The present invention provides novel hydroxy piperidine (HP) derivatives having (i) a positive charge at the position corresponding to the anomeric position of a pyranose ring; (ii) a short, flexible linker emanating from the corresponding position of the ring oxygen in a pyranose; and (iii) a lipophilic moiety connected to the linker and pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof. The linker can be absent if the lipophilic moiety corresponds to a hydrocarbon chain with a linear length of 6 or more carbons. The present invention further provides a method for treating individuals having Gaucher disease by administering the novel HP derivative as “active-site specific chaperones” for the mutant glucocerebrosidase associated with the disease.

Protein Folding
Proteins are synthesized in the cytoplasm, and the newly synthesized proteins are secreted into the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) in a largely unfolded state. In general, protein folding is governed by the principle of self assembly. Newly synthesized polypeptides fold into their native conformation based on their amino acid sequences (Anfinsen et al., Adv. Protein Chem. 1975; 29:205-300). In vivo, protein folding is complicated, because the combination of ambient temperature and high protein concentration stimulates the process of aggregation, in which amino acids normally buried in the hydrophobic core interact with their neighbors non-specifically. To avoid this problem, protein folding is usually facilitated by a special group of proteins called molecular chaperones which prevent nascent polypeptide chains from aggregating, and bind to unfolded protein such that the protein refolds in the native conformation (Hartl, Nature 1996; 381:571-580).
Molecular chaperones are present in virtually all types of cells and in most cellular compartments. Some are involved in the transport of proteins and permit cells to survive under stresses such as heat shock and glucose starvation. Among the molecular chaperones (Gething et al., Nature 1992; 355:33-45; Caplan, Trends Cell. Biol. 1999; 9:262-268; Lin et al., Mol. Biol. Cell. 1993; 4:109-1119; Bergeron et al., Trends Biochem. Sci. 1994; 19:124-128), Bip (immunoglobulin heavy-chain binding protein, Grp78) is the best characterized chaperone of the ER (Haas, Curr. Top. Microbiol. Immunol. 1991; 167:71-82). Like other molecular chaperones, Bip interacts with many secretory and membrane proteins within the ER throughout their maturation, although the interaction is normally weak and short-lived when the folding proceeds smoothly. Once the native protein conformation is achieved, the molecular chaperone no longer interacts with the protein. Bip binding to a protein that fails to fold, assemble or be properly glycosylated, becomes stable, and is usually followed by degradation of the protein through the ER-associated degradation. This process serves as a "quality control" system in the ER, ensuring that only those properly folded and assembled proteins are transported out of the ER for further maturation, and improperly folded proteins are retained for subsequent degradation (Hurtley et al., Annu. Rev. Cell. Biol. 1989; 5:277-307).
Certain missense mutations result in amino acid substitutions that alter the native and proper folding of the protein. To correct these misfoldings, investigations have attempted to use various molecules as artificial chaperones. High concentrations of glycerol, dimethylsulfoxide, trimethylamine N-oxide, or deuterated water have been shown to stabilize the mutant protein and increase the intracellular trafficking of mutant protein in several diseases (Brown et al., Cell Stress Chaperones 1996; 1:117-125; Burrows et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 2000; 97:1796-801). These compounds are considered non-specific chemical chaperones to improve the general protein folding, although the mechanism of the function is still unknown. The high dosage of this class of compounds required for efficacy makes them difficult or inappropriate to use clinically, although they are useful for the biochemical examination of folding defect of a protein intracellularly. They also lack specificity.
Active Site Specific Chaperones for Enzymes
Co-owned U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,274,597, and 6,774,135 which are incorporated herein by reference, disclose a novel therapeutic strategy for Fabry disease, a lysosomal storage disorder (LSD) caused by a deficiency in lysosomal α-galactosidase A (α-Gal A) activity. α-Gal A deficiency often results from mutations in the gene that encode mutant proteins that result in folding defects. It was discovered that administration of 1-deoxygalactonojirimycin (DGJ), a potent competitive inhibitor of α-Gal A, effectively increased in vitro stability of a mutant α-Gal A (R301Q) at neutral pH. These results were also observed in lymphoblasts established from Fabry patients with the R301Q or Q279E mutations. Surprising, cultivation of the cells with DGJ at sub-inhibitory concentrations resulted in a substantial increase of residual enzyme activity. Furthermore, oral administration of DGJ to transgenic mice overexpressing a mutant (R301Q) α-Gal A substantially elevated the enzyme activity in major organs (Fan et al., Nat. Med. 1999; 5:112-115).
The principle of this strategy is as the follows. Since the mutant enzyme appears to fold improperly in the ER where pH is neutral, as evidenced by its instability at pH 7.0 in vitro (Ishii et al., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm. 1993; 197:1585-1589), the enzyme would be retarded in the normal transport pathway from the ER to the Golgi apparatus and subjected to rapid degradation. If a mutant enzyme could be efficiently transported to the lysosomes, it may retain normal or near normal kinetic properties and would remain active, because the mutant enzyme is sufficiently stable below pH 5.0. The goal, therefore, was to induce the mutant enzyme to adjust the proper conformation in the ER. In particular, a compound that can induce a stable molecular conformation of the enzyme could serve as an "active-site specific chaperone" (ASSC) or "pharmacological chaperone" to stabilize the mutant enzyme in a proper conformation for transport to the lysosomes. In the case of enzymes, such a compound unexpectedly was discovered to be a competitive inhibitor of the enzyme. Competitive inhibitors of an enzyme are known to occupy the catalytic site of the properly folded enzyme, resulting in stabilization of its correct conformation in vitro. It was found that they also serve as ASSCs or pharmacological chaperones to induce the proper folding of enzyme in vivo, thus rescuing the mutant enzyme from the ER quality control system.
Co-owned U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,583,158, 6,589,964, 6,599,919, and U.S. application Ser. No. 10/304,395 to Fan et al., exemplify the ASSC strategy with numerous other lysosomal storage diseases, including Gaucher disease. These findings demonstrate that this therapeutic strategy of using potent competitive inhibitors as ASSCs to increase the residual enzyme activity in the patient's cells is not limited to Fabry disease, and can be applied to enzyme deficiency diseases of this sort, and particularly to lysosomal storage disorders. In general, effective ASSCs of specific enzymes associated with particular diseases are potent competitive inhibitors of the enzyme. Unexpectedly, a more potent inhibitor of the enzyme acts as a better ASSC for the mutant enzyme (Fan, Trends Pharmacol Sci. 2003; 24:355-60).
Potent Inhibitors of β-glucocerebrosidase
β-Glucocerebrosidase (GCase, or acid β-glucosidase) is a lysosomal hydrolase that catalyzes the hydrolytic cleavage of glucose from glucosylceramide (Brady et al., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 1965; 18:221-225). The deficiency of the enzyme activity results in progressive accumulation of glucosylceramide, a normal intermediate in the catabolism of globoside and gangliosides, in lysosomes of macrophages, leading to Gaucher disease, the most common lysosomal storage disorder (Beutler et al., in The Metabolic and Molecular Bases of Inherited Disease, 8th ed., McGraw-Hill, New York 2001, 3635-3668).
Details regarding the disease and therapeutic treatment will be described herein below. Sawkar et al. have reported that the addition of an inhibitor of GCase to a fibroblast culture medium leads to a 2-fold increase in the activity of N370S GCase, indicating that a potent inhibitor of GCase may be of therapeutic interest in the treatment of Gaucher disease, although the particular inhibitor was not sufficient enough as a therapeutic agent because of high cytotoxocity (Sawkar A. R. et al., Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2002; 99(24):15428-33). Therefore, effort has been taken to design and synthesize potent inhibitors for GCase.
The catalytic mechanism of β-glycosidases is believed to proceed via a covalent glycosyl-enzyme intermediate and positive charge generated at the anomeric position (Ichikawa et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1998; 120:3007-3018; Heightman et al., 1999; Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 1999; 38:750-770). Ichikawa et al. have designed a class of potent inhibitors for β-glycosidases, 1-N-iminosugars in which a nitrogen atom is at the anomeric position of a monosaccharide (Structure 1A, Isofagomine or hydroxy-piperidine). In a preliminary study, D-glucose-type 1-N-iminosugar (isofagomine, or hydroxypiperidine 1) has been shown to be a potent inhibitor of GCase (U.S. Pat. No. 6,583,158 to Fan et al.). N-alkyl derivatives of 1-deoxynojirimycin (DNJ) are also potent inhibitors of GCase, particularly those have longer alkyl group (greater than C6 alkyl chain), although DNJ itself and those N-alkyl DNJ with shorter chains are not inhibitory (Structure 1B, N-nonyl 1-deoxynojirimycin) (U.S. Pat. No. 6,583,158). However, these inhibitors are either not specific enough or not potent enough towards to the GCase and not suitable for the treatment of Gaucher disease. Based on these findings, it was realized that GCase may contain two substrate binding sites in the catalytic domain: one which recognizes the glucosyl residue; the other which recognizes the ceramide moiety (Structure 1C, 6-C-nonyl hydroxypiperidine, RD-1: recognition domain 1; RD-2: recognition domain 2.). Determination of the crystal structure of GCase revealed an annulus of hydrophobic residues surrounding the entrance to the monosaccharide binding site (Dvir et al., EMBO reports 2003; 4:1-6), suggesting that a hydrophobic moiety attached to a sugar residue with a long alkyl chain is required for the interaction to the hydrophobic amino acid residues.

