A superconducting Josephson junction element including a first, a-axis oriented, superconductive metal oxide crystal grain having a first area of a {001} plane, and a second, c-axis oriented, superconductive metal oxide crystal grain having a second area of a {110} plane, wherein the first and second crystal grains are in contact with each other at the first and second areas to form a grain boundary therebetween.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a high Tc superconducting Josephson junction element and, more particularly, to a superconducting Josephson junction element including a s-d wave junction formed only of a metal oxide superconductor.
2. Description of Prior Art
As a consequence of the development of high Tc superconductors, various superconducting devices operable at liquid nitrogen temperatures have been proposed. Such superconducting devices are expected to show much superior performance as compared with semiconductor devices and to be utilized as SQUIDs, digital devices and radiowave devices.
Superconductivity of known metal superconductors is able to be explained by the BCS theory. It is known that the superconductive energy gap of BCS superconductors is isotropic and has s-wave symmetry. In the case of metal oxide superconductors having a layered structure, on the other hand, there is suggested a possibility that the superconductive energy gap is anisotropic and has d-wave symmetry. However, symmetry of superconductive energy gap of metal oxide superconductors has not yet been clarified.
Recently, Iguchi et al and Wollman et al report that s-d-wave junctions have been formed between a conventional metal superconductor having s-wave symmetry and a metal oxide superconductor having a layered structure (I. Iguchi and Z. Wen, physical Review, vol. B49, p.12388 (1949); and D. A. Wollman, D. J. Van Harlingen, J. G. Giapintzakis and D. M. Ginsberg, physical Review Letters, vol. 74, p.797 (1995)). Namely, a junction element was prepared using a combination of pb having s-wave symmetry with YBa.sub.2 Cu.sub.3 O.sub.7-x (YBCO) film or YBCO single crystal having a layered structure. The junctions were subjected to various tests and were determined as being Josephson junctions.
More particularly, in Wollman et al, a YBCO/Au/pb junction is prepared. In view of the fact that (a) the junction shows current-voltage (I-V) pattern in the form of RSJ (resistivity shunt junction) model peculiar to SNS (superconductor/normal conductor/superconductor) junctions and (b) the maximum critical current flowing through the junction when a magnetic field is applied thereto shows a Fraunhofer-like pattern, the junction is determined as being a Josephson junction. Iguchi et al describe preperation of a YBCO/MgO/Pb junction. In view of the fact that (a) the junction shows a hysteresis in I-N characteristics that is peculiar to SIS (superconductor/insulator/superconductor) junctions and (b) the junction shows a Fraunhofer-like pattern against in a magnetic field, the junction is determined as being a Josephson junction.
In the junctions of Wollman et al and Iguchi et al, the Fraunhofer pattern differs from that of the conventional s-s-wave Josephson junctions using metal superconductors. Namely, whereas the superconductive critical current is maximum at the applied magnetic field of zero in the case of the Fraunhofer patterns of s-s-wave Josephson junctions, the junctions between pb and YBCO film and between pb and YBCO single crystal show minimum critical current at zero magnetic field. On the basis of these facts, it has been concluded that the junctions are s-d-wave junctions. The s-d-wave Josephson junctions are considered to provide superconducting devices having new functions different from the conventional s-s-wave junctions, because of the difference in Fraunhofer patterns therebetween.
In the case of the above s-d-wave Josephson junctions between the metal superconductor and YBCO, the operation temperature is determined by the critical temperature of the metal superconductor which is much lower than the liquid nitrogen temperature (77K). Thus, the known s-d-wave Josephson junctions cannot be integrated with other superconducting devices adapted to operate at the liquid nitrogen temperature.

High Tc superconducting Josephson junction element

International Superconductivity Technology Center


A freight container (10) has a base (20) or a portion thereof that can be opened to discharge its contents. This container (10) has a top which can be opened in similar manner as the base. Another container having at least one compartment, each compartment having a lower section with a reducing cross-sectional area and a pivotably operable closure assembly, with several such closure assemblies being linked together by means of bars. Such a container is used to contain raw building materials for stockpiling of these materials at a container port. It is also used to supply materials to a concrete production plant whee pollution control containers are provided below the supply container and above the scaling and mixing stations to reduce particulate pollution. A pair of slewing apparatuses is also provided to engage both ends of a container and turn the container over about its longitudinal axis, thereby emptying its contents.

Containers can be used to carry bulk materials, for instance raw building materials. However, one problem with this is that such materials are not always easy to unload. The containers tend to be tipped up from one end, so that the materials fall out of the other. However, this is not just a simple matter of tipping by a few degrees. Some materials require a tipping angle of over 45° to be fully unloaded. This requires tipping equipment and space and moreover can cause a lot of dust and mess.
An alternative to using a normal box container is to use a tank or silo container (with the tank in a container frame). The materials there are emptied through valves at the base. Whilst this may work for dry materials, it tends not to work for damp ones; the valves clog up.
The transportation of bulk materials is well exemplified by concrete. Concrete is a common construction materials and is a composite of cement, sand, gravel and water. The strength of cured concrete depends on the proportions of each component. Additives may be added to improve the fluid properties of the concrete during mixing and/or casting; others may be added to improve the hardness of the concrete after curing; colour pigments can also be added to give the concrete a distinct colour for a specific application, such as to differentiate the floor areas at a factory.
These raw materials are normally supplied in bulk by separate suppliers. For example, cement is manufactured only at a specialised plant, where limestone and large electric power are readily available and only at the locations approved by the environmental authorities. Similarly, gravels are produced at the quarries and the industry is also controlled by the environmental authorities. Sand may be dredged out from the sea or river bed. These raw materials are then transported to a batching plant. This may be at a construction site, but in many cases, there is no land available for an on site concrete batching plant or there may be other reasons why it is not feasible. In such cases, the raw materials are batched at a remote batching plant and transported to site by concrete mixers. This remote batching plant may have to occupy a large piece of land to stockpile the raw materials. In land-scarce countries, such as in Singapore, efficient use of land is a concern.
In many places, all the raw building materials are imported from the surrounding regions; gravel may come from one place with sand and cement coming from again different places. Typically, gravel and sand are transported by barges, while cement by specialised ship. At the landing point, these materials are stockpiled and then transferred to the batching plants or construction sites.
These batching plants and landing points are normally open facilities and the transfer of huge amounts of materials generates a lot of dust into the air. Abatement of dust pollution is therefore important.
Tipping of a container mounted on a truck tends to cause a lot of dust. Also tipping of a container suspended on a crane is not a safe practice. Shipping of wet sand and gravels in silo or tank containers does not work.
These problems necessitate a search for simpler and economical means of shipping and transfer of bulk materials and yet reducing pollution from the present levels.

Containerised handling of bulk materials and apparatus therefor


A method of producing a composite shell structure in the form of a wind turbine blade shell part having a reinforced fiber material embedded in a cured resin includes: providing a mold part having a contour defining the outer surface of the composite shell structure; providing a preform forming part shaped complementary to the mold part molding surface; forming a preform of dry fiber material on the surface of the preform forming part; arranging the mold part and the preform forming part in an assembled position with the mold part molding surface facing the preform forming surface; releasing the preform from the preform forming surface so that it is received on the mold part molding surface; removing the preform forming part from the mold part; forming a mold cavity by means of a second mold part arranged on the preform; providing resin in the mold cavity; and curing the resin.

From U.S. Pat. No. 4,992,228 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,080,851 it is known to form a preform of fibre material and to transfer this preform to the mould in which the composite structure is formed.
WO 89/05717 discloses a method of applying a mixture of plastics material and reinforcing fibres to a mould surface of a mould half, said method comprising the steps of placing, e.g. by spraying, a liquid plastics mixture incorporating fibres on a preform forming part whose shape is complementary to the mould surface of the mould half, placing the mould half over the preform forming part with the mould surface upside down, jointly turning the preform forming part and the mould half so that the mould half is located beneath the preform forming part and then removing the preform forming part.
EP 0 271 263 discloses a method of transferring a sheet of pre-impregnated fibre-reinforced material to a mould tool by means of a transfer tool provided with a flexible inflatable diaphragm and having a surface shaped to conform the shape of the surface of the mould tool.
WO 2007/039085 discloses a method of placing a material layer, such as a layer of prepreg., in a mould and comprising the steps of pressing a surface of a elastically-reversibly deformable body against the material layer, generating a holding force, which temporarily fixes the material layer to the surface, and arranging the material layer in the mould by means of the body.
EP 0 577 505 A1 discloses an installation for picking up a pre-cut fibre layer, such as a prepreg., shaping the fibre layer into a preform and transferring the preform to a moulding tool.

Method of producing a composite shell structure


Dynamic selection of communication links in a mixed network having wired and wireless links. An access point is coupled between at least two stations, with the access point coupled to a first station by a wired link and a wireless link. The access point is coupled to the second station by a wireless link. The first and second stations are coupled by a direct wireless link, and also at least two indirect links passing through the access point. A link selection component on the first station is operative to estimate the capacities of the various links, and to select one of the links for transmitting a bitstream. The link selection component can also dynamically re-select a link for continuing an on-going transmission of a given bitstream.

