Multi-lumen wire guide introducer and method of inserting a wire guide or the like into the introducer prior to positioning the introducer in a vessel of the vascular system of a patient. The multi-lumen wire guide introducer comprises a tubular member formed of a semi-rigid plastic material such as a radiopaque polytetrafluoroethylene with first and second adjacent lumens extending longitudinally therein. In one aspect, the tubular member includes a tapered outer surface extending proximally from the distal end of the member and centered about the first lumen. The second lumen includes an opening in the tapered outer surface of the tubular member for extending a wire guide therefrom and into the blood vessel. In another aspect, the tubular member has proximal and distal portions with a first lumen extending longitudinally therethrough. The proximal portion includes a second lumen extending longitudinally therein and communicating with the first lumen prior to the distal portion. A method for positioning the multi-lumen introducer in the blood vessel of a patient includes the steps of providing and inserting a hollow needle through the first lumen, providing and inserting a wire guide in the second lumen, inserting the needle and tubular member into the blood vessel of a patient, advancing the wire guide from the second lumen into the blood vessel, and removing the needle and tubular member from the blood vessel when the wire guide is in place.

Many medical procedures require that medical personnel gain percutaneous access to the vascular system of a patient. Percutaneous access is achieved when a wire guide is positioned in the lumen of a blood vessel for permitting a dilator and introducer sheath to be positioned thereover and introduced into the vessel lumen. One technique for gaining vascular access is the Seldinger technique, which requires holding a hollow bore needle in a vessel of the vascular system while inserting a wire guide therethrough. Once the wire guide is positioned in the vessel and the needle is removed, a dilator and sheath are positioned over the wire guide and inserted into the vessel lumen. A problem with this technique is that it requires that medical personnel performing the procedure have significant dexterity and experience in performing the technique. It is difficult to keep the needle positioned in the vessel lumen. If the position of the needle changes, it may extend into the connective tissue surrounding the vessel and cause trauma to the access site. Furthermore, if the needle is positioned in connective tissue and the medical person inserts the wire guide therethrough, the wire guide damages the connective tissue surrounding the vessel. As a result of injury to the access site, medical personnel will have to find another access site. However, some patients do not have another viable access site. Another problem with this technique is that the wire guide is thin, flexible, and smooth, therefore difficult and time consuming to manipulate and guide through the needle. While insertion is being attempted, blood is typically spurting out of the introducer needle and contaminating the surgical field. This is of particular concern in view of the HIV virus and AIDS. Still another problem with this technique is that the wire guide may be sheared off by the metal needle, leaving a piece of the wire guide in the patient's body. Wire guides with a J-shaped or increasingly flexible distal end are particularly susceptible to shearing.
Another technique for gaining percutaneous vascular access uses over-the-needle catheters. Using the over-the-needle technique, a needle with a catheter positioned thereover is positioned in a vessel lumen. The catheter is pushed over the needle into the vessel lumen, and the needle is removed. Then a wire guide is positioned through the catheter, which is less likely to shear off the wire guide than a metal needle. A problem with this technique is that, again, manipulation of the wire guide is difficult and time consuming. In emergency and critical care situations, time delays may be life threatening. Furthermore, the process of feeding the wire guide into the vessel lumen through the catheter can be interrupted by an emergency push of medication or fluid. When this happens, the wire guide has to be completely removed from the catheter. Then vascular access is attempted at another site, if another access site is viable, or delayed until the introduction of fluid can be stopped or interrupted long enough to reinseft the wire guide and position a dilator and sheath in the vessel. Another problem with this technique is that the over-the-needle catheter has a small diameter for being positioned over the needle. As a result, the lumen is too small for permitting the introduction of a large volume of fluid such as the amount required to treat a patient suffering from hypovolemic shock.

Vascular wire guiode introducer and method of use


A dust guard is provided for a brake actuating mechanism comprising a housing having first and second end walls, an elastomeric diaphragm suspended within the housing, a brake actuating rod disposed within the housing for reciprocating movement relative to the housing and having a first end and a second end, the second end being directed towards the second end wall of the housing, and a spring disposed within the second chamber between the second end wall and the diaphragm. The dust guard comprises a resilient tubular barrier, attached at one to the second end wall, and extending inwardly axially to engage the actuating rod, or structure connected to the actuating rod, to isolate the second end of the actuating rod from the interior of the housing.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to air-operated diaphragm brakes for vehicles and particularly to combination service and spring brake actuator assemblies having a dust guard on the spring brake.
2. State of the Prior Art
An air brake system for a vehicle such as a bus, truck or the like typically includes a brake shoe and drum assembly which is actuated by means of an actuator assembly operated by the selective application of compressed air. Conventional air brake actuators have both a service brake actuator for actuating the brakes under normal driving conditions by the application of compressed air and a spring-type emergency brake actuator which causes actuation of the brakes when air pressure has been released. The emergency brake actuator includes a strong compression spring which forces application of the brake when air is released. This is often referred to as the spring brake.
Typically, the spring brake actuator is disposed in tandem with the service brake actuator. When full pressure is applied to the spring brake actuator, air pressure acting against a diaphragm compresses the spring. A spring brake actuator rod is held in a retracted position by a relatively small return spring, thus not affecting the operation of the brake. When the brake is to be applied during normal driving operation, compressed air is provided to the service brake actuator which, acting against a diaphragm, causes a service brake push rod to be extended and causes the brakes to be applied with an application force which is proportional to the air pressure applied to the service brake actuator. In the event of a loss of air pressure or an intentional exhaustion of air from the spring brake actuator, the brake will be mechanically activated by the force of the emergency brake spring acting on the spring brake actuator rod which in turn acts upon the service brake push rod to apply the brakes. Thus, the spring brake portion serves both as a parking brake and an emergency brake.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,105,727, issued Apr. 21, 1992 to Bowyer discloses a spring brake assembly which includes both a spring brake portion and a service brake portion. The service brake portion includes an air chamber partially defined by a flexible service diaphragm acting against a service brake push rod and a return spring to assure proper release of the brake when air is exhausted from the air chamber. The spring brake portion also includes an air chamber partially defined by a spring brake diaphragm acting against a spring pressure plate to compress the emergency brake spring when air pressure is supplied to the chamber. An actuating rod extends through the spring brake diaphragm to integrally connect with the pressure plate. In operation, it is pushed outwardly from the chamber through a housing opening and bearing provided with a pneumatic seal to engage the service diaphragm and push rod of the service brake and thereby cause the brake to be applied. The spring brake diaphragm is provided with a centrally disposed aperture having an annular edge and the actuator rod extends through the opening and engages the annular edge to form an airtight seal. The actuator rod is hollow with a central bore and a brake releasing caging bolt extends into the central bore. An end plate on the bolt engages the spring brake pressure plate to draw the spring to a compressed state when the spring is caged by rotation of the bolt.


Embodiments of the present invention address deficiencies of the art in respect to core dump generation during application fault handling and provide a method, system and computer program product for privacy preservation of core dump data during application fault handling. In an embodiment of the invention, a method for privacy preservation of core dump data during application fault handling can be provided. The method can include receiving a crash signal for an application and generating a core dump with object data for the application. The method further can include obfuscating the object data in the core dump and writing the core dump with obfuscated object data to a file. In this way, the privacy of the object data in the core dump can be preserved.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of application fault handling and more particularly to core dump file generation during application fault handling.
2. Description of the Related Art
The development and deployment of a computer program generally follows an academically defined software lifecycle. The development of an application begins with the design and functional specification of the application followed by both internal and external testing. Once testing has proven the efficacy of the application, the application can be deployed to the end user for use in the field. Subsequently, as run-time and logical errors are discovered in the application, revisions to the application can be designed, tested and deployed. Eventually, a new version of the application can be deployed replacing the originally deployed application and the lifecycle can begin anew.
Run-time errors and logical errors differ from one another. A logical error refers to program code that operates as programmed, but outside of the intent of the programmer. Logical errors oftentimes arise during the functional specification of the application, though on occasion the programmer can interject a run-time error during coding contrary to the functional specification. A run-time error, by comparison, refers to program code that disrupts the operation of the application when executed. Though fault handling has been incorporated into many modern programming languages, in many cases, a run-time error results in the cessation of execution of the operation—commonly referred to as an application fault or a "crash".
Determining the root cause of an application fault can be challenging for the software developer. In many cases, the application fault will have arisen from a multitude of environmental factors coupled with programmatic errors resulting in the perfect storm—the crash. Reproducing the application fault in order to diagnose the cause, in consequence, can be difficult without the developer knowing a priori the contributing environmental factors. To assist the developer in addressing an application fault, sophisticated operating environments provide for the generation of diagnostic artifacts in response to detecting an application fault. Though reminiscent of the venerable "Dr. Watson", in truth, core dumping routines have been in wide use decades prior to the advent of the personal computer.
Core dumping of diagnostic artifacts have been part and parcel of virtualized computing environments such as the Java™ computing environment since such environments gained wide popularity more than a decade ago. (Java is a registered trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc. of Palo Alto, Calif., United States of America) At present, in the event of detecting an application fault requiring termination of execution of an application, the Java environment provides an interrupt signal to be intercepted by a virtual machine signal handler. Upon interception of the interrupt signal, the handler can generate a core dump or a heap dump, depending upon the configuration of the virtual machine. Thereafter, the core dump or heap dump can be passed to the operating system in which the dump can be placed in file form in the file system as a native "core file".
A core dump generally includes summary information relating to the threads of the faulted application as well as the application state itself. A heap dump, by comparison, includes the content of the application heap at the time of the application fault. For many applications, the generation of a core dump is of no concern as the primary goal remains to diagnose the root cause of the fault. Yet, in certain deployment environments, the ability for an un-trusted third party to view the content of the core dump can result in a breach of privacy. In particular, within certain industries such as the healthcare and financial services industries, this type of breach of privacy can be problematic both practically and legally.

