A method and system for producing full motion media for display on a spherical surface is described. The method may include selecting a subject of full motion media for display on a spherical surface. The method may the include capturing the selected subject as full motion media (e.g., full motion video) in a rectilinear domain. The method may then include processing the full motion media in the rectilinear domain for display on a spherical surface, such as by orienting the full motion media, adding rotation to the full motion media, processing edges of the full motion media, and/or distorting the full motion media in the rectilinear domain for instance. After processing the full motion media, the method may additionally include providing the processed full motion media to a spherical projection system, such as a Science on a Sphere system.

In the field of media projection, display surfaces are traditionally flat. In turn, traditional media capture devices capture data in a rectilinear domain (i.e., formed or enclosed by straight, parallel lines), and traditional media display systems display the data on the flat surfaces as rectilinear frames. Recently, however, advancement in the art of media presentation technologies has resulted in new media display systems that are capable of depicting media on a fully spherical surface. An example of this type of system is Science on a Sphere (SOS), which was originally intended as a means to showcase planetary data in fully spherical representations. An SOS system may include a spherical display surface surrounded by a plurality of media projectors, each of which may be coupled to a display computer that drives the media projector. In turn, each display computer may be coupled to a central control computer, which may function to control the display computers. The SOS system may also include one or more user interfaces that allow users to interact with the SOS system. More detail about SOS may be found at http://SOS.noaa.gov, which is incorporated herein by reference.
Until now, the type of data available for display on spherical display systems (e.g., SOS) in a natural or logical manner has been limited. This is due in large part to the difficulties in producing data for natural/logical display in a spherical (i.e., curvilinear) domain as opposed to a rectilinear domain, especially when traditional media capture devices capture data in the rectilinear domain. Existing data for display on spherical display systems in a natural/logical manner includes data sets generated in a spherical domain for the specific purpose of displaying on a sphere. These data sets may be in the form of single frames (i.e., still images) or animations (i.e., logically successive images played back in rapid, sequential, and temporally consistent order). One example of a spherical data set is planetary data generated for the specific purpose of displaying on a sphere, as described above. Existing data for display on spherical display systems in a natural/logical manner also includes data generated and/or captured in the rectilinear domain that is tiled (i.e., multiple identical copies of the rectilinear image placed adjacently to one other so as to cover a spherical surface). In this respect, viewers located at different points along the spherical display surface may each see the same rectilinear data.
However, until now, rectilinear data has not been effectively produced for display on spherical surface as full motion media. In this respect, there are limited techniques and/or tools that currently exist for selecting subjects to be displayed as full motion media on a spherical surface. Further, there are limited techniques and/or tools that currently exist for processing full motion media captured in a rectilinear domain for display on a spherical surface. Accordingly, there is a need for improved techniques and/or tools that facilitate production of full motion media for display on a spherical surface.

Method and system for producing full motion media to display on a spherical surface


A method of supporting signal transmission/reception using at least two RATs and apparatus therefor are disclosed. The present invention includes, receiving, at the user equipment concurrently connected a first base station of a first communication network supportive of a first RAT and a second serving base station of a second communication network supportive of a second RAT, a setup message indicating a handover from the second serving base station to a second target base station from a first base station, terminating a connection to the second serving base station, and establishing a connection to the second target base station. Before the connection to the second serving base station is terminated, data for a specific traffic type is transceived via the second serving base station. After the connection to the second target base station is established, the data for the specific traffic type is transceived via the second target base station. Data except the specific traffic type is transceived via the first base station.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wireless communication, and more particularly, to a method of supporting signal transmission and reception using at least two radio access technologies (RATs) and apparatus therefor.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
There may exist a multi-RAT user equipment having capability of accessing at least two radio access technologies (RATs). In order to access a specific radio access technology (hereinafter abbreviated RAT), a connection to the specific RAT is established on the basis of a user equipment request and data transmission and reception can be then performed. Yet, even if the multi-RAT user equipment is capable of accessing at least two RATs, it is unable to access a plurality of RATs at the same time. In particular, currently, even if a user equipment has multi-RAT capability, it is unable to simultaneously perform data transmission/reception through different RATs.
The above-mentioned multi-RAT technology of the related art is a switching based multi-RAT technology. Since all transmitted data are transmitted in a manner of being switched to another RAT, the related art multi-RAT technology has a problem in selecting an RAT suitable for characteristics of a flow. However, a solution for this problem has not been proposed yet.

Method of supporting signal transmission and reception using at least two radio access technologies and apparatus therefor


An authentication apparatus performs identity authentication by comparing and matching image information of a palm captured by a sensor unit with a preliminarily registered template. A surface information correcting unit corrects concavity/convexity of a palm surface for surface information that allows the concavity/convexity thereof to be evaluated. The surface information is extracted by a surface information extraction unit from the image information obtained by capturing the palm. When the surface information is not corrected by the surface information correcting unit or not used for authentication by an authentication unit even after correction, the authentication apparatus newly obtains image information of the palm. Correction by the surface information correcting unit reduces opportunities for the authentication apparatus to perform notification to guide the palm to a proper posture.

The human body includes biometric information that may identify an individual, some of which is used as information for identifying and authenticating an individual. For example, it is known that there are fingerprint, eye retina and iris, face, blood vessel, DNA (Deoxyribo Nucleic Acid) or the like, as biometric information available for authentication.
With the recent development of biometric authentication technology, a variety of apparatuses have been provided which recognize such characteristics of living body as a part of the human body, and perform personal authentication. Biometric authentication is performed by comparing the biometric information collected at the time of registration (registered template) with the biometric information obtained at the time of authentication.
In order to improve the precision of the authentication based on biometric information, it is desirable to obtain biometric information with a certain precision each time authentication is performed. However, the user to be authenticated does not always take a proper posture when authentication is being performed. Accordingly, there has been proposed a biometric authentication apparatus which guides biometric information to a proper position in order to obtain biometric information which may be compared with a registered template. For example, a biometric authentication apparatus using a vein of a palm detects displacement of the palm, and guides the palm to a position overlapping with the registered template (see Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2008-71158, for example).
However, guiding the living body to a proper posture frequently, or each time authentication is performed, may result in an evaluation by the user that the biometric authentication apparatus is not user-friendly. Particularly, around the boundary of whether guidance of the living body to a proper posture is needed or not, the user may have an experience such that, although the user recognizes that the living body is taking a proper posture, the living body is guided to a different proper posture from that of the user's recognition, or the living body is not guided to a proper posture although the user doubts if the living body is taking the proper posture. Such an experience makes it difficult for the user to recognize a truly proper posture. In addition, a biometric authentication apparatus providing such an experience is not convenient for a user, and thus it is desired to reduce the guidance frequency around the boundary of whether guidance of the living body to a proper posture is needed or not.

Authentication apparatus, authentication program, and authentication method


A power saving process for wireless communications is provided, wherein a receiving station examines the header of each incoming frame and stops decoding data symbols of the frame, upon determining that the incoming frame is not intended for that receiving station. In one implementation, the receiving station stops receiving and decoding data symbols of the frame by entering a power saving mode. This conserves power at the receiving station.

In many wireless communication systems, a frame structure is used for data transmission between a transmitter and a receiver. For example, the IEEE 802.11 standard uses frame aggregation in a Media Access Control (MAC) layer and a physical (PHY) layer. In a typical transmitter, a MAC layer receives a MAC Service Data Unit (MSDU) and attaches a MAC header thereto, in order to construct a MAC Protocol Data Unit (MPDU). The MAC header includes information such as a source address (SA) and a destination address (DA). The MPDU is a part of a PLCP Service Data Unit (PSDU) and is transferred to a PHY layer in the transmitter to attach a PHY header (i.e., a PHY preamble) thereto to construct a PLCP Protocol Data Unit (PPDU). The PHY header includes parameters for determining a transmission scheme including a coding/modulation scheme.
Many battery powered devices such as cellular phones and consumer electronic (CE) devices are being provided with the capability to access high throughput WLANs. An efficient method of scheduling uplink and downlink frame transmissions between an access point (AP) and stations in a WLAN can reduce power consumption and benefit battery powered devices.
Conventional power saving solutions are inefficient because a receiving station continues receiving and decoding data symbols of an incoming frame, even if the incoming frame is not intended for that receiving station. This is because such conventional receiving stations do not examine the frame PHY/MAC header of incoming frames at a per-frame level. This leads to unnecessary power consumption at the receiving stations. There is, therefore, a need for an efficient power saving mechanism for WLANs in general, and for high throughput WLANs, in particular.

Method and system for power saving in wireless local area communication networks


A display device includes a display area, a source driver, a gate driver, a first substrate, a second substrate, and a liquid crystal layer. The liquid crystal layer is disposed between the first substrate and the second substrate. The second substrate includes source lines, gate lines, gate lead-out lines, and bridge lines. The source lines are electrically connected to the source driver. The gate lead-out lines electrically connect the gate driver to the gate lines. The bridge lines connect pairs of the gate lead-out lines that are adjacent in the second direction. At least one of the gate lines is electrically connected to the gate driver via at least two of the gate lead-out lines and one of the bridge lines.

