A method of inhibiting proteolytic degradation of a thermally-stable intracellular protein is described. The method involves adding 1 or more denaturing agents to a sample which contains the protease and the protein of interest and heating the resulting solution at a temperature and for period of time sufficient to denature the protease. The method optionally includes a step for lysing the cell if the protein of interest is contained in a cell in order to release said protein. Additionally, a method of determining Mx protein induced by interferon in a blood sample is described. The method involves adding to a blood sample a lysing agent, a denaturing agent, and a detergent selected to solubilize Mx protein. The sample containing Mx protein is then heated at a temperature of from about 50.degree. C. to about 60.degree. C. for a period of time of from about 1 minute to about 30 minutes, and the Mx protein in the solution then is determined. Also described is a solution including a synthetic matrix mimicking whole blood cell lysates, or actual whole blood cell lysates, to which a known concentration of a thermally-stable intracellular protein is added to prepare a control material. In addition, a solution free of a protease that degrades the intracellular protein is disclosed, such solution remaining stable at 4.degree. C. for at least three weeks.

Proteolytic degradation is a naturally occurring process in all biological kingdoms. Proteolytic degradation also complicates scientific investigation if one wants to examine the undegraded level of proteins. Determination of intracellular protein or membrane proteins is particularly complicated by proteolytic degradation, as the cell lysing process also releases proteases. A variety of protease inhibitors exist for inhibition of proteolytic degradation, and such conventional inhibitors are known to those of ordinary skill in the art. However, when the effectiveness of known protease inhibitors is not sufficient to halt the proteolytic degradation of a protein of interest, or addition of these inhibitors only accelerated proteolytic degradation, one would have to find an alternative way to arrest this problem.
An example of the type of investigation that is complicated by proteolytic degradation is the accurate determination of protein in biological fluid. Such protein determination may also be useful to assess the clinical relevance of therapy via determination of the protein specifically induced by the species of interest.
For example, it is important to evaluate the clinical efficacy of interferon therapy, which is both costly and increasingly popular in the treatment of such conditions as hemangiomas in children, genetically predisposed multiple sclerosis, autoimmune diseases, certain types of cancer, and AIDS. Assaying the circulating level of interferon is technically difficult. However, by assaying an intracellular protein called Mx protein induced specifically by interferon, the efficacy of interferon therapy may be assessed. In a paper entitled, "A Whole Blood Immunoassay for the Interferon-Inducible Human Mx Protein", by Towbin, et al., Journal of Interferon Research, 12, 67 (1992), the authors describe an assay procedure for Mx protein in whole blood cell lysates using an enzyme immunoassay.
Although strides in interferon research in general and Mx protein investigation in particular have been made, it remains a goal to determine the uncompromised level of Mx protein by minimizing proteolytic degradation of Mx protein in evaluating the new application of interferon therapy.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method of inhibiting proteolytic degradation of an intracellular protein, i.e., Mx protein in cell lysates. It is still another object of the invention to provide an artificial matrix solution whereby an intracellular protein can be kept stable against proteolytic degradation at a temperature at or below 4.degree. C. for at least three weeks.

Inhibition of protease activity of human whole blood cell lysates


An element body has first and second faces opposed to each other. A first conductor has one end exposed in a first face and the other end located in the element body. The second conductor has one end exposed in a second face and the other end located in the element body. The element body has a first element body section having the nonlinear voltage-current characteristics and a second element body section in which an electric current is more likely to flow than in the first element body section. The first element body section is located at least in part between the first conductor and the second conductor, in a direction in which the first conductor and the second conductor are separated from each other. The other end of the first conductor and the other end of the second conductor are located in the second element body section.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a chip varistor.
2. Related Background Art
One of known chip varistors is a multilayer chip varistor provided with a varistor element body and a plurality of terminal electrodes arranged at ends of the varistor element body (e.g., cf. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2002-246207). The varistor element body has a varistor layer and a plurality of internal electrodes arranged in contact with the varistor layer so as to interpose the varistor layer between them. The plurality of terminal electrodes are connected to the respective corresponding internal electrodes. In the multilayer chip varistor, a region between the internal electrodes in the varistor layer functions as a region to exhibit the nonlinear voltage-current characteristics (hereinafter also referred to as "varistor characteristics").


A system, method and computer program products for prioritizing the stacking order of virtualized objects within a z-index of an augmented reality system by presenting the most valuable, relevant or important information more prominently. Prioritization of the virtualized object may occur dynamically, as a function of the user's primary focus. As the user's primary focus changes from one physical object to another, the stacking order may change in response to the shift in focus. Embodiments may use one or more techniques to identify the primary focus such as the direction of the user's gaze, the focal point of one or more visual recording systems (i.e. cameras) or the user may manually highlight one or more objects via the HUD or interface of the augmented display system. The disclosed embodiments allow for the more predominate or relevant virtualized objects within the augmented display to receive priority, unobscured viewing by the user.

Augmented reality (AR) is a live direct or indirect view of a physical real-world environment whose elements of the physical world are modified with computer generated sound, video or graphics when displayed through a computing system. AR is related to the concept of computer-mediated reality, in which a view of reality is modified by a computer. Augmented reality enhances one's current perception of reality, whereas in contrast, virtual reality replaces the real world with a simulated one. Augmentation techniques are typically performed in real time and in semantic context with environmental elements, such as overlaying supplemental information over a live video feed.
With the help of advanced AR technology (e.g. adding computer vision and object recognition) the information about the surrounding real world of the user becomes interactive and digitally manipulatable. Information about the environment and its objects are overlaid onto views and images of the real world. This information can be virtual or real. For example, seeing other real sensed or measured information such as electromagnetic radio waves overlaid in exact alignment with where they are in space.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Augmented reality z-stack prioritization


An inter-vehicle communication control system, inter-vehicle communication control method, an on-vehicle communication system and a communication state display, usable in an inter-vehicle communication control system, and on-vehicle communication and communication state display methods that enable on-vehicle communication devices to perform inter-vehicle communication, to reduce or prevent collision or intervention with other inter-vehicle communication or road-vehicle communication.

1. Field of the Invention
Example embodiments of the present invention relate to inter-vehicle communication control between two or more vehicles. Example embodiments of the present invention also relate to inter-vehicle communication control systems, inter-vehicle communication control methods, on-vehicle communication systems and communication state displays usable in an inter-vehicle communication control system, and on-vehicle communication and communication state display methods.
2. Description of Related Art
JP-A-2002-74577 describes an inter-vehicle communication system for performing inter-vehicle communication between a first on-vehicle communication device, mounted on a first vehicle, and a second on-vehicle communication device, mounted on a second vehicle. The inter-vehicle communication system disclosed in JP-A-2002-74577 does not reduce or prevent collision or intervention between the first and second vehicle and other inter-vehicle communication between other vehicles or other road-vehicle communication between the vehicle and a roadside device. Therefore, the inter-vehicle communication system disclosed in JP-A-2002-74577 also does not monitor the other inter-vehicle communications or the road-vehicle communications and select communication media or communication channels.

Inter-vehicle communication system and method


A valve pin actuator for a valve-gated injection molding system. The actuator has an annular piston mounted in and movable back and forth along an annular bore along a pin axis. The piston extends radially outwardly of any melt passages fluidly communicating with an injection molding nozzle. A tie bar extends substantially diametrically across the piston for securing an upper end of a valve pin extending into the injection molding nozzle to cause the valve pin to move axially with the piston thereby moving the valve pin between open and shut positions.

Injection molding nozzles which utilize a concentric pin or rod (a "valve pin") to shut off melt flow require an actuator to move the pin axially back and forth along a pin axis to open and close the melt nozzle. This can be problematic in single cavity molds where the melt inlet is generally opposite the outlet end of the nozzle. In such an arrangement, it is necessary to actuate the valve pin while diverting melt flow around the valve pin.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,729,733 (Schmidt) is illustrative of a prior art solution addressing the above problem. The Schmidt arrangement divides melt flow from a central inlet into two branches which extend around a centrally mounted hydraulic actuator and recombine below the actuator.
The Schmidt arrangement has numerous shortcomings. Firstly, the limited amount of space available restricts piston size requiring the use of a hydraulic actuator which is undesirable because of the possibility of hydraulic fluid leaking past the valve pin, thereby contaminating the melt.
Secondly, because of the proximity of the actuator to the branches (which act as a conduit for hot melt) and the inability to provide adequate cooling in the hot, restricted location, seal wear is problematic.
Additionally, the height of the Schmidt arrangement makes it undesirable for stack molds, particularly multi-level stack molds.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a valve pin actuator which is not restricted to a size which will fit within the centralized location required by the Schmidt arrangement.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a valve pin actuator having a piston size large enough to allow the use of pneumatic actuation.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a valve pin actuator having a piston, the location of which is not surrounded by hot melt, thereby avoiding heat damage to any seals.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a valve pin actuator having a relatively low height to enable its use in stack mold arrangements.