Core dump privacy during application failure

International Business Machines Corporation


An organic electroluminescent device. The device has an organic electroluminescent light recovery layer consisting of dielectric material and nanoscale metal particles or organic material and nanoscale metal particles. The membrane of the organic electroluminescent light recovery layer cross couples with surface plasmon resonance and recovers light trapped in the device, enhancing the light emission efficiency of the organic electroluminescent device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an organic electroluminescent device, and more particularly to an organic electroluminescent device solving low external quantum efficiency problems of surface plasmon resonance.
2. Description of the Related Art
Organic electroluminescent devices are also known as organic light emitting diodes (OLED). The OLED luminescent principle applies a voltage to organic molecular material or polymer material, and the device luminesces. Due to OLED's self emission characteristics, it can form a dot matrix type display with light weight, slim profile, high contrast, low power consumption, high resolution, fast response time, no need for backlighting, and full viewing angle. Possible display parameters range from 4 mm microdisplay to 100 inch outdoor billboards, making it a preferred type of flat panel display (FPD). If the OLED luminescent efficiency is over 100 Lm/W, it can replace conventional lighting.
In organic electroluminescence, electrons are propelled from a cathode layer and holes from an anode layer, and the applied electric field induces a potential difference, such that the electrons and holes move and centralize in a thin film layer, resulting in recombination. The energy of this recombination excites the luminescent layer moleculars to higher energy levels and unstable excited states, and when the energy is released, they return to lower energy levels and stable ground states. OLED luminescent efficiency depends on the internal and external quantum efficiency of the device. Internal quantum efficiency is the internal efficiency of converting electricity to light. After exciting the organic moleculars, a quarter of the excited electrons assume a single-state asymmetric spin configuration, releasing energy in the form of fluorescence. The other three-quarters assume triple-state symmetric spin configuration, and release energy in the form of phosphorescence. The triple state excited electrons also release energy in the form of phosphorescence in organometallic compounds. Therefore, OLED internal quantum efficiency depends on the excitation mechanism, and on the fluorescence or phosphorescence of luminescent material chosen.
OLED external quantum efficiency is the ratio of luminescent output from device to the luminescent from the organic layer. In a typical OLED, not all light from the organic layer can pass through the device, with more than 40% of OLED light lost to surface plasmon resonance. In addition, the organic material and the glass substrate have a higher refraction index than air, so some light is limited in the device due to total reflection, some scattering outward from the device side. Around 80% of light is dissipated in the device, making conventional OLED external quantum efficiency below 20%. In the unused device light can be recovered, the OLED external quantum efficiency improves.

Organic electroluminescent device with a nanostructured recovery layer

Industrial Technology Research Institute


A handle operated brake and release mechanism for a cable drum winch provides a winch that can be used in the assembly of inland river barges to form multi-barge tows. The handle of the brake and release mechanism can in one function and entirely by hand (without using any other tools) release the cable tension and apply the brake at the same time. The entire brake and release mechanism is mounted on the outside of a winch frame having winch side plates, thereby allowing the mechanism parts to be replaceable in the field without taking the winch side plates apart.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the inland barge industry and, more specifically, to the method of assembling and un-assembling multi barge tows.
2. General Background of the Invention
The two mechanisms most commonly used to tie up barges to each other to form a multi-barge tow are manual cable winches and river ratchets combined with chain and cable. Winches are becoming more popular as they are fixed to the barge and do not require the deck hands to bend over to operate.
Barge operators are concerned that the loose gear associated with the river ratchets can be easily lost. There is also concern that the deck hands may injure themselves because they must reach down to the deck level to operate the river ratchet.
Prior art winches have three drawbacks. They employ a difficult and dangerous knock-out method of releasing the winch cable tension. The slow operation of the release is a time-consuming function using separate devices to operate the brake and the release mechanism. The dog assembly is difficult to replace as it is mounted on shafts located between the winch side plates. The dog release of a typical prior art winch must be knocked out using a hammer or a long pole designed to be used as a ratchet extension. Damage to the winch or personal injury can result when the deck hand misses his mark with a large hammer or his extension pole.
There is a need for a winch that can be released easily, quickly and with unassisted human power. The holdback and brake parts can wear out quickly. The holdback gear replacement is difficult as it involves separating the winch side plates. There is a need for these high-wear parts to be easily replaced while in the field.
The following patent documents are incorporated herein by reference: U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,746,718; 2,973,941; 3,141,353; 4,106,754; 6,431,525; 6,572,083; 7,128,307; 7,159,852.

Handle-operated brake/release mechanism for a cable drum winch


A pocketbook light device for illuminating a low light area is provided. The pocketbook light device comprises an openable carrying accessory and a housing having a front side and a rear side. The housing is mountable within the carrying accessory. A plurality of lights is mounted in the front side of the housing. An activation mechanism activates the plurality of lights. Upon activation of the plurality of lights, the plurality of lights illuminate the interior of the carrying accessory.

Inventions are always a product of vision and creativity whether they are world changing inventions like cars and computers or everyday conveniences like pump hairsprays, cordless tools and resealable soda bottles. New inventions like a cell phone change a person's life style, making communication more convenient and accessible virtually anywhere. Other inventions such as a snow scraper and brush combine two already existing inventions into an improved embodiment, reducing clutter in our lives and making a daily winter chores much easier. Often necessity combined with a little creativity is the underlying motivator for an invention. Most inventions fill a relatively small need or perform a specialized limited function.
Just as travelers carry a variety of needed possessions in their luggage, individuals carry a wide variety of items in purses or pocketbooks, from car keys and cellphone to makeup. People also carry items in carrying accessories such as briefcases, computer cases, carryall bags, backpacks, messenger bags and cyclist bags. Often, people must quickly locate an article within their preferred carrying accessory. Finding the article during daylight hours is relatively easy and straightforward, but practically impossible during nighttime hours or in a darkened location.
The prior art has put forth several designs for light sources in carrying accessories. Among these are:
US Patent 2012/0212940 to Tamara Ann Leuty describes an application of a lighting source, EL or similar, built within the bottom or side of a purse such as a clutch, tote, handbag, shoulder bag, makeup, or shoulder type bag. When illuminated, this lighting source helps see the contents of the bag. This application includes a method of installing the wiring, power mechanism, and on off switch mechanism that is manual or magnetic. This method is applicable for a lighting source installation within the interior of a man's or woman's purse, clutch, tote, handbag, shoulder bag, makeup, or shoulder type bag.
US Patent 2010/0053941 to Cherl Ann Ibison describes a security light purse having a purse light disposed in an interior compartment of the purse body so as to light up the compartment to enable the user to more easily find one or more objects inside the purse. In a preferred embodiment, the purse light comprises a flexible light panel having a plurality of LEDs or other light sources disposed about the periphery of the light panel. The light sources connect to batteries disposed inside a battery compartment at the bottom of the purse. A recharge port facilitates recharging the batteries. The purse has an alarm unit operatively connected to the purse's handles such that the alarm is activated when the handles are pulled from the purse body during an attempted purse snatching. The preferred purse also has a safety device mechanism for securing a personal safety device, such as mace, to the purse for ready use.
US Patent 2008/0198585 to Cynthia K. Tait describes a purse illumination assembly, comprising a purse having at least two sides, wherein the inside of at least one of the at least two sides is light emitting fabric. A power source means is coupled operatively to the light emitting fabric. A switch means is coupled operatively to the power source means.
None of these prior art references describe the present invention.