Thus, there remains a need in the art to design or identify specific competitive inhibitors of enzymes, and evaluate them for their ability to act as chaperones for the corresponding mutant enzymes that are associated with numerous LSDs, particularly inhibitors of GCase associated with Gaucher disease, and other disorders resulting from misfolded proteins.

Hydroxy piperidine derivatives to treat gaucher disease


There are provided systems and methods for a physical stand for multiple device orientations and peripheral card reader. A device stand may include a dock that allows for placement and securing of a computing device within the device case, such as through a locking or connecting mechanism. The device dock further includes a peripheral component, such as a physical card reader, that allows for reading and entry of card data into the computing device for use with an electronic transaction processing application on the computing device. This allows the computing device to process transactions electronic with an online service provider. Further, the device stand includes a hinge or joint that allows for rotating and inverting of the computing device over a curved extension from a base of the device stand, which allows the computing device to be viewed in multiple directions and orientations.

Service providers may provide device applications that allow for electronic transaction processing at physical merchant locations through mobile devices of merchants. For example, a service provider may provide a mobile application that allows for entry of items for a transaction, calculation of transaction totals (including tax, tip, and the like), and processing of the transaction with the service provider through network communications. However, when providing these services through mobile devices, the merchant or other employee generally is required to pass the mobile device to the other party to input transaction details, which creates friction in use of the devices. The devices may not be secured when transferred between parties and may be damaged or stolen. Further, any peripheral component added to the device to assist in processing transactions with the service provider is further not secured with respect to the mobile device that may result in movement that causes disconnection and/or damage to the mobile device and the peripheral component.
Embodiments of the present disclosure and their advantages are best understood by referring to the detailed description that follows. It should be appreciated that like reference numerals are used to identify like elements illustrated in one or more of the figures, wherein showings therein are for purposes of illustrating embodiments of the present disclosure and not for purposes of limiting the same.

Physical stand for multiple device orientations and peripheral card reader


The present invention uses the capacitive, inductive, or resistive impedance component to constitute the first impedance, and uses the inductive impedance component and capacitive impedance component which produce parallel resonance after parallel connection to constitute the second impedance, whereby the first impedance and the second impedance are series connected for inputting pulsed DC power, and the divided power thereof is rectified to drive the uni-directional light emitting diode.

(a) Field of the Present Invention
The unidirectional light emitting diode drive circuit in pulsed power parallel resonance of present invention is disclosed a drive circuit that using a pulsed power as the power source, and by using the capacitive impedance component, or the inductive impedance component or the resistive impedance component to constitute the first impedance, and using the inductive impedance component and the capacitive impedance component in parallel connection, whereof its inherent parallel resonance frequency is the same as the pulse period of the pulsed power to appear parallel resonance status, to constitute the second impedance, whereby the first impedance and the second impedance are series connected, whereof it is characterized in that the two ends of the first impedance and the second impedance in series connection are provided to receive a DC pulsed power input, whereby the DC pulsed power input is divided by the first impedance and the second impedance of parallel resonance in series connection to produce a divided power which is rectified by a rectifier device to an uni-directional DC power, whereby to drive the uni-directional light emitting diode.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
The conventional light emitting diode drive circuit using AC or DC power source is usually series connected with current limit resistors as the impedance to limit the current to the light emitting diode, whereof the voltage drop of the series connected resistive impedance always result in waste of power and accumulation of heat which are the imperfections.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Uni-directional light emitting diode drive circuit in pulsed power parallel resonance


An interface for providing monitoring information from any monitored component to a central monitoring system in which an XML document is created according to a DTD conforming to a tree-structured monitoring architecture and then is made available to the central monitoring system either by posting it as an HTTP message or filing it in a designated directory, where it can be periodically polled by the central monitoring system. An initial long-form XML document can be used to completely specify the monitoring tree for the monitored component, and then subsequent short-form XML documents can be posted with current data corresponding to the monitoring tree elements themselves. An XML processor at the central monitoring system converts the XML document contents and applies them to a standard interface which has previously been available directly to fully conforming components.

In an enterprise computing environment, large, complex applications that are used in business-critical situations demand well-integrated monitoring and management for safe and successful operation. Monitoring helps avoid unplanned downtimes, which, for example, can produce costs in the six figures per hour. Tightly integrated monitoring systems for single computer family environments have been available for a number of years, for example in the SAP R/3 System. These monitoring systems are based on a suite of management and monitoring tools designed to monitor system resource usage and detect problems by generating statistics and reporting performance data from a variety of business applications running on common platforms.
Many enterprises increasingly find themselves using multiple distinct computing systems to run different aspects of their businesses. SAP for example created ALE (Application Link Enabling) and other technologies to allow multiple R/3 Systems to interact. Application-level links were created, for example, to allow R/3 Systems running the Sales or HR applications to update financials data across system boundaries.
In response to the vastly increased complexity of managing a landscape of systems that are in interaction with one another, centralized management systems were developed, such as SAP's Computing Center Management System (CCMS), that incorporate a uniform monitoring architecture that allows performance and error data to be collected from diverse applications in individual R/3 Systems and shared by means of R/3 Remote Function Calls (RFCs) between systems. Effectively, a customer could set up a central monitoring system, which saw the monitoring data from multiple R/3 Systems. However, because of its reliance on SAP's proprietary ABAP language and RFC, the view offered by the monitoring architecture was limited to traditional R/3 Systems and their application servers, together with the applications running in those systems.
With ever-greater diversity in the software landscape within single enterprises, as open component-oriented computing and Internet applications have been embraced, the pure one company proprietary approach to that environment has been relegated to the past. Given that some of these diverse components may participate in mission critical functions, it is just as important, however, from the IT department point of view, to monitor their performance as that of systems still running exclusively on the traditional core platforms like R/3.
Efforts to capture and transfer equivalent monitoring data from these diverse new sources so as to maintain the comprehensiveness of the existing centralized monitoring system have so far met with limited success. As at result, the scope of monitoring capable from within the centralized monitoring architecture has become over the years increasingly less adequate.

XML instrumentation interface for tree-based monitoring architecture


A system and method for integrated table motion includes a device. The device includes an articulated arm having joints and a distal portion distal to the joints and a control unit. To support integrated motion with a separate table, the control unit is configured to receive a table movement request from the table, determine whether allowing the table movement request would result in a first joint of the joints being at a range of motion limit, allow the table to perform the table movement request based on determining that allowing the table to perform the table movement request would not result in the first joint being at the range of motion limit, track movement of the table due to performing the table movement request, and maintain, using the joints and based on the tracked movement, a position and/or an orientation of the distal portion relative to the table.

More and more devices are being replaced with autonomous and semiautonomous electronic devices. This is especially true in the hospitals of today with large arrays of autonomous and semiautonomous electronic devices being found in operating rooms, interventional suites, intensive care wards, emergency rooms, and the like. For example, glass and mercury thermometers are being replaced with electronic thermometers, intravenous drip lines now include electronic monitors and flow regulators, and traditional hand-held surgical instruments are being replaced by computer-assisted medical devices. As more and more autonomous and semiautonomous devices are placed in use it opens opportunities where two or more of the devices cooperate to achieve a common goal.
It is often desirable for the surgeon or operating room staff to move a patient on an operating or surgical table relative to the manipulator arms of a computer-assisted device being used as a surgical manipulator assembly in order to improve or optimize access to, or visualization of, the patient's internal anatomy. For example, a surgeon may wish to perform a gravity-assisted retraction of an organ during a surgical procedure. Because the patient's organs will move as the surgical table is tilted, for safety the surgical instruments are removed from the patient prior to moving the surgical table. Then, in many conventional teleoperated surgical systems, to perform such a retraction, the manipulator arms must be undocked from the cannulas and instruments inserted into the patient through body openings, such as incision sites and/or body orifices, so that the body openings can safely move, the surgical table must then be moved into a new position estimated to be suitable for retraction of the targeted organ, and then the manipulators re-docked with the patient. This method can be time consuming and cumbersome. Furthermore, this process may involve several iterations, because an endoscope is generally also removed from the patient before the surgical table is moved to improve safety, such that visualization of the surgical workspace is lost and the new position is typically an educated guess, which may or may not be accurate or sufficient to properly perform the retraction. To avoid repeated iterations, physicians often "overcorrect" and select positions and orientations that are steeper than necessary to ensure that the desired gravity-assisted retraction occurs. This overcorrection may lead to patient safety problems, because certain orientations, such as a head down orientation of the patient, may be poorly tolerated by a patient, and particularly by larger patients who often have difficulty breathing in such an orientation. In addition, because the instruments are removed from the patient and the manipulator arms are removed from the cannulas, the instruments cannot be used by a physician to assist with the retraction, such as may be done in a traditional laparoscopic procedure.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to have systems and methods that allow for movement in a surgical table without first having to remove a computer-assisted device with a manipulator and instrument assembly from the patient.

