slip frequency where a linear approximation has sufficient accuracy for most applications. If motor speed is known from a tachometer or other speed measuring device, then all a controller must do in order to produce a desired level of torque at that speed is to calculate what frequency would place the synchronous speed at the rotor speed, and then add to that the slip frequency needed to produce the desired torque. For example, if the motor is running at 1800 rpm, 30 Hz excitation would make this the synchronous speed for a two pole motor. Typically, a slip frequency of 3 Hz provides 200% of rated torque so that providing 33 Hz excitation at this speed will result in 200% torque. This principle of control is usually referred to as slip control and is well known in the art.
In highly competitive markets, a tachometer or other speed sensor adds too much cost to a controller, and systems are built without speed sensing. Without speed sensing, the speed must be changed slowly to ensure that the motor continues to operate at slip frequencies equal to or less than the frequency corresponding to pullout torque. The reasoning for this is that when the frequency source is an electronic unit where the maximum current determines the controller cost, maximum current limit is usually set at about twice the required continuous current rating by cost constraints. If the frequency is allowed to increase significantly faster than the motor speed, the system may get into a state where the slip frequency is so high that the current limit causes the maximum torque developed to be significantly less than rated torque causing the motor to stall. If there is no speed measuring device, there may be no way for the controller to recognize that a stall has occurred and current will continue to be supplied at the limit value causing the motor to overheat and be damaged. While the description of this concern was based upon increasing the frequency too fast, the same state may arise as the result of load torque impulses, sticky shafts, and other anomalies that cause the motor shaft speed to drop.

High speed deep well pump for residential use


A color-plus-clear coating system is disclosed. A pigmented or colored basecoat is first applied to a substrate followed by the application of a transparent topcoat to the basecoat. The transparent topcoat composition is a crosslinkable composition comprising (1) a material containing a plurality of carbamate and/or urea functional groups and (2) an aminoplast crosslinking agent. The topcoat composition provides a composite coating with improved acid etch resistance, making the composite coating particularly useful as an automotive topcoat.

Color-plus-clear coating systems involving the application of a colored or pigmented basecoat to a substrate followed by the application of a transparent or clear topcoat to the basecoat have become conventional as original finishes for automobiles. The color-plus-clear systems have outstanding gloss and distinctness of image, and the clearcoat is particularly important for these properties.
Aminoplast-cured coating systems are also well known and provide many excellent coating properties. However, it is widely recognized that such coatings, particularly clear coats, have poor resistance to etching by acid. Conventional coating systems that contain hydroxyl functional film-forming resins and aminoplast crosslinking agents rely on a cure mechanism wherein hydroxyl groups on the resin react with the aminoplast to form ether linkages. See, for example, European Patent Application 0 257 848. Although not intending to be bound by any theory, it is believed that such ether linkages are vulnerable to acid attack and hence yield coatings with poor acid etch resistance.
Because many geographic areas encounter acidic precipitation, acid resistance in coatings is becoming an increasingly desirable property, particularly for automotive coatings. Hydroxyl-aminoplast coating systems of the prior art are not highly effective for providing protection against etching caused by acid rain.
It is desirable, therefore, to provide a color-plus-clear coating system which avoids the problems of the prior art by demonstrating improved acid etch resistance properties.

Method for preparing color-clear composite coatings having resistance to acid etching


The disclosure concerns a method for operating a wind turbine having a generator, the generator having for each phase a plurality of coils, wherein the plurality of coils of each phase includes at least one group of coils including at least two coils, the group of coils including at least two subgroups including at least one coil, wherein the generator has a first state in which the coils of the group of coils are electrically connected in series, and, the generator has a second state in which the at least two subgroups are switched electrically in parallel; the method including: changing the state of the generator. Further, the disclosure concerns a coil arrangement for an electric machine for a wind turbine, the electrical machine having for each phase a plurality of coils, wherein the plurality of coils of each phase includes at least one group of coils including at least two coils, the group of coils including at least two subgroups including at least one coil, wherein the electrical machine has a first state in which the coils of the group of coils are electrically connected in series, and, the electrical machine has a second state in which the at least two subgroups are switched electrically in parallel.