A telemetry and communication system and method for communication between a well production system and a well assist system. The system may comprise a well production system, which may comprise a telemetry sensor disposed in a production well below a highly conductive layer and a transmitter. The system may further comprise a well assist system comprising a sensor which is operable to receive information from the transmitter. A method for providing telemetry and communication may comprise determining a location of a well assist system for a well production system, deploying the well assist system to the location, disposing a sensor from the well assist system below a highly conductive layer, and receiving information with the sensor, the information being transmitted from a transmitter of the well production system disposed below the highly conductive layer.

Wellbores drilled into subterranean formations may enable recovery of desirable fluids (e.g., hydrocarbons) using a number of different techniques. During operation, any number of different bottom hole assemblies may be utilized to recover desirable fluids. Without limitation, logging while drilling (LWD) tools, measurement while drilling (MWD) tools, electromagnetic induction tools, and/or telemetry tools may be implemented during downhole operations. During production, telemetry sensors in the production well may communicate wirelessly with a well production system. However, conductive layers within a formation may prevent electromagnetic fields, emitted by telemetry sensors within the production well for communication with the well production system. This may prevent an operator from obtaining information regarding wellbore parameters and down hole reservoir information such as fluid flow rate, temperature, pressure, resistivity, and/or the like.
In deviated wells that may stretch for miles, it may be too expensive to run communication cables from sensors in the deviated well to the well production system. Cables may inhibit flow of fluids through wellbores and may be prone to breaking. Damaged and/or broken cables may be expensive to recover and re-run.

Deviated production well telemetry with assisting well/drillship


Daunorubicin (“DNR”) compounds synthesized with uncommon sugars exhibit enhanced effectiveness in treating various drug-resistant cancers.

Anthracyclines are considered as one of the most effective anticancer drugs ever developed, either used as single agents or in combination therapy. Since the first isolation of doxorubicin (DOX) and daunorubicin (DNR) from the Streptomycin paucities in the 1960s, thousands of analogs have been reported. However, only a few of them have earned clinical approval, including Idarubicin (IDA, Zavedos®), Epirubicin (EPI, Farmorubicin®), Aclarubicin, Pirarubicin (Theprubicin®), and Valrubicin (Valstar®).
These drugs are natural or semi-synthetic products with similar structures and sugar moieties. For instance, DOX and DNR share the same carbon skeleton, which contains a fused tetracyclic ring and a carbohydrate motif (daunosamine). The only difference between DOX and DNR is the side chain at C14, where DNR carries a methyl group and DOX bears a primary alcohol. Although all of these anthracyclines contain similar structures, their therapeutic applications are very different. For instance, daunorubicin and idarubicin are primarily used in leukemia and lymphoma, whereas doxorubicin and epirubicin have broader anticancer activities against leukemia, lymphomas, and a variety of solid tumors including breast cancer, small cell lung cancer, cervical cancer, as well as head and neck cancer.
Although anthracyclines are widely used clinically in cancer therapy, drug resistance and cardiotoxicity limit their clinical application.
Although many mechanisms have been considered for the anticancer activity of anthracyclines, mammalian topoisomerases (specifically Top1 & Top2) are considered to be the primary molecular targets. Top1 & Top2 are ubiquitous enzymes that manage the topology of DNA during DNA replication, transcription, recombination, and chromatin remodeling. Mammalian Top1 is a single subunit enzyme that remains attached to the DNA by a tyrosyl linkage to a 3′ phosphate during the DNA strand-passing step of the reaction. In contrast, mammalian Top2 is a two subunit enzyme that introduces a transient, staggered dsDNA break into a DNA duplex, and passes another dsDNA through the break. The two subunits of Top2 are covalently attached to the DNA by tyrosyl linkages to 5′ phosphates during the strand-passing event.
Anthracyclines are generally believed to be Top2 poisons. Some reports have demonstrated that some anthracyclines also target Top 1.
Drug resistance of anthracyclines in cancer therapy is generally considered to be mediated by P-gp that is encoded by multidrug resistant gene (MDR1). P-gp is over-expressed in many drug-resistant cancer cells to actively export anthracyclines out of cancer cells, reduce intracellular drug concentration, and thus induce drug resistance in leukemia and solid tumors. Modification of the structure of anthracycline has demonstrated some success in overcoming drug resistance.

Multidrug resistant anticancer anthracyclines

The Ohio State University Research Foundation


A filter assembly including a primary flow passageway having at least one filter deployed therein and a secondary flow passageway having a bypass filter deployed therein is provided. The filter assembly further includes a bypass valve assembly configured to selectively open and close the secondary flow passageway when a fluid pressure is respectively above and below an adjustable, predetermined threshold value. Exemplary embodiments of this invention may be coupled to a drill string and advantageously utilized to filter drilling fluid downhole. Such embodiments tend to advantageously improve the filtering efficiency and safety of drilling operations.

The use of drilling fluids for the drilling of subterranean boreholes is well known. The drilling fluid serves numerous purposes, including, for example, suppression of formation pressure, lubrication of the drill string, flushing drill cuttings away from the drill bit, cooling of the bottom hole assembly, driving turbines that provide power for various downhole tools, and powering downhole progressive cavity motors. In use drilling fluids are typically pumped down through the tubular drill string to the drill bit and circulate back to the surface in the annular region between the drill string and the borehole wall. The circulating drilling fluid typically carries drill cuttings, metal shavings, and other debris to the surface. Large particles, having a size that may damage sensitive downhole tools, such as various measurement while drilling (MWD) or logging while drilling (LWD) tools, or plug drill bit jets are desirably removed from the drilling fluid before recycling back into the borehole.
Various surface filtering techniques are well known in the industry for removing drill cuttings and other debris from the drilling fluid. For example, shaker tables are commonly used to screen out relatively large particles (e.g., having a diameter greater than ⅛ inch). Centrifugal tools, such as desanders and desilters are also commonly used to remove abrasive solids prior to recycling the drilling fluid back into the borehole. However, it is not uncommon for such surface filtering techniques to fail, resulting in large drill cuttings and debris being pumped downhole. Additionally, various "foreign objects", such as tools, rags, gravel, chunks of plastic from thread protectors, and the like are sometimes introduced into the drilling fluid through human error and inadvertently pumped downhole.
As a redundant measure, pipe screens are commonly used on the topmost section of drill string with the intention of preventing large particles and debris from being pumped downhole. While such pipe screens have been successfully utilized and are commercially available, they are nevertheless prone to failure in that operator intervention is required to remove, clean, and reposition the screen each time a new length of drill string is added. Furthermore, damaging scale and/or cement particles often originate from locations within the drill string. Scale particulate may result, for example, from corrosion of the drill string components or various mineral deposits, while cement particles are sometimes deposited on the interior of the drill string during cementing operations. Such particles are sometimes freed during drilling operations and are a known source of blockage or damage to downhole tools.
In an attempt to overcome such difficulties, retrievable downhole filtering tools are known, for example, those disclosed by Beimgraben in U.S. Pat. No. 4,495,073, Taylor in U.S. Pat. No. 6,296,055, and Mashburn in U.S. Pat. No. 6,598,685. Such retrievable filtering tools are intended to be periodically removed from the drill string and cleaned (e.g., when the pressure at the mud pump reaches some predetermined threshold). While such prior art filtering tools may, in certain applications, remove damaging particles from the drilling fluid, their retrieval from the drill string is often problematic. For example, in certain drilling applications, it may be advantageous for various sections of the drill string to include a reduced inner diameter. However, such a reduced inner diameter may render it impossible to retrieve the filtering tools. Furthermore, in deep well applications (e.g., at measured depths greater than 10,000 feet), it is sometimes difficult to generate the impact required to dislodge the filtering tool from the drill string (e.g., to shear one or more shear pins). In such instances it is often necessary to remove at least a portion of the drill string from the borehole (at significant expense and time loss) in order to retrieve the filtering tool. Moreover, the act of retrieving such retrievable filtering tools has been known to cause debris to be freed or dumped in the drill string.
Therefore, there exists a need for an improved downhole filtering tool for filtering a drilling fluid. In particular there exists a need for a downhole filtering tool that does not generally require retrieval from the drill string.