System and method for integrated table motion


A lithographic sheet material comprising a metal substrate coated with a non-photosensitive thermoplastic adhesive layer, and a coating of mineral or metal particles adhered to and within the adhesive layer. A photosensitive layer is coated over the particles.

Lithographic sheet material in commercial use nowadays typically comprises an aluminum alloy substrate that must be grained and anodized before it is coated with a photosensitive layer. "Graining" refers to a mechanical or chemical process for roughening the aluminum sheet surface. The process results in a substrate surface having a uniform coarse texture that will provide adequate resolution in the prints to be made, while lasting through thousands of printings before the sheet must be replaced in a printing press. Anodizing the grained sheet then provides a desired microstructure on the aluminum surface for print durability.
Although grained and anodized lithographic sheet material performs adequately, it is difficult and expensive to produce. Mechanical graining requires the use of an abrasive slurry and brushes with operations controls necessary to account for brush wear. Chemical graining requires treatment with strong basic or acidic etching solutions which are difficult to dispose of properly. Anodizing requires expenditures of large amounts of electrical energy in its operation and also generates effluents that must be carefully handled to avoid environmental problems. Electrochemical graining and anodizing require expenditures of large amounts of electrical energy. Graining and anodizing also generate effluents that must be handled carefully to avoid environmental problems. Because of difficulties inherent in the prior art graining and anodizing processes, persons skilled in the art have come to recognize that it would be desirable to eliminate both graining and anodizing in the commercial production of lithographic sheet material. However, no completely desirable alternative was developed prior to the present invention.
A principal objective of the present invention is to provide a lithographic sheet material and a process for its production which avoid the graining and anodizing steps conventionally utilized for making lithographic sheet.
A related objective of the invention is to provide a lithographic sheet production process that minimizes incidental generation of waste material requiring disposal.
A further objective of the invention is to provide a lithographic sheet material that can be manufactured economically, using readily available and environmentally acceptable starting materials.
Additional objectives and advantages of our invention will become apparent to persons skilled in the art from the following detailed description.

Lithographic sheet material including a metal substrate, thermoplastic adhesive layer and mineral or metal particles


An emissions detection apparatus for at least one of detecting, identifying, diagnosing and geolocating an electronic device or an information transmitted from the electronic device includes an emissions collections device connected to an antenna receiving emission of an electromagnetic energy emitted from the electronic device and collecting a spectral data emitted from the electronic device; one or more algorithms processing the collected spectral data, algorithms selected from a group consisting of a peak detection algorithm, a multiple peak detection algorithm, a harmonic correlation algorithm, a non-harmonic correlation algorithm, a time correlation algorithm, a phase correlation algorithm, and a duty cycle timing correlation algorithm; and one or more algorithms matching the processed spectral data to an emissions template, wherein a match of the processed spectral data with the emissions template at least one of detects, identifies, diagnoses and geolocates the electronic device or the information transmitted from the electronic device.

As is generally known, it is often necessary to physically detect, identify and geolocate devices and/or users of such devices or perform diagnostics on the devices. Of a particular interest are electronic devices connected to a network. In one example, product sales and marketing organizations rely on the internet for tracking interests of the user in order to select specific group of users for targeted marketing campaigns so as to maximize profits. In another example, product manufactures use networks to assure timing, coordination and status of all the machines and robots necessary to manufacture products on a manufacturing line. In yet another example, law enforcement relies on the information sent over the network so as to detect illegal activities and facilitate termination of such illegal activities.
The electronic device can be connected to the network using a large number of technologies and approaches that include hard wiring, wireless, infrared and optical means as examples. Due to the nature of network connections and communications, the electronic device will provide specific information regarding itself that is transmitted over the network to other devices on the network. Some of this information is intended to be transmitted and some of it is unintentionally transmitted over the network. A well known example of intended information that is sent over the network, such as Internet, is an Internet Protocol (IP) address for internet communications or a password to access an account on an organizations intranet. Nonetheless, significant information is transmitted from the device over the network during any information transfer over a network. In some applications this media has been referred to as cyberspace. For instance the device may not only send out, as noted above, the IP address and passwords that identify the user of the device, but also send out other identifying information about the device that is attached to the network that can be used to differentiate the individual device from other devices connected to the network. Examples of general information that is sent includes, but is not limited to connection speeds, modem speeds, fonts, clock speeds, processor speeds, device types, hardware configurations, software configurations and in the case of wireless devices the frequency of transmission of the device or computer that are intentionally sent across cyberspace. Furthermore, there are specific sets of commanded information that can be sent such as passwords, status, software configurations, health of systems present and user identifiers of many kinds. In addition to intended information, there is significant unintended information being transmitted over the network that is not intended to be sent across the connection but that is inevitably sent.
Furthermore, any physical electrical or electronic device that is powered will give off unintended emissions. Specifications, such as FCC Part 15, FCC Part 18CISPR 11, CISPR 14-1, CISPR 22, ICES-003 and MIL-STD-461 are intended to govern the amount of unintended emissions that are given off by a commercially sold device to prevent device to device Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) and assure Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC). Nonetheless, even devices that meet the statutory requirements give off unintended emissions. Each and every physical component that makes up an electronic device contributes directly or indirectly to the characteristics of the unintended emissions that are given off by the electrical or electronic device.
However, prior to conceptualization and design of the instant invention, difficulties exist in physically locating devices connected to the network, particularly by way of a wireless connection or by way of a masked hardwired connection. Further difficulties exist and, to the best of Applicant's knowledge, no other methods are available for identifying other electronic devices located in a proximity to the device connected to the network. Additional difficulties exist in locating devices that have been previously connected to the network.
Therefore, there is a need for an improved system and method for detecting, identifying, diagnosing and geolocating electronic devices that are connected or have been connected to a network and electronic devices that are located in proximity to the device connected to the network.

System and method for physically detecting, identifying, diagnosing and geolocating electronic devices connectable to a network


A message queuing mail system is improved by preventing duplication of mail messages at the source when the same mail message is being sent to a plurality of destinations and also preventing unnecessary later redirection of mail messages in the mail delivery network, without requiring that the mail delivery netowrk have access to a mail directory, by defining addressing information and procedures that create, manipulate, and use the addressing information in a way that ensures that messages are replicated and redirected in the mail delivery network only when required.

Messaging is a store and forward, asynchronous message transfer system whose basic purpose is to allow applications to communicate without requiring that the origin and the destination applications be active simultaneously. The system stores the messages when necessary and delivers the information when resources become available. A first example of messaging is electronic mail, e.g., X.400 message handling system and simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP). In today's world of client/server computing the requirements for business solutions based on messaging has broadened and deepened way beyond basic electronic mail: workflow computing, mobile messaging, transactional messaging, object messaging, data replication services are emerging technologies that are all built on the messaging style of program-to-program communication. New requirements on messaging systems have also been driven by the need for programs to interoperate across disparate operating system platforms and networks (wired and wireless).
Messaging has become a fundamental technology in providing program-to-program communication. Various companies have developed message-oriented middleware (MOM) that supplies a flexible messaging infrastructure. IBM is delivering a commercial strength messaging system,
MQSeries, that provides assured, once only message delivery, and message recoverability. Other known MOM products are: Communications Integrator (Covia), ezBridge (Systems Strategies), and Message Express (Horizon Strategies), to name some.
MOM allows general purpose messages to be exchanged between programs using message queues. Applications communicate over networks by simply putting messages in queues and getting messages from queues. MOM's messaging and queueing (MQ) allow programs to communicate across a network without being linked by a private, dedicated, logical connection. Messages are stored at intermediate nodes in the network until the MQ system is ready to forward them. At their final destination, they are held in queues until the target programs are ready to retrieve and process them. At each node in the network there is a queue manager (QM) that insures that messages reach their target queues and provides the MQ services to applications.
MOM enabled programs do not talk to each other directly, so either program can be busy, unavailable, or simply not running at the same time. A program can decide when it wants to retrieve a message of its queue. In case of wireless communications one could even collect all outgoing information in a queue and submit it to a server when the user gets to a phone or to an office local-area-network (LAN). Incoming mail could be stored in a queue until a link, e.g., a wireless link, to the addressee can be established. MQ is very versatile. One can use it to create one-to-many and/or many-to-one relationships, i.e., a single queue can be serviced by several applications and/or many applications can put messages into the same queue.
MOM is a key piece of middleware that is essential for facilitating the development of distributed business applications. MOM typically provides a very simple high-level application programming interface (API) to its services. Most MOM products make available this API on multiple operating system platforms. This greatly simplifies the development of distributed applications that run on different platforms and communicate over a network. The applications only have to be written to a single interface. Furthermore, MOM hides all the communications from the applications. They operate in ignorance of the network and bear no part of the communication burden such as link establishment, management of the links, etc.
The MQ services offered by MOM are an ideal infrastructure on top of which to build an electronic mail system. A mail system consist of a collection of mail servers that accept mail messages and handle their delivery to the recipients. A mail server is like a post office: mail for a local recipient is delivered to its electronic mailbox and mail addressed to remote recipients is forwarded to other mail servers for further delivery. The mail may visit several mail servers before being delivered. The process of forwarding mail for an intended remote recipient to another mail server is called mail redirection.
To be efficient, a mail system using the MOM's MQ services for transporting its mail should exhibit the following qualities: a message on its way to its recipients should be duplicated only when necessary, i.e., only at the nodes in the MQ network where the routes to recipients diverge, and only one copy of a message should be delivered to each of its recipients.
A mail server handles mail addressed to several recipients by delivering the mail message to the mail box of all the recipient that are local and forwarding the mail to each of the mail servers that are responsible for taking care of the mail for the remote recipients. The routes in the MQ network leaving from the forwarding mail server and leading to all the servers to which the mail has to be forwarded may have common initial sections. Even though the mail is forwarded to different mail servers, only one mail message should be transmitted on the common initial sections of the routes. Duplication of messages should occur only when necessary, i.e., when routes diverge, to avoid an unnecessary loading of the network. Overloading the network needs to be avoided in particular in the situation where the network is heavily used.
Several copies of a message can reach a recipient if the message was redirected to the recipient by several mail servers. Multiple redirection of a given mail message to the same recipient should not happen in a properly designed and configured mail system. It would lead to an unnecessary duplication of messages that overloads the network and wastes computing power and storage at the mail servers. The recipient would have the chore of eliminating duplicate messages unless the receiving mail server get burdened with this task.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and appropriate means for preventing all unnecessary duplications of messages in the MQ network and for performing redirection of mail messages only when necessary in a mail system using MOM's MQ services for transport. The method and means described in the present invention thus reduce the load on the mail servers and the message queueing network. They have the further advantage of providing this efficient use of the MQ network for mail transport without requiring the MQ system to have access to the mail directory.