Wind turbines may use a permanent magnet generator as well as an electrically excited synchronous and/or an asynchronous generator. Generators have in some embodiments one or more stator windings in which a rotating magnetic field of the rotor induces a voltage. Typically, the induced voltage is proportional to the rotational speed of a rotor of the generator and is also proportional to the field of the permanent magnets. Wind turbines may use a permanent magnet generator instead of an electrically excited synchronous or asynchronous generator to improve the system efficiency, in particular at partial load, and, in some embodiments, the annual energy production (AEP) of the wind turbine is increased. Generators have in some embodiments one or more stator windings in which a rotating magnetic field of the magnets, in particular the permanent magnets, induce a voltage.
In typical usage, the generator of a wind turbine is electrically connected to a grid, in particular via inverters. Typically, grid operators require a minimum voltage to be supplied to the grid so that, in case, the generated current is above said minimum voltage, the wind turbine is connected to the grid.
For example, inverters of a wind turbine may only be operated in a predetermined operation range of rotational speed. Thus, during operation, the output voltage of the generator may fit into the input operating range of the inverter or converter. Typically, the output voltage of a generator depends on the rotational speed of the rotor of the generator, in particular in case of a permanent magnet generator. As the wind speed can not be controlled, and thus the rotational speed of the wind rotor of the wind turbine, the time in which the wind turbine may be connected to a grid depends on the wind speed. Further, at high rotational speeds of the wind rotor, high voltages are typically generated by the generator. Typically, the higher voltages the higher may be the iron losses of the rotor.

Method for operating a wind turbine, coil arrangement for an electric machine, and controller for a wind turbine


An exterior rear view mirror assembly is disclosed which incorporates a bezel formed generally beneath the mirror housing. The bezel accommodates a rearward facing light source assembly to provide a rearward facing signal. The bezel may be integrally formed with the rear view mirror assembly or may be a separate component attached to the rear view mirror assembly.

Auxiliary warning lights have long been incorporated on the sides of motor vehicles to provide a means of communicating the intentions of the operator thereof to adjacent vehicles, such as the intention to change traffic lanes or to make a turn. Such lights are advantageous in providing notice to an adjacent vehicle that may be located in a blind spot and positioned such that the signaling vehicle's rear section is not visible to the operator of an adjacent vehicle.
While incorporation of such auxiliary warning lights is relatively easy and straightforward on work-type vehicles, it becomes a somewhat more complex problem when passenger-type vehicles are involved due in part to the importance of aesthetic appearance. Other considerations which may apply to any type of vehicle include the need to position the lights so as to minimize any impact on the vision of the vehicle operator and to maximize the area to the side and rear of the vehicle from which the auxiliary lighting is visible. Additionally, because in many cases the vehicle manufacturer may want to offer the auxiliary lighting arrangement as an option on certain vehicles, it is highly desirable that the lighting system be designed to easily and conveniently integrate with the existing vehicle design so as to minimize added labor and/or costs associated with its installation.

Exterior rear view mirror having a chin strap and a repeater


A method for local heating includes placing first magnetic material in a first lumen, and a second magnetic material in a second lumen from the first magnetic material to a magnetically permeable rod, then applying alternating magnetic fields. The first lumen may be a fallopian tube. A method of occluding fallopian tubes uses a catheter to inject first magnetic material into the tubes, injecting second magnetic fluid into uterus, introducing a magnetically-permeable rod into vagina, positioning a second end of the rod over the fallopian tube and applying an alternating magnetic field to the first magnetic material to heat it. The method is performed with apparatus having a coil wound over a magnetically-permeable rod, a high frequency AC generator coupled to the coil, a first magnetic fluid capable of generating heat in an alternating magnetic field, and a second magnetically-permeable magnetic fluid capable of conducting magnetic fields through a lumen.

FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 are schematic sketches of the female reproductive system of many placental mammals. FIG. 1 illustrates the normal human and higher primate anatomy with simplex uterus, and FIG. 2 illustrates schematically the bicornuate or bipartite uterus as found in many other placental mammals including dogs, cats, and pigs, and which may occasionally be found as a birth defect in humans. Some other mammals, including rodents, may have two separate uteri, each with a separate cervix leading into their vagina.
The female reproductive system 100 of higher primates, or that of many other mammals 102, has a uterine body 104, 106, and a pair of fallopian tubes, including a right tube 108 and a left tube 110; in mammals having bicornuate or bipartite uteri the uterine body has a right 105 and left 107 uterine horn—normal pregnancies in these mammals often occur within the horns 105, 107. Each tube extends from the uterine body and ends in a multiplicity of fimbriae, the fimbriae being projections that surround an ovary, fimbriae 116 of the right tube surrounding a right ovary 112 and fimbriae 118 of the left tube surrounding a left ovary 114. When an oocyte is released by an ovary, the fimbriae 116, 118 capture the oocyte and direct that oocyte into a lumen, or passageway through, the associated fallopian tube 108, 110, and into the associated uterine horn or body. A cervix 120 demarcates a distal end of the uterus and separates the uterus 104, 106 from the vagina 122. (The vagina is not shown in FIG. 2.)
The vagina 122 has a passageway or lumen 124 extending from outside the body to the cervix, and the uterus has a passageway or lumen 126 extending from the cervix to each fallopian tube 108, 110. Each fallopian tube also has a lumen, the right tube having right fallopian lumen 128 and left tube having left fallopian lumen 130.
In order to prevent pregnancy, the fallopian tube lumens 128, 130, may be obstructed. A common surgical sterilization procedure involves cutting the tubes and tying them off, such that their lumen is no longer contiguous. In an earlier U.S. Pat. No. 6,485,486, the present inventor has suggested applying microwave energy to an antenna inserted into the fallopian tube lumen, the surrounding tissue being heated by the microwave energy and damaging a lining of the tube. In another application, PCT/US2011/040722, the present inventor has suggested heating a particle suspension located within the fallopian tube lumen to damage a lining of the tube sufficiently that the tube heals with scar tissue formation. In either method, the scar tissue blocks the tube, leaving the lumen no longer contiguous and preventing oocytes from reaching the uterus.
It is undesirable to obstruct the uterine lumen because this is the primary passageway for menstrual discharge.

Method and apparatus utilizing magnetic nanoparticles for sterilizing female placental mammals, including women


A balloon catheter includes a shaft extending in one direction; a balloon disposed on the shaft; a first lubrication region; and a second lubrication region. The balloon in an expanded state includes a straight pipe portion; a first tapered portion disposed at a first end of the straight pipe portion in a long axis direction of the shaft; and a second tapered portion disposed at a second end of the straight pipe portion positioned opposite to the first end of the straight pipe portion in the long axis direction. Each of the first tapered portion and the second tapered portion tapers away from the straight pipe portion, and the first lubrication region extends over the straight pipe portion and the first tapered portion.

The technique that is described in Patent Literature 1 is known as a balloon catheter. The balloon catheter described in Patent Literature 1 comprises a shaft extending in one direction and a balloon disposed at a tip of the shaft. According to Patent Literature 1, the balloon has a straight tubular non-lubrication site (straight pipe portion) and tapered lubrication sites (tapered portions) at both ends thereof so that the insertability of the catheter inserted into a blood vessel is improved and slip of the balloon is prevented when the balloon is used, that is, when the blood vessel is occluded or expanded with the balloon. The balloon as described above is manufactured by a polymer material without surface lubricity constituting a balloon base material (balloon main body) and only the tapered parts being coated with a polymer material that has balloon base material surface lubricity.