A dental waste collection method and system in which a slurry of water and olid waste particles, including amalgam containing mercury and soluble and suspended mercury and other heavy metals is fed into a settling tank in which particles of insoluble solid waste material settle by gravity for later extraction, disposal, or reclamation. The liquid wastes and suspended metal particulates also can be co-precipitated to remove small size insoluble particles entrained in the slurry and soluble mercury and other metals. The supernatant remaining in the tank is removed and passed through a treatment stage including at least one filter and, if needed ion exchange media, and is in a form clarified of the mercury such as to be able to be conveyed into a public sewer system.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method and system or apparatus for removing insoluble particles of mercury containing amalgam and other metals and soluble and suspended mercury from a dental waste slurry.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Dental amalgam is a common dental restorative material which contains silver, zinc, copper, tin and mercury, and occasionally other metals. During the most commonly performed dental procedures, dental amalgam containing mercury is removed as waste material from the patient's mouth. Removal of the amalgam typically takes place by vacuum extraction as part of a rinsing liquid, such as water. The mercury removed is in the form of mercury-containing particulate matter and the soluble and suspended mercury-containing fraction. Other material such as saliva, blood, pieces of dental appliances, etc. are also removed to form a liquid waste water slurry.
Mercury is generally classified as a toxic material which requires special handling and disposal procedures. Since the removed dental amalgam contains mercury, a need exists to separate the mercury-containing particulate matter and the soluble and suspended mercury-containing fraction from the waste water slurry extracted from the patient's mouth prior to eventual discharge of the waste water into the public sewer system. After removal from the waste water slurry, the mercury-containing waste can then be disposed of or reclaimed.
Apparatus previously has been disclosed, such as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,777,403 to Ritchie and 4,385,891 to Ligotti which use different containers through which the mixture of liquid and solids are passed and the solids settle out under the force of gravity. While such is apparatus may be satisfactory for the collection of large particles from a dental waste stream slurry mixture, they are not specifically designed to sediment, and later remove, all mercury-containing particulate matter and allow treatment of soluble and suspended mercury in the waste stream. In these patents, soluble material does not settle out by force of gravity. Instead, it is entrained in the liquid stream which is usually treated like waste water and disposed of in a commercial drain system. This is not satisfactory since the contaminated liquid waste may cause eventual contamination of the water supply and violate local sanitary district regulations, or those of other agencies, for mercury levels in waste water. Also, the systems of these patents do not provide for treatment or removal of the mercury remaining in the supernatant after the settling of particles by gravity is completed.
Ludviggson et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,205,743 discloses a system in which the waste material is collected in a suction stream and passed through filters. This does not provide for collection of liquid waste mixture expelled by a patient into a collection sink or collection and disposal of any soluble mercury. Bishop U.S. Pat. No. 3,138,873 uses a suction system which passes a liquid slurry of the waste material through a porous bag which traps and collects the solid particles and passes the liquid. This apparatus must have a compromise as to the size of the particles collected and the liquid flow rate as determined by the porosity of the bag. Also, it makes no provision to collect soluble mercury.
In Meyer U.S. Pat. No. 5,017,135, particles are separated from the waste liquid as it is drawn under suction force in a sharply turning path past a series of traps into which particles settle out under force of gravity. Here also, no specific provision is made for collection of small particles or soluble mercury. Sundstrom U.S. Pat. No. 5,114,578 passes a slurry of water, saliva and particles through a pre-settling tank, into which the larger particles settle, and then in an upward inclined path through a special filter formed by a bundle of plastic tubes. In using this arrangement it is difficult to collect and dispose of the smaller metal particles collected on the walls of the filter and filter plastic tubes and there is no provision for the treatment of the soluble mercury.

Method and system for removing mercury from dental waste water

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


The present invention relates to polysubstituted benzimidazoles, having the following formula: ##STR1## wherein Q is a substituted benzimidazole group attached at the benzimidazole 1-position; R is a halogen of atomic number 9 to 53, inclusive (i.e., --F, --Cl, --Br, or --I); azido (i.e., --N.sub.3); or --X--R.sub.1, wherein X is a chalcogen of atomic number 8 to 16, inclusive (i.e., --O-- or --S--), and R.sub.1 may be straight or branched chain alkyl of 1 to 8 carbon atoms; and R.sub.2 and R.sub.3 may be the same or different and are separately --O--C(.dbd.O)CH.sub.3 (i.e., --OAc) or hydroxy (i.e., --OH); and pharmaceutically acceptable salts and operative combinations thereof. Also provided by this invention are compositions comprising a polysubstituted benzimidazole as defined above and methods of use thereof.

Benzimidazole nucleosides are particularly attractive as potential antiviral agents because of their ability to avoid some major pathways of bioactive purine (bicyclic) nucleoside inactivation, e.g., deamination by adenosine deaminase and glycosidic bond cleavage by purine nucleoside phosphorylases. However, known benzimidazole nucleosides such as 5,6-dichloro-1-(.beta.-D-ribofuranosyl) benzimidazole (DRB) have demonstrated only marginal levels of activity or generally unacceptable levels of cytotoxicity, or both, thereby greatly diminishing their usefulness in the treatment of viral infections.
A number of benzimidazole nucleosides have been synthesized and tested for their antiviral activity and cytotoxicity in an effort to identify a compound with superior anti-human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) activity to ganciclovir and foscarnet. Antiviral activity of polysubstituted benzimidazoles such as 5,6-dichloro-1 -(.beta.-D-ribofuranosyl) benzimidazole (DRB) and some closely related derivatives have been previously described (I. Tamm, Science (1954) Vol. 120:847-848). Their activity against specific viruses, such as RNA rhinovirus and DNA herpes simplex virus type 1 and type 2, also has been reported.
Several of the ribofuranosyl benzimidazole analogs, including 2,5,6-trichloro-1 -(.beta.-D-ribofuranosyl)benzimidazole (TCRB) have shown very potent activity against HCMV and low cellular toxicity at concentrations inhibiting viral growth. Structural activity relationships of TCRB and heterocycle and carbohydrate modified derivatives have been reported. (See, Revankar, G. R. and Townsend, L. B. (1968) J. Heterocyclic Chem. Vol. 5:477-483; Townsend, L. B. and Drach, J. C., Fifth International Conference on Antiviral Research Vancouver, British Columbia, March 1992; Revankar, G. R. and Townsend, L. B. (1968) J. Heterocyclic Chem. Vol. 5:615-620; Zou, R. et al. "Design, synthesis and antiviral evaluation of some TCRB analogs modified on the benzene moiety," Poster #142, Division of Medicinal Chemistry, 204th American Chemical Society National Meeting, Washington, D. C., Aug. 23-28, 1992; and Saluja, S. et al. "Synthesis and antiviral activity of certain 2-substituted-5,6-dichlorobenzimidazole acyclic nucleosides," Poster #146, Division of Medicinal Chemistry, 204th American Chemical Society National Meeting, Washington, D. C., Aug. 23-28, 1992.) A number of substituted benzimidazoles have also been described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,248,672 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,360,795. These disclosures, however, do not disclose the structure or synthesis of the compounds which are the subject of this invention.
Some modifications of the heterocycle have given analogs that are significantly more active than TCRB. However, most of these analogs are also more cytotoxic than TCRB, resulting in compounds with a little improved therapeutic index. Attempts to modify the carbohydrate moiety, by replacing the ribose with arabinose, xylose or acyclic analogues have given compounds less active than TCRB. Somewhat surprisingly a 5'-deoxy-.beta.-D-ribofuranosyl derivative of TCRB, 2,5,6-trichloro-1-(5'-deoxy-.beta.-D-ribofuranosyl) benzimidazole, was shown to be about 10 times more active than TCRB and have a better therapeutic index than TCRB. However, no other 5'-modified derivatives, other than 2-bromo and 2-chloro analogs disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,360,795, have been reported to date.

5'-substituted-ribofuranosyl benzimidazoles as antiviral agents


An electrical connection guide member guides insertion of an electrical connecting portion of an electronic apparatus to a complementary mating electrical connector having a first retention portion provided on a sidewall thereof. The guide member includes a connecting board; two opposed sideboards each vertically connected with two ends of the connecting board, wherein two opposed ends at one end of the two sideboards constitute a receiving opening, at least one fixing portion is disposed on one of the sideboards and corresponding to the receiving opening for fixing the complementary mating electrical connector; and a second retention portion is disposed on an inner surface of one of the sideboards and corresponding to the first retention portion; and a plurality of first guide portions disposed on the inner surface of one of the two sideboards for guiding insertion of an electrical connecting portion into a complementary mating electrical connector or connecting device.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to the art of electrical connectors and, particularly, to a guide means for a complementary mating connector or other connecting device that facilitates guiding a pair of connectors into mated condition as well as securing the connectors in the mated condition.
2. Description of Related Art
A typical server unit includes a backplane for installation and maintenance purposes, wherein one side of the backplane is electrically connected to the motherboard of the server while the other side comprises a plurality of electrical connecting portions for hot-plugging to storage devices. The housing of the server unit comprises a plurality of slots for correspondingly receiving storage devices therein for allowing each storage device to be appropriately connected to electrical connecting portions in the backplane of the server unit. For the convenience of adding storage devices or other electronic devices, space is reserved in the front of the server unit. However, the enclosure for such a space does not provide retention mechanisms for the added devices, thus, when installing an electronic device from the front of the server unit, it is often difficult to align the electronic device with the electrical connecting portion located in the backplane of the server unit for electrical connection due to the inherent physical difference existing therebetween, resulting in a poor quality electrical connection when the connectors are not properly connected.
In addition, in some applications, the locations of electrical connectors often make it very difficult to accurately align a pair of mating connectors prior to or during mating. This particularly may be a problem where at least one connector in a mateable pair is mounted to a panel that prevents accurate visual alignment during mating, or the connector is in a cumbersome or awkward location. Consequently, a guiding means on one or both of the connectors is often desirable to facilitate either blind mating or mating of the connectors in awkward locations.
Taiwanese Patent Publication No. 399802 discloses a technique in guiding connectors for electrical connection, wherein a guide device is inserted into a socket to guide the connector of a sub-board into the socket. However, it is difficult to manufacture such guide devices for small-size sockets, and, also, there is hardly any tolerance available since such a guide device is to be installed in the socket.
Presently, there is a so-called built-in electrical connector available on the consumer market to increase the convenience of using electronic cards. Such connectors are typically welded to the backplane of an electronic device, and users have to exert care during insertion of an electronic card to prevent damage to the connector or the electronic card due to incomplete or erroneous insertion.
Taiwanese Utility Model No. M288034 discloses a guide device for guiding connectors of electronic cards comprising a mating electronic card connector for guiding the frame body of the electronic card and two arms each disposed on both sides of the frame body to secure the connector. These types of connector structures provided with clamping arms for fixing the connector often have insufficient stability that can adversely affect the performance of the electronic card, or exhibit the disadvantage of wasting material if the length of the arms is to be extended to increase stability.
Other connectors require some form of guiding mechanisms to guide the pair of connectors into mated condition and, thereby, ensure that the terminals are properly aligned and interconnected. For instance, one connector of a connector assembly may include one or more guide holes for receiving complementary guide pins projecting from the mating connector. Such guiding mechanisms require space or occupy a considerable area of the connectors.
Therefore, it is desirable to develop a novel and improved mechanism that can solve the drawbacks of the prior art discussed above.