There is increasing demand for higher bandwidth connections between nodes within wide-area networks. A variety of wired and wireless communications technologies, protocols, and related devices have been proposed to meet this demand. For example, IEEE 802.11 defines a set of standards applicable to wireless local area networks (WLANs). In some instances, local area networks (LANs) may contain nodes or stations that can communicate directly or indirectly with other nodes or stations, via either wired or wireless links. Bitstreams containing, for example, audio data, video data, or other types of data may be transmitted between these nodes or stations.
A given station may request to transmit a bitstream to another station. In so doing, this station may have a choice of several different wired or wireless links coupling it directly or indirectly to the other station. These different links may be associated with different bandwidth or bit rate capacities. Selecting the optimal link between the two stations for transmitting the bitstream would minimize frame loss and related frame re-transmissions, and would maximize the aggregate network throughput.


A method of washing an object using a pressurized water source includes combining a cleaning fluid and the pressurized water and diffusing pressurized air into the combined cleaning fluid and pressurized water. The combined cleaning fluid and pressurized water diffused with the pressurized air is applied to the object. The cleaning fluid may also be carbonated and combined with the pressurized water prior to diffusing pressurized air into this combined mixture. The object being washed may, for example, be an animal such as a dog.

Animals are typically washed by hand, with a person manually applying water, shampoos, and other cleaning products such as conditioners to wash the animal. Hand washing is a labor intensive process that is slow and does not produce uniform results among animals. As a result, a variety of different types of devices have been developed to assist person in washing an animal. For example, some conventional systems utilize a recirculation pump positioned at a bottom of a tub in which an animal is bathed to assist a person in bathing the animal by mixing the water and shampoo or other cleaning product. In such a system, the shampoo or conditioner is poured into the tub a long with water, and the pump is activated to combine the water and shampoo or conditioner and pump the combined mixture through a hose and onto the animal.
These types of recirculating systems typically reduce the amount of cleaning product utilized in washing an animal since product that flows off the animal is recirculated and once again placed on the animal. A recirculating system can make very efficient use of shampoo. For example, in a typical recirculating system at least 1.5 inches of water is required at the bottom of a tub to provide sufficient solution for cleaning. Shampoo is added to the standing water in the tub at the recommended rate of approximately ½ ounce per gallon of water. The interior of the tub must not be much larger than the dog being washed to achieve efficient shampoo usage.
Another potential drawback of a recirculating system is the "look and feel" of the dispensed shampoo solution. Although recirculating systems may clean effectively, there is very low sudsing and the cleaning solution lacks the slippery soapy feel that the most people equate with effective cleaning. Due to this factor, additional scrubbing with a rubber brush or hand massaging may not be desired. The primary method of cleaning in this type of system is to use the shampoo solution flow from the sprayer to wash debris from the coat. Some people, however, do not like these systems due to the fact that dirty water may be put back on the animal during the washing process. Furthermore, in such systems shampoo and other cleaning products must be manually dispensed, requiring a person to physically select shampoo containers, measure and dispense the desired products from such containers.
Another type of washing system uses water on a once-through basis. FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a portion of a conventional non-recirculating washing system 100 that includes a siphon mixer 102 for injecting a desired shampoo into a water flow through a water containment assembly 104. The water containment assembly 104 includes an inlet portion 104a through which the water flows into the mixer 102, an outlet portion 104b through which a mixture of shampoo and water flows from the injector, and a bypass portion 104c that bypasses the injector to provide pure water during rinsing of the animal. The bypass portion 104c includes a bypass valve 106 that is turned on to bypass the mixer 102 and output pure water from the outlet portion 104b. The pure water from the bypass portion 104c or water-shampoo mixture from the outlet portion 104b flow through a flexible tube 108 and into a spray unit 110. A person (not shown) positions the spray unit 110 near an animal 112 being bathed to direct streams 114 of water or the water-shampoo mixture onto the animal 112.
The washing system 100 further includes a soaping system 116 having a number of shampoo containers 118a-118n, each shampoo container holding a different shampoo that may be selected by a person. Each shampoo container 118a-118n is coupled to a distribution manifold 120 that supplies the shampoo from a selected container to the mixer 102 in response to selection inputs 122. The selection inputs 122 may correspond to a knob that a person turns to one of multiple positions, and at each position of the knob the distribution manifold 120 couples a corresponding shampoo container 118a-118n to the mixer 102. Each of the shampoo containers 118 may receive pressurized air 119 to help the shampoo more easily flow from the container and through the distribution manifold 120 to the mixer 102, such as when the shampoo is very viscous. The selection inputs 122 are also applied to the bypass valve 106, and once again may correspond to a knob having a first position to turn off the valve and a second position to turn on the valve.
In operation, a person places the animal 112 to be bathed into a tub (not shown) near the system 100 and thereafter applies the selection inputs 122 to the distribution manifold 120 provide the desired shampoo from the containers 118 to the mixer 102. Initially, the person also applies the selection inputs 122 to the valve 106 to turn on the valve and thereby eliminating the siphoning action at the mixer 102 so that pure water is applied through the portions 104a-104c and 104a-104b, flexible tube 108, and spray unit 110 onto the animal 112. Once the animal 112 is wet, the person applies the selection inputs 122 to turn off the valve 106 so the pure water flows through the inlet portion 104a, through the mixer 102 to 104b. In response to this flow of water, sufficient differential pressure develops between points in the mixer 102 that causes the selected shampoo to be injected through the distribution manifold 120 and into the flow of water through the injector to thereby create a water-shampoo mixture.
This water-shampoo mixture flows through the outlet portion 104b, flexible tube 108 and spray unit 110 onto the animal 112. The person applies the desired amount of the water-shampoo mixture to the animal 112 and then physically massages the mixture into the animal's coat to wash the animal. Once the animal has been washed, the person once again applies the selection inputs 122 to turn on the bypass valve 106 so that pure water is sprayed from the spray unit 110 to rinse the animal 112. Note that when the bypass valve 106 is turned on, water flows from the inlet portion 104a through the bypass portion 104c and any water flow through the mixer 102 does not generate the required differential pressure to inject the selected shampoo. In this way, pure water flows from the outlet portion 104b to rinse the animal.
In the washing system 100, the mixer 102 mixes shampoo and water to develop the desired water-shampoo mixture to be sprayed onto the animal 112. The shampoo must be well mixed with the water to develop a consistent solution that uniformly cleans the animal. Some shampoos, such as more viscous shampoos, may be difficult to effectively mix with the mixer 102. The mixer 102 is a siphon mixer that uses the Venturi effect to induce a vacuum dependent upon differential pressure between the inlet and outlet of the mixer for the pickup or intake of shampoo. Some bathing systems use this type of passive siphon action to inject ambient air into the water-shampoo mixture to create additional bubbling. There are modified versions of the system 100 that include the addition of a passive siphon air injection system which can dispense a bubblier shampoo mixture than recirculating bathing systems. The mild increase in suds is in large part attributed to the higher concentration of shampoo used in most non-recirculating bathing systems. The primary benefit of this modest level of bubbling is cosmetic since even at very high shampoo concentrations most of the water-shampoo mixture in conventional non-recirculating systems quickly flows off the coat of the animal 112, and down the drain before the shampoo's full effectiveness is utilized. This problem is magnified when washing animals with short coats. Conventional bathing systems are not engineered to create the dense foamy lather that possess the required functional properties to readily adhere to a dog's coat and make efficient use of shampoo.
There is a need for an animal bathing system that uses water on a once-through basis that combine the best features of conventional recirculating and non-recirculating bathing systems without incorporating the potential drawbacks of each.

Animal or other object washing system and method


Provided is a polyether rubber that contains a specific proportion of a specific unit containing an onium ion. According to the present invention, a conductive member and a cross-linked rubber that constitutes part of the conductive member can be provided, in which the conductive member has low electrical resistance value and little variation in electrical resistance, and suppressed increases in the electrical resistance value even if used continuously.

In a device of an image forming apparatus such as a printer, an electrophotographic copying machine, or a facsimile machine which is believed to require semi-conductivity, a conductive member such as a conductive roll, a conductive blade, or a conductive belt is used.
Depending on specific use, various properties including conductivity within a desired range (electrical resistance value and its variation, dependence on environment, and dependence on voltage), non-contaminating property, low hardness, and dimension stability are required for the conductive member.
As a way of providing conductivity to rubber for constituting part of a conductive member, a method of adding a small amount of a conductivity imparting material such as carbon black or metal oxide to rubber and dispersing it therein to control the electrical resistance of a conductive member is known. However, according to this method, it is difficult to control the dispersity of a small amount of the conductivity imparting material added by kneading and, since the dispersion state of the conductivity imparting material is changed according to flow of rubber during molding and cross-linking, causing a variation in electrical resistance value, and therefore there is a problem that a sharp image is difficult to be obtained.
Therefore, as a solution for the variation in electrical resistance value, polyether rubber or the like having semi-conductivity by itself without being added with a conductivity imparting material has been used as a conductive member. However, in recent days, high speed is required for an image forming apparatus, and the conductive member, in particular a conductive roll, requires to have even lower electrical resistance. As a method of lowering electrical resistance, increasing the unit amount of an ethylene oxide monomer as one of the constituent units of polyether rubber is effective. However, when the unit amount of an ethylene oxide monomer is increased, the rubber itself becomes water soluble, and therefore it may be difficult to produce it. Further, there is also a problem that it causes contamination of a photoconductor. Therefore, according to conventional methods, the unit amount of an ethylene oxide monomer in polyether rubber can be increased only to a certain level, and as a result, requirements for having low electrical resistance may not be fully satisfied.
Further, there has been conventionally a problem that, under application of voltage to a conductive member, continuous use of a conductive member leads to its deterioration caused by electric current so that electrical resistance value of the conductive member increases and quality of an image is impaired accordingly. For solving the problem, it is disclosed in Patent Document 1 that, by using a specific conductive material, the static friction coefficient on surface of a conductive member is kept at a specific value so that a variation in resistance in accordance with continuous use of a conductive member can be suppressed. However, it is insufficient in terms of having low electrical resistance that is recently required for a conductive member and satisfying a property of suppressing a variation in resistance during continuous use without adding a conductivity imparting material (conductive material).