A display device controls light emitted/transmitted by each of its pixels so that a desired image is displayed. The voltage(s) of pixel electrodes in the display device adjust the light emitted by or transmitted through portions of an active matrix along the pixel electrodes. The display device can includes a source driver and a gate driver for controlling the voltage of the pixels. The display device can include a thin film transistor (TFT) substrate that includes electrical lines for electrically connecting the source driver and the gate driver to thin film transistors of the pixel electrodes. The electrical lines can include source lines, gate lines, and gate lead-out lines. The source lines electrically connect the source driver to the thin film transistors. The gate lines are electrically connected to the thin film transistors and the gate lead-out lines connect the gate drive to the gate lines.

PANASONIC LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY CO., LTD.


A Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) device having an Optically Compensated Bend (OCB) mode, which can restrict an initial high current while supplying a high voltage to a liquid crystal, includes: pixel circuits formed at crossing points of a plurality of scan lines and a plurality of data lines and including an Liquid Crystal (LC) capacitor of an OCB mode formed between a pixel electrode and a common electrode; an Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) protection circuit connected to each data line to prevent static electricity from accumulating in each pixel circuit; a DC-DC converter outputting a voltage for initial bend transition of the LC capacitor of the OCB mode; and a high voltage supplying circuit receiving a voltage of the DC-DC converter and transmitting a high voltage to the common electrode. An initial high current is prevented from flowing through the LC panel to thereby protect the LC panel and other elements from damage, and an initial bend transient time of the OCB mode liquid crystal is significantly reduced.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) device, and more particularly, to an LCD device having an Optically Compensated Bend (OCB) mode which prevents an initial high current while supplying a high voltage to a liquid crystal.
2. Description of the Related Art
An LCD device is thin, lightweight, and low in power consumption compared to a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT), and has also less electromagnetic wave emission. Thus, LCD devices have been widely used as displays of portable information devices such as cellular phones, computers, and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs).
However, an LCD device has different brightness and color according to the angle at which it is observed, and thus has a narrow viewing angle. Various ways of resolving this viewing angle problem have been suggested.
For example, in order to improve the viewing angle range of an LCD device, one technique arranges a prism plate on a light guide panel to improve the straightness of light emitted from a back light, so that the brightness in a vertical direction is improved more than 30%. Also, another technique provides a negative compensation film to improve the viewing angle range.
Furthermore, an In Plane Switching mode has been developed to achieve a wide viewing angle of 160°, which is almost the same as that of a CRT. However, this technique results in a low aperture ratio and thus needs further improvement.
Moreover, in order to improve the viewing angle range, Thin Film Transistor (TFT) driving techniques including an Optically Compensated Bend (OCB) mode, a Polymer Dispersed Liquid Crystal (PDLC) mode, a Deformed Helix Ferro-electric (DHF) mode, and so on, have been suggested.
In particular, the OCB mode has been the focus of considerable research and development efforts because it has a rapid liquid crystal response speed and a wide viewing angle.
An initial orientation state of a liquid crystal arranged between an upper plate electrode and a lower plate electrode is a homogeneous state, and when a predetermined voltage is supplied across the upper and lower plate electrodes, the liquid crystal state changes via a transient splay and an asymmetric splay into a bend state and then operates in an OCB mode.
Liquid crystal molecules in a central portion of a liquid crystal layer are left-and-right symmetrically arranged, and thus a tilt angle is 0° at less than a predetermined voltage and 90° at more than the predetermined voltage. A high voltage is initially supplied, so that the tilt angle of the liquid crystal molecules in the central portion of the liquid crystal layer becomes 90°, and then the supplied voltage is varied to change the tilt angle of liquid crystal molecules not in the central portion of the liquid crystal layer, thereby modulating the polarization of light passing through the liquid crystal layer.
It takes tens of seconds to arrange the tilt angle of the liquid crystal molecules in the central portion from 0° to 90°, and a response time is as fast as 10 μm since there is no back flow and a big bending transformation has a large elastic modulus.
When the OCB mode is in an ON state, conversion from the transient splay to the asymmetric splay is fast, and conversion from the transient splay to the bend state is relatively fast, but conversion from the asymmetric splay to the bend state is slow.
When the OCB mode is in an OFF state, conversion to the homogeneous state is slow but conversion from the transient splay to the homogeneous state or from the asymmetric splay to the homogeneous state is fast.
As described above, there is a problem in that a predetermined time (hereinafter, a "transient time") passes before the bend orientation for the OCB mode is obtained. Therefore, an LCD device often supplies an initial high voltage to a common electrode of the liquid crystal in order to reduce the transient time in the OCB mode.

Liquid crystal display (LCD) device having an electrostatic discharge protection circuit and a high voltage supply circuit


The invention is a computer-implemented workflow application comprising one or more workflow components, each workflow component comprising an object having a metadata property; a workflow program comprising workflow components connected together to execute an operational workflow; a class loader program operable to introspect the objects and extract the metadata properties when each workflow component of the workflow program is executed, and store the metadata properties in a memory; and a workflow manager program operable to analyze the metadata stored in the memory and provide requested status information.

A "workflow" is a familiar concept to many people. Generally, a "workflow" is any series of steps or activities necessary for completing a particular task. A "workflow component" is any convenient set of related activities that the workflow treats as a single unit of activity. For example, the activities required to process an airline passenger before boarding an airplane could be described as a workflow. In such a scenario, the carrier generally verifies a passenger's identity, confirms the passenger's reservation, allocates a seat on the airplane, and prints a boarding pass. The carrier also may process a credit card transaction to pay for the ticket if the passenger has not yet paid. If the passenger has baggage, the carrier also may print a baggage tag. These activities likely are distributed among a number of employees throughout the organization. From the airline's perspective, then, the workflow is comprised of components executed by various employees. Thus, the workflow components of a "check-in" workflow could be described as: (1) get identification; (2) read passenger's credit card; (3) identify passenger's reservation; (4) get passenger's baggage; (5) allocate passenger's seat; (6) print passenger's boarding pass; (7) print passenger's baggage tag; and so forth. Some, all, or none, of these workflow components may be automated.
A "workflow application" is any computer program designed to coordinate or manage a workflow, particularly in an enterprise setting. Thus, in the above example, a workflow application could coordinate the workflow components among the various employees that are involved in the transaction.
Workflow applications are common in the enterprise context. Many workflow applications are highly specialized for a specific industry, such as the medical application disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,697,783 (issued Feb. 24, 2004). Other such systems, though, have been designed to accommodate more generalized needs, including the system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,567,783 (issued May 20, 2003).
Many workflow applications also track the status of workflows and provide a console or other means for displaying status information to a user. In practice, a single enterprise often uses a variety of workflow applications to coordinate and manage its everyday operations. But conventional workflow applications are stand-alone applications that are incapable of interacting with other workflow applications in a heterogeneous business system. An enterprise that uses a variety of workflow applications may require many consoles to monitor all of its workflows.
Thus, there is a need in the art for a system that organizes and relates workflow components in an operational workflow process to facilitate the reporting and display of workflow status information.

Workflow application having linked workflow components

International Business Machines Corporation


An unbalanced line-to-line current is injected at an injected frequency in a three-phase ac circuit. A first set of voltages and currents are obtained. A first set of transformed voltages and transformed currents are produced. The circuit is injected with a second unbalanced line-to-line current at a frequency linearly independent of the injected frequency. A second set of voltages and current are obtained. A second set of transformed voltages and transformed currents are produced The impedance of a source portion and a load portion of the circuit are calculated using the first and second set of transformed voltages, and the first and second set of transformed currents.

The invention relates generally to the field of power systems, and more particularly to impedance measurement techniques for determining the stability of power systems.
Power systems are incorporating a greater degree of electronic circuits, power electronic converters and electronic switching sources and loads. Although these components improve the performance of a power system, they are prone to instability due to their high efficiency and constant power characteristics which may lead to a negative impedance nature. The instability of these components affects the stability of the overall power system. Power system stability can be determined from the source and load impedances of the system. Thus, impedance measurement techniques for determining power system stability are becoming increasingly important in many applications; particularly in naval ship and aerospace power systems.
Considerable research is being done on impedance measurement techniques that extract and measure the impedance of power system sources and loads to determine power system stability. Some effective impedance measurement techniques include current injection and voltage injection. For example, current injection techniques have been used to measure the impedance of a load and a source in a three phase alternating current (ac) circuit. However, prior current injection techniques of three phase ac circuits, as illustrated in FIG. 1, are not very efficient. Some of the problems caused by prior current injection techniques in three phase ac circuits are that the current must be injected at all phases of the circuit. Additionally, hardware implementation is difficult because of a complex hardware configuration. Further, the current being injected in the circuit is difficult to control.
These problems tend to limit the effectiveness of prior art current injection techniques of multi-phase ac circuits in applications where efficient and accurate determinations of power system stability is desirable.