A tool bit shank (11) for percussion drilling or chipping has at least three rotary entrainment grooves (13, 14, 15) extending in the axial direction and at least one locking groove (12) also extending axially. The rotary entrainment grooves (13, 14, 15) open at a free end (16) of the shank (11) so that rotary entrainment members of a tool bit chuck can be inserted axially into the rotary entrainment grooves. The locking groove is closed at its end adjacent the end face (16) to prevent ejection of the tool bit when it is engaged by a locking member of the chuck. To significantly reduce the wear of the tool bit shank and the tool bit chuck, the rotary entrainment grooves (13, 14, 15) are arranged in sequence in the circumferential direction in respect to radially outwardly facing circumferentially extending openings from the largest to the smallest opening. The locking groove (12) is located between the rotary entrainment groove (13) with the largest opening and the rotary entrainment groove (15) with the smallest opening. Similarly, the rotary entrainment members (43, 44, 45) in the tool bit chuck correspond to the size of their base cross-sections and are arranged in sequence from the largest to the smallest base cross-sections. The locking member is located between the rotary entrainment member with the largest base cross-section and the rotary entrainment member with the smallest base cross-section.

The present invention is directed to a tool bit with an axially extending shank arranged to be inserted into a tool chuck of a hand-held tool used for chipping and/or drilling and/or percussion drilling. The shank has at least three axially extending rotary entrainment grooves each of different transverse cross-sections with the grooves being open at a free end of the shank for axial introduction of rotary entrainment means in the chuck. The shank also has an axially extending locking groove closed at its end closer to the end face of the shank for limiting axial movement of the tool bit and for receiving a locking member of the tool bit chuck.
Tool bits of this general type are known, such as set forth in DE-PA 3941646 and DE-PA 4141846. These tool bits have different cross-sections for the rotary entrainment means and they can only be inserted into the tool bit chuck in an angled position.
It would seem to be disadvantageous, however, that the edge surface of the shank located between the locking groove and the rotary entrainment grooves differs greatly in magnitude. Due to the rough operation experienced at construction sites, a crushing or wearing-down of the grooves occurs in the tool bit after prolonged use, with the result that in the remaining wall thickness between the grooves stressed peaks are generated at such locations and result in fatigue failures.

Tool bit for percussion drilling and chipping and chuck for the tool bit


A recombinant Streptomyces sp. which exhibits hyperproduction of an antibiotic, particularly actinorhodin and undecylprodigiosin, as a result of interruption of the absA homologous locus of chromosomal DNA (SEQ ID NO:1) is described. The gene is thought to encode a histidine kinase and a response regulator. The preferred bacterium is Streptomyces coelicolor. It is preferred to interrupt the absA1 gene with ermE DNA.

(1) Summary of the Invention
The present invention relates to the disruption of an AbsA gene in a bacterium, particularly a Streptomyces sp. so that there is hyperproduction of an antibiotic naturally produced by the bacterium. Streptomycete antibiotic synthesis in the wild type strain is coupled to morphological differentiation such that antibiotics are produced as a colony sporulates in the wild type strain. Streptomyces coelicolor produces several structurally and genetically distinct antibiotics. It has been found that the S. coelicolor absA locus was defined by UV-induced mutations that globally blocked antibiotic biosynthesis without blocking morphological differentiation. The present invention shows that the absA locus encodes a eubacterial two component sensor-kinase/response regulator system. All four UV mutations lie within a single open reading frame, designated absA1, which codes for the sensor-histidine kinase. A second gene downstream of absA1, absA2, encodes the cognate response regulator. In marked contrast to the antibiotic deficient phenotype of the previously described UV absA mutants, disruption mutations in the absA locus unexpectedly cause premature transcription of the biosynthetic genes for the antibiotics actinorhodin and undecylprodigiosin and precocious hyperproduction of both of these antibiotics. Thus the absA locus encodes a signal transduction mechanism that negatively regulates synthesis of the multiple antibiotics produced by S. coelicolor. This is also true of related Streptomiyces sp.
(2) Description of Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,362,816 to Reusser, U.S. Pat. No. 4,898,828 to Hershberger et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,118,617 to Ortega et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,122,595 to Ortega et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,264,354 to Solenberq, U.S. Pat. No. 5,435,730 to Adams et al, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,474,912 to Sherman et al are of general interest. They describe various related species of Streptomyces.
The widespread use of chemotherapeutic agents has probably been the most significant advance in medicine in this century. The vast variety of compounds available for human health care is due in large part to the biosynthetic versatility of the streptomycetes. These bacteria have provided many thousands of structurally diverse, low molecular weight chemicals that are currently being exploited in both medicine and agriculture. Many streptomycete secondary metabolites have found commercial applications. Some of these are antibacterial drugs, including streptomycin and tetracycline; antiparasitic drugs such as avermectin; fungicidal agents such as polyoxin; antitumor drugs such as adriamycin and immunosuppressive drugs such as rapamycin. The biosynthetic pathways that produce these compounds have received considerable attention over the last few decades.
Advances in understanding the regulation of antibiotic synthesis in Streptomyces have come from the study of antibiotic synthesis in the genetically well characterized strain Streptomyces coelicolor. The four antibiotics produced by S. coelicolor, actinorhodin (Act), undecylprodigiosin (Red), calcium dependent antibiotic (CDA) and methylenomycin (Mmy), are biosynthetically and genetically distinct, genes for the synthesis of each of the antibiotics being encoded in genetically unlinked clusters. All four biosynthetic loci have been genetically well characterized and three biosynthetic gene clusters have been cloned; the act genes; the red genes; and the muny genes. Expression of act biosynthetic genes has been shown to depend on a gene, linked to the biosynthetic genes, designated actII-ORF4 (Fernandez-Moreno, M. A., et al., Cell 66:769-780 (1991); Gramajo, H. C., et al., Mol. Microbiol. 7:837-845 (1993)). Similarly, redD, which is linked to red biosynthetic genes, is required for expression of at least some red genes. ActII-ORF4 and RedD have been termed pathway-specific activators, and numerous antibiotic biosynthetic gene clusters in a variety of streptomycetes require the function of a genetically-linked pathway-specific activator for expression.
In addition to genes whose products specifically regulate the expression of one of the antibiotic gene clusters, a number of loci have been identified which contain genes that globally regulate more than one of the antibiotic biosynthetic clusters. Mutations in some of these, the bld loci, pleitropically block the synthesis of all four antibiotics as well as the production of sporulating aerial hyphae (Champness, W. C., J. Bacteriol. 170:1168-1174 (1988)). Other genes including abaA (Fernandez-Moreno, M. A., et al., J. Bacteriol. 174:2958-2967 (1992)), afsQ1-Q2 (Ishizuka, H., et al., J. Bacteriol. 174:7585-7594 (1992)) and afsR-K-R2 (Stein, D., et al., J. Bacteriol. 171:2258-2261 (1989)), play a role in the regulation of two or three of the antibiotics.
Mutations in two loci, absA (Adamidis, T., et al., J. Bacteriol. 172:2962-2969 (1990)) and absB (Adamidis, T., et al., J. Bacteriol. 174:4622-4628 (1992)) are known to block the synthesis of all four antibiotics, while having no pleiotropic effects upon morphological development. In addition suppressors of absA mutations (sab) exist which restore antibiotic synthesis to normal or even greater than normal levels. Thus the prior art has presumed that modification of the absA gene interrupts antibiotic production.