Polyether rubber, rubber composition, cross-linked rubber, and conductive member


A mechanism is provided that couples to a slide member of at least a two member slide forming a self-moving slide as well as to a self-moving slide incorporating such a mechanism. The mechanism has a housing having a first slot guiding an actuator and a second slot spaced apart from the first slot. The actuator is spring coupled to the housing. The actuator engages a second slide member of the slide. The spring generates a force for moving the actuator and the engaged second slide member along the first slot. The second slot allows for a portion of the housing between the two slots to flex.

The present invention is directed to a self-moving slide, a mechanism for a self-moving slide, and a method for self-moving a slide.
Drawers are typically coupled to cabinets using slides. These slides are typically two-member slides or three-member slides. A two-member slide comprises an outer member and an inner member. The inner member is slidably coupled to the outer member and can telescope relative to the outer member. A three-member slide comprises three members, namely, an outer member, an intermediate member, and an inner member. The intermediate member is slidably coupled to the outer member and the inner member is slidably coupled to the intermediate member. Both the intermediate and inner member telescope relative to the outer member. Moreover, the inner member can telescope relative to the intermediate member. Typically the slide outer members are coupled to the cabinet and their inner members are coupled to either side of the drawer. The problem with many drawers is that they tend to open after they are closed. Another problem with drawers is that when they are pushed to close, they sometimes do not close completely because they are not pushed with sufficient force or alternatively they are pushed with more force than necessary causing the drawers to slam against the cabinet and then re-open.
To overcome these problems some slides incorporate self-closing mechanisms that use an extension spring coupled to the outer member of the slide. The spring engages a tab or pin welded or otherwise fixed to the inner member of the slide to pull the inner member toward the outer member and close the slide. The problem with these mechanisms is that the spring is in an extended or stretched position until it is engaged by the tab or pin fixed to the inner member. As such, the spring remains stretched until the slide closes. Consequently, if the spring breaks while stretched—which a common failure mode for extension springs—it will have a tendency to eject from the mechanism creating a hazardous condition. Moreover, the tabs tend to break off from the inner member with usage due to fatigue causing early failure of the self-closing mechanism.
Consequently, a mechanism is desired for use in slides that will keep the slides in a closed position when the slides are fully closed, that will also help the slide self-close as they reach close to the end of their rearward travel and which are not subject to the early failures and hazardous conditions created by currently available slide self-closing mechanisms.

Self-moving slide, mechanism for self-moving slide and method for self-moving a slide


A side-open left-right-door arbitrary-opening structure of a refrigerator comprises four hinge shafts are fixedly connected at left and right sides of a refrigerator body in pairs respectively, left and right sides of upper and lower end faces of a refrigerator door are all provided with an opening neck, each hinge shaft is correspondingly placed in one opening neck, four hinge shaft stoppers are slidably arranged on the upper and lower end faces of the refrigerator door in pairs respectively, one spring is arranged between two hinge shaft stoppers in each pair, tail ends of the hinge shaft stoppers on the upper and lower end faces of the refrigerator door extend into the opening necks at the corresponding sides, and the hinge shafts at the corresponding sides are positioned in the opening necks.

In modern urban life, a housing space is small, especially in a kitchen, or a recreational vehicle and the like, there is a small space, and when a refrigerator has only one door opening direction, it is often inconvenient in use, and people must stand at a fixed door opening place to take articles in the refrigerator.

Side-open left-right-door arbitrary-opening structure of refrigerator


The present invention relates to a handle for a hand implement. The handle defines thumb indentations for receiving a thumb. Advantageously, the thumb can be positioned in particular thumb indentations to suit user preference or functional operation of the implement. Preferably, the handle defines a bight opposite the thumb indentations. The handle may define finger indentations in the bight. The finger indentations may be located closer a free end of the handle than the thumb indentations.

The reference to any prior art in this specification is not, and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that the prior art forms part of the common general knowledge.
Since the dawn of time, humans have used hand operated implements and tools to assist in daily activities. For example, builders use a vast array of hand tools including hammers and trowels throughout the day. Undesirably, the actions performed by many hand tools are repetitive. Further, some tools such as hammers involve high impact or stresses on the hand which can result in long term injury.
Additionally, women are often reluctant to use hand tools and are therefore more inclined to call upon a handyman, even for small tasks.
The applicant has perceived a need for an ergonomic hand implement which is well suited to use by women. The preferred embodiment provides such an implement in the form of a claw hammer.


A developing device of the type using a highly viscous developing liquid is disclosed. The developing liquid applied to a developer carrier in the form of a thin layer is uniformed in order to form a high quality image. The developing liquid is capable of forming desirable images with a constant characteristic even when it is repeatedly used over a long period of time. An image forming apparatus including such a developing device is also disclosed.

The present invention relates to an electrophotographic copier, facsimile apparatus, laser printer or similar image forming apparatus and, more particularly, to a developing device of the type developing a latent image electrostatically formed on a photoconductive element with a developer implemented by a developing liquid.
An image forming apparatus including a developing device of the type using a highly viscous and dense developing liquid is taught in, e.g., Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 7-209922 or 7-239615. The conventional apparatus of this type includes a prewetting liquid applying device for applying to a photoconductive element a dielectric prewetting liquid which has a parting ability and is chemically inactive, e.g., dimethyl polysiloxane oil. The photoconductive element with the prewetting liquid is charged and then exposed so as to electrostatically form a latent image thereon. The latent image is developed by a developing device using a highly viscous developing liquid made up of a solvent implemented by dimethyl polysiloxane oil or similar insulating liquid and toner particles densely dispersed in the solvent. The developing liquid is applied to a belt, roller or similar developer carrier in the form of a thin layer by a developer applying device.
A problem with the above developing device is that the developer applying device cannot form a thin uniform liquid layer on the developer carrier without needing several application rollers or even several tens of application rollers. Such a number of application rollers result in a complicated construction and obstruct easy maintenance. Should the number of application rollers be reduced for a simple configuration, a number of ribs would occur on the surface of the thin viscous liquid layer formed on the developer carrier and would make it difficult to uniform the thin liquid layer. The nonuniform liquid layer on the developer carrier degrades the effect available with the prewetting liquid, i.e., the obviation of background contamination of the photoconductive element at the time of development, and fails to develop an image uniformly.
It is also a common practice with the developing device using a developing liquid to collect the developing liquid and prewetting liquid remaining on the developer carrier in a reservoir so as to reuse them. However, repeating the collection of the developing liquid and prewetting liquid is undesirable from in the following respect. The prewetting liquid sequentially increases in amount in the developing liquid used to develop a latent image formed on the photoconductive element. As a result, the toner content, viscosity and other factors of the developing liquid vary and cause the conditions for forming the thin layer on the developer carrier and the amount of toner to deposit on the photoconductive element to vary, deteriorating the image quality.

Image forming apparatus with a developing device using a developing liquid


The invention relates to a method for the detection and/or measurement of a phenol comprising: (a) contacting the sample to be tested with a polymer imprinted with the phenol or an analogue thereof; and (b) measuring binding of the phenol to the polymer. The polymer may be prepared by polymerizing a polymerizable monomer, to which a phenol is covalently bound by a hydrolysable linker, and subsequently removing the phenol by hydrolysis. Propofol is a preferred phenol for use in the invention.

Anaesthesia, and particularly general anaesthesia, is a high risk form of treatment for a patient. The rate of metabolism of an anaesthetic in individuals varies widely, as does the level of effectiveness. Patient safety requires that they be continuously observed for signs of distress and levels of consciousness. It is also desirable, for a given individual patient, to be able to establish the level of anaesthetic effectiveness, the rate at which this is achieved and the anaesthetic dosage level required to maintain an appropriate level of unconsciousness. Patient care can therefore be optimised by minimising side effects and recovery time, and maximising anaesthetic effectiveness.
For optimised patient care, a rapid and specific analytical method is needed for measuring concentrations of anaesthetics in biological fluids, as distinct from closely related compounds. This need has led to the development of a variety of procedures for monitoring both levels of consciousness in patients and levels of anaesthetic in blood or plasma.
Patient monitoring techniques generally comprise physical monitoring of indicators such as heart rate, blood pressure and eye flicker. EEG monitoring is also feasible.
Anaesthesia monitoring generally relies on measurement of expiration gases, or more recently high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) or ELISA for analytes in biological fluid samples.
Some twenty years ago U.S. Pat. No. 4,069,105 disclosed enzyme immunoassays for measuring levels of anaesthetics involving anilides, lidocaine being illustrative. The anaesthetics described therein were generally formulated for administration other than intravenously, with assays being carried out on samples removed from the patient.
The anaesthetic derivatives therein comprised anilide functionality drugs, linked via an annular amino substituent to antigens to produce an antigenic conjugate. In turn, the antigenic conjugate was used for the production of antibodies to the subject drug, and for use in immunoassays.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,650,771 in 1983, the art was further developed by providing anilide derivative anaesthetics conjugated to antigens via one of the aromatic methyl substituents. Immunoassays on fluid samples were again proposed.
In 15 to 20 years which followed the publication of these U.S. patents, there have been many developments in the field of anaesthesia. Currently preferred anaesthetics are formulated for intravenous or intramuscular administration and include phenol derivative anaesthetics such as propofol. Propofol, commonly known as Diprivan is a fast acting anaesthetic commonly intravenously administered in medial anaesthesia. The existence of this preferred anaesthetic has been know for tens of years.
While this anaesthetic can be measured using HPLC methods, there are currently no methods to measure the concentration of the intravenous/intramuscular anaesthetics in patients in real-time, on-line or with easy convenience in a clinical setting. Moreover, no known antibody detection methods to these types of anaesthetics are in clinical use. As the mechanism of action of these anaesthetics are also poorly understood, the development of binding materials for these anaesthetics to enable rapid and clinically relevant detection methods using kits or off-line or in real-time biosensors would therefore fulfill a long felt want.
Other phenols are important in medicine, industry and as environmental contaminants. Improved convenient assays for these compounds are likewise desirable.
It is an object of this invention to provide new binding materials for use in detection of phenols and biosensors and/or methods which go some way to addressing the aforegoing or at least provide the public with a useful choice.