Impedance measurement using line-to-line current injection

Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company

The Curators of the University of Missouri


An aviation filter including an injection molded plastic ring that is formed with only a slight clearance relative to the outer diameter of the cylindrical metal filter. The ring includes an inner circumferential lip that snaps into a recess formed in a rolled seam on an end of the filter, and secured via an adhesive. The ring includes holes that receive a wire connected to corresponding tie downs formed on the mount. A method of manufacturing an aviation filter includes the steps of snapping the plastic lock ring into place on the filter, and using an adhesive to hold the ring in place against rotation.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to filters and, more particularly, to an anti-rotation device for a replaceable, spin-on type of oil filter particularly suited for use on an aircraft.
2. Background Art
For certain uses of a filter or pressure vessel, added assurance may be needed that same will remain intact, such as where the filter will experience excessive vibration. For example, airplane spin-on oil filters experience vibration and require special precautions to prevent the filter from spinning off or otherwise becoming loose. Should the filter become loose, oil could leak, oil pressure could drop and the engine could suffer catastrophic damage, resulting in a very dangerous situation. To prevent this dangerous situation, aviation filters are required by federal regulations to accept an additional lock or safety wire extending between the filter and the filter mount.
One effort to address this requirement has included welding a metal member to the closed or "dome" end of a cylindrical metal filter. The metal member has four spaced tabs, each including a hole therein. See, e.g., FIG. 1 of U.S. Pat. No. 4,992,166. The holes receive a wire (or wires) that extends through tie downs attached to the mount, and the wire ends are tied off. By using this wire lock, rotation of the filter, and the resultant leakage, should be prevented. Also, the costs associated with this welding procedure are relatively reasonable, especially when compared with other prior art procedures described below.
A drawback associated with this structure is that the welding requires extra steps in filter manufacture. That is, the metal member must be separately formed and welded to the dome end of the otherwise complete filter. As the metal member must be welded, there is always the possibility that the welding process can perforate the housing, violating the integrity of the housing. This causes defects during manufacture or worse, a dangerous situation while in use. Also, if the weld becomes unstable in use, a dangerous condition can result.
Alternatively, the filter housing can be molded entirely of plastic and tabs molded integrally to project from the dome end of the filter to receive the wires. See e.g., FIG. 10 of U.S. Pat. No. 4,992,166.
The following drawbacks may be associated with this all plastic design. Molding the entire housing of plastic requires a relatively expensive mold. Dropping the filter could lead to breakage of the integral, projecting tabs.
Also, the above-referenced attempts at providing a reliable aviation filter lock down mechanism use holes located at the dome of the filter. The distance from the dome to the tie downs on the mount, however, is rather long, perhaps resulting is some rotation nonetheless, which might cause oil leakage, depending upon the quality of the gasket and its installation relative to the filter and the mount.
Still another way to provide an aviation filter lock down is to form a ring out of aluminum material, and connect the ring to the "open" end of a cylindrical metal filter housing using electromagnetic forces. This process is known as "Magneform," which is believed to be a trademark of Gulf General Atomic Inc. of San Diego, Calif. More particularly, the ring is formed with very close tolerances and, under electromagnetic forces, is fit onto the filter: the ring effectively shrinks to take the shape of the filter housing open end outer diameter. The fit is so tight that the ring does not rotate, thereby preventing rotation of the filter when the filter is mounted, and a wire is extended through holes formed in the ring.
Drawbacks to this Magneform approach include the need for expensive electromagnetic equipment, possible exposure of employees on the assembly line to dangerous electromagnetic radiation, high material costs, and the overall manufacturing/assembly process is somewhat complicated, slow and expensive. Further, because aluminum is relatively soft, there may be a tendency for the wire to begin cutting through the holes formed in the aluminum ring with extended use, thereby causing a dangerous condition.
As can be seen, the prior art still does not provide the most cost-effective, reliable, and easy to manufacture anti-rotation device for a pressure vessel or filter.


An apparatus and method for performing surface microscopy of an optical device uses an optical fiber taper including a microsphere endpoint as a near field probe. A transmission fiber is disposed adjacent to the microsphere so as to evanescently couple an optical test signal into the microsphere. A series of extremely narrow whispering gallery mode (WGM) resonances are created within the microsphere, with an associated electromagnetic field radiating outward therefrom. The microsphere probe may then be moved over the surface of an optical device being analyzed (or the device translated underneath the microsphere), where any abnormalities in the surface (such as defects, scratches and the like) will perturb the electromagnetic field pattern and be reflected in changes in the measured output power from the microsphere.

Whispering gallery modes (WGMs) in optical applications is typically associated with circular-path resonant cavities where light inserted into an optical WGM travels exclusively via total internal reflection, glancing off material interfaces at a near-parallel angle. In recent years, interest in WGM optical resonators has grown dramatically, particularly with respect to its "sensing" applications. Optical sensing generally uses an optical probe beam to interact with a material to be detected. This interaction between the optical probe beam and the material modifies some aspect of the optical probe beam. A portion of this modified beam, such as the scattered light, may be collected and measured to obtain certain information associated with the material. For example, the optical intensity, phase, spectrum, polarization and/or direction of the collected light may be measured either individually or in combination with other parameters to determine the composition of the material.
Recently, the optical probe for such applications has taken on the form of a microsphere formed at the termination of an optical fiber taper. Such a microsphere can possess extremely high quality (O) factor WGMs, corresponding to narrow spectral resonances. The position and width of these resonances are extremely sensitive to changes in the ambient medium. Therefore, when used as a "sensor", a microsphere probe may be immersed into the medium under test to determine its composition with extreme precision. U.S. Pat. No. 6,490,039 issued to L. Maleki et al. on Dec. 3, 2002, entitled Optical Sensing Based on Whispering-Gallery-Mode Microcavity, is exemplary of one such sensing arrangement that utilizes a microsphere cavity "whispering gallery mode" resonator to detect a minute amount of a particular material in a given specimen. U.S. Pat. No. 6,922,497 issued to A. Savchenkov et al. on Jul. 26, 2005, entitled Whispering Gallery Mode Resonators Based on Radiation-Sensitive Materials, discloses an alternative arrangement, using a pair of WGM optical resonators that are disposed in a cascaded configuration to allow for "tuning" of the sensing function.
A study of the prior art, however, yields the result that the use of a microsphere resonant probe has been limited to performing compositional analysis of a "medium under test".

Microsphere probe for optical surface microscopy and method of using the same


A stretcher with a mattress is supported by a frame. A segment of an elongated rail member is spaced apart from the mattress a sufficient distance to enable an accessory support mounted on the segment to be moved free from interference from the mattress. A cable support is aligned with the segment adapted to support a portion of cabling of an accessory mounted on the support, the cable support capable of receiving and retaining cabling from the accessory irrespective of the position of the accessory support on the segment.

This invention relates generally to a support system for mounting accessories to a stretcher and more specifically to a support system which permits unencumbered movement of the accessory along the side of the stretcher and controlled storage of cabling associated with the accessory irrespective of the position of the accessory along the side of the stretcher.

Children's & Women's Health Centre of British Columbia Branch


The invention relates to the use of compounds of the general formula (VII)

