Inflight transactions having predictable pod failure in distributed computing environments are managed by integrating a transaction manager into pods having containers running applications in a distributed computing environment, wherein the transaction manager records a transaction log having data indicative of historical pod failure. A pod health check that is also integrated into the pods determines predictive pod failure scenarios from the data of historical pod failure in the transaction log. Pod health can be tracked using the pod health checker by matching the predictive pod failure scenarios to transaction calls. Calls may be sent to a load balancer for recovery of pod failure for transaction calling match the predictive pod failure scenarios. Pods can be configured recover for the predictive pod failure.

The present invention generally relates to managing distributed computing, and more particularly to recovery in transaction processing.
When describing a distributed computing environment, such as a cloud environment, a "container" is a term referring to a unit of software whose packaging includes all the associated dependencies and is designed to run reliably in different computing environments. For example, a docker is a popular open source container platform and docker image is a standalone executable package that comprises application, runtime, system libraries and settings required to run the application. One or more containers get grouped into tightly coupled as logical hosts based on application process requirements referred to as "pods". A pod is a basic deployable object by orchestrator and it is repeatable by design. Pods can be independently brought up or down based on the resource requirements at any point in time through an orchestration environment in the cloud. Kubernetes is an example of an orchestration system for docker containers.
Kubernetes is a portable, extensible, open-source platform for managing containerized workloads and services, that facilitates both declarative configuration and automation. Kubernetes is an example of a distributed system. It treats all the machines in a cluster as a single pool of resources. It takes up the role of a distributed operating system by effectively managing the scheduling, allocating the resources, monitoring the health of the infrastructure, and even maintaining the desired state of infrastructure and workloads. Kubernetes is an operating system capable of running modern applications across multiple clusters and infrastructures on cloud services and private data center environments. Kubernetes include two layers including of the head nodes and worker nodes. The head nodes typically run the control plane responsible for scheduling and managing the life cycle of workloads. The worker nodes act as the workhorses that run applications. The collection of head nodes and worker nodes becomes a cluster. The components of Kubernetes, can include a controller and scheduler.
Management of resources in a cloud orchestrated platform happen automatically based on the workload and application availability requirements preconfigured while deploying the same. Though orchestration is effective for maintenance of resources and workloads deployed in cloud in general, it can result in created unexpected behavior in environments like transaction processing monitor specific pods where recovery of transactions upon failures are crucial to its functioning.

Machine learning to predict container failure for data transactions in distributed computing environment


The apparatus of the present invention provides a torque converter that is looser at stall than it is at 0.8 speed ratio. The torque converter includes a stator having a plurality of stator blades. The stator blades each define a primary leading edge, a trailing edge, and preferably include a flange defining a secondary leading edge. The stator blade flange extends away from each blade such that the secondary leading edge points generally to the primary leading edge of a preceding stator blade. In this manner, the secondary leading edge is designed at stall to catch flow coming past the primary leading edge of the upstream blade and to redirect the flow back out of the front of the stator. The secondary leading edge is further designed to hide in the wake of the primary leading edge at higher speed ratios.

A torque converter is a hydrodynamic unit that transfers torque between an engine and an automatic transmission. The torque converter generally includes an impeller (driving member), a turbine (a driven member), and a stator that are disposed in a housing full of working fluid. The impeller is generally disposed at a rear portion of the housing (away from the engine), and it turns with a crankshaft of an engine. The turbine is generally disposed at a front portion of the housing (near the engine), and is connected to a transmission input shaft. The turbine is free to rotate independently from the impeller.
The working fluid flows from the impeller toward the turbine in a radial outer portion of the torque converter. The working fluid then flows from the turbine back toward the impeller by way of the stator in a radial inner portion of the torque converter.
As is well known in the art, in order to optimize efficiency it is necessary to select an appropriate torque converter for a particular engine configuration and application. For example, torque converters have traditionally been matched to a diesel engine by selecting a torque converter with a stall curve that crosses the engine torque curve approximately 100 rpm above peak engine torque, and a 0.8 speed ratio curve that crosses the engine torque curve at the engine governed speed.
For some engines such as, for example, highly turbocharged diesel engines, it may be necessary to match the stall curve of the converter with the engine's "lug up" curve. As will be described in more detail, a lug up curve is approximately the engines naturally aspirated torque curve up to the engine speed at which the turbocharger spins up. To properly match the stall curve of a torque converter with an engine's lug up curve, it may be necessary to provide a torque converter that is "looser" at stall than it is at 0.8 speed ratio. A "tighter" torque converter is one that can absorb more torque (has a higher capacity), and a "looser" torque converter is one that can absorb less torque (has a lower capacity).