The Horticulture and Food Research Institute of New Zealand Limited


A system and method of ambient light detection with digitized output. A light sensitive device is coupled to electronic circuitry for receiving an output of the light sensitive device corresponding to a level of ambient light. The electronic circuitry compares the output to a threshold level. The threshold level corresponds to a desired level of light. The electronic circuitry for provides an output signal indicative of said desired level of light.

Most battery powered computer systems, for example, laptop computers, personal digital assistants, mobile phones, pager devices and the like, have some type of display light to assist a user in viewing the display contents under conditions of inadequate ambient light. Such lights are often referred to as "backlights," and less frequently as "frontlights." In addition, some battery-powered computers, e.g., mobile phones, may illuminate a keypad as an aid to usage under less than ideal ambient lighting conditions. Examples of such light sources include cold cathode florescent tubes, electro-luminescent panels and light emitting diodes.
When operating, these light sources can oftentimes consume high levels of power from the device's limited battery capacity. As a consequence, some such battery powered computer systems are designed to detect ambient light levels, and to turn off device lighting if there is sufficient ambient light for a user to view the display (and/or keypad) without system lighting.
Conventionally, a silicon photodiode or silicon phototransistor has been coupled to an analog to digital converter in order to provide a measurement of ambient light levels to such battery powered computer systems. Silicon-based photo-sensitive devices are commonly available and are familiar to many practitioners of the electronic arts. Further, use of such silicon-based photo-sensitive devices is illustrated in many design "cook books" commonly used by engineers.
Unfortunately, silicon-based photo-sensitive devices generally do not match the response of the human visual system to varying sources and wavelengths of light. For example, a silicon-based photo-sensitive device will detect or measure approximately 5% of the light intensity from florescent lighting as will the human eye. As a deleterious result, such a silicon-based photo-sensitive light measurement system may falsely report that there is insufficient ambient light for viewing a display under florescent light, when in fact there is plenty of light for the human user. In such a situation, the computer system may unnecessarily provide display lighting, unnecessarily consuming limited battery power, and unnecessarily reducing the operating time of the battery powered computer system.
Likewise, for some common light sources, e.g., halogen lighting, silicon-based photo-sensitive devices are more sensitive to the light energy than the human eye. In such cases, the computer system may deleteriously determine that there is sufficient ambient light for viewing a display, when in fact there is not. The detrimental result is that the computer system may not provide display lighting, and the user will be unable to view the display.
A further disadvantage of many conventional systems is the common use of an analog to digital converter to functionally couple a light sensitive device to a processor. Analog to digital converters as commonly used in this application are typically slow, requiring a conversion cycle that is very long compared to the operating speed of a modern computer processor. The analog to digital converter frequently requires an external clock source to control the conversion process. These characteristics may require additional software complexity to initiate, control and receive a converted light measurement.
In addition, since the output of most analog to digital converters is a multi-bit value, e.g., typically from eight to 12 bits, accessing the value is complex. For example, if the value is accessed serially, a universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter (UART) or other serial interface port may need to be dedicated to the analog to digital converter. Alternatively, some analog to digital converters may be interfaced in parallel, requiring, e.g., eight to 12 additional wiring channels on a printed circuit board. As an undesirable result, using an analog to digital converter for this application suffers an increase in design complexity, cost, and consumes excessive development resources.
Thus a need exists for a method and system of ambient light detection with digitized output. A further need exists to meet the previously identified need that is complimentary and compatible with conventional computer system design techniques. In conjunction with the aforementioned needs, a still further need exists for detecting ambient light with sensitivity that closely matches the sensitivity of the human visual system.

System and method for converting ambient light energy into a digitized electrical output signal for controlling display and keypad illumination on a battery powered system

Avago Technologies ECBU IP (Singapore) Pte., Ltd.


A system for managing variable sized pages of possibly non contiguous blocks in a Non-Volatile-Storage (NVS) for attaining a consistent NVS that survives malfunction events. Each page includes a self describing block or linked list of self describing blocks. the system includes: Volatile Storage storing auxiliary modules, means for performing an atomic “create a new page” procedure. Means for performing an atomic write “add block” procedure for adding a possibly non contiguous block to a page. The newly added block has a back pointer to a previous block in the page. Means for performing a “delete page” procedure for deleting all blocks in a page. Means for performing a recovery procedure for rolling backward the add block procedure and rolling forward the delete page procedure, in case of malfunction event, thereby attaining consistent NVS.

"Journaling" of cached meta-data updates in a Non Volatile Storage device (NVS) to maintain consistency of meta-data while performing fast updates, is a widely used approach in storage subsystems controllers. US Patent publication US 2002/0083263 A1 entitled ("DASD-free nonvolatile updates") describes an innovative mechanism, partitioning the NVS space into fixed sized blocks, and dynamically assigning the NVS blocks to meta-data entities (e.g. meta-data logical blocks). An NVS block serves as a journal page for the meta-data entity (i.e. the content data stored in the page), and the association is maintained until the meta-data is hardened to DASD or deleted/discarded therefrom, i.e. the Journal is no longer necessary for recovery. Note that whenever the term hardened is used it should be interpreted as hardened or deleted or discarded.
Having a constant size Journal page (which is the size of an NVS block) may have an adverse effect on the system's performance. Smaller blocks means more blocks for a fixed size NVS, allowing more entities to be associated with journal pages at a time—reducing the frequency of having to harden entities when a lot of entities are being updated. On the other hand, larger blocks allow more updates to be recorded in a journal page—reducing the frequency of having to harden an entity that is updated frequently.
It is very difficult to adjust the block size for optimal performance. In fact, it is practically impossible, because different operational environments dictate different optimal block size. A variable-sized journal page that adjusts to the frequency of updates of its associated entity, can provide better system performance than a fixed size page, in any run-time environment, and especially in the heterogeneous and dynamic environment that is typical to large storage subsystems.
However, having a variable size page (a page that can grow in run-time) is a challenging problem in a system that must be consistent and self-descriptive at any given point in time. Note also that one can atomically update only a contiguous, limited in size, NVS memory space. In other words, it is practically impossible to maintain contiguous NVS memory pages that can dynamically grow, depending upon the particular application.
There is, accordingly, a need in the art to provide for a method and system of chaining NVS blocks to form fragmented, arbitrarily long pages.

Chaining of blocks for optimal performance with DASD (Direct Access Storage Devices) free nonvolatile updates

International Business Machines Corporation


A planar dual mode filter has one or more resonators with L-shaped sections that are oriented back to back to one another. The filter can be constructed by adjusting the size of a gap between the back to back sections and adjusting the offset distance between adjacent sections. Further, coupling between adjacent resonators can be controlled by adjusting a distance between the adjacent resonators. The filters can be co-planar, stripline, suspended microstripline or microstripline. The filters have a film on a substrate with a ground plane. The film can be gold, silver or copper or it can be a ceramic material that becomes superconductive at cryogenic temperatures.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to planar dual-mode filters and to a method of construction of said filters and more particularly to dual-mode planar lumped element or distributive element filters having a thin film on a substrate. The film can be a metallic material such as gold, silver or copper or it can be a ceramic material that becomes superconductive at cryogenic temperatures.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of two degenerate modes in microstrip rings and patches to realize dual-mode resonators is known (see a book entitled "Planar Circuits for Microwaves and Light Waves" by T. Okoshi, published in 1985 by Springer-Verlag, pages 36 to 39). See also an article by Wolf entitled "Microstrip Bandpass Filters Using Degenerate Modes of a Microstrip Ring Resonator", Electron LETT, 1972, pages 163 and 164 and further a book entitled "Handbook of Microstrip Antennas" by James, et al., published by Peter Peregrinus Ltd. in 1989, pages 221, 222 and 273. Dual-mode filters made from ring resonators are described in Griffin, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,488,131 entitled "MIC Dual-Mode Ring Resonator Filter" and in an article by Guglielmi entitled "Microstrip Ring Resonator Dual-Mode Filters" distributed at a workshop on microwave filters for space applications by European Space Agency/ESTEC in June of 1991. This prior patent and articles describe dual-mode microstrip resonator filters having a structural discontinuity at a 45.degree. angle to the two orthogonal modes.
Fiedziuszko, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,136,268 describes a dual-mode planar filter having two or more resonators with a coupling path between resonators being straight or curved, a width of the coupling path being constant over its entire length. The resonators are square resonators with one corner cut-away at a 45.degree. angle to introduce a structural discontinuity. The Fiedziuszko, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,172,084 describes a planar dual-mode filter having circular resonators.
A major concern with known patch resonator filters is the difficulty in eliminating undesired coupling between patch resonators that are not interconnected by a coupling path. When this undesirable coupling occurs, the filters cannot be made to realize symmetrical frequency characteristics. Further, known patch resonator filters permit the realization of a relatively narrow bandwidth; or, they have a relatively high loss performance; or, they require the use of tuning elements to achieve the desired coupling.