Message queuing distribution services for mail systems

International Business Machines Corporation


An apparatus and method are disclosed for forming a nonwoven fabric web, such as a spunbond web. The apparatus comprises a spinneret for downwardly extruding a curtain of filaments, and an underlying air drawing unit for drawing and attenuating the filaments as they move downwardly therethrough. A conveyor belt receives the drawn filaments and forms the filaments into a nonwoven fabric web. In the drawing unit, the filaments pass downwardly through a slot, and a pair of air nozzles are positioned in the slot, with one nozzle being positioned adjacent each side wall of the slot. The nozzle outlets are oriented so as to introduce each of the air streams into the slot in a direction which is parallel to the side walls of the slot, and the introduced air streams act to draw additional air into the open upper end of the slot. The drawn-in air and the air introduced by the two nozzles collectively form a substantially non-turbulent flow at their juncture and along the remainder of the vertical length of the slot, and this smooth air flow serves to draw the filaments without imparting turbulence to the filaments, which in turn produces filaments which are uniformly drawn and thus of uniform denier.

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for the production of a nonwoven fabric, such as a spunbond fabric web, from thermoplastic polymers, such as polypropylene, polyethylene, polyester, nylon, and blends thereof.
Processes of the described type are known which include the steps of melting the polymer, extruding the polymer through a spinneret to form a vertically oriented curtain of downwardly advancing filaments, and then air quenching the filaments. The advancing curtain is then passed through a suction type drawing or attenuating air slot, wherein compressed air is introduced into the slot so as to draw air into the upper open end of the slot and form a rapidly moving downward stream of air in the slot. A drawing force is thereby imparted to the filaments, and upon exiting at the bottom of the slot, the filaments are deposited on a moving conveyor belt to form a continuous web. The filaments of the web are then joined to each other at their contact points by any one of several known techniques. Apparatus and processes of this general type are further disclosed for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,802,817 and 4,064,605, and published EPO Application 0 230 541.
While the known apparatus and processes are satisfactory in many respects, it is recognized that the uniformity of the denier and tensile properties of the filaments are not as consistent as is desirable, and that the uniformity and quality of the resulting fabric web is accordingly deficient for many end uses.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method for the production of a nonwoven fabric web composed of filaments having essentially uniform denier and tensile properties.
It is a more particular object of the present to provide an apparatus and method of the described type and wherein the freshly extruded filaments are drawn by means of a force imparted in a suction type air slot and under conditions which impart an essentially uniform draw to the filaments, and such that the filaments have an essentially uniform denier and tensile properties.


A comb-like or dot-like phase shifter pattern is added to a phase shifter used in phase shifting mask technology, which is then exposed onto a wafer. This enables the formation of extremely fine line patterns or space patterns having widths different from each other simultaneously. Further, when two reticles are disposed such that phase shifter patterns disposed therein intersect each other and are exposed consecutively onto a wafer, a fine hole pattern or dot pattern can be formed at a position where the phase shifter patterns intersect each other.

The present invention concerns a method of forming a pattern and, more in particular, it relates to a method of forming a fine pattern suitable for the production of semiconductor devices, magnetic bubble memories, superconductivity devices and surface acoustic wave devices.
In a projection printing system of irradiating a light by way of a mask having a pattern to be formed (hereinafter referred to as a reticle) and transferring the pattern on the reticle to a photoresist film formed on a wafer, it has been demanded to make the pattern formed on the photoresist film finer. As a measure for indicating the performance of the projection printing system as to the capability of forming a fine pattern, "resolution" has been used generally. The resolution is expressed by a minimum distance between two adjacent points or lines that can allow them to be separated from each other and the resolution of existent reduction projection printing systems is about 0.5 .mu.m.
As a means for improving the resolution, it has been known to provide exposure light passing through two adjacent permeable portions of a reticle with a phase shift. A reticle pattern used for providing the exposure light with the phase shift is described in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Hei 2-078216. In this case, a transparent thin film for changing the phase oft transmission light by 180.degree. is used as a phase shifter, which is disposed at a portion of the permeable portion of the reticle. Since the presence/absence of the shifter causes a 180.degree. phase shift to the transmission light, a complete dark portion is formed along the rim of the shifter and the line width of the dark portion is extremely fine. Accordingly, an extremely fine line pattern can be formed if a positive type resist is used and an extremely fine space pattern can be formed if a negative type resist is used.
However, the above-mentioned prior art involves a problem in that patterns having various line widths can not be formed simultaneously although an extremely fine pattern can be formed. For instance, a space pattern of 0.2 .mu.m width can be formed by using the prior art described above, but it is not possible to form a space pattern, for example, of 0.2 .mu.m width, together with a space pattern of 0.3 .mu.m width or 0.35 .mu.m width. If the phase shifting mask technology of the prior art is combined with usual method of using a Cr film as a mask, it is possible to form, for example, a space pattern off 0.2 .mu.m width by the phase shifting mask technology and a pattern of greater than 0.5 .mu.m width by a usual exposing method using the Cr film respectively, but a pattern of a width between 0.2 to 0.5 .mu.m can not be obtained. In addition, there is a problem that the pattern that can be formed by the foregoing prior art is restricted to space patterns or line patterns and this method is not effective for the formation of dot patterns or hole patterns.


A nitride semiconductor laminate includes: a substrate comprising a group III nitride semiconductor and including a surface and a reverse surface, the surface being formed from a nitrogen-polar surface, the reverse surface being formed from a group III element-polar surface and being provided on the reverse side from the surface; a protective layer provided at least on the reverse surface side of the substrate and having higher heat resistance than the reverse surface of the substrate; and a semiconductor layer provided on the surface side of the substrate and comprising a group III nitride semiconductor. The concentration of O in the semiconductor layer is lower than 1×1017 at/cm3.

In the manufacture of a nitride semiconductor laminate, a nitride semiconductor free-standing substrate, a semiconductor device, etc., a semiconductor layer including a group III nitride semiconductor may be epitaxially grown on a predetermined substrate by vapor phase epitaxy (e.g. Non-Patent Literature 1).
Related Art Literature
Non-Patent Literature
Non-Patent Literature 1: S. Keller et al.: JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS Vol. 102, 083546 (2007)

Nitride semiconductor laminate, semiconductor device, method of manufacturing nitride semiconductor laminate, method of manufacturing nitride semiconductor free-standing substrate and method of manufacturing semiconductor device