Filter assembly having a bypass passageway and method


An oxalic acid vaporizer has a modular configuration, having a dispensing module and a manually detachable heating module. This modular configuration allows the first heating module to be easily separated from the dispensing module and a substitute heating module attached to the dispensing module, thereby allowing for a very fast replacement of the heating module in the event there is a failure or overheating in the first heating module. The substitute heating module may be a duplicate of the first heating module or the substitute heating module may have a more powerful fan, be capable of greater heat, or it may be of the type having a proportional-integral-derivative controller for controlling temperature. The modular configuration provides for a continuous oxalic acid gas treatment of bee hives by allowing an operator to change out heating modules in a matter of seconds.

Varroa mites have been blamed for "colony collapse disorder" which has caused the decimation of honey bee hives around the world. Upon infiltrating a bee colony, Varroa mites (or simply "bee mites") feed off the bodily fluids of adult, pupal and larval honey bees, and spread diseases they carry.
One widely utilized treatment for killing bee mites is to apply oxalic acid to the hive when the hive is broodless. If applied correctly, oxalic acid provides an effective solution to the bee mite problem. However, although oxalic acid is deadly to the mites if applied correctly, it is often applied in quantities and/or intervals too low to be effective, or so high that it harms the bees as well as the mites.
A variety of ways have been utilized to apply oxalic acid to bee hives, including trickling oxalic acid syrup into the spaces between the frames, spraying liquid oxalic acid or heating oxalic acid crystals and applying the vapor to the hives. This last method, if done correctly, can be highly effective in treating bee mites. However, the vaporizing process can be labor intensive and interruptions in the vaporizing process can result in ineffective treatments.

Apparatus and method for vaporizing oxalic acid crystals to generate oxalic acid gas to treat bee mites


The present invention relates to a method of reducing complexity in a decoder which uses trellis decoding that can easily reduce the complexity of the decoder as much as required by reducing the paths itself using the statistics of path metric values and the reliability of the received signal. The method comprises first step of determining the reliability of bits received at the current level after initializing the level of the trellis and a flag, second step of determining the paths to be taken into account according to the reliability of received bits and computing and storing information about the determined paths and third step of obtaining the statistics of path metric values and a reference path metric by utilizing the determined path information at the current level, reducing the number of paths, and moving to the next level when total number of paths is larger than the number of maximum paths to be maintained.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of reducing complexity in a trellis decoder which uses trellis decoding that can easily reduce the complexity of the decoder as much as required by reducing the paths itself using the statistics of path metric values and the reliability of the received signal.
2. Art Background
In decoding schemes which use the trellis decoding such as Viterbi decoding, as the complexity of the trellis increases the performance of the decoder increases, but computational complexity of the decoder also increases.
Many studies have revealed that in these schemes almost the same performance can be obtained as the maximum likelihood decoder even though less paths are taken into account than the number of paths which are required in the maximum likelihood decoder.
In these schemes the best A paths are chosen out of total S paths. It takes lot of time, however, to carry out the algorithm of choosing A paths if S gets large. Thus, they may become less effective algorithm than the maximum likelihood decoding scheme.
Prior schemes of reducing complexity are to select a part of paths that exist in the trellis of the code. Reliability of the received bits is usually used to select the part of paths. Alternatively they select arbitrary number of paths having a good path metric value. But no prominent method has been suggested for selecting the part of paths.
Method of sorting values like path metric values has been generally used in the prior schemes. However, as the number of paths to be selected increases, it takes lot of time to carry out the sorting algorithm itself, so it is meaningless to reduce the complexity.
Thus, in the trellis decoding algorithm new scheme is essentially required which can reduce the complexity of the decoder without increase of amount of computations and which can reduce decoding time by setting aside paths almost without chance of being selected, using the statistics of path metric values and the reliability of the received signal.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a method of easily reducing, as much as required, the complexity of a decoder which utilizes trellis decoding without increasing the amount of computations. This is accomplished by reducing the number of paths using the reliability information of the received signal and the statistics (the mean and the standard deviation) of path metric values in a trellis decoder.
The method according to the present invention to achieve the above-mentioned purpose can be applied to a decoder using trellis decoding for reducing complexity and comprises a first step of determining the reliability of bits received at the current level (time stage) after initializing the level of the trellis and a flag, a second step of determining the paths to be taken into account according to the reliability of received bits and computing and storing information about the determined paths, and a third step of obtaining the statistics of path metric value a reference path metric. The third step is performed by utilizing the determined path information at the current level, reducing the number of paths, and moving to the next level when the total number of paths is larger than the maximum number of paths to be maintained.

Method of reducing complexity using statistics of path metrics in a trellis decoder

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


Described are polymerizable materials (e.g., compounds, prepolymers, and compositions thereof) useful in curable compositions such as anaerobically curable compositions, the compositions including adhesives, sealants, paints, coatings, and the like, as well as methods of making the polymerizable materials and using the polymerizable materials and curable compositions.

The chemical arts are replete with different types of reactive chemistries for curing chemical compositions such as adhesives, paints, coatings, sealants, and molded articles. One example of a specific reaction mechanism is free-radical polymerization for curing a polymerizable compositions. Polymerizable systems capable of curing by free-radical polymerization (including acrylate systems) are very well known and used for a great variety of adhesives, plastics, sealants, coatings, and the like.
Anaerobically curable systems are a subset of free-radically curable chemical systems and compositions. Anaerobic adhesive and sealant compositions are well-known. See e.g., R. D. Rich, "Anaerobic Adhesives" in Handbook of Adhesive Technology, 29, 467-79, A. Pizzi and K. L. Mittal, eds., Marcel Dekker, Inc., New York (1994), and references cited therein. Such adhesives are useful over a broad range of applications, such as for a curable thread-lock adhesive, e.g., for securing nut and bolt assemblies to prevent loosening of the assembly during use. Many conventional anaerobic adhesives include a free-radically polymerizable acrylate ester monomer together with a peroxy initiator and an inhibitor component. Oftentimes, such anaerobic adhesive compositions also contain an accelerator component to increase the speed with which the composition cures, a stabilizer, plasticizer, and other ingredients.
As is always true, the chemical and commercial chemical arts are in constant pursuit of new chemistries that can be adapted to new or old uses and products. The chemical industries are in continual search for new, useful, improved, or advantageous chemically curable systems having desired properties in an uncured state and in a cured state. In the area of free-radically polymerizable chemical systems, e.g., anaerobically curable systems, new systems are always desirable, especially if a new system includes cured or uncured properties that are different from or improved relative to previous options.

Polymerizable materials, anaerobically curable compositions, and related methods and products


Methods and systems for initializing test environments comprising receiving input defining a plurality of parameters which are used to identify template configuration information which comprises static configuration information and instances of environment variables. A copy of the template configuration information is created and updated based on one or more of the parameters. The updated information is saved as an environment configuration descriptor that defines one or more services required for the test environment. The descriptor is then used to initialize test environment.

The developments described in this section are known to the inventors. However, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the developments described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section, or that those developments are known to a person of ordinary skill in the art.
Distributed computer software products involve multiple applications running on multiple computer processing systems. For example, a simple client-server product involves a client application to be run on a client machine and a web/application server running on a server machine.
More complex software products can require even more applications. As one example, consider the Jira software product commercially available from Atlassian. Running Jira requires a Jira server (or multiple Jira servers if running in a clustered configuration), a database, a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) engine, and a client-side application (e.g. a web browser). To provide flexibility, Jira supports/can be configured to work with a number of different databases (including, for example, Oracle, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Microsoft SQL Server), a number of different LDAP engines (including, for example, Microsoft Active Directory, Apache Directory Server, Apple Open Directory, FedoraDS), and a number of different client-side web browsers (including, for example, Chrome, Safari, Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari). Overlaying this, several versions of Jira may be in use/supported at any given time. For example, at the time of filing this application, versions 7.7, 7.3, 7.4, 7.5, 7.6, 7.7 and 7.8 of Jira are supported.
As the complexity of a software product increases, so too does the complexity of properly testing new developments before releasing them.
Returning to the Jira example, consider a developer who has developed a new feature (either to the core Jira software product or an add-on/plug-in/integration that is intended to work with Jira) or bug-fix. Depending on the nature of the feature/fix, thorough testing could potentially involve testing the feature for all combinations of Jira version/database/LDAP engine/web browser. For example, a feature that is stable for Jira version 7.7 running on MySQL will not necessarily mean the same feature is stable for Jira 7.7 running Oracle.
In order to test software products such as Jira, test environments are typically set up using virtualization or containerization tools. Properly setting up even a single test environment can, however, be a difficult and time consuming task—let alone setting up multiple test environments to account (for example) for software product variations.