Planar dual mode filters and a method of construction thereof


The present invention relates to novel receptors in the TNF family. A novel receptor has been identified, referred to herein as TRAIN. The invention relates to DNA sequences encoding TRAIN receptors. The invention also contemplates recombinant DNAs comprising a sequence encoding TRAIN receptors or fragments thereof, as well as hosts with stably integrated TRAIN-R sequences introduced into their genome, or possessing episomal elements.

The present invention relates to novel receptors in the TNF family. A novel receptor has been identified, referred to herein as TRAIN.
The TNF family consists of pairs of ligands and their specific receptors referred to as TNF family ligands and TNF family receptors (Bazzoni and Beutler, 1996. N Engl J Med 334, 1717-25). The family is involved in the regulation of the immune system and possibly other non-immunological systems. The regulation is often at a "master switch" level such that TNF family signaling can result in a large number of subsequent events best typified by TNF. TNF can initiate the general protective inflammatory response of an organism to foreign invasion that involves the altered display of adhesion molecules involved in cell trafficking, chemokine production to drive specific cells into specific compartments and the priming of various effector cells. As such, the regulation of these pathways has clinical potential.
The TNF receptor family is a collection of related proteins that generally consist of an extracellular domain, a transmembrane domain and an intracellular signaling domain. The extracellular domain is built from 2-6 copies of a tightly disulphide bonded domain and is recognized on the basis of the unique arrangement of cysteine residues. Each receptor binds to a corresponding ligand although one ligand may share several receptors. In some cases, it is clear that by alternate RNA splicing, soluble forms of the receptors lacking the transmembrane region and intracellular domain exist naturally. Moreover, in nature, truncated versions of these receptors exist and the soluble inhibitory form may have direct biological regulatory roles. Clearly, viruses have used this tactic to inhibit TNF activity in their host organisms (Smith, 1994. Trends in Microbiol. 82, 81-88). These receptors can signal a number of events including cell differentiation, cell death or cell survival signals. Cell death signaling often is triggered via relatively direct links to the caspase cascade of proteases e.g. Fas and TNF receptors. Most receptors in this class can also activate NFKB controlled events.
An emerging theme in the TNF family of receptors has been the use by nature of both full length receptors with intracellular domains that transmit a signal and alternate forms which are either secreted or lack an intracellular signaling domain. These later forms can inhibit ligand signaling and hence can dampen a biological response. There are several examples of this phenomenon. First, the TNF receptor p75 is readily secreted following selective cleavage from the membrane and then acts to block the action of TNF. It is likely that nature has evolved this system to buffer TNF activity. A second example is provided by the TRIAL-TRAIL receptor system where there are 4 separate genes encoding TRAIL receptors. Two of these TRAIL-R1 and TRAIL-R2 possess intracellular domains and transduce signal. A third receptor (TRAIL-R4) has an intracellular domain yet this domain does not have all the elements found in R1 and R2, e.g. it lacks a domain capable of signaling cell death. Lastly, there is a fourth receptor TRAIL-R3, that is essentially a soluble form but remains tethered by a glycolipid linkage. Hence this receptor can bind ligand yet it is unable to transmit a signal, i.e. it is effectively a decoy receptor. A third example is provided by the osteoprotegerin (OPG) system where the OPG receptor lacks a transmembrane domain and is secreted into the medium. This receptor can block the signaling necessary to induce osteoclast differentiation possibly by binding to a ligand called RANK-L. The TRAIN system described here resembles the OPG paradigm in that a short version can be secreted that would inhibit the natural TRAIN-L (currently unknown) from binding to full length TRAIN and eliciting a signal.
The receptors are powerful tools to elucidate biological pathways via their easy conversion to immunoglobulin fusion proteins. These dimeric soluble receptor forms are good inhibitors of events mediated by either secreted or surface bound ligands. By binding to these ligands they prevent the ligand from interacting with cell associated receptors that can signal. Not only are these receptor-Ig fusion proteins useful in an experimental sense, but they have been successfully used clinically in the case of TNF-R-Ig to treat inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis and the acute clinical syndrome accompanying OKT3 administration (Eason et al., 1996. Transplantation 61, 224-8; Feldmann et al., 1996. Annu Rev Immunol; van Dullemen et al., 1995. Gastroenterology 109, 129-35). One can envision that manipulation of the many events mediated by signaling through the TNF family of receptors will have wide application in the treatment of immune based diseases and also the wide range of human diseases that have pathological sequelae due to immune system involvement. A soluble form of a recently described receptor, osteoprotegerin, can block the loss of bone mass and, therefore, the events controlled by TNF family receptor signaling are not necessarily limited to immune system regulation. Antibodies to the receptor can block ligand binding and hence can also have clinical application. Such antibodies are often very long-lived and may have advantages over soluble receptor-Ig fusion proteins which have shorter blood half-lives.
While inhibition of the receptor mediated pathway represents the most exploited therapeutic application of these receptors, originally it was the activation of the TNF receptors that showed clinical promise (Aggarwal and Natarajan, 1996. Eur Cytokine Netw 7, 93-124). Activation of the TNF receptors can initiate cell death in the target cell and hence the application to tumors was and still is attractive (Eggermont et al., 1996. J Clin Oncol 14, 2653-65). The receptor can be activated either by administration of the ligand, i.e. the natural pathway or some antibodies that can crosslink the receptor are also potent agonists. Antibodies would have an advantage in oncology since they can persist in the blood for long periods whereas the ligands generally have short lifespans in the blood. As many of these receptors may be expressed more selectively in tumors or they may only signal cell death or differentiation in tumors, agonist antibodies could be good weapons in the treatment of cancer. Likewise, many positive immunological events are mediated via the TNF family receptors, e.g. host inflammatory reactions, antibody production etc. and therefore agonistic antibodies could have beneficial effects in other, non-oncological applications.
Paradoxically, the inhibition of a pathway may have clinical benefit in the treatment of tumors. For example the Fas ligand is expressed by some tumors and this expression can lead to the death of Fas positive lymphocytes thus facilitating the ability of the tumor to evade the immune system. In this case, inhibition of the Fas system could then allow the immune system to react to the tumor in other ways now that access is possible (Green and Ware, 1997. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 94, 5986-5990).
The receptors are also useful to discover the corresponding ligand as they can serve as probes of the ligand in expression cloning techniques (Smith et al., 1993. Cell 73, 1349-60). Likewise, the receptors and ligands can form in vitro binding assays that will allow the identification of inhibitory substances. Such substances can form the basis of novel inhibitors of the pathways.

Nucleic acids encoding TRAIN-R: a cysteine rich member of the TNF-receptor family


Embodiments of an electronic apparatus with a thermal management technique utilizing a silicon heat sink and/or a phase-change material, as well as an assembling method thereof, are described. In one aspect, the electronic apparatus comprises a main unit, a phase-change material and an enclosure enclosing the main unit and the phase-change material. The main unit comprises a substrate and at least one integrated-circuit (IC) chip disposed on the substrate. The phase-change material is in direct contact with each IC chip of the at least one IC chip to absorb and dissipate heat generated by the at least one IC chip.

Unless otherwise indicated herein, the approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Compact heat-generating devices, such as integrated-circuits (including microprocessors, graphics chips, radio frequency (RF) chips, networking communication chips, microwave chips, etc.), laser diodes, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), vertical-cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) and the like, generate thermal energy, or heat, when in operation. Compact heat-generating devices may function as, for example, sensors or ASIC drivers in a telecom router, cellular phone tower, data communications server or mainframe computers. Regardless of which type of heat-generating device the case may be, heat generated by a compact heat-generating device needs to be removed or dissipated from the compact heat-generating device in order to achieve optimum performance of the compact heat-generating device by keeping its temperature within a safe operating range. With the form factor of compact heat-generating devices and the applications they are implemented in becoming ever smaller (e.g., the processor in a smartphone, a tablet computer or a notebook computer) and thus resulting in high heat density, it is imperative to effectively dissipate the high-density heat generated in an area of a small footprint to ensure safe and optimum operation of compact heat-generating devices operating under such conditions.
Many metal-based water-cooled and air-cooled cooling packages have been developed for use in compact packages to dissipate heat generated by the various types of compact heat-generating devices mentioned above. For instance, heat exchangers and heat pipes made of a metallic material with high thermal conductivity, such as copper, silver, aluminum or iron, are commercially available. However, most metal-based heat exchangers and heat pipes experience issues of oxidation, corrosion and/or crystallization after long periods of operation. Such fouling factors significantly reduce the heat transfer efficiency of metal-based heat exchangers and heat pipes. Other problems associated with the use of metal-based cooling packages include, for example, issues with overall compactness of the package, corrosion of the metallic material in water-cooled applications, difficulty in manufacturing, and so on. With increasing demand for high power density in small form factor, there is a need for a compact cooling package for compact heat-generating devices with fewer or none of the aforementioned issues.
One issue with heat dissipation in portable/mobile applications is that, even when heat generated by a compact heat-generating device (e.g., the processor in a smartphone, a tablet computer or a notebook computer) is removed or otherwise transferred away from the compact heat-generating device itself, this thermal energy is transferred to other portions of a portable/mobile electronics apparatus in which the compact heat-generating device is enclosed. This may be undesirable especially in portable/mobile applications. For instance, at least a portion of the heat generated by a microprocessor in a smartphone or tablet computer is transferred to the enclosure of the smartphone or tablet computer (e.g., a portion of the apparatus's enclosure closest to the microprocessor), thus making at least a portion of the enclosure warm or even hot to touch. As another example, some notebook computers may have a cooling fan installed therein to promote heat transfer by convection to cool off the microprocessor of the notebook computer. Still, warm air can be felt near a vent of the enclosure where the cooling fan blows hot air out of the enclosure, and at least a portion of the enclosure of the notebook computer may still be warm or even hot to touch. Consequently, user experience of such portable/mobile electronics apparatus may be negatively impacted if not rendered harmful.