The present invention provides a driving force transmission mechanism for an image forming apparatus and a process cartridge. The transmission mechanism includes a photosensitive drum driving component (10) and an image forming apparatus driving head (20). The driving component (10) includes a drum shaft (3) which axially projects from an end of a photosensitive drum (1) and a boss (4) which axially projects from an end surface of the drum shaft (3). A tooth (5a) is obliquely arranged on a side wall (4b) of the boss and projects in a radial direction. The driving head (20) includes a recess (11) with a twisted-surface and matching with the boss (4), the recess has a polygonal cross section with a twisted corner section. The process cartridge includes the driving component. The photosensitive drum driving component is easy to manufacture and is not easy to be damaged when using for a long time.

A toner cartridge can be detachably mounted into a main part of an image forming apparatus, and the cartridge, as a whole unit, comprises an electrophotographic photosensitive member and at least one of processing means such as charging means, developing means, cleaning means, or the like. Since the toner cartridge is detachably mountable relative to the main part of the apparatus, it is easy to maintain the apparatus. An electrophotographic image forming apparatus adopting electrophotographic imaging formation method functions as follows: an electrostatic latent image is formed by selectively exposing the electrophotographic photosensitive member uniformly charged by a charger to light passing through the image forming apparatus; the electrostatic latent image is developed with toner by a developing means into a toner image; and the toner image thus formed is transferred onto a recording medium by a transferring means to form an image on the recording material.
As shown in FIG. 1, the prior art has disclosed a method of transmitting the driving force between a photosensitive drum driving head 17 provided on the toner cartridge and an image forming apparatus driving head 18. A spiral triangular recess 18a is provided at an end of the image forming apparatus driving head 18, and a spiral triangular projection 17a is provided correspondingly at an end of the photosensitive drum driving head 17 in complementary with the triangular recess 18a for transmission. The driving force can be transmitted in this manner, however, during transmission of the driving force, the coaxial alignment of the rotation centers of the spiral triangular projection 17a and the spiral triangular recess 18a is difficult, thus leading to a certain shake during the power transmission between them. And the process of manufacturing such a spiral triangular projection 17a is complicated, the cost of making mould is high, and the photosensitive drum driving head 17 is easy to deform or to be damaged during long time operation, which will affect the driving accuracy and efficiency.

Driving force transmission mechanism for image forming apparatus and processing cartridge


A portable terminal that is capable of enlarging and displaying an image with sufficient image quality. An obtaining unit obtains an image having resolution. An instruction unit instructs to enlarge and display the image obtained by the obtaining unit. A display unit enlarges and displays the image obtained by the obtaining unit when the instruction unit instructs to enlarge and display an image having first resolution, and enlarges and displays an image corresponding to the image obtained by the obtaining unit that is received from a server when the instruction unit instructs to enlarge and display an image having second resolution that is lower than the first resolution.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable terminal that is capable of displaying an image, a control method therefore, and a storage medium that stores a control program therefor.
Description of the Related Art
A multifunctional peripheral device equipped with a copy function, a printer function, a facsimile function, a data storage function, etc. has spread as OA equipment in recent years. When copying an original using a multifunctional peripheral device, a user requires quality equivalent to the original for a duplication. However, since a multifunctional peripheral device reads an original image optically with a scanner, digitizes and prints the image, it is difficult to maintain the quality due to noises included during reading and digitization.
There is a known technique that prints a code as identification information with image data for every page, when the image data received from a PC or another multifunctional peripheral device is printed, and that stores the image data and the identification information to a database while relating them to each other. According to this technique, when a user copies a printed sheet that has been printed beforehand, the identification information is detected during the scanning. And when the image data corresponding to the identification information is stored in the database, the image data stored in the database is printed instead of the image data obtained by scanning (for example, see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. H10-285378 (JP H10-285378A)).
In recent years, there is a use case where a printed sheet is taken with a camera of a portable terminal and the taken image data is transmitted to a printer to print if needed.
When an image taken with a portable terminal is enlarged and displayed or is printed, the image quality of the taken image may be insufficient for displaying and printing a detailed portion. However, the technique disclosed in the above-mentioned publication does not suggest cooperation with a portable terminal, and cannot solve this problem.
Moreover, a printing element like a watermark may be added to a printed sheet by a printer driver or a tag may be pasted on a printed sheet by a user. Since the information that is added to the printed sheet by the printer driver or the user later is not included in the database, such a printed sheet cannot be reproduced using the image data with the corresponding identification information stored in the database in the configuration disclosed in the above-mentioned publication.

Portable terminal capable of displaying image, control method therefor, and storage medium storing control program therefor


A tool capable of removing material is applied to a turbine wheel cooling slot. Material is removed from a selected portion of the cooling slot with the tool. And, stress concentrations are reduced within the slot through the removal of material.