A process controls enzymatic degumming characteristics which cause fouling of post-reactor equipment of industrial scale processing of edible oils. An anti-fouling agent including an organic or mineral acid is added after the reactor and before any post-reactor equipment such as heat exchangers and centrifuges. Typically the anti-fouling agent is added at greater than about 100 ppm of the oil, and typically the pH of the aqueous phase of the oil is between about 3.5 and 4.2.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to processes for improving enzymatic degumming of vegetable oils. The process reduces fouling in post-reaction equipment. The invention is especially suitable for use in production lines within which edible oil is treated to prepare edible oil of salad oil quality. More particularly, the invention relates to process enhancements that create conditions in the oil being processed for minimizing build-up on equipment through which the thus treated oil passes.
2. Description of Related Art
Vegetable-based edible oils long have been processed into salad oils. A principal procedure in such processing is the so-called caustic process. In such a process, crude vegetable oil may or may not be filtered and may or may not be acid or water degummed. The filtration of crude oil is only utilized when "clear and brilliant" food grade lecithin is produced from a water degumming process. Degumming of crude oil with the aid of an acid, burns the lecithin yielding a product that is not desirable. In the water degumming process, crude oil is combined with water and degummed crude is prepared, with gums being removed and collected as desired. Water degumming can remove about two-thirds of the gums present in the crude oil. Typically, phosphoric acid is injected into the degummed crude, followed by sodium hydroxide in order to provide caustic treated oil, with soapstock being removed and collected as desired. Next, silica is added to the caustic treated oil, and spent silica is removed. Bleaching earth then is added to the silica treated oil to provide bleached oil, spent clay being removed. Then water is added to the bleached oil in a deodorizing process, with a distillate being separated. A drawback of such caustic processes is relatively low yields, plus the multiple steps that are followed to achieve desired salad oil quality oil.
The role of phosphoric acid is to treat the lecithin components in the oil. This process includes an add-back neutralization of the phosphoric acid which is needed to neutralize free fatty acids, yielding sodium soaps which separate out. It is recognized that taking an approach different from caustic oil refining could have advantages in the oil processing industry.
Approaches have been proposed whereby edible oil products are processed into salad oil products by an enzymatic approach during which fatty acids remain in the oil rather than following the separation approach of caustic refining, and the fatty acid content is transformed and stays in the vegetable oil until it is separated, such as by centrifugation.
In the oil refining art, references such as Aalrust et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,264,367, incorporated by reference hereinto, teach enzymatic treatment of edible oils. In such approaches, phosphorus-containing components of an edible vegetable or animal oil that has been wet refined are reduced by enzymatic decomposition by contacting the oil with an aqueous solution of phospholipases A1, A2 or B and then separating the aqueous phase from the treated oil. This is said to reduce the phosphorus level in the oil to a substantial degree. While enzymatic treatment processes show good potential, the present invention achieves improvements over these processes. This invention provides means for improving oil degumming processes.
The present invention provides a novel type of process which facilitates the use of enzymes in edible oil refining, including degumming operations. The invention incorporates a post-reaction addition to reduce fouling. More specifically, anti-fouling component is added promptly downstream of the enzyme reactor. The anti-fouling component imparts enhanced processing properties to the degummed oil.
The art of enzymatic degumming has developed to provide, for example, the ability to hydrate selected cleavage sites of a lecithin or fatty acid natural oil component which needs to be degummed. Those enzymes having an A1 characteristic cleave the A1 site of the triglyceride molecule, enzymes having an A2 characteristic cleave at the A2 or B, or middle site, and those of a C characteristic cleave at the A3 site, which in these types of triglycerides have the undesirable phosphorus atom.
Heretofore, it has not been appreciated that enzymatic degumming operations of this type bring with them an undesirable build-up of residue on blades and other working surfaces of downstream equipment such as heat exchangers and centrifuge equipment. The combination of a post-reactor addition of an anti-fouling component and the enzymatic refining approach result, according to the invention, in high yield and smooth operating industrial-scale edible oil processing plants.

Process for improving enzymatic degumming of vegetable oils and reducing fouling of downstream processing equipment


A weather resistant impact modifier for thermoplastic resins and a blend with the thermoplastic resin are disclosed. The modifier comprises a graft copolymer having a multi-layered structure which is obtained by graft polymerization of (c) 10-100 parts by weight of an aromatic vinyl compound or a monomer mixture mainly composed of an aromatic vinyl compound in a first stage and 10-100 parts by weight of a methacrylic ester or a monomer mixture mainly composed of a methacrylic ester in a second stage,. (b) to 100 parts by weight of an elastomer obtained by polymerizing 98-60 parts by weight of a monomer mixture composed of 50-99.95% by weight of an acrylic ester, 0-50 wt % of a copolymerizable monomer and 0.05-5% by weight of a polyfunctional monomer, PA1 (a) in the presence of 2-40 parts by weight of a butadiene elastomer having a degree of swelling of 5-40 and an average particle size of not smaller than 0.15 .mu.m (wherein the total of (a) and (b) is 100 parts by weight).

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to weather resistant impact modifiers for thermoplastic resins which can impart high impact resistance and good processability to the resins, and thermoplastic composition comprising a thermoplastic resin and the modifier.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Thermoplastic resins, particularly vinyl chloride resins (hereinafter abbreviated as "PVC") have been widely employed as general-purpose resins but their mechanical properties are not necessarily satisfactory. More specifically, PVC is poor in impact strength, particularly in notched impact strength. In order to improve the impact strength, there have been proposed a variety of modifiers.
Among these proposals, there are known some effective methods including a method wherein so-called a MBS resin obtained by graft polymerization of an alkyl methacrylate and an aromatic vinyl compound to a conjugated diene elastomers is blended with PVC, and a method wherein an ABS resin obtained by graft polymerization of a vinyl cyanide and an aromatic vinyl compound to a conjugated diene elastomer is blended with PVC. However, since the MBS resin and ABS resin contain large amounts of double bonds in the main chain of the elastomer components, they will cause a choking phenomenon and lowering of impact strength when used over a long term in outdoor environment. Thus, these resins are not suited for outdoor applications.
A number of resin compositions having excellent weather resistance have also been proposed wherein a copolymer obtained by graft polymerization of an alkyl methacrylate, an aromatic vinyl compound and a vinyl cyanide to a saturated polyalkyl acrylate elastomer is blended with PVC. Although these compositions exhibit good impact strength at ambient temperatures, the impact strength at low temperatures is not always satisfactory because of the relatively high Tg value of the polyalkyl acrylate.
Moreover, U.S. Pat. No. 4,393,172 has proposed a graft copolymer using a diene rubber as a part of a core component, but the effect on improvement in the impact strength is not satisfactory.
When blended with thermoplastic resins, conventional modifiers for thermoplastic resins have disadvantages that the weather resistance of the resins is worsened and that an effect of the modifiers on imparting impact strength to the resins is not satisfactory. Thus, modifiers capable of imparting excellent impact strength, weather resistance and processability to the resins have not been obtained yet.
As the results of intensive studies for obtaining a modifier, which has excellent weather resistance and deep effect on imparting impact resistance to the resins not only at ambient temperatures but also at low temperatures, it has been found that a graft copolymer, which is obtained by graft polymerization by two stages of monomers having specific compositions to an elastomer which has a two-layered structure and is obtained by polymerizing an acrylic ester or a monomer mixture mainly composed of the acrylic ester in the presence of a butadiene rubber having specified properties, is useful as a modifier having intended modification effects.

Weather resistant impact modifiers for thermoplastic resins


The knife head mounts to the sickle to hold a plurality of knife sections thereon while allowing removal of the knife sections individually without major disassembly for ease of in field repair and replacement. A knife pin of the knife head connects to a knife arm driven by the sickle drive mechanism and is removable from above also without major disassembly. The knife pin connection provides a vertical self adjustment capability to accommodate sickle wear and vertical misalignment between the sickle and drive. And the knife arm is streamlined for cut plant material flow thereabout and is also adapted for ease of removal and field repair.