Owing to their unique properties, such as water repellency, surface activity, thermal stability, etc., siloxanes are used in numerous industrial applications. These include the stabilization of polyurethane foams. For the industrial production of polyurethane foams, polyoxyalkylene-polysiloxane block copolymers are usually used as stabilizers. They emulsify the raw materials used, stabilize the foam during the preparation process and permit the formation of a uniform pore structure having the desired cell fineness and open-cell character. By means of suitable silicone surfactants tailored to the respective raw materials and production processes, it is thus possible to optimize foam properties and preparation processes.
The usability of these polyoxyalkylene-polysiloxane block copolymers in polyurethane foam applications is determined by the equilibrium to be established for the polysiloxane blocks and the polyoxyalkylene blocks. Thus, the composition as well as the distribution of these two blocks are of key importance. The possibilities of varying the polyoxyalkylene blocks are described, inter alia, in EP-A-0 867 464. The polyoxyalkylene blocks may be linked to the polysiloxane via an SiC bond which is stable to hydrolysis or an Si—OC bond which has limited stability to hydrolysis. The polysiloxane may be modified with regard to the number of siloxane units, the branches and the number of possible linkages with the polyoxyalkylene.
A standard method for the preparation of SiC-linked polyoxyalkylene-polysiloxane block copolymers is hydrosilylation. Here, an SiH-containing siloxane is reacted with organic groups which contain a terminal double bond. If the SiH-containing siloxanes are prepared by standard processes (equilibration), the SiH functionalities are randomly distributed along the siloxane chain. In the case of a predetermined functionalization density which ensures the required compatibility of the siloxane with the polyurethane raw materials, the average length of the unmodified regions in the siloxane chains is determined as a quotient of the total chain length and number of SiH functionalities, i.e. the achievable length of unmodified siloxane is limited by the predetermined functionalization density. If the desired functionalization density is high, only short regions of unmodified siloxane can be obtained in the chains, resulting in a deterioration of the actual properties of the siloxane. If a low functionalization density is established, the proportion of unmodified or extremely weakly modified siloxanes increases owing to the random distribution, particularly in the case of short chain lengths. In the preparation of polyurethane foams, these unmodified siloxanes have an undesired antifoam and destabilizing effect because of a lack of sufficient compatibility with the raw materials.
One possibility for optimizing the polyoxyalkylene-polysiloxane block copolymers as a polyurethane foam stabilizer consists in the partial elimination of the random distribution of the functionalization by siloxanes having a block structure which permits decoupling of functionalization density and maximum length of the unmodified regions and avoids fractions of undesired unfunctionalized siloxanes. With the aid of this technique, it is possible in principle to combine the strong surface activity of "pure" siloxane and the organic modification without disadvantages by being able to realize with the formulation compatible siloxanes with simultaneous presence of long unmodified siloxane chains. In this way, stabilizers which greatly reduce the surface tension and have sufficient polymer compatibility can be formulated.
There have been in the past some efforts to synthesize siloxanes which have a block structure and are composed of blocks of unmodified siloxane and blocks of organomodified siloxane.
Thus, U.S. Pat. No. 5,475,076 describes compounds which contain blocks of unmodified and modified siloxane. However, these compounds always contain at least one crosslinkable group (T unit) via which a network is built up between the individual siloxane chains. As a result of this crosslinking, siloxane chains are no longer present; rather, a sort of thermosetting plastic forms.
In contrast, DE-A-31 26 343 describes a process in which α,ω-hydroxy-functional siloxanes which are composed of monoorganohydrogensiloxane units and optionally diorganosiloxane units are reacted with α,ω-hydroxy-functional siloxanes which are composed exclusively of diorganosiloxane units. However, the reaction is effected under acidic conditions so that not only is the condensation of the hydroxyl groups catalyzed but at the same time an equilibration also takes place, resulting in a redistribution of the SiH functionalities along the chain. Thus, a block structure is not realized; rather, there is only a lengthening of the chain of the siloxane with the SiH functionalities.
In contrast, EP-A-0 786 488 describes a process for the preparation of siloxanes which consist of blocks which carry SiH functionalities and blocks which are free of functional groups. However, in these siloxanes, the SiH-containing blocks consist exclusively of siloxane groups in which an alkyl group and a hydrogen atom are bonded to each silicon atom.
The functionalization density of these blocks is accordingly extremely high. In the hydrosilylation, such high functionalization densities often tend to be disadvantageous, since it is extremely difficult to achieve a quantitative reaction of the SiH functionalities without secondary reactions.
As a result, SiH frequently remains in the end product, especially if a hydrosilylation with bulky olefins is carried out. Residues of SiH functionalities can undergo uncontrolled reactions during storage (for example elimination of hydrogen), which may lead to considerable problems.
As a source of the SiH groups, EP-0 786 488 uses D4H (1,2,3,4-tetramethylcyclotetrasiloxane), which, owing to its extremely high reactivity (spontaneous ignition), is a chemical which is difficult to handle on industrial scales.
In addition, the described process for the preparation of the siloxanes having a block structure does not offer the possibility of establishing the functionalization density of the SiH-containing block in a targeted and defined manner.

Use of block polyethersiloxanes as stabilizers in polyurethane foams

Abstract: as stabilizers in the preparation of polyurethane foams.


A high frequency module comprises a switch circuit connected to two antenna terminals and two diplexers connected to the switch circuit. Each of the diplexers incorporates two band-pass filters (BPFs). Each of the diplexers further incorporates a capacitor provided between one of the BPFs and a node of signal paths and another capacitor provided between the other of the BPFs and the node.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a high frequency module used in a communications apparatus for a wireless local area network (LAN), for example.
2. Description of the Related Art
Attention has been recently drawn to a wireless LAN that forms a LAN through the use of radio waves as a technique for constructing a network easily. A plurality of standards are provided for the wireless LAN, such as the IEEE 802.11b that uses a 2.4 GHz band as a frequency band and the IEEE 802.11a and the IEEE 802.11g that use a 5 GHz band as a frequency band. It is therefore required that communications apparatuses used for the wireless LAN conform to a plurality of standards.
Furthermore, the communications status on the wireless LAN varies depending on the location of the communications apparatus and the environment. It is therefore desirable to adopt a diversity for choosing one of a plurality of antennas whose communications status is best.
In the communications apparatus for the wireless LAN, a circuit portion (hereinafter called a high frequency circuit section) that is connected to antennas and processes high frequency signals is incorporated in a card-shaped adapter, for example. In addition, it is expected that the communications apparatus for the wireless LAN is installed in a mobile communications device such as a cellular phone. A reduction in size of the high frequency circuit section is therefore desired.
A type of mobile communications device such as a cellular phone is known, wherein a high frequency circuit section is formed as a module operable in a plurality of frequency bands. For example, Japanese Published Patent Application (hereinafter referred to as 'JP-A') 2003-152588 discloses a module incorporating two diplexers and a single switch circuit. In this module, the switch circuit switches one of the two diplexers to be connected to the single antenna. Each of the diplexers separates two signals in different frequency bands from each other.
JP-A 2000-349581 discloses a typical diplexer comprising a combination of a low-pass filter and a high-pass filter.
JP-A 11-55156 discloses a switch circuit incorporating a GaAs field-effect transistor. In this switch circuit, a transmission section and a reception section are connected to terminals through which transmission signals and reception signals pass, respectively, through capacitors for blocking direct currents.
Each of JP-A 2001-136045 and JP-A 2001-119209 discloses a module incorporating a duplexer for separating transmission signals from reception signals. This module incorporates two band-pass filters each of which is made up of inductor conductors and capacitor conductors of a layered structure made up of a plurality of insulating layers, a plurality of inductor conductors and a plurality of capacitor conductors. Furthermore, these two publications disclose a technique in which the axis of the inductor conductors making up one of the band-pass filters is made orthogonal to the axis of the inductor conductors making up the other of the band-pass filters. In addition, the two publications disclose a diplexer as another example of the module to which the above-mentioned technique is applied. These publications disclose that the diplexer is formed by combining a low-pass filter and a high-pass filter, for example.
As previously described, it is desirable that a communications apparatus for the wireless LAN conform to a plurality of standards whose operable frequency bands are different. It is therefore desired that the high frequency circuit section of the communications apparatus for the wireless LAN be capable of processing transmission signals and reception signals in a plurality of frequency bands. To achieve this, a configuration is conceivable in which the high frequency circuit section comprises a plurality of diplexers for separating signals in two different frequency bands from each other, and a switch circuit for connecting one of the diplexers to an antenna terminal. In this case, a direct-current control signal for controlling switching of the state is applied to the switch circuit. It is necessary to prevent a direct current resulting from the control signal from flowing into the diplexers. To do so, a technique is conceivable in which circuits for processing transmission signals and reception signals respectively are connected through capacitors for blocking direct currents to terminals through which transmission signals and reception signals pass respectively, as disclosed in JP-A 11-55156.
Consideration will now be given to a configuration in which a diplexer as the circuits for processing transmission signals and reception signals is connected through a capacitor for blocking direct currents to the terminals through which transmission signals and reception signals pass respectively. This configuration has a problem that will now be described. A diplexer is a device for separating signals in two different frequency bands from each other as previously mentioned. If a capacitor for blocking direct currents is provided between the switch circuit and the diplexer, the capacitor has an influence on passing characteristics along two signal paths corresponding to the two frequency bands in the diplexer. The problem is that it is difficult to predetermine the capacitance of the capacitor for blocking direct currents so that the passing characteristics along the two signal paths are both favorable. That is, if the capacitance of the capacitor is predetermined so that the passing characteristic along one of the paths is favorable, the passing characteristic along the other of the paths deteriorates. If the capacitance of the capacitor is predetermined so that the passing characteristics along the two paths are balanced, the passing characteristics both deteriorate to some extent.


The capacitor element includes a chip body 2 prepared by compacting valve metal powder into a porous body and sintering the body, and an anode bar 3 fixed to the chip body so as to project from an end surface 2a of the chip body. A solid electrolyte layer 5 of conductive polymer is formed on the chip body via a dielectric film 4. A cathode film 6 is formed on the solid electrolyte layer. The solid electrolyte layer 5 formed at the end surface 2a of the chip body 2 includes carbide 5a formed by pyrolysis of the solid electrolyte layer to surround the entire circumference of the anode bar 3, so that damage is prevented from occurring at the root portion of the anode bar.

Conventionally, as disclosed in JP-A7-74062, for example, such kind of capacitor element is manufactured as follows.
First, as shown in FIG. 4, valve metal powder such as tantalum powder is compacted into a porous chip body 2 so that an anode bar 3 is fixed to an end surface 2a of the chip body 2, and then the chip body is heated to a high temperature for sintering the valve metal powder.
Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 5, a highly insulating dielectric film 4 of e.g. tantalum pentoxide is formed on particle surfaces of the valve metal powder constituting the chip body 2 so that the dielectric film extends up to the obverse surface of the anode bar 3.
Then, as shown in FIG. 6, a solid electrolyte layer 5 of a conductive polymer is formed on the dielectric film 4.
Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 7, a cathode film 6 having a two-layer structure consisting of a graphite layer as the underlying layer and a metal layer as the upper layer is formed on the solid electrolyte layer 5, whereby the capacitor element 1 is provided.
As disclosed in JP-A 60-220922, for example, and shown in FIG. 8, the capacitor element 1 manufactured in the above-described manner is placed between a pair of lead terminals 7 and 8. The anode bar 3 of the capacitor element 1 is fixed to the lead terminal 7 by e.g. welding, whereas the other lead terminal 8 is connected to the cathode film 6 of the chip body 2, and the entirety is sealed in a package body 9 made of a synthetic resin. In this way, a solid electrolytic capacitor 10 as a finished product is provided.
In the capacitor element 1, the anode bar 3 projects from the end surface 2a of the chip body 2. Therefore, in the process of assembling the capacitor element 1 into the solid electrolytic capacitor 10, stress is exerted on the root portion of the anode bar 3 connected to the end surface 2a of the chip body 2. The stress may produce a crack in the dielectric film 4 on the end surface 2a of the chip body 2.
The crack formed in the dielectric film 4 causes electrical connection between the solid electrolyte layer 5 formed on the dielectric film 4 and the valve metal particles (anode side), which considerably increases the possibility that the capacitor element becomes defective before the element is assembled into the solid electrolytic capacitor 10.