In gas turbine engines, fuel is burned within a combustion chamber to produce hot gases of combustion. The gases are expanded within a turbine section producing a gas stream across alternating rows of stationary stator vanes and turbine rotor blades, attached to a turbine wheel, to produce usable power. Gas stream temperatures at the initial rows of vanes and blades commonly exceed 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Blades and vanes, susceptible to damage by the hot gas stream, are cooled by air compressed upstream within the engine and flowed to the turbine components. One method for cooling rotating turbine wheels includes injecting cooling air from stationary cavities within the engine to a cooling slot within the turbine wheel for distribution to the interior of the turbine blades.
Air cooling is sometimes not sufficient to prevent low cycle fatigue due to the presence of stress concentrations in the turbine wheel. Overall efficiency in the operation of turbines can be improved by the removal of stress concentrations, thereby reducing stress related damage and in turn reducing downtime of the turbine. The art would be further benefited by the removal of stress concentrations while the turbine wheel is mounted in a turbine.
Prior to the present invention, the utility operator who desired to modify the cooling slots to reduce stress concentrations had essentially two choices: first, the entire rotor could be replaced and, secondly, the turbine wheel could be removed from the turbine to be modified.
Accordingly, a method and apparatus that would allow modification of a turbine wheel cooling slot to remove or reduce stress concentrations, and particularly, a method and apparatus for in-situ modification is desired.

Apparatus to remove material from a turbine wheel in-situ


A diene rubber (iii) can be obtained by mixing in a solution state:. a modified styrene-butadiene rubber (i) having a weight-average molecular weight of 150,000-500,000, obtained by reacting a diene polymer having a bound active metal in the molecule, with a modifier such as N-methyl-.epsilon.-caprolactam or the like, and PA1 a branched styrene-butadiene rubber (ii) having a weight-average molecular weight of 800,000 or more.. This diene rubber (iii) and a rubber composition comprising the diene rubber (iii) and other diene rubber (iv) have superior processability when unvulcanized and give a vulcanized rubber having improved abrasion resistance, resiliency and low-temperature properties.

In recent years, the lower fuel consumption requirement for automobiles became stricter from the standpoints of energy saving, environmental protection, etc. In this connection, a rubber material for tires, of small rolling friction and superior abrasion resistance is required strongly.
It is known that in diene rubbers such as polybutadiene (BR), styrene-butadiene copolymer rubber (SBR) and the like, their abrasion resistance and resilience can be improved by making larger the molecular weight. Diene rubbers of larger molecular weight are improved in these properties; however, they have drawbacks such as lower processability when unvulcanized, increased hardness at low temperatures and the like, making difficult their practical use in many cases. Hence, there were proposed methods of adding, as a processability improver, a liquid BR, a liquid SBR or the like all having a molecular weight of 50,000 or less (e.g. JP-A-4-277537, JP-A-6-65418 and JP-A-6-65419). With these methods, however, addition of a large amount of a liquid rubber reduces the superior abrasion resistance and resilience inherently possessed by high-molecular polymers, and the other drawback of high-molecular polymers, i.e. the low-temperature hardness is not improved noticeably.
Meanwhile, JP-A-61-271338 disclosed a rubber composition comprising a branched polymer and a modified polymer, obtained by subjecting a diene polymer containing active lithium in the molecule, obtained by anionic polymerization using n-butyllithium, to tin coupling of required level and then modifying the remaining active lithium with a particular cyclic urea compound. In this rubber composition, however, the branched polymer has a low weight-average molecular weight not higher than 600,000; therefore, the rubber composition is insufficient in resiliency, abrasion resistance, etc. and, moreover, is not fully satisfactory in processability, low-temperature hardness, etc.


The present invention is to provide a dual-purpose position structure used as a hook and a dock comprising a base and another base, wherein the base is sheathed into the another base along a guiding track and two sides of a sliding trench of the base by using a guiding trench and two sides of a sliding plate of the another base, the another base is adjusted by engaging between a saw-toothed part of an elastic arm and a saw-toothed surface of the guiding track to form a dock with a size-adjustable containing space for setting an electronic apparatus therein or being hanged inversely on an office partition as a hook. At least one buckling device located on the supporting plate of the another base can be assembled with at least another buckling device located on a surface of the electronic apparatus.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a dual-purpose position structure used as a hook and a dock, more particularly to a dual-purpose position structure able to be assembled with a wireless network apparatus and sit on a table as a dock or, alternatively, be hanged inversely on an office partition as a hook for providing the advantages of good fixity and convenient operation and avoiding the wireless network apparatus from falling off.
2. Prior Art of the Invention
Generally speaking, a number of wireless network apparatuses, for example, Hub, Switch, Modem, and so on, shown on the general market nowadays, each has a housing structure for fixing. These apparatuses are usually equipped with an antenna, which is well known by person skill in the art, for transmitting and receiving signals efficiently. Therefore, users can use a random wireless network apparatus to transmit and receive signals through a wireless network access point for establishing contact with outside world at any moment and obtaining largest benefit in the shortest time as well.
Moreover, for complying with the users' demands of actual use, the manufacturers of the general wireless network apparatus usually designed different types of fixing structure to integrate the apparatus with the fixing structure so that the apparatus is capable of being set on the desk or hanged on the office partition. The users are therefore able to establish contact with outside world by using the wireless network apparatuses at any moment.
However, the present design of the fixing structure will result in complicated manufacturing process. In other words, two molds are needed to be designed/developed, one of these molds is a dock for use on the desk and the other mold is a hook that is hanged on the office partition. Moreover, the conventional hanging-type structure is peeled off easily. In addition, the developing costs of these molds as well as their manufacturing costs are high. Accordingly, every manufacturer should provide the present products and their deficiencies with improvements.
Furthermore, the applicant supplies an improved design to the present products and their deficiencies in accordance with actual demands of the users and marvelous developing of the present wireless network apparatuses on the market for interactive integrating the fixing structure with the wireless network apparatus. Meanwhile, the present invention has a dual purpose for being set on the desk or hanged on the office partition so as to dissolve the above problems. Therefore, the present invention contributes the sale results of wireless network apparatuses towards every manufacturer and is also good news for numerous customers. Accordingly, developing and producing a fixing structure with multiple purposes is indeed an important and urgent subject for present industries.