Thermal management in electronic apparatus with phase-change material and silicon heat sink


Disclosed is a novel UV light absorbing compound which can preferably be employed in the art of colored molding plastics, resin films, heat-sensitive transfer materials, liquid crystal display materials, color photographs and the like, and method for producing thereof. The UV light absorbing compound is characterized by the general formula: ##STR1## wherein R.sup.1 represents linear or branched alkyl or aralkyl group, and R.sup.2 represents --CN or --COOR.sup.3, wherein R.sup.3 represents substituted or unsubstituted alkyl or aralkyl group.

UV light is electromagnetic radiation having a wavelength between about 250 nm and about 400 nm. A number of organic compounds are decomposed or degraded by exposure to the UV light.
Then, a wide variety of UV light absorbers are generally incorporated into the commercial organic products such as polymeric materials (e.g. natural or synthetic resin and rubber), dyes, cosmetic creams and the like to prevent the degradation of the product such as discoloration, the suntan of skin, and the like.
In recent years, the UV light absorbers are incorporated into the heat-sensitive materials widely used as heat-sensitive transfer recording materials for recording devices such as facsimiles and printers to improve the light-resistance of the heat-sensitive transfer recording materials. The UV light absorbers may also be incorporated into the liquid crystal material widely used as display materials for watches and electric calculators, meters for cars, and the like. Furthermore, there is a proposal of the method for improving the light-resistance of the color photographic image using a UV light absorber containing transparent film. Wherein, the transparent film is super-imposed onto the printed surface of the photograph as a protective UV filter layer.
Examples of the conventional UV light absorbers include salicylates, benzophenones, benzotriazoles, cyanoacrylates and hindered amines. Since much of the compounds are substantially colorless, the incorporation of the UV light absorbers into the products does not affect a transparency or a color of the products.
Most of these conventional UV light absorbers, however, absorb the UV light of the wavelength ranging between about 290 nm and about 380 nm. There have been no conventional appropriate UV light absorbers which exhibits effective absorptivity in the spectral area ranging between about 380 nm and about 400 nm.


When a requesting node (402) has routing capabilities and attempts to join a network and there are no association slots available, the requesting node (402) will send an association message to a potential root node (401). If the root node (401) has reached the maximum number of links, and has a non-routing capable node (403) associated with it, the root node (401) will send a message to the non-routing capable node (403), instructing it to disassociate and attempt to re-associate at a later time. A message is then sent to the requesting node (402) for it to associate with the root node (401).

In a wireless network with routing capable and non-routing capable nodes, it is possible that non-routing capable nodes will prevent additional nodes from joining the network. More particularly, since nodes within an ad-hoc communication system may have a maximum number of connections to other nodes, if non-routing nodes join the network before the routing nodes, then the maximum number of nodes capable of joining the network may be limited. This is illustrated in FIG. 1.
As shown in FIG. 1 network 100 has formed with two non-routing nodes 102 connected to routing node 101. As is evident, if all routing capable nodes can only support 2 associated nodes and two non-routing capable nodes join first to the root node, then this network can only support a maximum of 3 nodes. On the other hand, if two routing capable nodes join the root node then this network can support at least 7 nodes (FIG. 2). Therefore a need exists for a method and apparatus for forming a network that prevents non-routing nodes from limiting the number of nodes that can join a network.

Method and apparatus for network formation


System, method, and computer program product to route data communications based on non-routing criteria, by receiving, by a network element, a data packet, identifying, in a routing table of the network element, a first route for routing the data packet, computing, by an application executing on the network element, a routing score for the first route based on one or more non-routing criteria, computing, by the application, a routing score for a second route for routing the data packet based on the one or more non-routing criteria, and upon determining that the routing score for the second route is less than the routing score of the first route, updating the routing table to cause the network element to route the data packet according to the second route.

Routing protocols have been designed to take into account a number of network-related conditions in creating and maintaining routes, such as reachability and network congestion. Currently, however, there is no way to route based upon non-network related conditions, such as dynamic latency, service level agreements, identity conditions, bandwidth, or contractual arrangements requiring a certain amount of traffic to flow via a given provider, as incorporating these capabilities into a switch is prohibitive to do for each individual customer.

Supporting arbitrary routing criteria in software defined networks


A method for setting up and managing secure data/audio/video links with secure key exchanges, authentication and authorization is described. An embodiment of the invention enables establishment of a secure link with limited privileges using the machine identifier of a trusted machine. This is particularly useful if the user of the machine does not have a user identifying information suitable for authentication. Furthermore, the presentation of a default user identifying information by a user advantageously initiates intervention by a system administrator instead of a blanket denial. This decentralized procedure allows new users access to the network without having to physically access a centralized facility to present their credentials. Another embodiment of the invention enables a remote user to connect to a secure network with limited privileges.

The phenomenal growth of network-based electronic commerce has resulted in a multitude of new applications, including hosting, conducting and managing remote links and networks. These applications permit users to interact with each other in the course of transacting business or tracking information of interest using secure links.
Secure links or connections for obtaining secure access to a computing resource typically involve one or more of three concerns—authentication, authorization and accounting ("AAA"). The term secure, consequently, includes the ability to authenticate a party and/or encrypt communications to prevent eavesdropping by unintended recipients or third parties. A secure network is formed by communications over secure links. However it should be understood that there are various levels of authentication and encryption that are available and are intended to be within the scope of the invention. A plain text communication without authentication is an insecure communication although the context dictates the threshold to be used when deciding whether a communication is secure.
In a commercial context it is important to authenticate a user, then authorize access to resources for the authenticated user and to account for the use of such resources. The "roaming user" made possible by mobile computing, and in particular wireless links, makes the AAA task increasingly challenging. In this context security protocols need to accommodate wireless links and decentralized operations. Significant latency may be encountered in a network access to a Personal Area Network (PAN), Local Area Network (LAN) or Wide Area Network (WAN). However, the intrinsically transient nature of interactions with mobile computing units requires low latency connections to provide an acceptable computing experience to users. In particular, users should be able to rapidly establish connections on secure links regardless of whether the access point exists within an intranet or on an externally located dynamically established link. Novice users or new employees should be able to obtain at least limited privileges to use a secure network. Many problems, such as those outlined above remain in implementing secure links that utilize advanced network access control and encryption/authentication schemes or flexible conference topologies. These problems present new challenges in the area of network server systems supporting wireless networking.

Security link management in dynamic networks


Organopolysiloxanes containing units of the formulae O3-a/2RaSi—Y—(SiRaO3-a/2)b and R1cSiO4-c are prepared by catalyzed reaction, in a first step, of a mixture of X3-aRaSi—Y—(SiRaX3-a)b and R1cSiX4-c and siloxanes which have structural units of the formulae O3-a/2RaSi—Y—(SiRaO3-a/2)b and R1cSiO4-c and having weight average molar mass of 100 to 950 g/mol and reacting the mixture obtained therefrom with water or aqueous acid, producing organopolysiloxanes having a weight average molar mass of 1,000 to 100,000 g/mol, wherein R and R1 each are monovalent C1-30 SiC-bonded organic groups optionally containing one or more N and/or O atoms, Y is a 2-12 valent C1-30 organic group optionally containing one or more O atoms, X is a hydrolyzable group, a is 0 or 1, b is 1 to 11, and c is 0, 1, 2, or 3.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for producing organopolysiloxanes.
2. Description of the Related Art
WO 2007/023084 A2 and EP 2072 591 A1 describe organopolysiloxane compounds comprising per molecule at least one structural unit of the general formula O3-a/2RaSi—Y—(SiRaO3-a/2)b, such as the structural unit O2/2MeSi—CH2CH2—SiMeO2/2. The described method for producing these compounds is the cohydrolysis of compounds of general formulae X3-aRaSi—Y—(SiRaX3-a)b and R1cSiX4-c, such as the cohydrolysis of 1,2-bis(methyldichlorosilyl)ethane with vinyldimethylchlorosilane.
This method has substantial disadvantages both when carried out as a continuous operation and when carried out batchwise. Cohydrolysis with compounds of formula R1cSiX4-c forms considerable quantities of undesired by-products exclusively comprising the structural moiety R1cSiO4-c and not the desired structural moiety O3-a/2RaSi—Y—(SiRaO3-a/2)b. The method moreover forms low molecular weight compounds which, while also comprising the desired structural moiety O3-a/2RaSi—Y—(SiRaO3-a/2)b, need to be removed on account of their undesired properties (e.g. low boiling point), as is described in Example 1 of WO 2007/023084 A2. This leads to a more costly and inconvenient removal step and also to reduced yield of the target product and thus a low space-time yield.
As is apparent from DE 2630744 A1, organosiloxanes may be converted by reaction with chlorosilanes in the presence of activated carbon. Disadvantages of this method include the high temperatures, close to the boiling range of the components, and the large quantities of inorganic acids added, as is apparent from the examples.