Capacitor element for solid electrolytic capacitor and method of making the same


A high frequency, high voltage starting circuit for a plasma arc cutting torch is operated in pulses to restart the torch if an initial arc extinguishes before the arc transfers to the workpiece. The starting circuit includes a D.C. power supply with its negative output connected to an electrode of the torch. A positive output is connected to a nozzle, and at a higher positive voltage, to a workpiece. A surge injector circuit of a resistor and surge capacitor is connected in parallel with the power supply to supply current to the arc as soon as breakdown occurs. The duration of the interval between restart pulses is sufficient to allow the surge injector circuit to recharge to a value that will reliably restart the arc as the power supply ramps up to a steady state pilot arc current.

This invention relates in general to plasma arc torches. More specifically it relates to a method for reliably starting a transferred arc plasma torch.
Reliable ignition of a plasma arc torch has been a significant problem throughout the development of plasma technology for cutting metallic workpieces. It is particularly important today where multiple cuts are made in unison by multiple torches. All torches should start at substantially the same time; and it is essential that they all start regardless of the precise timing of the start. More generally, reliability of starting is increasingly important as plasma cutting torches are used in robotic applications where human interventions to replace or repair a torch that will not start is a serious detriment to the reliability and cost effectiveness of a large automated operation.
One solution has been contact starting, one form of which is described in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,791,268. However, the principal starting technique in use today uses a high frequency high voltage (HFHV) signal coupled to a power line from a D.C. power supply to an electrode of the torch. The HFHV signal induces a spark discharge in a plasma gas flowing between the electrode and a nozzle, typically in a spiral path. A HFHV generator is usually incorporated in a power supply or in a "console" located remotely from the torch and connected to the torch by a lead set.
While a number of HFHV generators are known, e.g. capacitive discharge circuits and high voltage transformers, the most common type, shown in FIG. 1, is a Marconi RF generator. The generator produces, for typical plasma arc ignition purposes, a 5 to 10 kV impulse that oscillates at 1 to 3 mHz. This signal propogates through the lead set to the electrode (cathode) and nozzle (anode) where it ionizes the plasma gas to produce charge carriers. The ionized charge carriers in the plasma gas create a current carrying path that can sustain an arc.
While this technique seems straightforward in practice, it is a difficult and complex problem. At the time of arc ignition, the location of the arc on the electrodes, and its maintenance once it is initially struck depend on many factors that vary, and some of which may be interdependent. The result is that the voltage at which breakdown occurs, and the time at which it occurs, are random events. Some of the factors include the cathode and anode geometries and gap spacing, gas pressures, the type of gas, impurities in the gas, nature of local gas flow around the electrodes (laminar, turbulent, amount of swirl), the materials forming the anode and cathode and their surface condition, the place on the electrode where the arc initiates, the available voltage from the power supply, the transient response of the power supply, and electrode and nozzle wear. Randomness is a function of where the arc initiates on the electrode because the arc usually strikes well up on the body of the electrode. The arc then travels down the electrode to a hafnium or tungsten insert following the swirling path of the gas. The path and the rate at which the arc follows the path are not predictable.
Interaction of these variables further complicates an analysis or control of ignition. A change in the arc current varies the gas pressure in the torch and the gas flow rate. Electrode and nozzle wear alter the physical location of the initial arc strike, the arc path over the electrode, and the time for the arc travel. Gas impurities deposit on the electrode and nozzle; these deposits change the physical location of the arc strike and the arc voltage. In turn, any increase in the arc voltage, regardless of its source, reduces the ability of the surge injection circuit to provide an initial arc current and, once the arc is struck, to act as a current source sufficient to build to and sustain a steady-state pilot arc.
If an arc strikes, but extinguishes before it transfers, the most common general solution to date has been to attempt to restart the torch, and in particular to operate the HFHV generator constantly until the arc strikes and transfers. With a constant HFHV signal, if the arc extinguishes at any point in the ignition process, the starting circuit will automatically and immediately begin to restart the arc. This arrangement is shown in FIG. 3 and will be discussed in more detail below.
This automated restart, however, is also unreliable. At each restart the surge injection circuitry has less stored energy for the arc. The restart sequence ratchets down in energy and progressively lowers the probability of a successful ignition. In a certain percentage of cases the torch will not ignite, even with the steady application of a high voltage, high frequency signal.
It is therefore a principal object of this invention to provide a method of starting a plasma arc cutting torch with a high frequency high voltage signal that is highly reliable despite adverse variations in operating conditions.
Another object is to provide the foregoing advantage in a manner that is compatible with known starting circuits and can be readily retrofitted onto existing systems.
A still further object is to provide a system for starting multiple torches at substantially the same time with a high degree of reliability to facilitate simultaneous cutting operations.
Another object is to provide a plasma cutting torch starting system that is conducive to use with robotics.
Yet another object is to provide a system with the foregoing advantages which has a favorable cost of implementation.

Method of restarting a plasma arc torch using a periodic high frequency-high voltage signal


A magnetic device includes a substrate, a sensing block and a repair layer. The substrate has a bottom electrode, a registration layer and a barrier layer disposed on the registration layer. The sensing block is patterned to distribute on the barrier layer. The repair layer is disposed substantially on the barrier layer, wherein the barrier layer is configured to have a tunneling effect when a bias voltage exists between the sensing block and the registration layer.

Ferromagnetic material is utilized to manufacture a non-volatile memory device, such as magnetoresistive RAM (MRAM). Since its discovery in 1970, the tunneling effect of the magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) has caused a dramatic change in the use of magnetic memory devices. The MTJ usually consists of at least three layers, which are the pinned layer, the barrier layer and the free layer. As a result, the stored memory in the domain can be written or read by sensing the current tunneling through the barrier.
The correctivity or the ratio of the self spin-polarization is one of the major concerns regarding the efficiency and accuracy of when to read or write the memory storage domain. One possible reason for the degraded performance is attributed to the damage on the film during manufacturing. Etching or plasma bombardments attacking the exposure surface during the process or oxidation of the post-etched film surface are probable factors. It was reported that even introducing a cap layer, such as silicon nitride, on the device right after the etching process would cause degradation. Therefore, in order to improve the performance of a magnetic memory device, the process of repairing the damage or reducing the oxidation of the device is essential.

Magnetic device with a substrate, a sensing block and a repair layer

INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE


The safety and proper performance of jet aircraft engines requires that any contamination of jet fuel, for example by water or by improper contaminants, be filtered (removed) before delivery of the fuel, through hoses, to the fuel tanks of the aircraft. Coalescing devices and filters in the fuel delivery system are used to attain this result. A typical problem is that filter materials chemically react with surfactants, and this causes the filter subsequently to “disarm” or fail to perform its function of removing water, which can lead to delivery of fuel containing excessive water. A solution to this problem is to pre-test the fuel for such surfactants by feeding a small fuel sample that has been mixed with “challenge water” through a smaller ‘representative’ test filter and monitor the performance. Using a fluorescent dye in the “challenge water,” the amount of water that passes the test filter is detected, compared with a baseline data and fuel quality determination is made. From the result of the small-scale test, the fuel condition can be inferred and, based thereon; action can be taken to treat the fuel, prior to further distribution, such that it will not disarm field filter-coalescers in a typical fuel distribution system. The use of a fluorescent dye enhances the ability to make this determination of very small representative fuel filters. The fuel evaluation process is fully automated, thereby avoiding human-factor variables and assuring repeatable results.