Dual-purpose position structure used as hook and dock


A cable harness, cable clip, and bundle clip, which may be used individually or in combination, to perform cable management for a rack mounted installation.

For some computing applications, such as computer networking and telecommunications, it is often necessary to store a large number of computing devices (e.g., switches, routers, servers, etc.) in a relatively small area. To facilitate such a high component density, a number of the computing devices are typically mounted together in a "rack." A rack may also be referred to as a "chassis" or "cage," and a variety of such rack mounted installations are known in the art.
An example of a conventional rack mounted installation 10 is illustrated in FIG. 1. The rack mounted installation 10 comprises a rack 100 and a number of raceways 51, 52, 53 for routing cables to and from the rack 100. The rack 100 comprises a rectangular-shaped housing 110 having an interior cavity 120 capable of receiving a number of individual computing devices 150. Each of the devices 150 may comprise any type of computing system or device, such as a switch, router, server, etc. Note that one or more of the devices (e.g., the two devices 150 positioned near the center of cavity 120) may comprise controller units for the rack mounted installation. The devices 150 may also be referred to as "blades", "circuit boards", or simply "boards." Generally, the term "blade" will be used herein to refer to a computing device that can be received in a rack 100, such as that shown in FIG. 1. Also, it should be understood that the rack 100 may include other components—e.g., power supplies, fans, etc.—that are not shown in FIG. 1 for ease of illustration.
Many of the blades 150 will each include a number of connectors 155, each connector 155 capable of being coupled with a cable (e.g., an electrical cable or an optical cable). Cables plugged into the connectors 155 on each blade 150 are routed out to the vertical raceways 51, 52 which, in turn, direct the cables vertically upwards to an upper raceway 53 (see arrows 5 in FIG. 1). One prior approach to managing the cables extending from the blades 150 and out to the raceways 51, 52 was to simply run the cables free from their respective blade to one of the raceways 51, 52. However, as the number of ports or connectors 155 on each blade 150 increases, such an approach becomes impractical. When a blade 150 is removed from the rack 100, the spatial relationship amongst the cables, and between the cables and their respective connectors 155 on the removed blade, is not maintained. If these spatial relationships are not maintained or are otherwise not readily ascertainable, it can be very difficult to reconnect the cables to the correct ports on the blade 150 when the blade is re-installed in the rack 100 (or when a different blade having the same port relationships is installed in the rack). In addition, as a practical matter, a lack of an adequate cable management scheme results in tangling amongst the cables and, further, may make it difficult to quickly determine which cables are plugged into a specific blade.
Solutions to the above-described cable management problems have been proposed, these solutions including various structures for guiding cables along a desired route, as well as various clips for holding or bundling cables. Examples of structures for routing cables are disclosed in each of U.S. Pat. No. 6,310,294 to Di Girolamo et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,501,899 to Marrs et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,546,181 to Adapathya et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 6,584,267 to Caveney et al., whereas examples of cable clips are disclosed in each of United States Patents Des. 428,330 to Johnston et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,215,069 to Martin et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,381,393 to Matthews et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 6,539,161 to Holman et al. These solutions are, however, limited in their ability to route cables in multiple directions (e.g., cables are generally routed only sideways away from the rack). Furthermore, each of the prior art cable management components is, individually, a partial solution to cable management, and none of the proposed solutions presents a unified system for cable management.