Systems and methods for initializing test environments


In large electrical machines, the electrical connection between the excitation supply line (7, 8), which runs axially, centrally in the rotor, and the excitation winding conductors (4) in the winding overhang (3) of the rotor is highly stressed electrically and mechanically. It must therefore be forced-cooled. Effective cooling can be achieved if a portion of the cooling gas from the cold gas chambers is guided through special radial shaft holes (20) to the shaft axis and then radially outwards through or along the excitation supply line bolt (13) into the hot gas space (H) in the rotor winding overhang space.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a rotor of a gas-cooled electrical machine, especially a turbogenerator, having an excitation winding arranged in longitudinal slots on the outer circumference of the rotor body, having an excitation current supply line for connection of the excitation line, which runs centrally in the rotor in an axial shaft hole, to the excitation winding conductors in the winding overhang of the rotor, having a forced-cooled excitation supply line bolt, which is arranged in a first radial shaft hole and is electrically and mecanically connected at its inner end to the excitation line, and at its outer end, outside the rotor shaft, via connecting conductors to the conductors of the rotor winding overhang, which rotor has a rotor cap to support the winding overhang of the rotor, the rotor winding overhang space being split underneath the rotor cap by separating walls, which run essentially axially, into cold and hot gas chambers, through which cooling gas, conveyed by a fan, flows.
In this case, the invention makes reference to a prior art, as results, for example, from CH-PS 586,966.
2. Discussion of Background
In turbogenerators, the excitation lines are normally guided on the rotor to the rotor winding in a central shaft hole. The conductors in the shaft hole are generally solid and insulated all round. The connection from these centrally guided solid conductors to the rotor winding is produced via current supply line bolts which are screwed radially into the solid conductors. Such a bolt is, for example, the subject matter of the CH Patent Specification 586,966. In addition to bolts consisting of copper or of a copper alloy, bolts consisting of high-tensile steel are used in more recent designs, which must then be forced-cooled.
The bolt is located in a shaft section which is subject to extremely high stresses because of the shaft bending as a result of the intrinsic weight of the rotor and unbalanced forces. The rotor shaft is weakened by a (radial) hole in this shaft section. In the most unfavorable case, cracks can form in the region of the bolt hole, which may lead to damage.

Rotor of an electrical machine having an excitation current supply line


An electrode, electrochemical cell, and electrochemical processes are disclosed. The electrode is a porous, multi-layered electrode which can have an element in flexible, strip form wound around a central, usually flat plate core, which core may serve as a current distributor. In any form, each layer can be represented by a very thin, highly flexible metal mesh. This can be a fine, as opposed to a coarse, mesh which has extremely thin strands and small voids. The electrode will have an active coating. For utilizing this electrode, the cell in one form will be a monopolar cell providing upward, parallel electrolyte flow through the porous, multi-layered electrode. A representative cell can have such electrode at least substantially filling an electrode chamber. The cells can be contained in a cell box that will provide the desired flow-through relationship for the electrolyte to the electrode. In cell operation, electrochemical processes which can be carried out include metal ion oxidation or reduction, oxidation of organic substituents, nitrate reduction as well as salt splitting.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrode, to an electrochemical cell utilizing the electrode and to electrolyzer apparatus which can embody the cell. The electrode has a rigid core with, at least in part, a resilient surface. The electrode, also at least in part, is multi-layered and porous. A representative electrochemical cell utilizing the electrode can include the electrode as anode, cathode or both. Such a cell can be useful in reactions such as metal ion oxidation or reduction, or organic reactions, including destruction of organic species. The electrolyzer apparatus which may embody the cell may have special structure for separating anolyte from catholyte, and the electrolyzer can include electrolyte recirculation. Usually, the cell will be embodied in the electrolyzer in a monopolar format, although the present invention is not limited to the cell in any particular arrangement.
2. Description of the Related Art
It has been known to provide electrode structures in grid form, which can include pieces of expanded metal. The expanded metal pieces can be layered in sheets to provide a form like a laminate. For example, in British Patent No. 1,268,182, there is disclosed the layering of sheets of expanded metal. An electrode of two to four sheets is taught, with an exemplary four sheet expanded copper mesh cathode used with a two sheet expanded titanium mesh anode. The sheets may be of differing surface area, such as a sheet of smaller mesh sandwiched between two outer sheets of larger mesh. For forming a composite electrode, a central solid plate can be utilized, preferably functioning as a bipolar electrode.
Where a very short stack of two expanded metal plates is utilized, this can form a planar electrode. However, with a short stack, as taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,097,347, a curved, cylindrical electrode may also be provided. This has been taught to be useful, when employed as a cathode, for the electrolytic recovery of gold.
In an article of Pletcher et al, Journal of Applied Electrochemistry, No. 24 (1994), pages 95-106, there are disclosed three dimensional nickel electrodes. They are more particularly depicted as a two stack twin grid from expanded nickel, stacked nets from fine nickel mesh, and a stack of four nickel grids. These structures were chosen so as to conform to the available electrode space of a cell of standard configuration. The electrodes filled an electrolyte compartment of a parallel plate, laboratory-sized electrochemical reactor. These various arrangements were found to be useful in testing the oxidation of alcohols.
For utilization in a commercial operation, there has been taught the layering of electrodes which can be superimposed expanded sheets. Thus, it is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,828,653 the usefulness of three electrode layers, which layers can vary, typically by geometry, so that the current density of each individual layer is substantially the same. Such a layered structure has serviceability as an anode for high-speed electrogalvanizing processes.
Layering for electrode structure, again with non-uniformity of layers, has also been discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,761,216. Therein there is disclosed a four layer electrode having a first layer support plate, a second layer of woven screen mesh, or alternatively, fibers such as stainless steel fibers, a third layer required to be stainless steel fibers and a fourth layer of a mesh wire cloth. This structure is discussed as being useful in an electrochemical membrane cell.
Where electrode layers can be stacked wire screens, the utility of up to 12 nested screens has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,224,129. Such a construction, employed in a flow-through design, is taught as being useful for recovery of product from constituents in an electrolyte.
It would nevertheless still be desirable to provide a layered electrode where caution, as in nesting and stacking, can be obviated. It would be desirable to provide such a layered electrode having ease and economy of manufacture, e.g., as by avoiding the alignment and "same size" considerations of stacked sheets or the fabrication of stacks of sheets of differing geometry. It would also be desirable to provide such a layered electrode of simplistic construction avoiding the uniting of fibers and meshes while still providing economy of manufacture coupled with providing a great many layers, which multitude of layers could be selected within a wide range of layers, yet maintain ease and economy of manufacture regardless of selection.
Especially when dilute solutions are used as electrolyte, economic usage of cells for electrochemical processes can be limited because of the difficulty encountered in achieving a high rate of transfer to electrode surfaces. One dilute solution of interest is an electrolyte that is obtained as a scrubbing solution for removing oxides of nitrogen and sulfur from flue gases. The solution uses a ferrous chelate which is oxidized to an inactive ferric state. For re-use, this solution may be processed in an electrochemical cell. One approach for this solution of particular interest utilizes a plurality of cathode and anode compartments separated by ion transfer membranes. Thus, it has been taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,126,529 to pass a spent scrubbing solution through the cathode compartments of an electrochemical cell. The cathodes are discussed as being a combination of a plate and wire mesh. The regeneration process not only provides for the reduction of the nonreactive ferric chelate to the reactive ferrous chelate, but also can involve the removal of sulfate ions from the scrubbing solution through the ion transfer membranes.
A recent development in regeneration of this electrolyte of particular interest has focused, on the one hand, to maintaining the cell membrane, while on the other hand, enhancing electrode stability. Thus, it has been shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,320,816 that an otherwise unstable nickel or stainless steel anode material, is stable in the regeneration cell when a pH greater than 12 is maintained in the anode compartment.
It would, however, be desirable to provide for efficient spent scrubbing solution regeneration without resort to special electrolyte control. It would be also desirable to achieve efficient regeneration while providing for ease and economy of cell operation and materials.
Where electrochemical cells embody a multitude of electrodes which might be useful for enhancing the rate for any mass transport limited electrochemical reaction, it has been known to space a multitude of anodes and cathodes within a cell box. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,399,020 there has been disclosed a cell box containing a plurality of anodes and cathodes where the electrolyte flows through the box, which flow can include flow through a reticulate cathode. The reticulate cathodes for such an electrolyzer assembly may be metal foam cathodes. They may be provided with a porous plate support. Thus, it has been shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,515,672 to provide metallic foam cathodes on one or both sides of a porous support plate. These cathodes can then be employed in a flow-through electrolyzer cell box assembly.
It would still be desirable to provide an electrolyzer cell box comprising enhanced operation of a mass transport limited electrochemical reaction which can be coupled with independent anolyte and catholyte flow. Or to provide such a cell having economy of construction and operation, including economy of recycling electrolyte.