Method, DNA and bacteria for hyperproduction of an antibiotic due to disruption of an AbsA gene

Board of Trustees operating Michigan State University


In some embodiments of the invention, a probing apparatus can comprise a substrate, a spring structure attached to the substrate, and a plurality of resilient probes attached to the spring structure. Each probe can comprise a contact portion disposed to contact a device. The spring structure can provide a first source of compliance for each of the probes in response to forces on the contact portions of the probes, and each of the probes can individually provide second sources of compliance in response to the forces on the contact portions of the probes.

There are many applications in which a plurality of relatively small or micro sized probes are used to contact or "probe" an object or device. One such application is testing electronic devices, such as semiconductor dies. In such a testing application, electrically conductive probes contact and make temporary electrical connections with input and/or output terminals of one or more electronic devices. Test data can then be input into the electronic device or devices through the probes and response data generated by the electronic device in response to the test data can be sensed through the probes. The present invention is directed to improvements in probing apparatuses and in methods of making and using probing apparatuses.

Contactor having a global spring structure and methods of making and using the contactor


The invention notably relates to a computer-implemented method for designing a mechanical part, the method comprising: providing a subset of a finite element mesh (FEM), the subset of the FEM representing the mechanical part; and determining a representation of a skeleton of the mechanical part based on the subset of the FEM, the skeleton having branches and branch junctions, each branch junction joining respective branches. This improves the designing of a mechanical part.

A number of systems and programs are offered on the market for the design, the engineering and the manufacturing of objects. CAD is an acronym for Computer-Aided Design, e.g. it relates to software solutions for designing an object. CAE is an acronym for Computer-Aided Engineering, e.g. it relates to software solutions for simulating the physical behavior of a future product. CAM is an acronym for Computer-Aided Manufacturing, e.g. it relates to software solutions for defining manufacturing processes and operations. In such computer-aided design systems, the graphical user interface plays an important role as regards the efficiency of the technique. These techniques may be embedded within Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) systems. PLM refers to a business strategy that helps companies to share product data, apply common processes, and leverage corporate knowledge for the development of products from conception to the end of their life, across the concept of extended enterprise. The PLM solutions provided by Dassault Systèms (under the trademarks CATIA, ENOVIA and DELMIA) provide an Engineering Hub, which organizes product engineering knowledge, a Manufacturing Hub, which manages manufacturing engineering knowledge, and an Enterprise Hub which enables enterprise integrations and connections into both the Engineering and Manufacturing Hubs. All together the system delivers an open object model linking products, processes, resources to enable dynamic, knowledge-based product creation and decision support that drives optimized product definition, manufacturing preparation, production and service.
A well-known design technique in this field is referred to as "topology optimization" technology. This technique allows representing a mechanical part with a subset of a finite element mesh (FEM). Precisely, the mesh subset is an optimized topology computed by a finite elements analysis (FEA) process. Papers "Waqas Saleem, Hu Lu, Fan Yuqing, Topology Optimization. Problem Formulation and Pragmatic Outcomes by integration of TOSCA and CAE tools, WCECS 2008, Oct. 22-24, 2008, San Francisco, USA" and "Hauessler, P, Emmrich, D, Mueller, O, Ilzhoefer, B, Nowicki, L, Albers, A, Automated topology optimization of flexible components in hybrid finite elements multibody systems using Adams/Flex and MSC. Construct, 16th European ADAMS users' Conference 2001" present this technique. Topology optimization allows high automation of the design process, but the resulting meshed topology is not a perfectly accurate and comprehensive representation of the mechanical part being designed. Thus, mechanical designers further need to edit this meshed topology, for example manually in a traditional computer aided design (CAD) system. However, such edition is not easy and ergonomic with current systems.
Within this context, there is still a need for an improved solution for designing a mechanical part.

Representation of a skeleton of a mechanical part


A conservation system and method for cleaning produce through mist immersion in an atomized aqueous medium. The system and method provides a tank for receiving the produce to soak and rinse an aqueous cleaning medium, so as to remove and dissolve residues and contaminants from rough or smooth surfaces of the produce. While cleaning the produce, the system and method is effective for conservation of water, liquids or other mediums, by not fully soaking the produce in a medium, but rather by uniformly immersing the produce in tiny droplets of atomized aqueous medium for a predetermined duration. After this droplet immersion, the produce is then rinsed and ready for consumption. The tank provides an air nozzle for aerating aqueous medium and an ultrasonic device for atomizing aqueous medium between 1 μm and 15 μm. The produce is supported on a basket while being soaked in the aerated and atomized aqueous medium.

The following background information may present examples of specific aspects of the prior art (e.g., without limitation, approaches, facts, or common wisdom) that, while expected to be helpful to further educate the reader as to additional aspects of the prior art, is not to be construed as limiting the present invention, or any embodiments thereof, to anything stated or implied therein or inferred thereupon.
Typically, fresh produce, even organic, can harbor residual pesticides, dirt or harmful microorganisms on the surface. Vegetable washes may either be a number specially-marketed commercial brands, or they may be home recipes. Commercial vegetable washes generally contain surfactants, along with chelating agents, antioxidants, and other agents. A vegetable wash is a cleaning product designed to aid in the removal process of dirt, wax and pesticides from fruit and vegetables before they are consumed.
It is known in the art that chlorine or hydrochloric acid are frequently used as bactericides and are also used universally as cleaning agents. Thus, in some embodiments, chlorine may be added to the aqueous medium, or chlorine may not be added to the aqueous medium. Food-grade surfactants also may be added to the aqueous medium. The aqueous medium may be part of a pre-wash, washing, or rinsing systems. Further, the produce may be pre-harvest or post-harvest.
Generally, water rinse method is effective for all fruits and vegetables. However, some types of vegetables, including broccoli, lettuce leaves, or spinach, often require additional attention and cleaning. A soaking and cleaning process may also be used for fruits and vegetables with a lot of surface area (such as strawberries or blueberries), that are attached or packed tightly (like grapes) or have deep crevices (cauliflower, broccoli, and leafy greens). Other washing means, involving agitation in a washing machine, or washing in distilled water to rinse and soak the produce.
Other proposals have involved washing produce. The problem with these produce washing methods is that they use a large amount of water for soaking. Also, the produce is not fully immersed in the washing medium due to the water surface tension. Even though the above cited produce washing means meet some of the needs of the market, a conservation system and method provides a tank for soaking and cleaning produce to remove and dissolve residues and contaminants from rough or smooth surfaces of the produce, while also conserving water, by not fully soaking the produce in water, but rather by uniformly immersing the produce in tiny droplets of atomized aqueous medium, generally between 1 μm and 15 μm, for a predetermined duration, and then rinsing the produce thereafter for consumption, ideal for soaking and cleaning the produce more effectively. The produce can then be consumed after the soaking and cleaning process. This conservation can be combined with many more sophisticated cleaning processes if desired.

Conservation system and method for cleaning produce through mist immersion in an atomized aqueous medium


Devices, systems and methods for mitigating the interference introduced by mobile relay nodes in a heterogeneous network are described. The techniques described apply fractional frequency reuse and power controlled beamforming to mitigate such interference.