System and method for cable management on rack mounted installations


Double reversible clothing is provided which includes four-sided double reversible pants, coveralls, a hooded sweatshirt, and a jacket. The garments are adorned in various identifying indicia, including sports team logos and camouflage patterns typically associated with the seasons of spring, summer, winter, and fall.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to outdoor clothing, and, more particularly, to four-sided double reversible team jackets, hooded sweatshirts, overalls (coveralls), pants and vests that have four different patterns or indicia for customizing the appearance.
2. Description of Related Art
The ability to alter one's wardrobe in a matter of moments has been attempted in a variety of ways, including reversible garments that allow a user to simply reverse the lining of the garment to display a separate fabric, design or other identifying indicia. The use of a four-sided, double reversible garment is a cost effective mechanism for consumers to diversify a portion of their wardrobe without the expense of paying for four separate sets of clothing.
A search of the prior art did not disclose any patents that read directly on the claims of the instant invention; however, the following references were considered related:
U.S. Pat. No.InventorIssue Date6,345,393 B1BayerFeb. 12, 20026,421,834 B2KesterJul. 23, 20026,421,833 B2Khanamirian et al.Jul. 23, 20026,405,377 B1DavisJun. 18, 20026,393,613 B1SheuMay 28, 20026,397,393 B2AlgerJun. 4, 20026,336,226 B1GarciaJan. 8, 20026,308,334 B1MaasOct. 30, 20016,298,485 B1HellerOct. 9, 2001
Consequently, a need has been felt for four-sided double reversible jackets, hooded sweatshirts, overalls, pants, and vest adapted with different patterns or indicia for customizing the appearance with camouflage to correspond with seasons and customizing with sports teams logos. The development of the double reversible clothing fulfills this need.


A coin telephone instrument having a serpentine coin path is provided with string grabbers positioned at cusps in the coin path to engage the string of a tethered coin deposited by a fraudulent user. Each string grabber assembly is comprised of a pair of facing and arcuately converging lip surfaces which guide the string toward the surfaces' initial point of convergence. The grabbers, working in tandem, will stop the tethered coin during its descent before it reaches the escrow hopper, trap door and coin steering vane, thereby frustrating the fraudulent attempt. If the fraudulent user pulls back on the string to retrieve the tethered coin, the converging lip surfaces engage the string forcing it past the initial point of convergence and into the path of a sheet metal slit cutter which severs the string tether.

A species of coin fraud has arisen in which the miscreant drills a hole through a coin of the type accepted by a coin-operated device, such as a coin telephone instrument, and attaches a flexible cord or string, such as monofilament fishing line, to the coin by threading the string through the drilled hole and knotting the end to tether the coin. The coin is then deposited in the coin slot, the tethered string allowing it to fall through the coin chute of the coin telephone instrument where it triggers the deposited coin registration switch if it is recognized as a genuine coin, or is rejected to the coin return bucket if determined to be counterfeit. If the coin is recognized as valid, the coin will be held in the escrow hopper where it is stopped by a trap door until a call is placed and has been answered. The fraudulent user, however, hangs up before answer is received. In response to hangup, the telephone instrument then activates a coin return operation. The trap door opens in sequence just after a coin steering vane moves to the coin refund position. The fraudulent user allows the coin to pass through the trap door, but suspends it just below the trap door. This allows the trap door to close but the suspended coin keeps the telephone instrument's coin steering vane biased to allow coins to enter the coin return chute. The closing of the trap door allows the telephone instrument to be reset for a new call, which the fraudulent user now places. However, because the suspended coin has fouled the apparatus, all deposited coins will be returned to the miscreant at the end of the call. It would be extremely advantageous to be able to frustrate such fraudulent usage.


A method and apparatus for reducing a memory footprint of an embedded system. The method may include analyzing packages installed in a root file system of the embedded system, and determining which package components are not required for the operation of the embedded system. The method further includes reducing a memory footprint of the embedded system based on the above determination.

An embedded system is a special-purpose system in which the computer is encapsulated by the device it controls. Devices that utilize embedded systems may include, for example, information appliances, smart phones, set-top boxes, personal digital assistants (PDAs), etc.
Embedded systems often utilize the Linux operating system because it is available as open source software. Linux was initially designed for use with enterprise computer systems that have a large amount of storage space available. Embedded systems, in contrast, have a limited amount of storage space. In addition, an embedded system, unlike a general-purpose computer such as a personal computer, usually performs a single predefined function having very specific requirements. Hence, in view of space constraints and cost savings, an embedded system should provide only the storage space that is required for the specified function.
When developing an embedded system, a designer typically uses a development environment on a host PC. In particular, the developer selects a set of software packages for the embedded system and copies these software packages to the host PC. The software packages may be in the RPM (Red Hat® Package Manager) format, which is a native packaging format of the Linux operating system. The software packages are integrated into a root file system, which is then compressed to an image file and loaded to a target device. Since the target device is limited in storage volume, the developer may need to remove the unnecessary packages from the root file system in an effort to decrease the usage volume of the memory. This removal is a manual process, which is inefficient and prone to mistakes.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Development tool for footprint reduction