The disclosure of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/491,060, filed May 27, 2011, is hereby incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
Sickles typically including cutter bars supporting a row of knives, have been used to cut plants, including, but not limited to, hay, grasses, small grains and the like, for many years. The knives are composed of a plurality of knife or sickle sections which are mounted in side by side relation forming an elongate metal knife assembly. The elongate knife assembly is normally supported so as to slide longitudinally along an elongate stationary bar that has forwardly projecting, spaced apart guards bolted to a structural beam. The knife assembly moves back and forth in a reciprocating movement to move the knives relative to the guards so that the leading knife edges of the knives cross over the guards or through slots in the guards. This produces a shearing or cutting action which severs plant stems and stalks or other material captured between the knives and the guards.
In a harvesting machine, such as a combine or windrower, the knife assembly and stationary bar are typically supported in connection with a cutting head or header, and are oriented so as to extend sidewardly along a forward edge portion of structure such as a floor or pan of the header, hereinafter sometimes referred to generally as the floor. The floor or pan defines the lower periphery of a cut crop or plant flow area, which can include conveying apparatus, such as one or more augers or belts, operable in cooperation with a reel in machines so equipped, for conveying the cut plant material and crops, for instance, to a feeder inlet of a combine or windrow forming apparatus of a windrower.
A knife assembly, which will weigh from 35 to 38 pounds for a typical 20 foot wide header, typically must accelerate and decelerate two times per cycle as a result of the reciprocating movement. A typical speed for the knife assembly is up to about 16 hertz or cycles per second. Thus, it can be seen, the reciprocating motion at a high cycle per second generates high acceleration values and high deceleration values that in turn generate high forces on the structural components. Other damage that can occur includes dulled, chipped, and broken knife sections, that will result in unsatisfactory plant cutting, necessitating replacement of the damaged sections.
The knife sections and supporting structure are also subject to general wear, e.g., from friction, which can be accelerated by use in abrasive environments such as dusty areas and some plant varieties. As a result, the vertical height or position of the knife assembly can gradually lower relative to the drive mechanism which reciprocatingly propels it sidewardly. And, when changing worn components such as knife sections, the new knife sections may be thicker, which can change the vertical relationship between the top of the knife assembly and the drive mechanism. Also, some stationary bars may have some vertical flexibility, which can result in variances between the heights of the knife assembly and drive during operation, for instance, resulting from passage of the sickle over uneven terrain.
Known reciprocating sickle drives include, but are not limited to, an eccentric shaft on a rotating hub, a wobble drive, or a similar well known commercially available device. Such drives are typically located at the sides of the header, so as to drive the knife assembly from the end. Reference in this regard, the modern side located epicyclical sickle drive of Regier et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,121,074 B1 issued Oct. 17, 2006, which illustrates a representative simple end connection to a sickle. An end connection is advantageous as it allows easy and quick disconnection of the drive from the knife assembly and removal and replacement thereof, it does not interfere with access to individual knife sections for removal and replacement, and it allows substantial flexibility and variance between the relative locations of the drive mechanism and the sickle.
Disadvantages of the side drive location include that the header must include significant frame structure for supporting the drive and to withstand forces and vibrations generated thereby. The end structure or crop divider at the end of the header must also be relatively wide, to accommodate the drive and to direct adjacent standing crops therepast, and increasing the possibility of accidentally pushing down adjacent standing crops. Additionally, for headers utilizing two drives located on opposite sides of the header, it is usually desired to time the operation of the drives such that the forces and vibrations generated by the respective drives cancel one another. This typically involves relatively long mechanical drive lines connecting the two drives together, which is disadvantageous as it adds weight, cost and complexity.
Driving a knife assembly or assemblies of a header from a more central location, such as the center of the header, is desirable as it provides several advantages compared to a side location. As a result, center drive mechanisms have been developed. Reference in this regard, Priepke U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,810,304; 7,805,919; 7,730,709; 7,520,118; and 7,401,458, and Bich U.S. Pat. No. 8,011,272 which disclose a family of vertically compact sickle drive or drives incorporated in or below a header floor, which overcome many of the disadvantages and shortcomings discussed above in regard to side drives. However, locating the sickle drive mechanism in or below the header floor can still result in the apparatus connecting the drive or drives with the knife assembly or assemblies being in the path of the cut plant material moving rearwardly past the sickle, so as to interfere with and/or split the material flow and even cause some plowing and accumulation of the cut plant material in front of the connecting apparatus. Therefore, it would be desirable to minimize such interference and splitting of the material flow.
Reference also Bich et al. U.S. Pat. No. 8,151,547 which discloses a knife arm assembly, configured for attachment to a center drive, which has the shortcomings of a knife head requiring an intermediary member for attachment to the knife, and removal and replacement of the knife pin of which connecting the knife head to the knife arm requires removal of the entire knife head from the sickle knife.
It would also be desirable to have a manner of adjusting or compensating for any differences or variances between the height of the drive mechanism or mechanisms and the knife assembly or assemblies, for accommodating manufacturing and assembly variations, tolerances, and wear, and to avoid increased friction and binding that can increase wear on both the sickle and drive and increase power consumption.
As another consideration, when individual or groups of knife sections are worn beyond their useful life, or are broken or damaged, so as to require removal and replacement, it would be desirable to have a manner of replacing them quickly and easily, particularly in the field during plant cutting operations, to minimize downtime and effects on production.
Still further, it would be desirable to have the ability to remove and replace the knife pin of a knife head, without having to remove the entire knife head from the sickle knife for service.
Therefore, what is sought is apparatus for connection of a sickle drive to the knife of a sickle, adapted for use along the length of a sickle, e.g., at a more central location on a header, which provides ease of removal, service and replacement, minimizes interruption and splitting of plant material flow, is vertically self-adjusting, and provides one or more of the other features, while overcoming one or more of the shortcomings and limitations, set forth above.

Easily serviceable and removable self-adjusting knife arm and head assembly for a sickle


A saddle riding type vehicle includes a stabilizer arranged to support a pair of wheels arranged at opposite sides of a vehicle body to be movable up and down relative to the vehicle body, and a switching mechanism arranged to switch between a movable state in which the pair of wheels are permitted to move up and down and a locked state in which the pair of wheels are restricted from moving up and down. The switching mechanism includes a coupling pin member arranged to engage with the stabilizer to set the stabilizer to the locked state thereby restricting rotation of the stabilizer relative to the vehicle body, and to disengage from the stabilizer to set the stabilizer to the movable state thereby permitting rotation of the stabilizer relative to the vehicle body, and a solenoid fixed to the vehicle body and arranged to drive the coupling pin member into and out of engagement with the stabilizer. When the switching mechanism switches to the locked state, the vehicle can be parked and stored conveniently with the vehicle body standing unassisted.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a saddle riding type vehicle such as a three-wheeled or four-wheeled automotive vehicle including a pair of wheels at least at the front or rear portion of a vehicle body, which can make turns by leaning the vehicle body.
2. Description of the Related Art
A saddle riding type vehicle has heretofore been disclosed that has a pair of wheels located at opposite sides of the vehicle body at the front portion and/or rear portion of the vehicle body, and can make turns by leaning the vehicle body. Further, a saddle riding type vehicle has also been disclosed that has a mechanism for limiting the leaning of the vehicle body, whereby the vehicle body can stand unassisted, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-341577 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-131027.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-341577 discloses a three-wheeled automotive vehicle having one front wheel and two rear wheels. The three-wheeled automotive vehicle has a vehicle body divided into a front vehicle body which supports the front wheel, and a rear vehicle body which supports the pair of rear wheels. The front and rear vehicle bodies are connected to be rotatable relative to each other about an axis extending longitudinally of the vehicle. This three-wheeled automotive vehicle includes a swing lock mechanism for restricting the relative rotation of the front vehicle body and rear vehicle body by using power of a hydraulic disk brake mechanism at a time of braking operation. With this swing lock mechanism, when a braking operation is carried out, the relative rotation of the front vehicle body and rear vehicle body is restricted with predetermined timing, whereby the vehicle body stands unassisted. When no braking operation is carried out, the relative rotation of the front vehicle body and rear vehicle body is permitted, whereby the vehicle body can be leaned.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-131027 discloses a three-wheeled automotive vehicle having one front wheel and two rear wheels. The three-wheeled automotive vehicle has a vehicle body divided into a front vehicle body which supports the front wheel, and a rear vehicle body which supports the pair of rear wheels. The front and rear vehicle bodies are connected to be rotatable relative to each other about an axis extending longitudinally of the vehicle. This three-wheeled automotive vehicle includes a lock mechanism for restricting the relative rotation of the front vehicle body and rear vehicle body by electromagnetic force. The lock mechanism includes an electromagnet formed integral with the front vehicle body, an electromagnetic plate formed integral with the rear vehicle body, and a switch for electrifying the electromagnet. When the electromagnet is electrified by operating the switch, the electromagnet is attracted into contact with the electromagnetic plate, which restricts the relative rotation of the front vehicle body and rear vehicle body, whereby the vehicle body stands unassisted. When the electromagnet is de-electrified by operating the switch, the relative rotation of the front vehicle body and rear vehicle body is permitted, whereby the vehicle body can be leaned.
However, the conventional vehicles with such constructions have the following drawbacks.
The vehicle described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-341577, for example, does not restrict the relative rotation of the front vehicle body and rear vehicle body when no braking operation is carried out by the rider. It is therefore difficult to park or store the vehicle with the vehicle body standing unassisted according to Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-341577.
With the vehicle described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-131027, the frictional force of the electromagnet and electromagnetic plate lowers easily with progress of time, and it is difficult for the lock mechanism to continue restricting the relative rotation of the front vehicle body and rear vehicle body over a relatively long period of time. It is therefore difficult to park or store also the vehicle with the vehicle body standing unassisted according to Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-131027.


Disclosed herein is an insulated panel for facilitating post-tensioning of the insulated panel, in accordance with some embodiments. Accordingly, the insulated panel may include a frame, a first layer, a second layer, a second layer, a third layer, a fourth layer, and a fifth layer. Further, the frame may include a frame-end arranged in an arrangement forming an interior space. Further, the first layer of a building material is disposed in the interior space. Further, the second layer of an insulating material is disposed on the first layer. Further, the third layer of a cable is disposed on the second layer. Further, the fourth layer of the insulating material is disposed on the third layer. Further, the fifth layer of the building material is disposed on the fourth layer. Further, at least one of the first layer and the fifth layer may be cured for producing the insulated panel.

Currently, building practices have not changed much in present society. Most building practices involving panels of cementitious materials are often tensioned with precast steel cables. There has been advancement in such common building practices. Also, with such materials, current building practices often may not produce solid and/or well-insulated walls that are under constant tension.
Therefore, there is a need for improved methods and apparatuses for facilitating producing of an insulated panel that may overcome one or more of the above-mentioned problems and/or limitations.

Methods and apparatuses for facilitating producing of an insulated panel


A MRAM cell including a first tunnel barrier layer between a soft ferromagnetic layer having a free magnetization and a first hard ferromagnetic layer having a first storage magnetization. A second tunnel barrier layer is between the soft ferromagnetic layer and a second hard ferromagnetic layer and has a second storage magnetization. The first storage magnetization is freely orientable at a first high predetermined temperature threshold and the second storage magnetization being freely orientable at a second predetermined high temperature threshold. The first high predetermined temperature threshold is higher than the second predetermined high temperature threshold. The MRAM cell can be used as a ternary content addressable memory (TCAM) and store up to three distinct state levels. The MRAM cell has a reduced size and can be made at low cost.