Aviation fuel is vulnerable to contamination from a number of sources through the fuel distribution system. Contamination takes many forms, from trail-back in pipeline systems, to leaking roofs in holding tanks, or to treatment by wrong (non-approved) additives. Since the ultimate goal of the aviation fuel system is to deliver 100% "fit for purpose" fuel to the skin of the aircraft, it is essential that contamination problems, which arise along the fuel distribution path, be rapidly assessed.
One contamination issue that must be reduced to a minimum level is free water in fuel. Free water can result in microbiological growth in aircraft fuel tanks, poor engine performance or, at worst, a complete failure of the aircraft's ability to safely operate. Free water in an aircraft fuel system is removed by water separator coalescence filters or by still-tanking fuel until gravity causes the water (specific gravity about 1.0) to separate out of the aviation fuel (specific gravity about 0.8) and collect at the bottom of the tank or other container. Modern airport fueling systems often include coalescers which remove free water, prior to fuel reaching the skin of the aircraft. Modern filter coalescers use a variety of materials to accomplish the separation of free water. At the time of this writing, water filter-coalescers approved for use by the American Petroleum Institute (API) employ materials specified by the API 1581 standard (5th Edition). These materials are typically special fiber-type polymer materials. The performance of these filter materials can be adversely affected by chemicals in aviation turbine fuel (jet fuel), often referred to as "surfactants." Surfactants are surface-active chemicals which impair the ability of coalescer materials to aggressively remove free water. This chemical deterioration of filter performance is referred to, in the industry, as "disarming" the water filter. Hence, the ability to test fuels as to their chemical interaction behavior in modern API 1581 filter-coalescers is an essential element of safe operation of aircraft fueling operations worldwide. The goal of filtering is to supply fuel to the aircraft that meets all aircraft specifications. Aviation turbine fuel cleanliness specifications are set forth in two main standards. One widely recognized standard is overseen by the ASTM International (formerly American Society for Testing & Materials) specification D1655-14. A second standard is managed by the British Ministry of Defense: specification DefStan 91-91. There are also related standards for specialized fuels, for example: the United States Department of Defense MIL-DTL-83133 for JP-8 type fuel. I have invented a system and method, by which a small sample of a specific fuel is evaluated in a rapid and fully automatic laboratory instrument, to accurately access if that sample contains harming surfactants that may affect the water separation performance of large field-deployed filter coalescers. This system and method can be adapted for use with newer filter materials as the API 1581 5th edition specifications change to subsequent editions of the standard (see www.API.org). Note, although as described herein for surfactant testing in aviation turbine fuel, the instrument can also determine surfactant level effects on water separation characteristics of other distillate fuels, for example, of diesel fuel.
Water separation instruments ("Separometers") are commonly categorized as either "large scale"/"full-scale" (bulky and stationary) or "small-scale" (portable). Making a "small-scale" instrument as accurate as a "full-scale" instrument has been regarded as technically difficult. The method of the present invention relates to the preconditioning of the filter in a small-scale separometer. Modern fuel-filter "stands" operate for long periods of time, often without the presence of any free water. "Stand" is an industry term which refers to a set of filters that are used to treat fuel at a specific location, as the fuel moves through a delivery system. For example, in the United States, a Jet Fuel Filter Stand typically consists of three sequentially arranged filter vessels: first a clay treating vessel, then a coalescer vessel, and finally a particulate vessel. In fact, this is the normal operating condition, since modern fuel delivery systems are often equipped with free water removal filters or methods throughout the distribution system. In fact, the fuel delivery system is often described by industry insiders as "over-filtered." Surfactants are detergents, surface active chemicals, which will chemically behave differently in the presence of water. Surfactant occurrence in fuels can be the result of byproducts of the crude oil refining process, or they could be subtle side-effects of approved additives, or worse, from the addition of non-approved additives. Fuel additives are commonly used to modify the performance or physical characteristics of fuels. For example, Static Dissipative Additive (SDA), which is added to improve the electrical conductivity of fuel and to reduce the potential for electrostatic build-up of electrical charge in fuel, is also known in the industry to behave as a weak surfactant. When in the presence of free water, these surfactant chemicals are much more likely to react with the highly-polarized water molecules than with the fuel itself. Hence, water actually tends to reduce interaction between surfactants and the surface of the filter media. Hence, the "reactivity" (the ability to disarm a filter coalescer) of these surfactant chemicals changes, as the availability of free water in the subject fuel changes.
Traditional water separation determination instruments, which measure the ability of water to be coalesced, have not taken into account this water reactivity of surface-active ingredients. In fact, the current prevalent test (ASTM D3948), for determining potential surfactant levels in fuel, first mixes the fuel/surfactant with a high level of free "challenge" water, ˜1000 ppm, to form an emulsion. This emulsion of water/fuel/surfactant is then presented to the test filter medium. However, in this test, since the test fuel/surfactant has already been mixed with the challenge water, in high concentration, the available surfactants may not react with the filter material to the same extent as they would without the presence of the filter challenge water. This mixing of water into the test fuel impairs the ability of the existing determination method, as described by ASTM D3948, to accurately predict whether or not a particular test fuel will disarm field water filter-coalescers.

System for pre-treating a filter used in a small-scale water separometer


We have identified ZNF206, a novel repressor of human embryonic stem cell (hESC) differentiation. Repressing extra-embryonic endoderm development preserves the pluripotent state of human embryonic stem cells, and, conversely downregulating expression of ZNF206 in hESCs causes them to upregulate the expression of genes associated with the extra-embryonic endodermal lineage, down-regulate genes associated with the pluripotent state, and may lead to the further emergence of genes associated with even more differentiated lineages and phenotypes.

Several transcriptional factors have been implicated in human embryonic stem cell (hESC) self-renewal supporting a view that this process is regulated at the level of transcriptional control (Chambers, Cloning Stem Cells 6:386-391, 2004).
The transcription factor POU5F1 (OCT4) is essential for embryonic stem cell (ESC) pluripotency and appears to regulate a number of ESC properties. OCT4 is specifically expressed in ESCs, pre-implantation embryos, epiblast, and germ cells (Okamoto et al., Cell 60:461-472, 1990; Scholer et al., EMBO J. 9:2185-2195, 1990). Inactivation of OCT4 in mouse embryos and ESCs results in loss of pluripotency and spontaneous differentiation into the trophoblast lineage (Niwa et al., Nat. Genet. 24:372-376, 2000). Mouse ESCs (mESCs), even when constitutively expressing OCT4 from an exogenous promoter, still require LIF for self-renewal suggesting that LIF and OCT4 function in different pathways. However, overexpression of OCT4 induces mESCs to differentiate into PE (Niwa et al., Nat. Genet. 24:372-376, 2000).
The homeodomain-containing transcription factor NANOG is another critical ESC factor recently identified (Chambers et al., Cell 113:643-655, 2003; Mitsui et al., Cell 113:631-642, 2003). The NANOG-deficient ICM fails to generate an epiblast and only produces extraembryonic primitive endoderm (PE). Similarly in culture, NANOG-deficient ESCs lose pluripotency and differentiate to a PE lineage. Unlike POU5F1/OCT4, NANOG overexpression can maintain ESC self-renewal without LIF (Chambers et al., Cell 113:643-655, 2003). It has been proposed that NANOG maintains ESC self-renewal through repression of genes that promote differentiation, e.g., GATA4 and GATA6, which are upregulated in NANOG-deficient cells. That NANOG also binds sequences in the GATA6 gene supports this hypothesis (Mitsui et al., Cell 113:631-642, 2003).
Together, these observations suggest that NANOG is a critical factor underlying pluripotency in both ICM and ESCs by repressing their differentiation into PE, and that NANOG and OCT4 work together in the maintenance of the undifferentiated state by virtue of overlapping functions. Two cell fate decisions have to be made during pre-implantation development. The first is that cells of the morula remain pluripotent or differentiate into trophectoderm. The second is that cells of the ICM remain pluripotent as epiblast or differentiate into PE. OCT4 is the key determinant of the first decision (since OCT4-null ESCs differentiate into trophectoderm), while NANOG is the crucial determinant of the second decision (since ESCs lacking NANOG differentiate into PE) (Mitsui et al., Cell 113:631-642, 2003). FIG. 1 shows transcription factors involved in controlling self-renewal of human embryonic stem cells by repressing early lineage commitment.
Two other transcription factors have been identified that interact with OCT4: the forkhead transcription factor FOXD3 and the Sry-related factor SOX2. FOXD3 is expressed in the blastocyst and later in the post-implantation egg cylinder epiblast. FOXD3 physically interacts with OCT4 to activate the ostopontin enhancer, which is expressed in ESCs (Guo et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 99:3663-3667, 2002). Sox2 is expressed in ESCs as well as in multipotent embryonic and extra-embryonic lineages. Disrupting Sox2 results in pre-implantation embryonic lethality (Avilion et al., Genes Dev. 17:126-140, 2003). Sox2 was identified as a co-factor of OCT4 for activating FGF4, which is restrictively expressed in undifferentiated ESCs, and is essential for post-implantation mouse development and limb patterning and growth (Yuan et al., Genes Dev. 9:2635-2645, 1995). Transcriptional regulation of NANOG itself is also regulated by OCT4 and SOX2 (Rodda et al., J. Biol. Chem. 280: 24731-24737, 2005). Another OCT4 and SOX2 co-regulated gene is the ESC-specific transcription factor UTF1 (Nishimoto et al., Mol. Cell. Biol. 19:5453-5465, 1999). Taken together, these studies suggest that the SOX2-OCT4 complex is at the apex of a regulatory hierarchy of the "pluripotency genetic regulatory network".
FIG. 1 shows transcription factors involved in controlling self-renewal by repressing early lineage commitment.
In summary, ESC identity is determined by cell-intrinsic transcription factors that need to be expressed at particular levels in order to function appropriately. However, the molecular basis of the regulation of pluripotency and early lineage commitment of hESCs is still poorly understood. Additional intrinsic pathway-specific transcription factors presumably exist that maintain expression of the thousands of genes that are expressed in ESCs and control different types of renewal and differentiation pathways. Understanding how hESCs maintain their pluripotency and self-renewal and execute precise differentiation programs will require extending our understanding of the transcriptional regulatory hierarchy of hESC function, including identifying new intrinsic transcription factors.