This research discloses an ultra wideband system-on-package (SoP). The SoP includes a package body; a first integrated circuit mounted on the package body; a first signal transmission unit connected to the first integrated circuit; a signal via connected to the first signal transmission unit and including a slab line and a trough line; and a second signal transmission unit connected to the signal via. The technology of the present research can transmit ultra broadband signals by minimizing discontinuity of signals appearing during vertical transition that occurs in the course of a signal transmission to/from an external circuit, and a fabrication method thereof.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ultra wideband system-on-package.
2. Description of Related Art
With dramatic progress in Information Technology (IT), such as mobile communication, semiconductor and network, there are explosively increasing demands for the market demands for IT convergence products, which include diverse functions, e.g., mobile communication, data communication, multimedia, and games, integrated therein. The IT-convergence products necessarily require System-on-Package (SoP) technology, which converges a plurality of constituent parts of diverse functions into one package.
According to the SoP technology, a system is realized as a single package by forming a passive device built in a substrate and stacking an active device on a substrate. This is to integrate conventional constituent parts that have been already developed as hardware semiconductor design intellectual properties (IP), such as a semiconductor substrate, a passive device, a filter, an antenna, and a battery, in the inside of a three-dimensional (3D) package. The SoP technology can realize a product without any structural and procedural modification in an already developed chip. Therefore, the SoP technology is advantageous in that it can be realized more easily and it takes less time to be developed than System-on-Chip (SoC) technology of a horizontal structure, which realizes tens of thousands of different active and passive devices through a single silicon process.
Recent development of ultrahigh frequency application area such as millimeter wave vehicle anti-collision radar and millimeter wave Wireless Personal Area Networking (WPAN) requires an ultra wideband SoP that can transmit ultra broadband signals.

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


A system and method is provided for monitoring the viewability of a display, and includes a point-of-sale display, at least one sensor that detects at least one of presence, placement and viewability of a display, a central processing unit that receives an output from the sensor and compares the output with a predetermined value to determine if an abnormal condition affecting viewability of the display exists, and a communication device that communicates an alarm signal produced by the central processing unit under abnormal conditions to a remote recipient or to a storage device.

Point-of-sale marketing materials are provided to retailers by the manufacturers or distributors of goods and services. The point-of-sale marketing materials can include merchandisers that are not owned by the retailer but are contracted to be placed in various positions within the retail establishment. The merchandisers can include shelves for supporting the manufacturers' products and traditional paper labels or electronic labels that convey pricing or other marketing or promotional information to a prospective customer. A microprocessor can be provided in conjunction with an electronic display to control a display on a display panel of the electronic label. The electronic labels can include capacitor plates that are positioned in close, non-contact relation with a conductor that extends along the edge of the shelf and is connected through a data distribution network to a central data transmission source. The existing systems allow pricing information on the shelves of the merchandiser to be readily modified from a central control station that may be located in an office in the store.
Manufacturers of the goods displayed on the merchandiser often arrange contractually with the retailer to sell some or all of the products under promotions or other sales that may affect the revenue obtained from the sale of the products. The manufacturer may agree with the retailer to accept a reduced amount of revenue per product sold at the promotion or sale price on the assumption that the reduction in revenue per product will be made up by the increased quantity of products sold, or by less tangible benefits such as increased goodwill with the customers. When a manufacturer of a product has many of these remotely controllable or manually modifiable point-of-sale merchandisers distributed at retailers over a wide region, it is often necessary to employ a large sales force to physically travel to the retail establishments for the purpose of changing and/or verifying the point-of-sale displays. In addition to the expense of employing a large sales force, manufacturers of goods that rely on point-of-sale merchandisers often encounter problems in verifying that contractually agreed upon promotions or sales are actually being displayed, and that the displays are positioned as agreed upon for optimum viewability by potential customers. The point-of-sale marketing materials are known on occasion to be removed, destroyed or covered up by competitors, customers and even the retailers despite contractual obligations.

Point-of-sale marketing material presence and viewability verification system and method