TCAM (ternary content addressable memory) is an important class of memory device widely used for internet networks. These elements work on matching input data with stored address data. One feature of such elements is that they require storing 3 distinct states 1, 0 and "don't care". Normal implementations of such a device require a very large number of transistors to enable such functions and this leads to extremely large die sizes.
A typical implementation of a static random access memory (SRAM) TCAM cell consists of a ternary storage containing two SRAM cells which combines ten to twelve transistors. It also has comparison logic, which is basically a XNOR gate using four additional pass transistors. Hence very large cells size of fourteen to sixteen transistors, hence a costly device. Conventional TCAM cells are often provided as a two standard SRAM cells with four or more transistors designed to implement the exclusive-OR (EOR) function.
Unlike a RAM chip, which has simple storage cells, each individual memory bit in a fully parallel TCAM has its own associated comparison circuit to detect a match between the stored data bit and the input data bit. TCAM chips are thus considerably smaller in storage capacity than regular memory chips. Additionally, match outputs from each cell in the data word can be combined to yield a complete data word match signal. The associated additional circuitry further increases the physical size of the TCAM chip. Furthermore, CAM and TCAM as it is done today (using SRAM elements) is intrinsically volatile, meaning that the data are lost when the power is turned off. As a result, every comparison circuit needs being active on every clock cycle, resulting in large power dissipation. With a large price tag, high power and intrinsic volatility, TCAM is only used in specialized applications where searching speed cannot be accomplished using a less costly method.
Emerging memory technology and high-speed lookup-intensive applications are demanding ternary content addressable memories with large word sizes, which suffer from lower search speeds due to large cell capacitance.

Magnetic random access memory cell with a dual junction for ternary content addressable memory applications


A friction-wear aluminum part which includes a metal substrate and friction-wear coating applied to at least a portion of the outer surface to said substrate. The coating is a mixture of both aluminum and stainless steel. On a preferred basis, the surface of the substrate is intentionally roughened or grooved to facilitate bonding of the coating thereto. An associated method is also disclosed.

This invention relates to a friction-wear aluminum part and an associated method. More particularly, the invention relates to vehicle parts, such as brake rotors, brake drums, flywheels and the like which have at least a portion of their wear surface coated with a friction-wear coating. On a preferred basis, the brake parts and flywheels themselves are also made of aluminum alloys.
"Light-weighting" of vehicles, such as automobiles, is a process of substituting lighter materials, such as aluminum, for heavier materials, such as steel. Some of the obvious advantages of light-weighting are that fuel economy is improved and that less powerful engines are needed to propel such vehicles.
There are several cast iron or steel parts in a vehicle, including brake rotors, brake drums and flywheels. One light-weighting solution, therefore, would be to substitute a light-weight aluminum brake rotor for its heavier cast iron counterpart. However, attempts to make this substitution have not met with success because aluminum brake rotors tend to scuff and score more easily, thus making it less feasible to replace cast iron versions with aluminum equivalents.
Solutions to the latter problem have been proposed. One such proposal in U.S. Pat. No. 3,069,209 discloses a cast iron liner in a light-weight aluminum part, such as a brake drum. Still another proposed solution, in British Patent Application No. 2,268,511 A, sprays a simulated cast iron coating on a substrate before the coating is surface heat treated.
In order to be effective, any friction-wear coating must have good resistance to wear, good high temperature stability and thermal conductivity, good adhesion to aluminum, good machinability and finally solution potentials and coefficients of thermal expansion close to that of the aluminum substrate onto which the coating will be applied. The casting itself should be inexpensive and the coating cost effective to apply. Coatings with good high temperature stability are needed to resist melting and subsequent brake fade. Good thermal conductivity is also necessary to transfer frictional heat from the outer coating to the aluminum drum or rotor substrate. This coating must also have good adhesion to aluminum and a coefficient of thermal expansion so close to that of aluminum as to prevent bond failure during braking due to thermal shock. The coating solution potential must also be close to that of the aluminum substrate in order to prevent galvanic corrosion there between.
Despite the existence of prior art friction-wear parts and coatings, there still remains a need for automotive brake parts, especially aluminum versions thereof, having a friction-wear coating applied thereto which meet or exceed the above requirements, while at the same time being inexpensive to manufacture and coat.

Method for manufacturing a friction-wear aluminum part


A process for preparing a ferric chelate of an aminopolycarboxylic acid wherein an iron-containing material is reacted with an aminopolycarboxylic acid chelant in the presence of a base, which comprises employing reactants such that the molar ratio of chelant to iron is from about 0.8 to about 0.99, is disclosed. In preferred embodiments the chelate is a ferric ammonium ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid chelate. The inventive chelates show a reduced tendency to form a dark precipitate upon standing. This process is particularly suitable for use in preparing chelates for use in applications such as photographic bleaching. The corresponding ferric chelate composition and products prepared by the described process are also disclosed.

In the photographic industry, the oxidation of metallic silver in photographic images or negatives to silver ion is known as bleaching. A desirable bleaching agent will react rapidly with silver and then react rapidly with air to regenerate the bleaching agent. Ferric compounds have been used for this purpose for decades. The ferric compound in the most widespread use today is ferric ammonium ethylenediaminetetraacetate because of its desirable redox properties and ease of preparation from inexpensive commercial chemicals (ferrosoferric oxide; ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA); and ammonia).
As described by Donovan and Surash (U.S. Pat. No. 3,767,698, published Oct. 23, 1973) and by Svatek, et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,364,871, published Dec. 21, 1982, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,438,040, published Mar. 20, 1984), a ferric ammonium EDTA solution can be prepared by reacting iron oxide with a stoichiometric excess of ammoniated EDTA in an aqueous mixture at temperatures below 100.degree. C. for less than three hours, followed by pH adjustment, aeration, and filtration. A more recent variation of the method, described by Thunberg, et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,110,965, published May 5, 1992), describes the use of ferrous salts to catalyze the reaction between the iron oxide and ammoniated EDTA.
Whereas chelate solutions made by the aforementioned process are useful for photographic bleaching, over time they show a tendency to precipitate fine, black, particulate matter which might be detrimental to the quality of photographs prepared using said solutions and which, in any case, may reduce customer acceptability of the product. It would be desirable, therefore, to produce ferric EDTA solutions, as well as other ferric-aminopolycarboxylic acid chelates, which are more stable against the formation of such dark particulates.

Preparation of ferric aminopolycarboxylate solutions having improved stability


Integrated circuits, such as power amplifier integrated circuits, are disclosed containing compact-footprint, vertically-integrated capacitor-avalanche diode (AD) structures. In embodiments, the integrated circuit includes a semiconductor substrate, a metal layer system, and a vertically-integrated capacitor-AD structure. The metal layer system includes, in turn, a body of dielectric material in which a plurality of patterned metal layers are located. The vertically-integrated capacitor-AD structure includes a first AD formed, at least in part, by patterned portions of the first patterned metal layer. A first metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitor is also formed in the metal layer system and at least partially overlaps with the first AD, as taken along a vertical axis orthogonal to the principal surface of the semiconductor substrate. In certain instances, at least a majority, if not the entirety of the first AD vertically overlaps with the first MIM capacitor, by surface area, as taken along the vertical axis.

PAICs commonly contain multiple ESD protection structures to protect FETs and other devices formed on a semiconductor die and vulnerable to over-voltage damage during an ESD event. By common design, ESD protection structures are realized as ADs formed in a metal layer system produced over a semiconductor substrate, such as APDs formed over a singulated piece of a bulk silicon wafer. Industry demands have urged the continued miniaturization of PAIC-bearing semiconductor dies (herein, "PAIC dies") due, in part, to the development of massive multi-input, multi-output (MIMO) systems and small cell, beam forming cellular technologies reliant upon increased spatial diversity of RF signals; e.g., to signal boost throughput for 5G cellular networks. As the planform dimensions (widths and lengths) of PAIC dies has decreased, while the number of ESD protection structures integrated into many PAIC die topologies has grown, the fraction of the available IC floor space exclusively devoted to accommodating ESD protection structures has also risen. Consequently, ESD protection structures have now become undesirably space-dominant in many current PAIC die topologies, particularly in the case of PAIC die topologies designed for small cell, lower power applications.
For simplicity and clarity of illustration, descriptions and details of well-known features and techniques may be omitted to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the example and non-limiting embodiments of the invention described in the subsequent Detailed Description. It should further be understood that features or elements appearing in the accompanying figures are not necessarily drawn to scale unless otherwise stated. For example, the dimensions of certain elements or regions in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements or regions to improve understanding of embodiments of the invention.