Balloon catheter and balloon catheter manufacturing method


The seal bellows of a Stirling cycle device is connected between the bottom of a reciprocating piston and a cylinder wall to form a buffer space between the cycle working space and the lubricated crankcase. The piston and cylinder wall form a noncontact clearance seal between the buffer space and the working space in which an expander piston has a vented clearance seal to reduce the thermal loss due to cold gas leaking along the clearance seal.

As is well known, Stirling cycle cryogenic refrigerators, or cryocoolers, use a motor driven compressor to impart a cyclical volume variation in a working space filled with pressurized refrigeration gas. The pressurized refrigeration gas is fed from the compressor working volume through a heat exchanger assembly to an expansion working volume to which is attached the cold head. The heat exchanger assembly is made up of a heat exchanger located in the cold head, a regenerator, and another heat exchanger located adjacent to the compressor. The regenerator has openings in either end to allow the refrigeration gas to enter and exit.
The compressor and expander reciprocate in a fixed relationship creating the volume variations in the working space necessary to impart the Stirling cycle, and the refrigeration gas is forced to flow through the heat exchanger assembly in alternating directions. As the components reciprocate, the heat exchanger which directly receives the refrigeration gas from the compressor becomes much warmer than the ambient. In the other heat exchanger, attached to the expansion space, the gas is much colder than ambient. The device to be cooled is mounted adjacent the expansion space.
Because the cryocooler is sealed, the volume of the expansion and compressor spaces varies as the expander and compressor pistons reciprocate. The efficiency of a Stirling cryocooler is optimized by properly timing the movement of the expander and compressor pistons. Specifically, the component movements should be such that the variations in the volume of the expansion space lead the variations in the volume f the compression space by approximately 90.degree.. This insures that the compressor space pressure and temperature are at a peak before the refrigeration gas enters the regenerator from the warm end heat exchanger. To be cost effective Stirling cryocoolers must have long, maintenance free operating lives.
The two most common configurations of Stirling cryocoolers are referred to as "split" and "integral". The split Stirling type has a compressor which is mechanically isolated from the expander. Cyclically varying pressurized gas is fed between the compressor and expander through a gas transfer line. In most split Stirling cryocoolers proper timing of expander movement is achieved by using precision friction seals.
In an integral Stirling cryocooler, the compressor, heat exchangers, and expander are assembled in a common housing. The typical arrangement uses an electric motor to drive the moving parts. A crankshaft, disposed in a crankcase, is used to properly time compressor and expander movement, much as an internal combustion engine uses a crankshaft to provide proper timing of the movement of its pistons. As such, the typical integral cryocooler requires several bearings to support the crankshaft. If connecting rods are used to couple the compressor and expander to the crankshaft, additional bearings are required. A problem with this arrangement is that these bearings require lubricant. Also, lubricants are subject to freezing at cryogenic temperatures causing flow blockage within the regenerator reducing performance of the cryocooler. One way to eliminate the problem caused by lubrication is to seal the oil containing refrigerant gas in the crankcase from the oil-free refrigerant gas in the compressor and expander. Many different sealing arrangement have been used. Some Stirling systems use contact seals of the wearing type. However, these arrangement produce wear particles, which result in limited operating life. Other systems use elastomeric roll sock seals, which are complex, expensive and do not produce consistent life time results.
Further, other systems use a plurality of complicated bellows seal located within the Stirling Cycle work space, coupled with auxiliary pressure compensator seals which are located outboard of the bellows seal whereby the bellows seal is connected through a pump piston and a power piston simultaneously, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,532,766. However, pressure pulsations inherent in the Stirling Cycle will cause unacceptable pressure differences across a single bellows seal located within the Stirling Cycle work space leading to high bellows material stresses and short operating life.