A micro position-control system capable of more precisely controlling three degree-of-freedom motions, namely, a Z-direction motion and X-axis and Y-axis rotations. The micro position-control system includes a base including a plurality of base units disposed at equal angles from the center of a motion stage, holding piezo actuators parallel to a direction of the disposition of the base units, a plurality of bridge units disposed to face the base units, converting a displacement in a length direction of the piezo actuators into a displacement that is vertical with respect to a bottom surface of the base, the motion stage making at least one of a translation motion in the vertical direction, a rotation about a first axis perpendicular to the vertical direction, and a rotation about a second axis perpendicular to both the vertical direction and the first axis, and a control unit controlling the piezo actuators.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to micro position-control systems and, more particularly, to a micro position-control system capable of more precisely controlling three degree-of-freedom motions, namely, a Z-direction motion, an X-axis rotation, and a Y-axis rotation.
2. Description of the Related Art
As is well known, the importance of micro position systems in industry increases day by day. Particularly, the development of semiconductor technology requires a high integration of a circuit, and consequently, a line width used in up-to date microprocessor circuits is about 0.18 μm. In this case, a motion stage for manufacturing a wafer requires precision that is reproducible corresponding to 20 nm, which is 1/10 of the 0.18 μm line width. A submicron-level micro transfer apparatus is widely utilized, and can be applied to a micro measurement field (such as, an atomic force microscope (AFM), a scanning electron microscope (SEM), and the like) and to an industrial field, such as, information technology (IT).
General position-control systems using a linear motor or both a servo motor and a ball screw have a relatively long stroke distance but have a limit to the position precision that can be achieved due to a structural limit, such as a backlash or the like. Also, general position-control systems have a drawback of becoming high due to vertically arranging actuators for the purpose of obtaining vertical motion. This drawback causes much difficulty in performing a vertical position control in works that require high precision.
Micro-precise position-control systems that move by a distance of micrometers or less must be designed to not generate friction in order to remove or minimize a non-linear factor. Also, actuators used in the micro-precise position-control systems must be easily driven through a distance of micrometers or less and must be highly repetitive.
Hence, in the field of micro position-control technology, a position control technique using the piezo effect is generally used. The piezo effect denotes a phenomenon in which when a piezo actuator is deformed by an external force applied to a special crystal of the piezo actuator, voltage is generated on a surface of the piezo actuator, and alternatively, when voltage is applied to the crystal, a displacement or a force is generated. Examples of materials that produce such a piezo effect include crystal, tourmaline, titanium, barium oxide, and the like. The piezo effect is applied to micro position-control technology, electroacoustic transducers, piezoelectric purification, supersonic humidifiers, fish finders, supersonic diagnostic devices, and the like.
Korean Patent No. 396020 (hereinafter, referred to as a related patent) discloses a conventional position-control system using the piezo effect, whose structure is shown in FIG. 1. In FIG. 1, a first transfer mechanism 30 (with piezo actuator 31), a second transfer mechanism 40 (with piezo actuator 41), and a third transfer mechanism 50 (with piezo actuator 51) can create translation in the X and Y directions and rotation in the Z direction. Also, when a fourth transfer mechanism 60, a fifth transfer mechanism 70, and a sixth transfer mechanism 80 deform piezo actuators by applying a voltage to the piezo actuators, a motion in the Z-direction occurs because of a lever structure of FIG. 2. A motion stage 20 having six degrees of freedom is formed by combining the six transfer mechanisms 30, 40, 50, 60, 60, 70, and 80 together.
The motion stage 20 is manufactured to have six degrees of freedom in a relatively simple shape. Each hinge is made circular, and hinges of six degrees of freedom are simultaneously attached to a single moving object.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the fourth, fifth and sixth transfer mechanisms comprise a piezoelectric actuator 61, 81, 71 a first hinge 62, 72, 82 a second hinge 63, 73, 83, a fixing block 64, 74, 84, a third hinge 67, 77, 87, and a lever 68, 78, 88 which make the motion stage 20 translate along a Z-axis, which corresponds to a vertical motion, and rotate around the X-axis and Y-axis. The first, second, and third transfer mechanisms 30, 40, and 50 interlock with the fourth, fifth, and sixth transfer mechanisms 60, 70, and 80, and make an X-axis translation, a Y-axis translation, and a Z-axis rotation, respectively, so that the motion stage 20 can make six degree-of-freedom motions with respect to the base 10.
In the related patent, first, a thin circular hinge portion is prone to be deformed in all directions as well as being bent. Hence, the rigidity and stability of the entire system are very poor.
Second, since ends of all piezo actuators are simultaneously fixed to the motion stage 20, a parasitic motion in which motions in all directions affect one another occurs. Hence, a precise operation of the position-control system is difficult. In other words, to move the motion stage 20 in a specific direction, inputs that enter all drivers must be either calculated simultaneously or calculated through feedback control. Thus, control is difficult.
Third, since the thin hinge portion receives a large force directly from piezo actuators, the thin hinge portion is very likely to be broken or plastically deformed even by a small external force.
Fourth, since the lever structure of FIG. 2 rotates about a hinge 63 instead of making a perfect vertical motion, the lever structure causes a motion in an undesired direction. Finally, since the system is not designed to perform displacement amplification, a moving range of the motion stage 20 is restricted to a deformation range of a piezo actuator in which the piezo actuator can only extend about 0.1% of its length.
The manufacture of a plane motion stage having degrees-of-freedom including an X-direction translation motion, a Y-direction translation motion, and a Z-axis rotation is easy because of manufacturing characteristics of an elastic hinge mechanism used in an existing micro position-control system. However, the manufacture of a plane motion stage having degrees-of-freedom including a Z-direction translation motion, an X-axis rotation, and a Y-axis rotation is not easy because wire electro-discharge machining, which is generally used to manufacture an elastic hinge, cannot achieve three-dimensional machining, it can only achieve two-dimensional machining.
In addition, although a stacked piezo actuator, which is frequently used as a driving source of a micro driving mechanism, has great driving power and excellent resolving power of several nanometers or less, the stacked piezo actuator has a drawback in that its deformation range is limited to about 0.1% of the overall length of the actuator. Accordingly, when a motion stage needs to move in the Z-direction, its height increases. Therefore, there is a demand for an elastic hinge mechanism that can decrease an overall height of a motion stage and also generate a large displacement in the Z-direction.


Provided is an information processing system with which a new function can be added without altering an application program itself. The information processing system includes: a first execution information obtaining unit configured to obtain first execution information which indicates an execution state of a first execution unit configured to execute an application program; an execution information storing unit configured to store the first execution information; and the first execution unit or a second execution unit configured to execute the application program, in which the first execution unit or the second execution unit uses the stored first execution information to execute the application program.