The constantly increasing demand for higher data rates in cellular networks requires new approaches to meet the demand. Different mechanisms have evolved for increasing the data rates of cellular networks such as increasing the density of the macro base stations (BS), increasing the cooperation between the macro base stations and deploying smaller base stations or relay nodes (RN) in areas where high data rates are required within the macro base station grid. The option of deploying smaller base stations or relay nodes in the macro base station grid is generally referred to as a heterogeneous deployment (creating a heterogeneous network) and the layer of smaller base stations is known as a micro-layer or pico-layer depending on the characteristics of the smaller base stations.
Although each of the above-described choices would result in increasing the data rates of a cellular network, economics associated with those choices typically dictate that creating a heterogeneous network would be the most cost-effective implementation. Further, the implementation time frames requested by operators also seems to favor heterogeneous network solutions. As an example of heterogeneous deployment, and looking to FIGS. 1a and 1b, a homogeneous cellular network 100 can be illustrated as a collection of cells 102, 104, 106, 108, 110, each of which represent the radio communication coverage area of a macro base station. FIG. 1b illustrates an exemplary heterogeneous network where cells 102, 104, 106, 108, 110 still provide radio communication coverage via their respective macro base stations, but where that coverage is augmented by the provision of micro/pico base stations 112, 114, 116 within the cell areas of macro base stations 102, 104, 110, respectively, by way of a heterogeneous deployment.
One of the objectives of creating heterogeneous networks is to allow the micro/pico base stations to offload as many users as possible from the macro layer, allowing higher data rates in both the macro layer and the micro/pico layer. To this end, different techniques have been proposed for increasing the capacity of the micro/pico base stations. First, capacity can be increased by extending the range of the micro/pico base stations using cell specific cell selection offsets. Cell selection offsets are one factor used to determine whether a user equipment should connect to the heterogeneous network via a micro/pico base station or a macro base station. Second, capacity can be increased by simultaneously increasing the transmission power of the micro/pico base stations and appropriately setting the uplink (UL) power control target (P0) for the users connected to the micro/pico base stations.
Under certain circumstances, e.g., prohibitive backhaul costs associated with adding a micro/pico base station, a relay node (RN) can provide a viable solution to provide increased range and/or capacity based its usage of an in-band (wireless) backhaul. The relay node can provide pico base station type coverage either indoors or outdoors and mitigate the cost and effort of deploying land-line backhaul to all of the pico base stations. In a further scenario, there are users on mobile platforms, i.e., commuter/passenger trains that would benefit from a mobile relay node. The implementation of a mobile relay node involves local access from the mobile relay node to the users on the mobile platform and in-band backhaul bandwidth from the mobile relay node to a stationary serving macro base station or an eNB.
A problem identified with heterogeneous networks employing relay nodes is that the backhaul link (Un) between the serving or donor base station and the relay node can generate additional interference, above normally expected levels, in the macro network. The increased interference can reduce the capacity of the macro network, therefore undermining the intent of creating the heterogeneous network. For example, as depicted in FIG. 2a, Un uplink transmissions 208 to a given macro base station 204 from a relay node 210 can cause interference 212 in the backhaul Un uplink transmissions 214 of relay nodes 216 in adjacent macro base stations 202. Furthermore, the Un uplink transmissions 208 from relay nodes 210 within one macro base station cell 218 can interfere 220 with uplink transmissions between the terminals or user equipment (UE) 222 to their serving relay nodes 224 in neighboring macro base station cells 226.
A reciprocal problem can occur wherein the downlink (DL) transmission on the Uu link can cause interference in the downlink Un link of neighboring cell relay nodes. It should be noted that these scenarios are likely to occur because typical deployments for relay nodes are those in which the relay nodes are placed at cell edges of neighboring donor macro base stations, thus resulting in the placement of relay nodes supporting adjacent macro base stations in close proximity to each other. Considering mobile relay nodes, the potential interference scenarios are further exacerbated when the mobile relay node moves closer to the serving eNB of the donor macro cell. In this mobile relay node scenario, the user equipment associated with the donor macro cell that are near the edge of the donor macro cell can be severely interfered with by the backhaul Un link of the mobile relay node to the donor eNB. Furthermore, if the mobile relay node gets too close to the donor eNB it could completely desensitize the front end of the donor eNB and cause an outage to all of the users served by the donor eNB.
Considering LTE networks, the existing approach to mitigating this type of interference involves time multiplexing of the Un and Uu transmissions within a donor macro cell to reduce the potential Un to Uu interference. The two main issues with this type of interference mitigation approach are first, the time multiplexing reduces the interference within a given donor macro cell but it does not guarantee reduction of interference between relay nodes of adjacent macro donor cells, with the problem being aggravated by the mobility of the relay node and second, even though the relay node can use directive antennas for the Un link, the side lobes and/or back lobe of the relay node antenna for the Un link can still cause significant interference to a relay node's Uu link in neighboring macro donor cells. This latter issue is most apparent when a mobile relay node is in close proximity to the donor eNB or a remote radio head (RRH) of the serving macro donor cell.
It should be noted that the above described situation in an LTE network can occur when mobile relay nodes are deployed near the edge of neighboring macro donor cells, which, as described above, is the most like position for deployment of mobile relay nodes. Although in theory, restrictions in the time domain regarding when neighboring macro donor cell's relay nodes can transmit on their Un and Uu links might be sufficient to mitigate interference, this would require strict time synchronization between neighboring macro donor cells and the mobile relay nodes within the neighboring donor macro cells and in general, cellular networks may not be time synchronized.
Accordingly, efforts for a method of reducing interference in unsynchronized cellular networks deploying mobile relay nodes are of importance to service providers and indirectly to the customers accessing the cellular network.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Mitigation of interference from a mobile relay node to heterogeneous networks


A method for shifting a transmission capable of operating in a hydrostatic power transmission mode or a blended hydrostatic and mechanical power transmission mode is provided. The transmission includes a mechanical portion and a hydraulic portion. The method comprises the steps of placing the transmission in the hydrostatic power transmission mode, reducing an amount of engagement of a primary clutch, adjusting a rotational speed of the hydraulic portion, increasing an amount of engagement of a secondary clutch, and engaging the secondary clutch and disengaging the primary clutch. The method for shifting the transmission minimizes torque interruption, increases a fuel efficiency of a vehicle, and increases a range of operating speeds of the vehicle the transmission is incorporated in.

The present invention generally relates to power transmission systems. More particularly, this invention relates to a powersplit transmission for a vehicle, in which the powersplit transmission may be operated in a hydrostatic power transmission mode or a blended hydrostatic and mechanical power transmission mode.
Vehicles that incorporate the powersplit transmission, such as earth moving machinery, industrial equipment, and others may be operated in the hydrostatic power transmission mode or the blended hydrostatic and mechanical power transmission mode. In the hydrostatic power transmission mode, a speed of the vehicle or a motion of a hydraulically operated attachment coupled to the vehicle may be precisely controlled. Such a mode of operation is particularly useful when loading and unloading the vehicle, performing work with the hydraulically operated attachment, or maneuvering the vehicle in constrained areas, for example. In the blended hydrostatic and mechanical power transmission mode, a portion of an output of a prime mover of the vehicle bypasses a hydrostatic portion of the powersplit transmission. Such a mode of operation is useful to increase an efficiency of the vehicle and increase a range of operating speeds of the vehicle, for example.
An operator of the vehicle typically desires to change from the hydrostatic power transmission mode to the blended hydrostatic and mechanical power transmission mode. Such a process is usually performed while the vehicle is performing work, such as accelerating the vehicle. When the powersplit transmission changes from the hydrostatic power transmission mode to the blended hydrostatic and mechanical power transmission mode, the vehicle typically experience a torque interruption.
It would be advantageous to develop a method for shifting a powersplit transmission between modes of operation that minimizes torque interruption, increases a fuel efficiency of a vehicle, and increases a range of operating speeds of the vehicle the powersplit transmission is incorporated in.

Shifting procedure for powersplit systems


A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes (a) forming a first resin layer on a semiconductor substrate including an electrode pad and a passivation film, (b) curing the first resin layer, (c) forming a second resin layer which slopes more gently than the cured first resin layer on at least a lower portion of the first resin layer, (d) curing the second resin layer to form a resin protrusion including the first and second resin layers, and (e) forming a conductive layer which is electrically connected with the electrode pad and passes over the resin protrusion.

The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device.
A semiconductor device has been developed in which a resin core bump formed by forming a conductive layer on a resin protrusion is used as an external terminal in order to increase electrical connection reliability (see JP-A-2-272737). In this semiconductor device, a resin protrusion is formed on a semiconductor substrate, and a conductive layer is then formed to extend from an electrode pad to the resin protrusion. In the step of forming the conductive layer, argon (Ar) reverse sputtering is generally performed in order to remove an oxide layer on the electrode pad. However, Ar reverse sputtering causes the surface of the resin protrusion to be carbonized. This may decrease the insulation resistance of the resin, whereby migration may occur. In the above-mentioned structure, since the conductive layer is formed to pass over the resin protrusion having a three-dimensional shape, it is necessary to prevent separation or breakage of the conductive layer.

Method of manufacturing semiconductor device


A wide bandwidth planar four port MMIC transformer is provided by input diplexers which divide up the incoming signal into a high band and a low band, with the resulting signals coupled to high band and low band four port transformers implemented in one embodiment using spiral inductors and coupled lines, the outputs of which are combined using two output diplexers to provide a decade bandwidth transformer.