ZNF206: regulator of embryonic stem cell self-renewal and pluripotency

Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute


A thermal sensor module, comprising: a housing, wherein the housing comprises a first end and a second end, wherein the housing is hollow and configured to allow a fluid to flow into the housing through the first end and exit through the second end; a heat source, wherein the heat source is disposed at a central axis of the housing and traverses at least partially through the housing; and a temperature sensor, wherein the temperature sensor is positioned in the housing to measure temperature of the fluid flowing in the housing.

During drilling or production operations of a reservoir, the thermophysical properties, such as thermal conductivity, specific heat, and viscosity of the downhole hydrocarbon fluid may affect production efficiency and cost. High viscosity hydrocarbon fluid production may require the application of external heat to reduce the viscosity of the fluid and enable fluid transport from one place in the reservoir to a well location. Efficiency of production may depend upon the external heating power and thermal energy transport within a limited time interval. Higher thermally conductive hydrocarbon fluid may effectively transport the thermal energy further than low thermally conductive fluids. It may be desirable to measure thermal conductivity properties or heat capacity of formation fluids during wireline logging services and during production processes. The formation fluid thermal properties obtained may be used for wellbore completion, production efficiency control, and optimization.
The thermal conductivity properties of the downhole formation fluids may vary with pressure, temperature, and chemical composition or molecular weight. The measurement of thermal conductivity may therefore be used to identify formation fluids. Downhole formation fluids at different geometric locations may also have different thermophysical properties regarding viscosity, density, thermal conductivity, and specific heat capacity. Each of these properties may at least partially govern transportation and mobility of crude oils, including high viscosity crude oils, and may consequently impact the recovery process of the crude oils.
Reservoir hydrocarbon fluids may have similar specific heat capacities or thermal conductivity properties but different viscosity, density, and compressibility. Knowing these thermophysical properties of the hydrocarbon fluid may at least partially enable optimization of downhole tools, well completion design, and crude oil production processes. Presently, most thermophysical properties of the hydrocarbon fluid may typically be measured from samples that are taken downhole and then analyzed in a lab, which can take days, or even months. The potential phase transition may reduce the accuracy of any measurement due to the passage of time since sample collection and environmental changes at the collection point(s), which can occur over time.

Sensor to measure thermal conductivity and heat capacity of reservoir fluids


A therapeutical method for the treatment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) is disclosed which comprises administering to a child in need thereof L-carnitine or an alkanoyl L-carnitine or a pharmacologically acceptable salt thereof.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a therapeutical method for treating children affected by learning disorders and, more specifically, to a method for treating children suffering from Attention-Deficit/Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD).
2. Description of the Prior Art
ADHD is a developmentally inappropriate inattention and impulsivity generally associated with hyperactivity.
ADHD diagnostic criteria are precisely set forth in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV), pages 82-85, published by the American Psychiatric Association.
ADHD diagnosis should in fact be made with great care and only if the symptoms of inattention or hyperactivity are excessive for the child's mental age. Inattention in the classroom may also occur when children with high intelligence are placed in academically understimulating environments.
ADHD is a heterogenous disorder of unknown etiology. It is one of the major clinical and public health problems worldwide because of its associated morbidity and disability in children and adolescents.
Its impact on society is enormous in terms of the financial cost, the stress to families, the impact on academic and vocational activities. The symptoms of this syndrome are distressing to the environment (parents and teachers) and also distressful to the child. The disorder is usually accompanied by impairment of social and school functioning and in the majority of cases persists throughout childhood.
Moreover, prospective longitudinal studies of hyperkinetic children indicate that a substantial proportion thereof retains hyperkinetic symptoms and goes on to antisocial disorders.
ADHD affects approximately 5 to 10% of school-aged children youths according to epidemiological studies carried out in the United States and Europe. ADHD is seen 10 times more frequently in boys than in girls.
ADHD is a common cause of referrals to pediatricians and child psychiatrists and accounts approximately for as 50% of child psychiatric clinic population.
The affected children do not necessarily share a common set of characteristics. However, most of the children show deficiencies in their attention span, impulse control, and rule-governed behaviour. The common hyperactivity and impulsivity symptoms are described as follows. The children often fidget with hands or feet, leave seat in the classroom or at home during meals, have difficulty awaiting turn, blurt out answers before questions have been completed, often talk excessively, interrupt or intrude on others, often run about in situations in which it is inappropriate.
On the other side the common inattention symptoms are described as follows. The children often fail to give attention to details or make careless mistakes in school work or other daily activities. They also have difficulty in sustaining attention in tasks or play activities, are easily distracted by extraneous stimuli, often do not seem to listen when spoken to directly, do not follow through on instructions and fail to finish school work or daily duties. Often they are unmotivated to do school or home work, avoid tasks that require sustained mental effort, often lose things necessary for tasks or activities and are forgetful in common daily activities. In some children the hyperactivity-impulsivity are predominant on the attention deficit disorder, whereas in other children the attention deficit is predominant. Mostly the hyperactivity-impulsivity and attention deficit symptoms are combined.
As previously indicated, ADHD etiology is unknown. Genetic factors, prenatal and perinatal acquired brain damage have been proposed as causes of the disease; yet no definitive conclusions has been reached. Recently, it has been suggested that the affected children are suffering from a disorder in energetical regulation mechanisms.
The psychopharmacological agents so far proposed to treat the disease are stimulant compounds (amphetamine and methylfenidate), tricyclics antidepressants (imipramine, amitryptiline) and antipsychotic agents (phenothiazines, haloperidol).
Two compounds are mostly used worldwide: methylfenidate and clonidine. The latter is primarily used as a central antihypertensive agent.
Methylfenidate has been object of several clinical studies that have proved a good efficacy both in hyperactivity and in attention deficit. However, rebound of hyperactivity has been often reported and sometimes impulsivity has been shown to increase.
Frequent adverse effects are reported during treatment with methylfenidate such as weary dark rings under the eyes, enlarged pupils, headache and decreased appetite.
Also difficulty in falling asleep, night awakening, bed wetting, drowsiness, reduction of systolic and diasystolic blood pressure have been reported. The most common side effects are insomnia, decreased appetite and weight loss.
Clonidine is also effective on home/school hyperactivity and on attention disorders but its beneficial effects on target problems with teachers and parents are less significant than those achieved with methylfenidate.
The adverse effects of clonidine are various and frequent. Drowsiness is the most common. An increased need for short naps has been also reported.
Frequent are also night awakening, sometimes accompanied by nightmares. Also nausea, decreased appetite and dry mouth have been reported. Reduction of systolic and diasystolic blood pressure occurs more frequently than with methylfenidate treatment.
The adverse effects of both compounds, i.e., methylfenidate and clonidine, have been recorded during the clinical trials and also reported by patients not participating to the trials as well as by parents and teachers.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a therapeutical method for the treatment of children suffering from ADHD which comprises administering to children in need thereof a drug which is not only at least as effective as the known drugs, but which also does not present the aforesaid drawbacks and objectionable side effects of the known drugs.

Therapeutical method for the treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactive disorders

Sigma-Tau Industrie Farmaceutiche Riunite S.p.A.


An optical disc includes two transparent substrate layers each having a recording surface with a plurality of pits arranged concentrically or spirally. The plurality of pits represents information stored on the recording surface. Each transparent substrate layer has a thickness of 0.6.+-.0.03 mm. A reflecting layer is formed on each of the recording surfaces of the two transparent substrate layers. An inclining angle formed between a pit inner wall and a normal line of each transparent substrate layer is 20.degree.-55.degree., and pit depth is set to be .lambda./3.5N-.lambda./2.7N. .lambda. is defined as the wavelength of a laser beam incident the optical disc for reading the information recorded on the optical disc, and N is the index of refraction of each transparent substrate layer.

The present invention relates to an optical disc, in particular to an optical disc on which information has been recorded in the form of numerous pits with a high density.
Recently, there has been suggested a DVD (Digital Video Disc) which is capable of recording moving pictures having an information amount of two hours, but which has only a size as large as a CD (Compact Disc).
The suggested DVD is constructed by laminating and bonding together two substrates each having a thickness of 0.6 mm. In such a DVD, the information track pitch has a width of 0.74 .mu.m, a shortest pit has a length of 0.4 .mu.m, a recording surface has an information amount of 4.7 G byte.
In an optical system for reproducing the DVD, there has been used a laser diode producing a laser beam having a wave length of 635 nm or 650 nm, and an objective lens having a NA (Numerical Aperture) of 0.6.
However, with a high density recording medium such as DVD, if the depth of each information pit is set to obtain an optimum modulation degree, there will be a problem that other properties such as jitter (fluctuation) will deviate from an optimum value, hence resulting in a bad reproducibility of a DVD.