A catheter introducer assembly is disclosed whereby the safety spring clip moves into position to block the needle tip occurs as a direct consequence of the withdrawal of the needle from the catheter bore. The catheter introducer assembly according to the present invention comprises a needle and a needle hub, a catheter and a catheter hub, and a safety spring clip assembly. The safety spring clip assembly being designed to permit the needle to slide inside the spring clip assembly until the needle stop located on the needle meets the proximal wall to thereby prevent further movement of the safety spring clip. A method of using the catheter introducer assembly according to the present invention is also provided.

Medical care of individuals requires the widespread use of catheter devices for taking blood samples, for intravenous (IV) drug delivery, and for the introduction or removal of other fluids. The use of a catheter device (hereinafter, "catheter") typically involves first inserting a needle and plastic catheter combination into the vein of a patient and then removing the needle to leave only the plastic catheter in the vein. The withdrawn needle is then typically disposed of.
To assist in the disposal process and to help prevent health care workers from becoming injured when coming in contact with an exposed tip of a used needle, needle guards have been developed to block the tip of a needle after it has been withdrawn. Indeed, with potentially fatal infectious diseases, such as Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and hepatitis which can be transmitted through the exchange of body fluids by accidental contact with the needle tip of a used needle, needle stick protection has never been more important.
Commercially available safety catheter devices generally may be grouped into three basic categories: (1) those which include an activation mechanism to hide the withdrawn needle within a needle shield; (2) those which require placement of a separate needle guard; and (3) those which include a sliding shield which must be manually positioned distally over the used needle. Despite their laudable intentions, most of these safety catheter devices suffer from some shortcomings. Among other things, some require an extra step beyond the normal insertion and withdrawal steps and/or require additional complicated pieces to ensure that the needle guard and the catheter remain attached during the withdrawal procedure.
Of the first category, there are several different conventional systems available with a common design which utilizes a frictionally locked spring biased needle shield to automatically engage the needle tip when the needle is withdrawn from the catheter. While these devices may be considered adequate, a user can unknowingly apply sufficient force during the withdrawal process to overcome the frictional engagement in the device so that the spring biased shield can slip off of the distal end of the needle and leave the needle tip exposed.
Another example of the first category prior art spring biased needle shield utilizes a slightly expanded portion of the needle tip (such as a protrusion or a crimped surface) to prevent the needle shield from sliding off of the distal end of the needle once the shield has engaged. In many of these designs, the needle shield is first frictionally positioned in the catheter body before use or insertion into a patient's vein. However, after insertion and during the withdrawal process, the frictionally positioned shield has a tendency to disengage from the catheter body before complete separation of the needle from the catheter. When this occurs, the needle tip is left exposed due to the early separation of the spring shield.
In conventional prior art devices of the second and third categories, there are a number of different designs which include needle shields with either a spring-clip fitting or a frictional fitting. A needle shield of this type is either placed directly on the needle tip or is movable from the base of the needle to the tip of the needle along the longitudinal direction of the needle. In the latter embodiment, a user can manually slide the needle shield towards the needle tip to engage the needle shield thereto. However, these manually activated designs require that the user either slide or apply the needle shield to the tip of the needle by hand, thus significantly raising the risk of unintentional contact with the needle tip.
In another prior art catheter assembly, the safety guard is configured to sit in the catheter hub until the needle is withdrawn. Once the needle is withdrawn, the safety guard automatically unlocks from the catheter hub to block the needle tip. This design, however, adds an inherent adverse drag between the needle and the safety guard as the needle is withdrawn. This drag is undesirable because it can create an uneven withdrawal movement.
Accordingly, there remains a need for a catheter assembly which reduces the risk of early disengagement by both holding the needle shield and the catheter body together during the withdrawal process and simultaneously and automatically disengaging from the catheter body with substantially zero adverse drag and blocking the needle tip once the withdrawal process is complete.

Safety spring catheter introducer assembly


A digital audio broadcasting system that is capable of providing a large number of high quality stereophonic channels to mobile receivers in an environment with severe multipath delay and fading. Optimum combination of frequency and time diversity to guarantee robust performance in the mobile channel, with its multipath delay and frequency-selective fading effects. The system is based upon a dynamic single channel per carrier assignment of each stereo channel to many carriers. Intersymbol interference degradations caused by multipath delay are mitigated via an adaptive equalizer in the receiver. This dynamic single channel per carrier system preserves the simplicity inherent in the single channel per carrier assignment while it incorporates the ability to address frequency-selective fading by providing substantial frequency diversity. The frequency diversity is achieved via a slow frequency hop implementation in which the assignment of a number of stereo channels to an equal number of carrier frequencies is changed periodically. The system offers the simplicity of single channel per carrier assignment of stereo channels while it achieves the powerful performance benefits of frequency diversity and adaptive equalization for the mobile channel.

The mobile channel for satellite and terrestrial digital audio broadcasting (DAB) is known to be radically affected by multipath effects that create severe degradations in signal quality that include signal fading and intersymbol interference (ISI). Fading effects on the mobile channel can be very sensitive to frequency, particularly in the urban environment. Thus, within a DAB allocated band at any instant of time, some portions of the band may be experiencing a deep fade rendering that portion of the band unusable. If a program is entirely contained in such a portion of the allocated band via single channel per carrier assignment, that program will be blacked out for the duration of the fade. The purpose of dynamic single channel per carrier system of this invention is to periodically change single channel per carrier assignments in a dynamic way such that all programs in an allocated DAB frequency band uniformly occupy the entire frequency band. In so doing, all programs are protected against frequency-selective fades in the allocated band. Moreover, by providing an optimum combination of frequency and time diversity, the dynamic single channel per carrier system ensures that up to 20% or more of the allocated band can be in deep fade without affecting the sound quality of any of the programs. Thus, the dynamic single channel per carrier system of program allocation and coding provides robust digital audio broadcasting performance in the mobile channel environment with severe frequency-selective fading.


Improved headers of a combine harvester are disclosed. The headers include structure in the form of upper and lower infeed conveyors which cooperate to maintain compressive contact with a flow of crop material that is being conveyed by the belts to the header outlet regardless of the flow characteristics of the mat of material being conveyed. The result is a consistent flow of crop material being passed through the header which results in more efficient harvester operation and more productive crop yield.