As described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/708,992 filed Feb. 20, 2007 entitled Wide Band Differential Amplifier Including Single-Ended Amplifiers Coupled To A Four Port Transformer and assigned to the assignee hereof, and incorporated herein by reference, it is only with difficulty that one can provide a wideband microwave differential amplifier. These amplifiers are used to suppress the common mode and allow for the passage of the differential mode. This patent application describes the utilization of transformers which are four port devices in which first and second single-ended amplifier circuits are coupled to a four port transformer circuit. However, the transformer described in this application is only capable of a 3:1 bandwidth, insufficient for a large number of microwave applications.
It is noted at lower frequencies, a conventional differential amplifier typically utilizes "long tailed pair" topology. With this topology, two input transistors each receive a respective input signal, with the transistors having their source or emitter terminals interconnected and connected to a constant current source.
As mentioned in this patent application this topology can often result in instability of the amplifier at higher frequencies and also is inadequate due to the fact that it can have a poor common mode rejection ratio. Poor common mode characteristics result in the amplifier being unable to adequately suppress signals present on both the inputs supplied to the input transistors. Moreover, at centimeter and millimeter wavelengths, wide band or broadband differential amplifiers having relatively constant gain for input signals over a wide range of frequencies are typically difficult to design when using the long tailed pair topology.
It will be appreciated that in differential amplifiers intermodulation distortion results from two input signals of different frequencies being mixed together due to non-linearities in the transfer characteristics of the device receiving these two signals. Note that mixing or intermodulation distortion of the two signals to a differential amplifier forms additional signals at frequencies that are at harmonic frequencies, or at combinations of integer multiples of either the frequencies of the input signals or their harmonics. This results in intermodulation products referred to as second order or third order intermodulation.
Also as mentioned in this application, a differential amplifier with good common mode rejection should suppress the even order intermodulation distortion signals. If the differential amplifier has poor common mode rejection, then these signals may not be adequately suppressed and may be present at the output of the differential amplifier. While these signals can sometimes be canceled out in narrow band applications, in wide band differential amplifiers intermodulation distortion signals are not filtered out and must be suppressed.
As described in the aforementioned patent application, the differential amplifier includes first and second single-ended amplifier circuits coupled to a four port transformer. The properties of the transformer which are sufficient to fully describe and specify the correct operation for use in said differential amplifier are also a subject of this invention. One type of component which meets these requirements is the so-called center tap transformer.
This having been said, the configuration described in the aforementioned patent application is limited in bandwidth to only a 3 or 4:1 bandwidth. This flies in the face of the requirement for a very high dynamic range broadband amplifier and also the requirement for directly interfacing to balanced antenna interfaces.
Note, most microwave differential amplifiers are made to operate primarily in the 1 to 20 gigahertz range, although the principals described herein apply to millimeter waves up to 100 gigahertz or higher.
More particularly, it is only with difficulty that differential amplifiers can be made to operate in the microwave range. If one could design a suitable wide band differential amplifier, it would allow one to accomplish the same type of tasks at the microwave range that can be done at audio frequencies or megahertz frequencies. However, these types of differential amplifiers have been difficult to implement at microwave frequencies. Particularly, isolation of signals from ground is virtually impossible with the microwave circuits presently in use; and this hinders the floating of signals. One of the reasons is the inability to provide a center-tapped transformer using MMIC technology. Note, center-tap transformers are normally not available utilizing MMIC technology which involves depositing circuits on planar surfaces. If one could have something other than a planar coil one might be able to provide a center-tapped configuration. However, such transformers are difficult to implement in an ultra small planar MMIC configuration.
One would also like to have a differential amplifier operating in the microwave region of the electromagnetic spectrum with a good common mode rejection ratio in which noise at the two inputs of the differential amplifier of the same amplitude and phase are suppressed. On the other hand, it is desirable that a differential signal at the two inputs be passed and amplified.
Thus, a true differential amplifier should have the capability to suppress second harmonic and second order distortion products, and there is a requirement to provide a differential amplifier that can do so. Also, it is important to provide such a structure for antenna interfaces which have balanced inputs.
It might be thought that one could utilize baluns to provide a balanced output from an unbalanced input. However, losses are associated with the use of baluns that greatly degrades sensitivity in the receive mode and also degrades overall power efficiency or output power capability in the transmit mode. If one could provide a true wideband differential amplifier, then one would be able to eliminate interfaces and circuit components that degrade the performance of the system.
As far as the microwave region of the electromagnetic spectrum, the above patent application describes separating the amplifying elements into something that can be independently designed as single-ended amplifiers and then recombining their outputs using a four port transformer to provide the differential amplification function.
While the amplifier elements can themselves be designed to operate over almost any bandwidth and any frequency, one could achieve almost arbitrarily wide bandwidth if one added a four port transformer element whose bandwidth was likewise unlimited. However transformers available utilizing MMIC technology have heretofore been limited to a 4:1 bandwidth.

Decade bandwidth planar MMIC four port transformer

BAE Systems Information and Electronic Systems Integration Inc.


A control rod includes four panels in cruciform section each containing a plurality of absorber tubes. The absorber tubes are mounted between upper and lower mounting structures having generally T-shaped slots opening toward one another. The absorber tubes have generally T-shaped end plugs for reception in the slots. The slots and end plugs are configured to permit limited axial movement of each absorber tube relative to the control rod and to adjacent tubes. The absorber tubes are maintained in tension during all nuclear operations including during a scram.

As well known, control rods in nuclear reactors perform dual functions of power distribution shaping and reactivity control. The rods enter from the bottom of the reactor and are typically connected to bottom-mounted, hydraulically actuated drive mechanisms which allow either axial positioning for reactivity regulation or rapid scram insertion. The control rod-to control rod drive connection permits each control rod to be attached and detached from its drive during an outage, for example, during refueling, without disturbing the remainder of the control system for the control rod.
The control rods are generally cruciform in cross-sectional shape, with each panel or wing of the rod containing tubes filled with boron carbide capsules or hafnium rods or empty capsules or combinations of the foregoing. In one particular prior control rod, there are provided a plurality of generally square-shaped absorber tubes welded to one another to form the panels. The tubes, of course, are variously loaded with neutron absorber materials and are fixed in relation to the control rod. In a second form of prior control rods, absorber tubes filled with neutron absorber materials are disposed within sheathing defining the panels or wings of the control rod. The sheathing is welded to the tie rod and to the handle and transition piece at respective opposite ends of the control rod. The absorber tubes are similarly fixed against movement and absorb compressive stresses. In each prior control rod described above, the absorber tubes are connected one to the other and thus are not readily individually replaceable nor is it generally possible to handle the tubes to provide different loadings of neutron absorber material into the various absorber tubes.
In the last-mentioned prior art control rod, the absorber tubes within the sheaths contained B.sub.4 C capsules in direct contact with the interior surfaces of the tubes. Thus, after insertion into the nuclear reactor and immediately upon irradiation, the capsules give off helium, which swells the tube and applies a stress and strain to the tube walls, resulting in stress corrosion cracking of the tube. In the first-mentioned prior art control rod described above, the B.sub.4 C capsules are inserted into the generally square absorber tubes with clearances between the interior cylindrical surfaces of the tubes and the outer surfaces of the capsules such that, at 40% burn-up, the capsules will engage the walls and initiate stresses and strains within the tubes. While this minimizes stress corrosion cracking, it is only a deferral of the internal pressure build-up to a predetermined time within the life-cycle of the control rod. It is not a solution to the problem of stress within the absorber tubes. That is, there is a mechanical limit for both the foregoing described control rod designs based on the internal pressure and the induced strain in the tube, before the internal pressurization causes the tubes to possibly rupture. Moreover, it will be appreciated that in both of the foregoing described designs, the individual tubes are welded together, thus essentially precluding the possibility of replacement, rearranging or inverting individual absorber tubes or replacing entire absorber tube sections of the various panels. The sheath design also prevents inspection of the absorber tubes while in the reactor.

Control rod for a nuclear reactor having mounting structures for replacing/rearranging/inverting absorber tubes


An aircraft fuselage includes an outer skin and at least one main deck separating an interior space of the aircraft fuselage longitudinally into a first space and a second space. At least one portion of the first space is divided into at least three longitudinal zones, and the at least three longitudinal zones include at least one central zone and at least two lateral zones. The at least one central zone is divided into three sectors, and the three sectors include a front sector, a central sector, and a rear sector. The at least two lateral zones include a first and second lateral zone configuration, the front sector includes a first and second front sector configuration, the central sector includes a first and second central sector configuration, and the rear sector includes a first and second rear sector configuration.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an aircraft fuselage and more particularly to the commercial laying out of such a fuselage.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the currently known airplanes intended for passenager transportation, a fuselage with more or less circular section is equipped with one (or two) deck(s) laid out to accommodate passengers. The space below the lower deck is used as a hold and is laid out for the transport of standardized containers.
Each deck defines the floor of a cabin into which there are integrated rails extending longitudinally. These rails have regularly spaced attachment points. Seats, as well as other units (galleys, storage bins, lavatories, ect . . . ), designated by the general term "monument)("monument" in English) then are attached on these rails.
numerous constraints govern the laying out of an aircraft cabin. Some of them are noted below.
First of all there are standards for passenger comfort, which define in particular the minimal width of the seats as well as the spacing between two successive seats logitudinally. To these standards are added the specifcations characteristic of each airline company.
In terms of safety, it also is appropriate to make sure that a rapid evacuation of the passengers can be conducted. Doors thus are provided regularly along the fuselage in order to permit such an evacuation. The doors are arranged symmetrically on either side of the longitudinal axis of the fuselage. The position of these doors must be compatible with the airport facilities.
The airline companies likewise are connected with maximizing profitability of the flights made. Thus, when it is possible, freight is taken on board at the same time as passengers.

Aircraft fuselage and corresponding aircraft


A bicycle derailleur comprises a mounting member adapted to be mounted to a bicycle frame, a base member pivotably mounted relative to the mounting member, a biasing mechanism that biases the base member clockwise relative to the mounting member when viewed laterally outwardly from the base member, a chain guide and a coupling mechanism coupled between the base member and the chain guide so that the chain guide moves relative to the base member. A rotation restricting mechanism is disposed in a force communicating path between the mounting member and the base member to restrict counterclockwise rotation of the base member relative to the mounting member.