Seal arrangement for an integral stirling cryocooler


An object information acquiring apparatus comprising: a processor generating image data representing characteristic information on an object, based on signals acquired by receiving an acoustic wave generated from an object by a plural light irradiations; and a display controller allowing a display to display an image, wherein the display controller performs first display in which an image is displayed in parallel with irradiation and second display in which an image is displayed based on more signal than in the first display, and the processor acquires the characteristic information for a smaller number of units of reconstruction when generating image data.

Photoacoustic imaging is an optical imaging technique using light. In the photoacoustic imaging, a living organism that is an object is irradiated with pulsed light, and transducers receive acoustic waves generated by a test segment having absorbed energy of the pulsed light. Then, receive signal output from the transducers are analyzed to acquire optical characteristic information on the interior of the living organism as image data.
PTL 1 discloses an apparatus in which a breast is held in a sandwiching manner using a holding member and in which transducers receives acoustic waves while performing two-dimensional scans over the holding member. Two-dimensional scans by the transducer allow characteristic information on a plurality of positions in the object to be acquired.

Object information acquiring apparatus and signal processing method


Various embodiments set forth techniques for free space management in a block store. The techniques include receiving a request to allocate one or more blocks in a block store, accessing a sparse hierarchical data structure to identify an allocator page identifying a region of a backing store having a greatest number of free blocks, and allocating the one or more blocks.

The amount of data being stored, managed, and accessed by computing systems is constantly increasing. To keep up with the increasing amounts of data, computing systems, such as those using the ext4 file system, are being tasked with the management of storage systems and backing stores of increasing capacity. With each increase in capacity, the amount of metadata used to help manage these backing stores increases as well. For example, when a 1 petabyte (PB or 2{circumflex over ( )}50 bytes) backing store is organized using 8 kB (2{circumflex over ( )}13 bytes) blocks to form a block store, the block store includes over 137 billion (2{circumflex over ( )}50/2{circumflex over ( )}13=2{circumflex over ( )}37) blocks, which have to be tracked and managed. Even using an efficient allocator data structure that can track whether each block in the block store is free (e.g., allocated or not allocated) using a single bit, a 4 kB allocator page is only able to track 32,768 (2{circumflex over ( )}115) blocks, which corresponds to 256 MB of storage in the block store. To manage the entire 1 PB block store, the allocator data structure has to manage over 4 million allocator pages (16 GB of storage). A data structure of this size is typically too large to keep entirely in main memory.
One way to reduce the amount of main memory used for the allocator is to move some or all of the allocator data structure to the backing store. However, simply moving the allocator data structure to the backing store is likely to result in significant overhead when accessing the allocator data structure. For example, each backing store access has a latency that is several orders of magnitude larger than the latency to access main memory. Thus, the delays to access the allocator data structure when allocating or deallocating blocks in the block store may become excessive.
Accordingly, there is need for improved techniques for free space management in block stores.


A vehicle suspension system including control arms and a spindle. The suspensions of the invention use control arms pivotably and rotatably coupled to a spindle to improve the structural and performance characteristics of the suspension system.

Many vehicles have independent front suspension systems ("IFS"). Independent front suspension systems have separate elements that connect each of the front ground engaging components (i.e., tires, skis) of the vehicle to the frame or chassis of the vehicle. In this way, each of the front ground engaging component can move independently of the other.
A common form of IFS has two essentially parallel control arms. The control arms may be connected via pivoting connections to a spindle housing or via pivoting and rotating connections directly to a spindle. The spindle rotates to allow rotation of the ground engaging component and steering of the vehicle. In the case of an IFS with spindle housings the spindle usually rotates within the spindle housing.

Control arm suspension system for a vehicle


In one aspect, the present invention relates to a structural assembly including a first frame member hingedly coupled to a second frame member. A support member extends outwardly from the first frame member. At least one glazing panel is disposed above the support member. A thermal clip is coupled to the support member. The thermal clip insulates the support member from a building exterior. The support member extends less than an entire length thereof and reduces loss of thermal energy from a building interior to the building exterior via the support member.