The subject application relates generally to a header for use with agricultural harvesters. In particular, the subject application relates to a dual conveyor infeed for a header of a combine harvester.
The headers for agricultural harvesters, such as combines, that harvest crops may assume a variety of configurations depending on the crop being harvested. In any case, harvester headers include devices for conveying harvested crop to a feederhouse after which the crop undergoes additional processing. After the crop is cut by a cutting knife or other cutting mechanism, it is typically gathered for example by a reel that transports the crop to a header conveyor device which may include one or more augers or belt conveyors. Generally, the header conveyor device includes an opposed set of lateral augers (as in an auger header) or belts (as in a draper header) which transfer crop from lateral ends of the header toward a feederhouse opening located at a central region of the header. The feederhouse extends generally perpendicular to the conveyor augers or belts. In draper headers, for example, a central infeed belt and a central infeed auger are provided in order to impel the crop flowing from the lateral belts into the feederhouse opening. The central infeed auger spans the feederhouse opening and has helical vanes which terminate at the opposite ends of the infeed auger.
It has been observed that during operation of an agricultural harvester having a header equipped with a feederhouse infeed auger that the outer ends of the rotating infeed auger vanes interfere with the laterally incoming crop flow. This interference between the infeed auger vanes and the incoming crop flow causes crop to collect at the opposite ends of the infeed auger. The collected crop in turn results in an inconsistent flow of crop being fed by the infeed auger to the feederhouse. The inconsistent crop flow may include "dead zones" where little or no crop is present and is not actively being transported or moved and heavy zones where excessive crop is present. Grain processed through the header can accumulate at the dead zones or voids and thereby negatively impact the overall efficiency and operation of the combine during harvesting operations. Furthermore, in conventional combine harvesters, due to the overall cylindrical shape of the header's cross auger and the feederhouse feed drum, there exists a region or void space between them at or below their respective central rotational axes that grain is not actively transported. Because of this void and lack of any active transport means between the cross auger and feeder drum grain flow may become inhibited and back up. That is, grain is only passively conveyed between the cross auger and the feeder drum through the void in conventional combines. Such inconsistent crop flow results in inconsistent demands being placed on the entire harvesting machine. Therefore, machine settings including engine speed and other parameters must be continually adjusted to accommodate for the effects of the inconsistent flow of crop which may lead to more energy being used by the harvester than might otherwise be necessary to harvest the crop. Furthermore, some of the crop which collects at the outer ends of the infeed auger may be forced over the auger such that it is not picked up by the feederhouse conveyor and is left in the field, thereby resulting in a less than optimal crop harvest.

Dual conveyor infeed for a header of an agricultural harvester


The participants of a friendly communication system use so-called time windows in the interference pattern for the communication and transmission among each other. These time windows are preset ahead of time in the communication system by the jamming transmitter or are created and/or adapted individually and short-term with the aid of software programs. Since only the communication-system participants can recognize and/or detect these time windows, they are the only ones that can receive and/or transmit corresponding information during these time windows. The information is compressed in the known manner, such that it can be transmitted and received completely during the brief time window provided. The information can then be decompressed and read during the time of interference in the known manner.

For the non-lethal destruction of targets, explosive-driven RF (radio frequency) generators are used in addition to high-power microwave sources (HPM). The electronic components of a target are thus destroyed through the target-aimed transmission of RF rays or the operation is interfered with through dazzling or jamming, without destroying the target itself. A radiation source of this type is disclosed in reference DE 199 59 358 A1.
The problem with this type of approach is that it also interferes with the communication between participants of friendly communication systems if these are located within transmitting range of the jamming transmitter and the frequency range covered by the jamming transmitter. Shifting to frequency ranges outside of the range covered by the jamming transmitter is not the best solution as this requires new transmitting and receiving equipment. In addition, the ranges can be severely restricted for higher frequencies, for example as a result of damping, etc.

Method for the interference-free communication during the operation of a jamming transmitter


Catalyst components, methods of forming catalyst compositions, polymerization processes utilizing the catalyst compositions and polymers formed thereby are described herein. The methods generally include providing a magnesium dialkoxide compound, contacting the magnesium dialkoxide compound with a first agent to form a solution of a reaction product “A1”, contacting the solution of reaction product “A1” with a reducing agent to form a reduced reaction product “A2”, contacting reduced reaction product “A2” with a second agent to form a solid reaction product “A3”, contacting solid reaction product “A3” with a metal halide to form reaction product “B” and contacting reaction product “B” with an organoaluminum compound to form a catalyst component.

The properties of polymerization catalysts can affect the properties of the polymer formed using the catalyst. For example, polymer morphology and particle size distribution generally depends upon the catalyst. Good polymer morphology generally includes uniformity of particle size and shape, while minimizing the number of small polymer particles and also minimizing the formation of very large particles.
While much is known about Ziegler-Natta catalysts, there is a constant search for improvements in their polymer yield, life, activity and in their ability to produce polyolefins having certain properties.

Ziegler-Natta catalyst for particle size control


Height attributes of features of an object having a plurality of physical features thereon is determined by illuminating the features of the object at a low angle and capturing the reflected light at a camera mounted along the z-axis perpendicular to the object. The reflected light from the features is analyzed to determine if any of the features is of an unacceptable height. The reflected light being either brighter or dimmer than the average determines that the corresponding feature is higher or lower respectively than the average feature.

In development and manufacturing of mechanical objects, inspection of components may be automated by the use of computer systems analyzing digital images of components captured by digital cameras (using Machine Vision software). Machine Vision is the art of processing images using a computer. Until now, analyzing z-axis feature height using digital images taken by a camera from a position on the z-axis has been problematic. An example of an inspection problem would be two similar features that only differ in their height and when looking from above at the parts they appear to be identical. To detect the difference in their z-axis heights when the image is taken along the z-axis, a 2D image doesn't currently enable the machine vision tool to determine the Z value (height) of features. All features appear to be on the same flat surface of the 2D image.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,975,764: "Fast high-accuracy multi-dimensional pattern inspection" Filed Sep. 8, 2003, incorporated herein by reference teaches a method and apparatus are provided for identifying differences between a stored pattern and a matching image subset, where variations in pattern position, orientation, and size do not give rise to false differences. The invention is also a system for analyzing an object image with respect to a model pattern so as to detect flaws in the object image. The system includes extracting pattern features from the model pattern; generating a vector-valued function using the pattern features to provide a pattern field; extracting image features from the object image; evaluating each image feature, using the pattern field and an n-dimensional transformation that associates image features with pattern features, so as to determine at least one associated feature characteristic; and using at least one feature characteristic to identify at least one flaw in the object image. The invention can find at least two distinct kinds of flaws: missing features, and extra features. The invention provides pattern inspection that is faster and more accurate than any known prior art method by using a stored pattern that represents an ideal example of the object to be found and inspected, and that can be translated, rotated, and scaled to arbitrary precision much faster than digital image re-sampling, and without pixel grid quantization errors. Furthermore, since the invention does not use digital image re-sampling, there are no pixel quantization errors to cause false differences between the pattern and image that can limit inspection performance.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,850,646 "Fast high-accuracy multi-dimensional pattern inspection" Filed Nov. 10, 2003 and incorporated herein by reference teaches a method and apparatus are provided for identifying differences between a stored pattern and a matching image subset, where variations in pattern position, orientation, and size do not give rise to false differences. The invention is also a system for analyzing an object image with respect to a model pattern so as to detect flaws in the object image. The system includes extracting pattern features from the model pattern; generating a vector-valued function using the pattern features to provide a pattern field; extracting image features from the object image; evaluating each image feature, using the pattern field and an n-dimensional transformation that associates image features with pattern features, so as to determine at least one associated feature characteristic; and using at least one feature characteristic to identify at least one flaw in the object image. The invention can find at least two distinct kinds of flaws: missing features, and extra features. The invention provides pattern inspection that is faster and more accurate than any known prior art method by using a stored pattern that represents an ideal example of the object to be found and inspected, and that can be translated, rotated, and scaled to arbitrary precision much faster than digital image re-sampling, and without pixel grid quantization errors. Furthermore, since the invention does not use digital image re-sampling, there are no pixel quantization errors to cause false differences between the pattern and image that can limit inspection performance.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,650,333 "System for measuring and detecting printed circuit wiring defects" Filed Apr. 12, 1984 incorporated herein by references teaches a non-contact system for detecting printed circuit wiring defects and for measuring circuit feature height relative to a substrate. The system has an energy source for illuminating the substrate and circuit features and a scanner for both instantaneously receiving energy reflected from the substrate and circuit features and for generating a signal in response to the reflected energy, which signal is adapted to vary with the intensity of the reflected energy. An analyzer is connected to the scanner for correlating the generated signal to a measurement representative of the height of the circuit features relative to the substrate. Variations and non-uniformity of the substrate surface due to bending, warpage or other causes can be accounted for so as to provide an accurate measurement of the height of a circuit feature relative to the substrate surface on which it is mounted.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,603,103 "Circuit for machine-vision system" Filed Aug. 7, 1999 incorporated herein by reference teaches manufacturing lines include inspection systems for monitoring the quality of parts produced. Manufacturing lines for making semiconductor devices generally inspect each fabricated part. The information obtained is used to fix manufacturing problems in the semiconductor fab plant. A machine-vision system for inspecting devices includes a light source for propagating light to the device and an image detector that receives light from the device. Also included is a light sensor assembly for receiving a portion of the light from the light source. The light sensor assembly produces an output signal responsive to the intensity of the light received at the light sensor assembly. A controller controls the amount of light received by the image detector to a desired intensity range in response to the output from the light sensor. The image detector may include an array of imaging pixels. The imaging system may also include a memory device which stores correction values for at least one of the pixels in the array of imaging pixels. To minimize or control thermal drift of signals output from an array of imaging pixels, the machine-vision system may also include a cooling element attached to the imaging device. The light source for propagating light to the device may be strobed. The image detector that receives light from the device remains in a fixed position with respect to the strobed light source. A translation element moves the strobed light source and image detector with respect to the device. The strobed light may be alternated between a first and second level.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,052,189 "Height measurement device and height measurement method" Filed Aug. 11, 1997 incorporated herein by reference teaches a height measurement device that can accurately measure the height of an object to be measured, and that can easily and precisely adjust the focal point of an optical system. According to the present invention, a height measurement device, which forms an image of a light point generated by a light source on a surface of a measured object via an irradiation side focusing lens, which forms an image of the formed image of the light point on a light point position detector via a light reception side focusing lens, and measures a height of the measured object according to the light point position on the light point position detector, comprises: a stage perpendicularly movable with the measured object mounted thereon; a camera for obtaining a light point image formed on a target face on the stage; and a controller for detecting a position of the stage or of the radiation focusing lens as a focal point, at which a light quantity on a predetermined pixel in the light point image obtained by the camera becomes a maximum level, while moving the stage or the irradiation side focusing lens.
None of these methods solves the problem of detecting feature height defects using a captured image of an object.