A Windows.RTM. metafile is compressed by first processing individual records. In some types of records, record type indicators are mapped to values having fewer significant bits than the original record type indicators. In addition, record length indicators are removed in some record types because they are constant values. In record types where the length varies, the record length indicator is divided to reduce its number of significant bits. There are also record types having one or more arguments that rarely change. For records of these types, the arguments are removed. There are other types of records whose arguments are often repeated from previous records of the same type. When this is the case, the arguments are removed. Many metafile arguments specify graphics coordinates in terms of absolute values. These absolute values are converted to relative values. In most cases, this reduces the number of significant bits required by the values. To further reduce the number of leading significant bits, negative values are negated and their original sign bits are stored separately. Once the records have been processed in this manner, individual data fields of the metafile are processed. Each data field has its leading zero bits removed. The remaining bits are packed into a variable number of bytes, often a smaller number than the original number of bytes used. Subsequent pattern matching compression is used to provide further compression gains.

Graphical output under the Microsoft Windows 3.x.RTM., Windows95.RTM., and Windows NT.RTM. operating systems is generally accomplished through calls to operating system functions. The operating system components used for carrying out graphics instructions are collectively referred to as the graphic device interface or GDI.
The Windows.RTM. GDI uses dynamically created objects or resources for carrying out drawing operations. Resources are classified into four different categories or classes: pens, brushes, palettes and fonts. One resource from each class can be currently selected at any given time. Different GDI resources are used to perform various types of drawing operations.
GDI drawing instructions can be used to form a variety of shapes or images, such as lines, arcs, regions, ellipses, polygons, rectangles, and bitmaps. Drawing a straight line is an example of a simple operation that can be performed with GDI instructions. To draw a line, a pen is created, selected, used, and then deleted. This involves four different instructions or GDI function calls: CREATEPEN, SELECTOBJECT, LINETO, and DELETEOBJECT.
GDI drawing instructions operate with reference to a two-dimensional display medium--commonly a computer's CRT. Two-dimensional coordinate pairs are thus used in many GDI instructions to specify locations for different types of graphics shapes and entities.
In addition to providing a convenient way to create device-independent graphics images, the Windows.RTM. GDI can be used to create data files for storing such images. Rather than storing the images in bit-mapped format, they are stored as an ordered sequence of GDI instructions which are later "played" to create an actual display image. The Windows.RTM. GDI contains functions for recording and storing GDI instructions in such files, which are referred to as journal files in general and as "metafiles" in the Windows environment. A metafile is simply a collection of GDI commands that creates desired text or images. Metafiles take up less space than bitmaps. In addition, they are more device-independent than bitmaps. They are also scalable in size, in that sizes and positions are specified in terms of an output frame that can be mapped to a different size during playback. For these reasons, metafiles provide convenient storage for images that appear repeatedly in an application or need to be moved from one application to another.
To generate a metafile, a Windows.RTM. application creates a special device context that sends GDI commands to a metafile for storage. The application can later play back the metafile and display the image. During playback, the GDI breaks the metafile down into records and executes the instruction defined by each record.
A metafile consists of two pertinent parts: a header and a list of records. The header contains a description of the size of the metafile, the number of drawing resources it uses, and other information. Each metafile record contains a header, a GDl instruction, and its arguments.
GDI functions and metafiles will be familiar to those accustomed to programming in the Windows.RTM. environment. For more information regarding these subjects, refer to the Windows 3.1.RTM., Windows95.RTM. and Windows NT.RTM. Programming Manuals, available from Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash. These references are hereby incorporated by reference.
While metafiles offer an attractive alternative to bit-mapped files, further size reduction would be welcomed--particularly in the context of newer consumer-oriented applications which attempt to utilize graphical user interfaces to a degree that has previously not been attempted. The invention described below meets this need, compressing the data contained in metafiles by ratios not previously attainable.


Provided are an apparatus and a method for managing a fuel cell vehicle system, and more particularly, an apparatus and a method for managing a fuel cell vehicle system capable of optimally maintaining a driving method based on environmental information and product information.

Fossil fuel reserves are very restricted, and thus the depletion of the fossil fuel cannot is inevitable. In particular, since main emission sources of greenhouse gas causing global warming are fuel reserves, advanced countries have been focused on developing hydrogen energy, and the like, using alternative energy or atomic energy so as to decrease fossil fuels. An example of energy sources which have emerged as alternative energy may include solar energy, wind power, hydrogen energy, biomass, and the like. To use solar power or wind power, auxiliary facilities, such as a solar panel and a windmill, are required. However, since a wide space is required to install the solar panel or the windmill, other environmental problems, such as destruction of ecosystem and noise, may occur. Future energy needs requirements, such as environmental acceptability, economic productibility, and eternal capability.
A fuel cell is a cell which directly converts chemical energy generated by oxidation into electrical energy and is a new eco-friendly future energy technology of generating electrical energy from materials, which richly exist on earth, such as hydrogen and oxygen.
The fuel cell performs an electrochemical reaction in an electrolysis reverse reaction type of water by supplying oxygen to a cathode and hydrogen to an anode to produce electricity, heat, and water, thereby generating electrical energy at high efficiency without inducing pollutants.
A fuel cell vehicle is a future vehicle of a type of allowing a fuel cell using a chemical reaction of hydrogen and oxygen to drive an electric motor and therefore is likely to lead a future automobile industry. The technology may expect to reduce driving cost due to remarkable improvement of fuel efficiency and prevent air pollution due to reduction in exhaust gas.
For commercialization of the fuel cell vehicle, many problems, such as a method of manufacturing a fuel cell vehicle at a reasonable price, development of a fuel cell system with high efficiency, a technology of obtaining a large amount of hydrogen at a reasonable price, a safety hydrogen transportation system, a hydrogen repository, a pressure device for charging a vehicle at a reasonable price, construction of hydrogen infrastructure, and the like, are to be solved. Among them, many methods of increasing efficiency of a fuel cell system have been researched.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,767,328 discloses a system of tracking an optimal operation point of a fuel cell in a power supply device using a fuel cell and a power supply device including the system of tracking an optimal operation point of a fuel cell.

Apparatus and method for managing fuel cell vehicle system


The invention is directed to a method of making an orthopaedic implant. An orthopaedic implant body is formed which has a supporting surface. A porous metal pad is formed to fit the supporting surface of the body. The porous metal pad is clamped and/or adhesively bonded to the supporting surface. A laser beam is coupled between the porous metal pad and the implant body at a plurality of locations so as to form a coalescence of metal between the porous metal pad and the body.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to orthopaedic implants, and, more particularly, to orthopaedic implants having a porous metal pad attached thereto.
2. Description of the Related Art
Orthopaedic implants, such as knee or hip implants, may include one or more porous surfaces at the exterior thereof. The porous surfaces enhance implant fixation within the bone by allowing bony ingrowth therein or penetration of bone cement. The porous surface is typically in the form of a pad constructed of fiber metal, metal beads or a wire mesh. The fibers, beads or wires are typically interconnected with each other using a sintering or diffusion bonding process. The porous metal pad is cut to shape to fit a supporting surface formed on the orthopaedic implant body.
One known method of attaching the porous metal pad to the implant body is to clamp the porous metal pad against the supporting surface of the implant body, and thereafter metallurgically bond the porous metal pad to the implant body using a diffusion bonding or sintering process. A problem with sintering the porous metal pad to the implant body is that this process is both time consuming and expensive from a manufacturing standpoint. For example, during sintering, the ramp up and cool down time for a sintering furnace is approximately 14 hours per cycle. If the porous metal pad is being connected, e.g., to the interior bone engaging surface of a femoral knee component, it may take a minimum of three cycles to complete the sintering operation. The complex geometric interior design of the femoral knee component may require that only one or two porous metal pads be attached to the femoral knee component during one cycle of the sintering process. The typical interior of the femoral knee component defines five distinct surfaces which require connection with a porous metal pad. Therefore, to completely bond the porous metal pad to the interior of the femoral knee component may require in excess of 42 hours of furnace time. Added to this is the time required to connect the clamping tool to the implant for holding the porous metal pad in contact with the supporting surface of the implant. It is thus apparent that providing a porous metal pad on an implant using a sintering process is relatively time consuming and expensive.
It is also known to diffusion bond a fiber metal pad to a thin metal foil, which in turn is attached to an orthopaedic implant body using a laser welding process. For details of such an attachment process, reference is hereby made to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/609,210, entitled "ORTHOPAEDIC IMPLANT AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME," which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention and incorporated herein by reference. In general, a porous metal pad, such as a fiber metal pad, is diffusion bonded to a thin metal foil. The fiber metal pad and thin metal foil are each configured to be received within a recess formed in the orthopaedic implant body. The edges of the thin metal foil extend to the exterior of the recess formed in the orthopaedic implant body. A laser welder is used to weld the thin metal foil to the orthopaedic implant body, and thereby indirectly attach the fiber metal pad to the implant body.
What is needed in the art is a method of attaching a porous metal pad to an orthopaedic implant body wherein the porous metal pad is attached to the implant body at locations other than the periphery of the porous metal pad.
What is further needed in the art is a method of attaching a porous metal pad to an implant body which is faster than a sintering process.

Orthopedic implant having a porous metal pad