Method for producing organopolysiloxanes


The present invention relates to cleaning compositions containing one or more halogen bleaching agents and a sulfosuccinate salt. It has been unexpectedly found in accordance with the present invention that the addition of a sulfosuccinate salt to a halogen bleaching agent significantly enhances the cleaning capacity of the halogen bleaching agent compared to the cleaning capacity of either compound alone. The present invention further relates to a method of treating a contaminated surface by washing the contaminated surface with a cleaning composition containing one or more halogen bleaching agents and sulfosuccinate salts. A method of removing soil or oily substances from a substrate by treating the substrate with a cleaning composition containing one or more halogen bleaching agents and sulfosuccinate salts is also provided by this invention.

Halogen bleaching agents such as halohydantoins have been used in a variety of applications, such as dishwashing compositions, toilet bowl cleaning products, and water treatment applications such as swimming pools, cooling water systems, and spas. The use of halogen-releasing agents for bleaching as well as disinfecting purposes is described in the prior art. For example, bromochlorodimethylhydantoin is used to sanitize swimming pools. Dichlorodimethylhydantoin is added to compositions used as a bleaching agent. These compounds are often formed as granules, pellets, flakes, and shaped forms, such as tablets and briquettes.
Various inorganic halogen-based bleaching agents are known including sodium hypochlorite, sodium hypobromite, chlorine and bromine gas, N-chloro and N-bromo compounds. Halogenated hydantoins (also referred to as "halohydantoins") have also been widely used as a bleaching agent in cleaning compositions. Such methods for preparing halogenated hydantoins have been previously described (See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,654,424).
Although halogen-releasing bleaching agents are often found in numerous cleaning and disinfecting products, the cleaning potential of these compounds is somewhat limited. Because these products are widely used, ways of improving the cleaning properties of these compounds are of great importance in this industry.

Cleaning compositions containing a halogen bleaching agent and a sulfosuccinate salt


A bridge is devised to easily divide a spanning tree domain and to divide only a spanning tree domain while avoiding division of a broadcast domain. A spanning tree domain of a bridged LAN is divided in such a manner that a plurality of bridge protocol entities are provided in the bridge for connection between spanning trees, and ports of the bridge are assigned to the bridge protocol entities in a one-to-one relationship to enable the ports to participate respectively in different spanning trees. Spanning tree division is thus facilitated.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a communication apparatus, a communication system and a communication control method. More particularly, the present invention relates a spanning tree management bridge for interconnection between networks and to a method of constructing a spanning tree.
2. Description of the Related Art
A spanning tree is used to construct a local area network (LAN). Details of such a spanning tree are specified in IEEE802.1D. In a case where a plurality of LANs are interconnected by bridges, if a loop is formed when a broadcast packet is sent to the LANs, a phenomenon occurs in which passing of the broadcast packet through the loop is endlessly continued and the broadcast pack does not disappear. For the purpose of preventing such a phenomenon, a point in the communication path connected in loop form is logically disconnected by processing under a protocol called a spanning tree protocol (bridge protocol) to form a tree structure.
In a bridged LAN in which a plurality of LANs are interconnected by bridges, there is a need to divide the above-mentioned spanning tree domain for reasons described below. The first reason is because it is necessary to reduce unnecessary topology changes after occurrence of a fault by reducing the spanning tree reconstruction area in order to shorten the restoration time. The second reason is because it is necessary to reduce routes blocked by a spanning tree by reducing the spanning tree domain in order to eliminate a wasted operating band region.
FIG. 8 shows a bridge model in conformity with IEEE802. 1D. Referring to FIG. 8, the bridge model has ports #1 and #2 respectively connected to LAN segments in a spanning tree domain 100, and media access control (MAC) entities 3 and 4 are provided in correspondence with the ports. Each media access control (MAC) entity includes a frame reception section 10 or 61 and a frame transmission section 11 or 60. A configuration bridge protocol data unit (configuration BPDU) received by the frame reception section 10 or 61 is transmitted to a bridge protocol entity 30 in an upper-layer entity 1 through a logic link control (LLC) entity 20 or 40.
The bridge protocol entity 30 executes processing on the basis of the received configuration BPDU under the spanning tree protocol specified in IEEE802.1D. By executing processing under the spanning tree protocol, the bridge protocol entity 30 determines the port role of each of the ports #1 and #2 (root port, designated port, alternate port) and the port state (forwarding, blocking) and stores them in a port state information storage section 50 or 54 in a MAC relay entity 2.
A MAC relay entity 2 controls transfer or discard of data frames received from the MAC entities 3 and 4. The MAC relay entity 2 includes a forwarding processing section 51 which performs data frame transfer control by referring to the port state information storage section 50 and 54 and a filtering data base 52, and a learning processing section 53 which learns data frame transfer control up to the present time and stores learning results one after another in the filtering data base 52 to update the same.
Each of the frame transmission sections 11 and 61 transmits a data frame transferred from the forwarding processing section 51 to the spanning tree domain 100 through the port #1 or #2, receives a configuration BPDU for forming a spanning tree through the LLC entity 20 or 40, and transmits the received configuration BPDU to other bridges through the port #1 or #2.
In the conventional bridge model shown in FIG. 8, configuration BPDUs from the ports are collected in the common single bridge protocol entity 30 in the upper-layer entity 1. In this one bridge protocol entity 30, information about the port roles and the port state of the ports #1 and #2 is determined. Accordingly, all the ports in one bridge participate in one spanning tree domain 100, as shown in FIG. 8, so that the corresponding spanning tree cannot be divided.
If spanning tree division cannot be performed, a problem described below is encountered. When the link between some of the bridges constituting the network is lost due to a fault in the bridges or a fault in the network connected between the bridges, reconstruction of the spanning tree is performed in accordance with a prescription in IEEE802.1D. When this reconstruction is performed, spanning tree configuration information on the spanning tree constructed before (information stored in the port state information storage sections 50 and 54) and the filtering data base 52 for data packet forwarding that has been obtained by learning are entirely initialized and spanning tree reconstruction is newly performed.
A considerably long time, depending on the number of bridges constituting the reconstructed network of the tree, is required for the reconstruction, and data packets to be transferred onto the network are not transferred until the reconstruction is completed. That is, a condition similar to service interruption occurs. If the scale of the bridge network is larger (the number of bridges constituting the network is larger), this condition becomes marked.
As a method for dividing a spanning tree domain, a method of dividing the network by a router or a virtual LAN (VLAN) may be used. Such a method, however, simultaneously divides a broadcast domain. This means that the service for users is restricted for the network administrator's convenience.

Communication apparatus, communication system, and communication control method


A method of manufacturing a piezoelectoric resonator includes the steps of alternately layering piezoelectric device substrates and first sealing substrates to form a block-shaped layered element, and then cutting the same to provide a piezoelectric resonator element, so that a number of the resonator elements for forming piezoelectric resonators can be prepared simultaneously through laminating, adhering and cutting processes. Hence, it reduces the number of steps thereby facilitating mass-productivity and reducing the cost to produce a chip-type piezoelectric resonator.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method of manufacturing a chip type piezoelectric resonator for use in a piezoelectric filter, an oscillator or the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There has been proposed a chip type piezoelectric resonator constructed as in FIG. 3 and a method of manufacturing the same effectively.
In FIG. 3, 1 shows a piezoelectric resonator which comprises a piezoelectric device 5A which includes a piezoelectric substrate 2 provided on both of its sides with a plurality of vibrating electrodes 3 and input/output electrodes 4, respectively. Layers each comprising a first sealing substrate 6 are placed over and adhered to both sides (top and bottom) of the piezoelectric device 5A followed by forming a pair of outside electrodes 7 each electrically communicating with the input/output electrodes 4. Further a second sealing substrate 8 is adhered to both exposed lateral side surfaces (front and back) of the piezoelectric device 5A thereby sealing both of its lateral sides.
The vibrating electrodes 3 are located in a vibration cavity 9 to prevent vibration from being damped, and the vibration cavity 9 is sealed at both ends by an adhesive 10. Each vibration cavity 9 is a gap which is defined between the piezoelectric substrate 2 and the first sealing substrate 6. The gap's height is equal to the thickness of the coated adhesive 10.
The method of manufacturing the above piezoelectric resonator 1 will be detailed with reference to FIGS. 1A, 4A and 4B.
A piezoelectric device 5A constituting a principal portion of the piezoelectric resonator 1 is made, as shown in FIG. 4A, by providing the piezoelectric substrate 2 made of piezoelectric ceramics or the like on both its sides with the electrodes 3 and 4 by sputtering, vacuum deposition, or printing and baking of conductive paste, or the like. A plurality of piezoelectric devices 5A (see FIG. 1A) are comprised in the piezoelectric device substrate 5. The opposing (overlapping) portions of the electrodes in the piezoelectric devices 5A at the top and bottom sides of the piezoelectric device substrate 5 (as seen in the figures) form the vibrating electrodes 3, and the remaining end parts of the piezoelectric devices 5A which are not overlapping with each other form the input/output electrodes 4. The first sealing substrate 6 made of ceramics is placed on and adhered to both side surfaces of the piezoelectric device substrate 5 to form the vibration cavity 9 along each vibrating electrode 3 of the piezoelectric device substrate 5 comprising the plurality of piezoelectric device 5A, thereby forming a substrate-layered member 11. The substrate-layered member 11 is cut along the lines C--C and D--D in FIG. 4B to obtain an individual resonator element 12. The outside electrodes 7 are formed at both lateral ends of the resonator element 12 so as to electrically communicate with the input/output electrodes 4 which extend to those ends. Also, the second sealing substrates 8 are adhered to both lateral side surfaces of the resonator element 12 to seal the vibration cavity 9 and thereby form the piezoelectric resonator 1 of FIG. 3.