The present invention is directed to bicycles and, more particularly, to a bicycle derailleur with rotation restricting structures.
A bicycle rear derailleur engages a driving chain on one of a plurality of sprockets mounted on the rear wheel hub. A conventional derailleur comprises a base member detachably fastened to the back end the frame, a chain guide for guiding the chain onto the plurality of sprockets, a movable member that pivotably supports the chain guide, and a link mechanism that movably supports the movable member relative to the base member. Such a derailleur is shown in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application No. 11-263282, for example.
Rear dropout portions are formed at the back end of the frame for installing the rear wheel hub and the rear derailleur. The base member may be supported on the frame in a cantilevered manner by screwing a bolt into a threaded opening formed in one of the frame dropout portions. The base member usually is mounted by means of a stopper plate to the rear dropout portion in a manner that allows the base member to pivot relative to the frame. The stopper plate may be mounted on the rear dropout portion in a manner that allows the mounting position of the base member to be adjusted and to restrict the base member from rotating counterclockwise when viewed laterally outwardly from the base member. A coil spring may be disposed between the stopper plate and the base member to bias the base member clockwise and provide tension to the chain.
The chain guide has a pair of vertically aligned pulleys that guide the chain onto one of the plurality of sprockets, wherein the chain guide is pivotably coupled to the moveable member so that the chain guide pivots around an axis that is substantially parallel to the hub axle. The chain guide is biased relative to the movable member in a direction that also produces tension on the chain (typically clockwise when viewed laterally outwardly from the derailleur). The link mechanism may comprise a four-point link mechanism having a pair of links that move the movable member in the direction of the hub axle and diametrically outwardly as the chain guide moves closer to the sprockets. The inner cable of a Bowden cable assembly is fastened to the link mechanism such that pulling or releasing the inner cable using a shifter disposed on the handlebar causes the link mechanism to move the movable member and chain guide to engage the chain with a desired sprocket.
In conventional rear derailleurs, shocks to the bicycle as it runs along rough paths that are extremely uneven, such as those found in mountainous terrain, can sometimes force the base member to pivot counterclockwise against the biasing force of the coil spring. When the base member is thus forced to pivot counterclockwise, the movable member or the chain guide may strike the chain stay of the bicycle frame, thus risking damage to the chain stay, the chain guide or the movable member.

Rear derailleur with a shock absorber disposed between a base member and a mounting member


An analysis device for performing analysis about a substance by using an analysis chip having therein a reaction area that reacts with the substance is provided. The analysis device includes: a control section in contact with the analysis chip; a first sensor for measuring an ambient temperature of the analysis chip; a second sensor for measuring the temperature at a contact area of the control section in contact with the analysis chip, and a control circuit for performing feedback control of the control section by finding a temperature of the contact area for achieving a desired temperature of the reaction area based on the ambient temperature measured by the first sensor and a temperature gradient between a position at which the ambient temperature is measured and the reaction area, setting the found temperature as a target value and setting the temperature detected by the second sensor as an output value.

In various bio-measurements, the presence or absence and the amount of a substance to be detected, such as an antigen (or an antibody) is measured by detecting a biomolecular reaction, such as an antigen-antibody reaction. In this description, performing such a measurement, and determining a state, such as "positive" or "negative", based on a result of such a measurement are collectively referred to as "analysis".
For example, one of two substances that specifically bind to one another (such as an antigen, an antibody, an enzyme, a receptor, etc.) may be immobilized on a substrate, the other substance (which may be a substance to be detected, or a competing substance that competes with the substance to be detected in a sample) may be bound to the immobilized layer on the substrate, and the binding reaction may be detected to analyze the presence or absence and the amount of the substance to be detected in the sample.
Specifically, immunoassay is known, and examples thereof include: a sandwich method, which involves, in order to detect an antigen that is the substance to be detected contained in a sample, immobilizing an antibody that specifically binds to the antigen on a substrate, supplying the sample onto the substrate to have the antigen specifically bind to the antibody, adding a labeled antibody that specifically binds to the antigen and is provided with a label to have the labeled antibody bind to the antigen to form a so-called sandwich of antibody-antigen-labeled antibody, and detecting a signal from the label; and a competition method, which involves binding a labeled competing antigen to an immobilized antibody competitively with an antigen that is the substance to be detected, and detecting a signal from the label of the competing antigen that is bound to the immobilized antibody.
In the above-described sandwich method, the antigen that is the substance to be detected corresponds to "the other substance". In the competition method, the competing antigen corresponds to "the other substance". With the latter competition method, there is a relationship that a larger amount of the competing antigen bound to the immobilized antibody indicates a smaller amount of the antigen that is the substance to be detected, and therefore the amount of the antigen can be found from a level of the signal from the label, which corresponds to the amount of the competing antigen, based on the relationship.
Further, fluorescence detection methods are widely used as highly sensitive and simple measurement methods applicable to the above-described bio-measurements. In the fluorescence detection methods, a sample that is considered to contain a substance to be detected, which emits fluorescence when excited by light of a specific wavelength, is exposed to the excitation light of the specific wavelength, and the fluorescence emitted at that time is detected to check the presence of the substance to be detected. Further, in a case where the substance to be detected is not a fluorescent substance, it is widely practiced that a substance that specifically binds with the substance to be detected is labeled with a fluorescent colorant and is brought into contact with the sample, and then the fluorescence is detected in the same manner as described above to check the presence of the bond, i.e., the presence of the substance to be detected.
With respect to the above-described bio-analysis that uses optical techniques, reduction of a required time is desired, and various methods have been proposed for reducing a required time by efficiently causing a reaction at the reaction area. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,194,223 (hereinafter, Patent Document 1) proposes using an analysis chip having a microchannel and making a sample liquid flow down through the microchannel at a constant high speed, thereby speeding up the analysis. This type of analysis chip is also applicable to the above-described detection and quantitative analysis of a substance to be detected using the fluorescence detection.
In a case where the measurement as described above uses an immune reaction, an enzyme reaction, or the like, such reactions are highly temperature dependent, and therefore temperature control for accurately maintaining the reaction area at a predetermined temperature is performed during a measurement for diagnosis, etc., requiring high reliability. Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2010-139332 (hereinafter, Patent Document 2) discloses one example of an analysis device that involves such temperature control. To set the temperature of a reaction solution in a reaction vessel, which is the object of the temperature control, to a desired temperature, the device disclosed in Patent Document 2 measures the ambient temperature of the reaction vessel, in addition to the temperature of a constant temperature liquid forming a part of a temperature control means, and sets a target temperature of the constant temperature liquid depending on the ambient temperature to perform feedback control of the temperature of the constant temperature liquid based on the ambient temperature. Patent Document 2 also teaches heating the reaction solution with a heater, or the like, in place of the constant temperature liquid.


A centraliser (10) for use in centralising tubing (12) in a bore (W) comprises a first end collar (14), a second end collar (16) and a number of elongate strut members (18). The strut members (18) are interposed between the first end collar (14) and the second end collar (16) and are circumferentially arranged and spaced around the first end collar (14) and second end collar (16). The strut member (18) have a first end portion (20), a second end portion (22), an intermediate portion (24) and angled wing portions (26) which extend from the intermediate portion (24).

In the oil and gas exploration and production industry, hydrocarbon bearing formations are accessed by drilling a well borehole ("wellbore") from surface, the wellbore typically then being lined with metal bore-lining tubing known as casing. Sections of casing are typically threaded together to form a casing string which is run into the wellbore, the annulus between the casing string and the wellbore then being filled with a settable material, such as cement, which supports the casing and the wellbore and provides a seal preventing uncontrolled fluid flow up the annulus.
Given that supporting the casing and/or the wellbore and preventing uncontrolled fluid flow up the annulus are critical to ensure the safe operation of a given wellbore, it will be recognised that a poor cementing operation thus poses a significant operational risk for an operator.
One contributory factor to a poor cementing operation is inconsistent thickness of cement in the annulus caused by the casing string deflecting or moving away from the central longitudinal axis of the wellbore. In order to centre the casing string in the wellbore, devices known as centralisers (commonly referred to as "casing centralisers") are typically mounted around the casing string, the centralisers employed to maintain the casing in a generally central position in the wellbore until the sheath of cement surrounding the casing string has set.
Although centralisers are used extensively, there are a number of challenges and drawbacks with conventional tools and equipment.
For example, rigid body centralisers which have fixed radial blades for offsetting the casing string from the wall of the wellbore are not capable of adapting to wellbore restrictions, and thus can inhibit the ability for the casing string to reach the desired total depth in the wellbore.
As an alternative to rigid body centralisers, bow spring centralisers have been developed which have end collars hingedly coupled together by elongate spring elements in the form of bow springs. While the spring elements are capable of deflecting radially inwards to permit the casing string to pass through wellbore restrictions, in high angle or horizontal wellbores (referred to generally as horizontal wellbores") the significant weight of the casing string in the horizontal portion of the wellbore can act to deform the spring elements beyond their capacity to maintain the position of the casing string in the desired position such that the casing string lies towards the low side of the wellbore, and thereby risks uneven cementing of the wellbore as described above.