Z-axis optical detection of mechanical feature height

International Business Machines Corporation


Disclosed is a mobile terminal comprising: a case for mounting electronic components therein; a light source located within the case, for laterally emitting light; and a light guide unit in which light emitted from the light source is incident on the lateral side, wherein the light guide unit comprises a base module and a reflective film, which is coated on the outer side of the base module and includes a first opening formed on the side facing the light source and a second opening formed in the direction of the front side, wherein the case includes a light transmission unit in a portion facing the second opening of the reflective film and wherein the reflective film encloses the lateral side of the mobile terminal so that even the lateral leakage of light can be blocked.

Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate to a mobile terminal including a light guide unit with a simple structure and a method for manufacturing the mobile terminal.
Discussion of the Related Art
Terminals may be generally classified as mobile/portable terminals or stationary terminals according to their mobility. Mobile terminals may also be classified as handheld terminals or vehicle mounted terminals according to whether or not a user can directly carry the terminal.
As such functions become more diversified, the mobile terminal can support more complicated functions such as capturing images or video, reproducing music or video files, playing games, receiving broadcast signals, and the like. By comprehensively and collectively implementing such functions, the mobile terminal may be embodied in the form of a multimedia player or device.
Many components have to be mounted in the mobile terminal for diverse functions. Accordingly, the sizes of the internal components have to become small and the manufacturing price has to be lowered. In addition, the processes required to fabricate such a mobile terminal have to be simplified.
A conventional light guide unit 10 shown in FIG. 15 includes a light guide film 11, a white film 13 and a reflection film 14 bonded to upper and lower surfaces of the light guide film 11, respectively, using bond 12 and a printed circuit board 185 and a case 109 bonded to the white film, using a double-sided tape 15.
To dispose several layers 11, 13 and 14, adhesive 12 and 15 has to be applied several times, thereby complicating processes and increasing expense and thickness. There is one advantage that light escapes in a lateral direction as shown in FIG. 15.

Method for manufacturing mobile terminal and light guide unit


A door arrangement for an aircraft that has a fuselage with a fuselage structure includes a door to be arranged inside a door frame of the fuselage structure and a door joint mechanism attached to the door of the door frame and to the fuselage structure. The door joint mechanism has a seven-joint linkage provided with first to seventh joints by means of which the door, guided exclusively in a rotationally articulated manner, is moveable over a predefined pivoting angle range from a closed position inside the door frame to an open position outside of the door frame and fuselage, and back again. In addition, an aircraft, especially a fixed-wing aircraft, encompassing at least one aircraft door arrangement is provided.

Door arrangements are known for aircraft having a fuselage with a fuselage structure that includes a door frame surrounding the door opening. The door arrangement has a door that is to be arranged inside the door frame and a door joint mechanism that is attached to the door and to the fuselage structure. For aerodynamic reasons, the outer contour of the door has to lie flush with the outer contour of the fuselage structure adjacent to the door frame. This aspect as well as the considerable thickness of the door due to the usual lightweight mode of construction make it necessary for substantial portions of the door to be situated inside the door frame when the door is in the closed position whereas, in order to reach an open position, the door has to be moved out of the door frame and partially or completely around an edge of the door frame into a position that is essentially outside of the fuselage. This calls for very complex kinematics of the door joint mechanism since the door has to be prevented from colliding with parts of the fuselage structure along the path of motion of the door.
If the fuselage of the aircraft has a pressurized cabin, which is the case for almost all large passenger aircraft nowadays, the door also has to be sealed off relative to the door frame during flight in order to prevent a loss of pressure from the pressurized cabin. This calls for sealing elements between the door and the surrounding fuselage structure or the surrounding door frame. In order to prevent the door from opening accidentally, especially during flight, it is also necessary to lock the door in the closed position. For this purpose, designs are normally employed that call for the door to be raised out of the locked closed position into an unlocked closed position or for the door to be lowered from the unlocked closed position into the locked closed position.
Especially those aircraft doors that are designed as pivoting emergency-exit doors or as emergency-exit hatches usually have to be guided over a very large pivoting angle range of 0° to 90° or more, but often of 0° to 180° or more, in order to be opened and closed. This large pivoting angle range, in conjunction with the above-mentioned necessary properties of the door and of the adjacent fuselage structure, require a quite complex door joint mechanism and this is another reason for the complexity of the kinematics of the door. Therefore, taking into consideration the above-mentioned requirements, conventional door arrangements for aircraft make use of a door joint mechanism having translational articulated elements that ensure the cited large pivoting angle range of the door under the above-mentioned conditions.
With such conventional door arrangements, however, it has been found that the translational articulated elements exhibit quite a lot of play and that they cannot always guide the door precisely over the large pivoting range. Moreover, due to the translational articulated elements, the position of all of the articulated elements involved when the door is being opened or closed is not unambiguously defined. Furthermore, when a door joint mechanism with translational articulated elements is used, the position of the door relative to the door frame cannot be defined precisely enough which, in turn, means that the sealing of the door against internal pressure of the cabin can only be realized with a great deal of effort and the sealing conditions are unfavorable. Moreover, when the door is in the open position, the transmission and application of the loads emanating from the opened door towards and into the fuselage structure are unfavorable.