Method of manufacturing piezoelectric resonator


An apparatus and method of providing radiopaque marking for a coil spring. The coil spring will typically be used for medical applications within the cardiovascular system or other region wherein the assistance of a spring guide wire is necessary or desirable. Likely applications may include guide wires, angioplasty catheters, or infusion catheters. The basic spring guide wire is formed of a multifilar (e.g. quadrifilar) structure. At least one of the wires within the quadrifilar structure is drawn from a highly radiopaque material, such as platinum or a platinum alloy. The remaining wires are of a convenient base material such as stainless steel. The resulting quadrifilar structure will provide a degree of radiopacity over its length with one of four strands being highly visible under fluoroscopic energy. Various points along the spring guide wire may be further distinctively marked by changing the number of strands within the multifilar structure. One platinum wire within a trifilar structure is more visible fluoroscopically than in a quadrifilar structure. Similarly, the single platinum wire becomes correspondingly even more visible in bifilar and unifilar structures. These transitions are easily implemented in the coil winding process through the simple termination of one or more of the wires of the base material with a corresponding change in winding pitch of the remaining wire(s). The result is a marking of various points along the spring guide wire without the addition of any stiffness or change in handling characteristics.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to medical devices, and more particularly, relates to guide wires and coils with radiopaque markings. Specifically, the present invention pertains to a radiopaque wire in a guide wire to provide visibility of the guide wire.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The desirability of using coils of wire for spring guide wires to provide structural integrity for and improve the handling characteristics of guide wires and catheters is known. Usually these devices are designed to traverse a finite distance within the body of the patient and within the vascular system, urethra, or other passageway of the patient.
The coil spring may run the entire length of the medical device or be appended in a particular region, such as the distal end.
Most spring guide wires are wound as single filar coils. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/384,398, filed on Jul. 24, 1989, entitled "Hollow Lumen Cable Apparatus" by Fleischhacker et al., describes multifilar spring guide wires. While the multifilar spring guide wires may be more expensive to implement, the multifilar spring guide wires are perceived to have superior handling characteristics.
It is very desirable to mark positions along the length of the device to more accurately position the device within the patient's body under fluoroscopy. This is usually accomplished through the use of a platinum or platinum alloy coil.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,538,622 issued to Samson et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 4,545,390 issued to Leary each employ a separate coil of a radiopaque material. However, placement of a marker using these approaches tends to undesirably add to cost, either in the form of excessive use of the platinum alloy and/or the necessary addition of tedious assembly steps.
In some cases, it may be advantageous to visualize the entire coil length of a guide wire under fluoroscopy so as to see the guide wire track in the vasculature. It may also be desirable to mark just the distal tip section of the guide wire or other predetermined points of the guide wire as deemed necessary.
The prior art devices do not provide a solution to both problems. If a guide wire is designed with a coil which is entirely radiopaque, one cannot easily see other device markers passing over it, but the guide wire coil can be easily seen over its entire length.
The present invention overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art spring guide wires by providing a technique for radiopaque marking which is both flexible and easily implemented while at the same time having minimum or negligible impact on the handling characteristics of the resulting device. The device can be manufactured to provide a soft trace of radiopacity in the main body of the coil so it can be visualize yet not obscure other markers riding over it, and in the same coil provide a pronounced radiopaque tip for accurate placement.

Guide wire marker technique and coil spring marker technique


An infant seat for motorcars includes anchor being operable to engage a receiving element being provided in the motorcar. The infant seat has a framework fixedly attached to the lower face of the base of the seat and is fitted with the anchor, the anchor being actuated by a pneumatic device being fitted to the framework and actuated by a control being made up by an articulated lever, the control being accessible through the front edge of the base of the seat, the manual controls being operable for deactivating the anchor being found at the front edge.

There exist several means for securedly fitting the infant seats to the motorcars, from among them being known the mechanical connectors being made up by two anchoring elements being fitted to the base of the seat and arranged in a backwardly projecting arrangement, said anchoring elements being designed to engage an element being solid with the motorcar, from among the aforementioned mechanical connectors there existing those being known as of the "isofix" type.


A pre-fiber composition is disclosed herein that includes: a) a first fiber constituent having a first melting point; b) a second fiber constituent having a second melting point; and c) a gelling agent that solvates at least one of the first fiber constituent or the second fiber constituent, wherein the gelling agent significantly reduces co-polymerization of either of the constituents in the composition. A fiber is also disclosed herein that includes: a) at least two amide-based polymers, each having a melting point, wherein the melting point of one amide-based polymer is dissimilar to the melting point of a second amide-based polymer; and b) a gelling agent that is compatible with at least one of the amide-based polymers, wherein the fiber comprises two differentiatable melting points that are substantially similar to the melting points of each of the amide-based polymers. A method of producing a pre-fiber composition is disclosed herein that includes: a) providing a first fiber constituent having a first melting point; b) providing a second fiber constituent having a second melting point, wherein the first melting point and the second melting point are dissimilar; c) providing at least one gelling agent; and d) mixing the first constituent, the second constituent and the at least one gelling agent such that there is sufficient viscosity and sufficient melt strength in the composition so that it can be spun into a fiber and such that the first melting point and the second melting point in the fiber are substantially similar to their original values before mixing.

Fibers for consumer use, especially fibers that are incorporated into yams, carpet products and fabrics/textiles, are constantly being evaluated for improvements with respect to aesthetics and performance. These improvements may relate to appearance retention, texture and surface appearance, softness and floorwear performance. Fibers and fiber products are also being evaluated to determine if there are more efficient and cost-effective manufacturing processes and equipment.
Fibers, which can be used in the production of carpet products, such as wall-to-wall carpet, rugs and mats, are modified and in some instances improved to provide a certain yam texture when they are incorporated into a carpet product and to provide a desired "look" for the space where the carpet product is being used. Additional issues that arise in the design of carpet fiber material and carpet products are daily and long-term performance and appearance.
One method that is being used to modify the texture of fabrics is to incorporate fibers that have mixed deniers into the fabric product. Denier (or fiber denier) is a physical property of a particular fiber and can be defined as: "A direct yarn numbering measurement, it is the weight in grams of 9,000 meters of yarn. Therefore, the higher the denier, the larger the yarn. Typical nylon carpet fiber has 15-18 denier/filament." (see www.fabrica.com: Glossary of Fabric and Rug Terms) Another method that is being used to modify fibers and the resulting carpet or textile product is to incorporate not only fibers with mixed deniers, but also mixed lusters, such as the fiber and carpet product seen in commonly-owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/602,459, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Another method of improving the aesthetics of carpet products that is related to the mixed denier method is to incorporate two fiber types—such as a low melt continuous (minority) fiber and a bulked continuous filament (BCF) host fiber. In order to create softer resultant carpets with improved tips, surface and texture, however, the concentration of the minority fiber needs to be reduced. The reduction in concentration of the low melt continuous minority fiber can be difficult because the concentration is ultimately limited by the denier of the minority fiber. In a conventional low melt/host fiber product, the low melt continuous fiber has a yarn denier of about 20-40 denier, and depending on the denier of the host fiber, the low melt fiber constituent can greatly influence the final properties of the resultant fiber and/or resultant carpet product. Traditionally, carpet yarn deniers range between 1000 and 1500.
Caprolactam and nylon compounds have each been individually polymerized with the same compounds (i.e. caprolactam/caprolactam or nylon/nylon) by anionic polymerization in a twin-screw extruder and then tested for residual monomer content and thermal/mechanical properties; however, in both processes, there were no mixed monomer anionic polymerization, the polymerization process did not result in a pre-fiber gel composition that could be processed by any means (including extrusion), there was no pre-fiber dispersion, and there is no indication that the mechanical strength or thermal strength was improved by the single monomer/twin-screw extruder mixing process. (see Antec '93 Conference Proceedings, New Orleans, 9-13 May 1993, Vol. 1, p. 470-473; and Antec '94 Conference Proceedings, San Francisco, Calif., 1-5 May 1994, Vol. 1, p. 116-22)
Therefore, it would be desirable to produce a multiphase pre-fiber and/or fiber material and/or composition that a) has sufficient viscosity and suitable m elt strength such that it can be spun into a fiber or yarn, b) can be processed by any processing method, including extrusion, c) can be incorporated into the production of a fiber, yarn, textile and/or carpet product, d) allows for reduction of the concentration of or the effect of the low melt material component without being constrained by a particular fiber denier, e) would comprise at least two dispersed constituents and exhibits at least two definitive and differentiatable melting points, and f) would produce a composition, fiber and/or product having two melting points whereby the melt temperature of the constituent having the lower melting point is maintained primarily by minimizing/preventing co-polymerization during blending and processing steps.

Multiphase fiber materials and compositions, methods of manufacture and uses thereof