Field of the Invention
The present application relates generally to structural building components and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to methods and systems for thermal insulation of structural building members to reduce heat transfer.
History of the Related Art
The trend of increasing prices for natural gas, electricity, and other heating fuels have made energy efficiency a high-profile issue. In buildings, thermal energy may be lost to the atmosphere through, for example, radiation, convection, or conduction. Radiation is the transfer of thermal energy through electromagnetic waves. Convection takes place as a result of molecular movement, known as currents or convective looping, within fluids. A common mode of convection occurs as a result of an inverse relationship between a fluid's density and temperature. Typically, such type of convection is also referred to as "natural" or "free" convection where heating of a fluid results in a decrease in the fluid's density. Denser portions of the fluid fall while less dense portions of the fluid rise thereby resulting in bulk fluid movement. A common example of natural convection is a pot of boiling water in which hot (and less dense) water at a bottom of the pot rises in plumes and cooler (more dense) water near the top of the pot sinks The primary means of thermal energy loss across an un-insulated air-filled space is natural convection.
Conduction is the transfer of thermal energy between regions of matter due to a temperature gradient. Heat is transferred by conduction when adjacent atoms vibrate against one another. Conduction is the most significant form of heat transfer within a solid or between solid objects in thermal contact. Conduction is more pronounced in solids due to a network of relatively fixed spatial relationships between atoms. Thus, conductivity tends to vary with density. Metals such as, for example, copper and aluminum, are typically the best conductors of thermal energy.
Thermal efficiency of building components are often expressed in terms of thermal resistance ("R-value") and thermal transmission ("U-factor"). R-value is a measurement of thermal conductivity and measures a product's resistance to heat loss. In common usage, R-value is used to rate building materials such as, for example, insulation, walls, ceilings, and roofs that generally do not transfer significant amounts of heat by convection or radiation. A product with a higher R-value is considered more energy efficient.
Of particular concern in buildings are windows and doors. In particular, windows come in contact with the environment in ways that walls and solid insulation do not. As a result, windows are strongly affected by convection as well as radiation. For this reason, U-factor is commonly used as a measure of energy efficiency of windows. For example, U-factor measures a rate of total heat transfer through a product such as, for example, a window or a door (including heat transfer by convection and radiation). A product with a lower U-factor is considered more energy efficient. In recent years, federal, state, and municipal building codes often specify minimum R-values and maximum U-factors for building components.

Method and system for insulating structural building components


An audio system for manipulating audio material for playback based on the content of the material includes an input for receiving input audio signals, an output for providing output audio signals to loudspeakers, and an audio processor that processes the input audio signals to produce the output audio signals. The audio processor determines a type of content represented by the input audio signals, selects a set of processing instructions to control the spatial presentation of the audio material based on the determined type, and applies the selected set of processing instructions to the input audio signals.

This disclosure relates to an audio playback system that modifies the presentation of audio based on knowledge of the content.
Home theater systems are generally capable of manipulating the audio portion of entertainment content in a variety of ways. Two of the most common aspects of the audio for a system to modify are the equalization and the spaciousness of the content. Different types of content may benefit from different types of processing. For example, it may be desirable for musical content to be distributed to left and right main speakers, according to the original stereo mix of the recording, while the audio track of a news broadcast, which is mainly human voice, should be mostly played back from a center speaker. Problems may arise when more than one type of content are combined. For example, a person speaking while background music plays, or a television program that switches from one type of content to another. Depending on how the audio content is mastered, it may not be practical to separate the speech, for delivery via the center speaker, from the music, for delivery from left and right speakers, let alone to determine the correct relative volume for the two parts.