Aircraft door arrangement with an aircraft door that swings by 180 degrees


A laser processing apparatus includes a laser beam branching mechanism provided between a laser oscillator and a focusing unit. The branching mechanism includes a branching unit for branching a laser beam into a plurality of laser beams. The branching unit includes a half-wave plate for 45° rotating the polarization plane of the laser beam. A first polarization beam splitter separates the laser beam passed through the half-wave plate into P polarized light and S polarized light. A first mirror reflects the P polarized light and a second mirror reflects the S polarized light. A second polarization beam splitter leads the reflected P polarized light and the reflected S polarized light to different optical paths extending in the same direction, and an angle adjusting mechanism adjusts the angle of reflection of at least one of the P polarized light and the S polarized light.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a laser processing apparatus suitable for formation of a laser processed groove by applying a laser beam along a street formed on the front side of a workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a semiconductor device fabrication process, a multilayer film composed of an insulating film and a functional film is formed on the front side of a semiconductor substrate such as a silicon substrate, and a plurality of devices such as ICs and LSIs are formed like a matrix from this multilayer film, thus obtaining a semiconductor wafer having the plural devices. The plural devices are partitioned by a plurality of division lines called streets formed on the front side of the semiconductor wafer. The semiconductor wafer is divided along these streets to obtain the individual devices.
Division of the semiconductor wafer along the streets is usually performed by using a cutting apparatus called a dicing saw. This cutting apparatus includes a chuck table for holding the semiconductor wafer as a workpiece, cutting means for cutting the semiconductor wafer held on the chuck table, and moving means for relatively moving the chuck table and the cutting means. The cutting means includes a spindle adapted to be rotated at high speeds and a cutting blade mounted on the spindle. The cutting blade is composed of a disk-shaped base and an annular cutting edge mounted on a side surface of the base along the outer circumference thereof. The cutting edge is formed by bonding diamond abrasive grains having a grain size of about 3 μm by electroforming so that the thickness of the cutting edge becomes 20 to 30 μm, for example.
In recent years, a semiconductor wafer intended to improve the processing performance of devices such as ICs and LSIs has been put into practical use. This semiconductor wafer is composed of a semiconductor substrate such as a silicon substrate and a multilayer film formed on the front side of the semiconductor substrate. The multilayer film is composed of a low-permittivity insulator film (Low-k film) and a functional film formed on the Low-k film, the functional film forming a plurality of circuits. Thus, the semiconductor devices are formed from the multilayer film. Examples of the Low-k film includes an inorganic film of SiOF, BSG (SiOB), etc. and an organic film such as a polymer film of polyimide, parylene, etc. Further, there is also in practical use a semiconductor wafer having a configuration such that a plurality of metal patterns called test element group (TEG) are partially provided on the streets of the semiconductor wafer to test the function of the circuits through the metal patterns before dividing the semiconductor wafer.
The Low-k film or the test element group (TEG) mentioned above is different in material from the semiconductor substrate, so that it is difficult to cut the semiconductor substrate together with the Low-k film or the test element group (TEG) by using the cutting blade. That is, the Low-k film is very brittle like mica. Accordingly, when the semiconductor wafer having the Low-k film is cut along the streets by using the cutting blade, there arises a problem such that the Low-k film may be separated and this separation may reach the devices to cause fatal damage to the devices. Further, the test element group (TEG) is formed of metal. Accordingly, when the semiconductor wafer having the test element group (TEG) is cut along the streets, burrs may be produced. To solve these problems, there has been proposed a processing method including the steps of applying a pulsed laser beam along the streets on the semiconductor wafer to thereby remove the Low-k film forming the streets or the test element group (TEG) provided on the streets and next cutting the area where the Low-k film or the test element group (TEG) is now absent by using the cutting blade (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-142398, for example).
However, in the case of removing the Low-k film or the test element group (TEG) by applying a pulsed laser beam along the streets of the semiconductor wafer as in the processing method disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-142398, it is necessary to form a laser processed groove having a width larger than the thickness of the cutting blade along each street. Accordingly, in the case that the focused spot diameter of the laser beam is about 10 μm, a laser beam applying step of applying the laser beam along each street must be performed plural times as shifting the focused spot along the width of each street, causing a reduction in productivity.
To solve this problem, there has been proposed a laser processing apparatus as described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2011-156551. This laser processing apparatus has a configuration such that a laser beam is branched into a plurality of laser beams to thereby form a plurality of focused spots (focal points), which are arranged along the width of each street to form a wide laser processed groove at a stroke, so that the Low-k film or the test element group (TEG) can be efficiently removed.


Organic electroluminescent material containing iridium of the following general formula, in which R is C1-C8 alkyl, is provided. The preparation method of the above organic electroluminescent material containing iridium and the organic electroluminescent element using the above organic electroluminescent material containing iridium are also provided.

The organic electroluminescent (EL) is a luminous phenomenon in which the organic materials convert the electrical energy directly into light energy under an electric field. In early stage, due to such reasons as high voltage of the driver system, low luminous efficiency of the device, the research on organic electroluminescent was stagnated. In 1987, Tan et al (Kodak Corporation) invented 8-hydroxyquinoline aluminum (Alq3) as light-emitting materials, which can be made into a uniform, dense, high-quality thin film with aromatic diamine, such that the organic electroluminescent device was prepared with significantly increasing brightness and luminescent efficiency under low working voltage, and a research on new prologue electroluminescent materials was opened. However, due to the restriction of the spin statistics theory, the internal quantum efficiency of the fluorescent material was merely 25% in theory, thus it became a hot research directions in the field thereafter that how to make full use of the remaining 75% of the phosphorescence to achieve higher luminous efficiency. In 1997, Forrest et al discovered phosphorus electroluminescent phenomenon, and the internal quantum efficiency of the subsequently obtained organic electroluminescent material broke through the 25% limit, thus leading the research of the organic electroluminescent material into another new period.
In nowadays study of organic electroluminescent material, complexes of transition metal, such as complexes of iridium, ruthenium, platinum, etc., doped with small molecule have become a research focus. The advantages of the complexes are that they can obtain a high energy emitted from the triplet of their own, and the metal iridium (III) compounds, because of the good stability, mild reaction conditions in the synthesis process, and the high electroluminescent properties, have occupied the dominant position in the subsequent study. Nevertheless, conventional iridium containing organic electroluminescent material, such as bis[2-(2,4-difluorophenyl-yl)pyridine-N, C2](pyridine-formic acid) combined iridium (FIrpic), bis[2-(2,4-difluoro-3-cyanophenyl)pyridine-N, C2] (four pyrazole boron) iridium (Fir6) and the like, have a poor internal quantum efficiency and electroluminescent efficiency, thus limiting the development of the research on organic electroluminescent technology.

Organic electroluminescent material containing iridium, preparation method thereof and organic electroluminescent element

Ocean's King Lighting Science & Technology Co., Ltd.


In a multimode communication apparatus that uses a plurality of wireless communication modes, interference between communications under different wireless communication modes is suppressed, a good transmission/reception state in each of the wireless communication modes is ensured. A multimode communication apparatus (100) includes transmitter sections (33), (43) and receiver sections (32), (42) and a plurality of communication units (70), (80) each being compatible with the wireless communication modes independently of one another. The communication unit (70) includes a variable channel band elimination filter (34) for suppressing, among transmission signals from its own transmitter section (33), a band corresponding to a frequency band of a reception channel that is being received by the receiver section (42) of the other communication unit (80). The variable channel band elimination filter (34) is capable of varying the band that is to be suppressed, in response to a change of the frequency band of the reception channel.

In recent years, mobile communication terminals, in particular, have been provided with more advanced functions in association with the advancement and proliferation of wireless communication modes. In addition, due to the proliferations of mobile terminals compatible with both domestic and international services, wireless LAN, and the like, it has been required that one wireless communication apparatus should be compatible with two or more wireless communication modes. Moreover, the frequency bands used by various wireless communications tend to become closer in association with the progress of the effective use of frequencies.
Conventionally, when two or more wireless communication modes are operated in a single wireless communication apparatus, a transmission wave of a certain mode raises the noise floor of the reception band of another mode. This phenomenon has deteriorated the reception sensitivity of another communication mode.
Specifically, in a multimode communication apparatus that incorporates a plurality of components (communication units) each provided with a transmitter unit and a receiver unit, degradation in wireless communication characteristics occurs mutually when the respective units are operated at the same time. When one of the units transmits a radio wave, the transmission wave raises the noise floor of the reception band in another system, degrading the reception sensitivity of the other system(s), in particular, in the case that the frequency bands used by the wireless communication modes of the units are close to one another. That is, the frame error rate (FER) and the bit error rate (BER), for example, increase.
In order to resolve such a problem, it is conceivable to provide the transmitter section of each of the units with various filters, such as variable frequency stop filter, band pass filter (BPF), and band elimination filter (BEF) (see Patent Document 1).
Nevertheless, since various filters such as mentioned above have high attenuation, transmission waves that pass through the filters suffers from great loss. Moreover, if another unit with a different wireless communication mode is added, it will become necessary to add a filter that is compatible with the frequency band of that system. Such addition of the filter brings about further power loss in pass band and an increase in size of the apparatus. An increase in power loss in pass band results in a shorter wireless communication distance and a narrower communication area.
Patent Document 1: JP-A-2004-222171
The present invention relates to a multimode communication apparatus that uses a plurality of wireless communication modes, and particularly, it is an object of the invention to provide a multimode communication apparatus that can suppress adverse effects that a transmission wave under one mode has on the communications of other modes.