Integrated circuits containing vertically-integrated capacitor-avalanche diode structures


An isocyanate-curing coating material is disclosed which essentially consists of (A) an agent formed of a hydroxyl group-containing polymer having a weight average molecular weight in the range of 1000-20000 and (B) a polyisocyanate compound as a curing agent containing at least three isocyanate groups in the molecular unit thereof and having a weight average molecular weight in the range of 400-3000 and incorporating (A) the agent and (B) the curing agent in such amounts that the isocyanate groups in (B) the curing agent amounts to 0.5-2 equivalent weights per equivalent weight of the hydroxyl group in (A) the agent. A method for spray coating the isocyanate-curing coating material is also disclosed which comprises the steps of mixing (A) the agent with (B) the curing agent in a coating device, heating the resultant mixture therein to a temperature in the range of 35-80.degree. C., and spraying the hot mixture directly on a given object with the coating device.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an isocyanate-curing coating composition suitable for uses in automobile repair, coating of plastics, wood, building materials, and the like and a method for the application thereof. More particularly, this invention relates to a low-temperature grade isocyanate-curing coating material which excels in mechanical properties, physical properties such as weatherability and coating and finishing properties, and chemical properties and a method for the application of the coating material. The coating material of this invention, emits little organic solvent while being applied to a surface.
2. Prior Art Statement
The polyisocyanate-curing two-component urethane coating material is widely used as a low-temperature curing coating material with excellent coating properties. From the point of ensurounmental protection, however, it is important to decrease in the amount of organic solvent emitted from such coating materials during application a surface. This has led to the establishment of regulations such as Rule 66 in the United States of America, TA-LUFT in Germany, and prefectural ordinances in Osaka, Japan.
Since the two-component urethane coating materials comes under these regulations, so-called high-solid urethane coating materials are being developed which are high in solid components and emit little organic solvent during application. As a means to produce such coating materials conforming to these regulations, methods of reducing the molecular weights of hydroxyl group-containing polymers, isocyanate compounds, etc. have been tested.
Since these methods are merely aimed at reducing the molecular weights of existing polymers, the films formed of the coating materials produced by these methods are markedly poorer in such coating properties as mechanical property and weatherability than the films formed of the conventional coating materials. Among the methods for producing coating materials that achieve the object mentioned above is a method which comprises adding an organic solvent to a hydroxyl group-containing polymer and an isocyanate compound. Concerning this method, the feasibility of attaining a high-solid composition by adding a compound containing two or three hydroxyl groups in the molecular unit and having a molecular weight of several hundreds as a reactive diluent instead of adding the organic solvent has been also studied. The films formed of the compositions produced by these methods, however, are extremely inferior in such coating properties as mechanical property and weatherability to the films formed of the conventional coating materials and, therefore, are not practicable.
A known method of decreasing the amount of an organic solvent emitted from a coating material during its application to a surface is to lower the degree of dilution of the coating material with the solvent in preparation for the application to a surface. By this method, the coating material is diluted with an organic solvent to the optimum viscosity prior to the application and is then put to use. Specifically, this method consists in decreasing the amount of the diluting solvent to such an extent as to lower the viscosity in coating from the standard level of 5-25 seconds (the time required for a drop of the diluted coating material to fall from Ford Cup No. 4) to above 30 seconds. This is the easiest way of accomplishing a high-solid composition and cannot impair the coating properties because it does not alter the composition of solid components. Since the coating material of this method has high viscosity, however, it does not produce the perfect appearance sought in such applications as automobile repair and coating of plastics, wood and building materials for which the two-component urethane coating materials are widely used.
A high-solid two-component urethane coating material which is fully practicable remains yet to be developed.
The present inventors conducted a study with a view to developing a high-solid isocyanate-curing coating material which does not experience degradation of coating properties, such as mechanical properties, weatherability and the coat finishing property. As a result, they learned that an isocyanate-curing coating material experiences a peculiar phenomenon of abruptly falling in viscosity when its temperature thereof rises beyond 35.degree. C. This invention was accomplished as a result.

Isocyanate-curing coating material and method for application thereof


The object is to provide a technology capable of efficiently injecting a current into a core layer of a buried waveguide. On one end side of the substrate, a buried waveguide including a core layer, a cladding layer, and a current blocking layer is disposed, both sides of the core layer in a layer-stacking direction are sandwiched by the cladding layer, and both sides of the core layer in a width direction that is perpendicular to the layer-stacking direction are sandwiched by the current blocking layer. On another end side of the substrate, a ridge waveguide including the core layer and the cladding layer is disposed, and both sides of the core layer in the layer-stacking direction are sandwiched by the cladding layer.

In optical devices such as a semiconductor laser and an optical modulator, the structure of the device and the characteristics of the device are interrelated. For example, as the structures of optical devices, a buried waveguide, a ridge waveguide, and a deep ridge waveguide are known. The buried waveguide has a cross-sectional structure in which a core layer that propagates light, i.e., a core layer that guides light, is surrounded by cladding layers. The buried waveguide is more efficient in injecting a current into the core layer than a ridge waveguide, thus having characteristics suitable for low power-consumption operation. The ridge waveguide has a cross-sectional structure obtained in the following manner; that is, with a substrate lying on the bottom, a cross-sectional shape of a cladding layer on top of a core layer is patterned to have a ridge shape without patterning the core layer. The ridge waveguide has characteristics suitable for operation over a long time. The deep ridge waveguide has a large occupying proportion of a core layer with respect to the dimensions of the mode of guided light, thus having characteristics capable of modulating light with low power consumption as compared to other cross-sectional structures.
Incidentally, in an optical integrated element in which a plurality of functional elements such as a semiconductor laser and an optical modulator are integrated into one element, waveguides each having a different cross-sectional structure, such as a ridge structure that is a cross-sectional structure of a ridge waveguide and a buried structure that is a cross-sectional structure of a buried waveguide, may be integrated in order to satisfy requirements of each of the functional elements. In addition, the configuration in which waveguides each having a different cross-sectional structure are coupled to each other requires small loss of optical output.
However, when waveguides each having a different cross-sectional structure are simply coupled, reflection and radiation of light occur at the coupling portion between the waveguides because the shapes of the modes of light guided in the waveguides having their respective cross-sectional structures differ from each other. This results in increasing loss of optical output.
As a countermeasure, technology capable of reducing the above-mentioned loss of optical output has been reported. This technology is achieved by gradually changing one cross-sectional structure to another cross-sectional structure in a direction from one cross-sectional structure toward another cross-sectional structure at a portion to couple waveguides each having a different cross-sectional structure.
For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a cross-sectional structure for converting the shape of the mode of light including a ridge structure and a buried structure. Specifically, Patent Document 1 discloses technology in which the width and the thickness of an InP burying/cladding layer of a ridge structure are formed into a tapered shape, and the width and the thickness of an InP first cladding layer and an InGaAsP guiding layer of a buried structure are also formed into a tapered shape. According to such technology, one cross-sectional structure is gradually changed to be another cross-sectional structure in a direction from one cross-sectional structure toward another cross-sectional structure, and thus loss in converting the mode of light is reduced.

Semiconductor optical waveguide and optical integrated element


An airbag apparatus includes a cylindrical-shaped inflator that generates gas, an airbag that is inflated by the gas generated by the inflator, a retainer body to which the inflator is attached and fixed and including an insertion hole into which the inflator can be inserted, a flange member that is caulked or press-fitted to the inflator and that constrains the inflator from moving toward one end side in an axial direction and includes an insertion hole into which the inflator can be inserted and a flange surface extending outward in a radial direction, and a retaining member that constrains the inflator from moving toward another end side in the axial direction. The inflator is attached and fixed to the retainer body by bolting the retainer body and the flange member.

Conventionally, there is known an airbag apparatus including an inflator that has an attachment/fixing flange member caulked or press-fitted thereto (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The airbag apparatus includes a cylindrical inflator that generates gas, an airbag that is inflated by the gas generated by the inflator, a flange member that has a flange surface radially extending outward from a side surface of the inflator, and a retainer having an insertion hole that allows the inflator to be inserted therein and serving as a base member to which the inflator is attached and fixed. The inflator is attached and fixed to the retainer by inserting bolts into a through-hole provided at a peripheral part of an opening of the airbag, a through-hole provided in the flange surface of the flange member, and a through-hole provided in the retainer and fastening nuts to the bolts.


A method and system for processing user defined operations on collected network data is provided. Monitors collect data from network devices and store the collected data in a database. The monitors collect data relating to the user defined operation. After the data is collected, the user defined operation is performed on the collected data. The user may then view the result.

There are a number of different applications that allow a user to collect, view, and use data from network devices and applications. This data may be used for many different purposes. For example, the data may be used to enforce policy decisions regarding network traffic and the like. The data received by the user is predefined by the application and/or device providing the data. This data may then be manipulated by a device or program external to the network device or program. These programs may allow the user to make certain decisions, but not others.
As E-commerce among business-to-business and consumer applications continues to expand, companies require precise monitoring tools, along with a forecasting mechanism to assist in capacity planning. Network management tools can help a user spot potential problems before they occur, then visualize the future steps needed to keep E-commerce sites performing as they should.
Some networking tools provide administration, monitoring and trended analysis for Internet traffic management based on various metrics. The networking tools help to allow businesses, to monitor server traffic, while providing forecasting tools to assist in traffic analysis and network planning. System administrators can perform capacity planning exercises to forecast when their infrastructure will require upgrades. Additionally, some of the networking tools monitor current performance, as well as provide an analysis package to review past operations, and help predict future functionality. For an E-commerce site, these networking tools may help administrators decide when and how to upgrade their infrastructure to meet increasing user demand, so that a potential customer need never be turned away because the site couldn't handle the traffic.
The continued growth of E-commerce applications presents challenges to both business and IT managers. E-commerce applications are not only growing at a phenomenal pace, they are becoming more strategic to an organizations' operation. Inadequate server capacity, scalability, persistence, and fault-tolerant reliability may cause problems for many companies. Overcoming these problems helps to avoid the costs associated with an unreachable site.