An apparatus for performing alignment shifting in a floating-point unit is disclosed. An alignment shifter includes a shift amount calculator, a set of first level shifters and a set of second level shifter. The shift amount calculator generates one shift amount under a double-precision mode and two shift amounts under a single-precision mode. The first level shifters can concurrently receive two double-precision mantissas under the double-precision mode or two single-precision mantissas under the single-precision mode. The first level of shifts performs small shifts concurrently on the two double-precision mantissas according to the single shift amount, or on the two single-precision mantissas according to the two shift amounts. The second level shifters performs large shifts on outputs from the first level shifters to generate one double-precision floating-point result or two single-precision floating-point results.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to floating-point units (FPUs) in general, and, in particular, to a method and apparatus for performing alignment shifting in a floating-point unit.
2. Description of Related Art
Floating-point numbers can be either single precision or double precision as defined by the Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) standard. Single precision floating-point numbers have one sign bit, eight exponent bits, and twenty-three mantissa bits with a one implicit bit. Double precision floating-point numbers have one sign bit, eleven exponent bits, and fifty-two mantissa bits with one implicit bit.
The computation logic for floating-point numbers can typically be divided into two types: multiply-add/subtract and distinct multiply and add/subtract. One of the more common methods associated with multiply-add/subtract computation logic is based on three operands A, B and C to provide the operation A*B+C. In order for a floating-point addition/subtraction to take place, the mantissas of two floating-point numbers must be aligned, which is commonly performed by an alignment shifter.
Referring now to the drawings, and specifically to FIG. 1, there is depicted a conventional alignment shifter. As shown, an alignment shifter 100 includes a shift amount calculator 111, a shifter 112, a limiter 113, and a multiplexor 114. Exponent EA of operand A, exponent EB of operand B and exponent EC of operand C enter shift amount calculator 112 and limiter 113 through a line 115, a line 116, and a line 117, respectively.
Shift amount calculations are then performed after shift amount calculator 111 has received exponents EA, EB and EC. The right-shift amount is subsequently communicated to shifter 112 via a line 118. The mantissa MC of operand C from a line 119 is right-shifted by shifter 112 accordingly. After all the shifting have been completed, the data are sent to multiplexor 114 via a line 121. Limiter 13 provides control signals to multiplexor 114 via a line 122 to allow for multiplexor 114 to provide the necessary correction for overflow or underflow.
One problem associated with conventional alignment shifters, such as alignment shifter 100, is under-utilization. Typically, a double-precision alignment shifter can handle either one single precision floating-point number or one double precision floating-point number. In a vectored floating-point implementation, such as single instruction multiple data (SIMD), it would be more efficient for the same double-precision alignment shifter to simultaneous align two single precision floating-point numbers without adding any delay to the critical path.
Consequently, it would be desirable to provide an improved method for performing alignment shifting such that all the resources of a double-precision alignment shifter can be fully utilized.

Method and apparatus for performing alignment shifting in a floating-point unit


A new hop plant named ‘HBC 637’ is disclosed. ‘HBC 637’ is used for its exceptional and unique aromatic qualities, and is suitable for beer flavoring.

'HBC 637' is a product of a controlled breeding program carried out by the inventors in the Yakima Valley of Washington State. 'HBC 637' was one of several seedlings resulting from a controlled cross made in 2008 with female parent 'HBC 366' (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 25,899) and male parent '21-10-21' (unpatented). Seedlings from this cross were planted in 2009, and screened for disease and sex in a greenhouse and field nursery near Toppenish, Wash. A single plant of 'HBC 637' was selected in 2011, and in 2012 was expanded to two, seven-hill plots, which were planted near Toppenish, Wash. The plants were observed and evaluated for several years, and in 2018 'HBC 637' was further expanded by asexual tissue culture propagation which occurred near Toppenish, Wash., and then transferred to a 1 acre test plot near Toppenish, Wash. Throughout several generations of asexual propagation, 'HBC 637' has been observed to retain its distinctive characteristics and remain true to type.
The colors of these illustrations may vary with lighting conditions and, therefore, color characteristics of this new variety should be determined with reference to the observations described herein, rather than from these illustrations alone.