There has been known a technology for implementing a function of resuming the execution of a game in a game program that is executed on a single game machine when a pause instruction is given to suspend the game and then a restart instruction is given, from the state the game has been in immediately after the pause instruction has been given. There has also been known a technology for implementing a function of storing video information, for example, a scene in a game or a video, in a shared server. Another known technology implements a function with which, for example, a play screen of a game executed on one game machine can be viewed on another game machine.
An object of one or more embodiments of the present invention is to provide an information processing system, an information processing method, an information processing program, and a computer-readable recording medium having an information processing program stored thereon with which the functions described above are implemented without altering an application program itself.

Information processing system, information processing method, information processing program, computer-readable recording medium on which information processing program is stored


A multi-passage cavity made up of the assembly of a planar mounting and first and second reflective optical elements each having a main face arranged opposite one another, the main face of at least one of the optical elements being microstructured to modify the phase of incident luminous radiation that is reflected several times on each of the optical elements to form transformed radiation, the multi-passage cavity includes precisely three assembly interfaces.

U.S. Pat. No. 9,250,454 and US2017010463 disclose optical devices, denoted by the acronym MPLC (Multi Plane Light Conversion), which allow any unitary spatial transformation of luminous radiation.
From a theoretical point of view, and as established in "Programmable unitary spatial mode manipulation," Morizur et Al, J. Opt. Soc. Am. A/Vol. 27, No. 11/November 2010, a unitary spatial transformation can effectively be decomposed into a succession of primary transformations, with each primary transformation affecting the transverse phase profile of luminous radiation. In practice, and without forming any limitation of this technology, MPLC components typically apply between 3 and 25 primary transformations.
The document G. Labroille, P. Jian, N. Barré, B. Denolle, and J. Morizur, "Mode Selective 10-Mode Multiplexer based on Multi-Plane Light Conversion, in Optical Fiber Communication Conference, OSA Technical Digest (online) (Optical Society of America, 2016), paper Th3E.5" discloses a particular embodiment of an MPLC device. It comprises a mounting on which an input stage has been arranged, making it possible to inject incident luminous radiation into the device, an output stage for extracting the transformed luminous radiation from the device, and a mirror arranged opposite a reflective optical element for forming a multi-passage cavity and making it possible to project and reflect the incident luminous radiation onto the optical element several times. The optical element has a microstructured main face for applying, to each reflection of the incident radiation, a modification of the transverse phase profile of the signal.
The parts constituting such a device must be positioned and oriented relative to one another with a very high degree of accuracy. This precision is necessary to ensure that the incident luminous radiation intercepts the optical element precisely at the microstructured zone, in order to impart a chosen transformation to it. This need for precision in the arrangement of the optical parts making up the device is especially the case since the same part can intercept the optical path of the incident radiation several times (typically between 3 and 25 times as stated above), and therefore even a small deviation in positioning or orientation from the required positioning may have a great impact on the correct functioning of the device.
In addition, optical positioning tolerances (with micrometer and, with regard to angular accuracy, microradian precision) are much smaller than the geometric manufacturing tolerances of the parts (at least if parts that can be produced at a reasonable cost are sought), and therefore the position of these parts, in their assembly positions, cannot generally be established in advance with the necessary accuracy.
In order to assemble the parts on the mounting, and, in particular, to form the multi-passage cavity, the input stage, the mirror and the optical element are first roughly positioned relative to one another. Incident luminous radiation is injected into the cavity thus formed, and the intensity of the luminous signal leaving the cavity is detected. The relative position and orientation of the input stage, mirror and optical element are also adjusted as finely as possible within all available degrees of freedom to optimize the detected intensity. This optimal relative positioning and orientation are temporarily fixed, for example, by means of adjustable holding clamps.
Alignment cubes (or more generally alignment parts) with planar faces and with abutting faces perpendicular to one another are then used to fix the input stage, the mirror and the optical element in their optimum positions on the mounting by means of a layer of glue or adhesive.
Two planar faces of the alignment cube are placed in contact, respectively, with a planar face of the mounting and a planar assembly face of the part to be fixed. By taking advantage of the relatively extensive planar contacts, the robustness and stability of the assembly are thus ensured. In general, the "assembly interface" is the planar contact between the contact surfaces of two parts assembled together.
When the part to be fixed has an orientation in space that does not permit the provision of a face that can come into planar contact with the mounting or with a first alignment cube arranged on the mounting, cubes can be assembled together at their planar faces in such a way that one of the faces of this assembly can come into planar contact with the assembly face of the part to be fixed and another face of this assembly can then come into planar contact with the mounting.
The same approach can be employed to assemble each of the parts forming the optical element on the mounting.
A schematic perspective of a multi-passage cavity 1 made up of a planar mounting 2 and two reflective optical elements 3, 3′ arranged opposite one another is shown in FIG. 1. A first optical element 3 has a microstructured main surface 3a for modifying the phase of incident luminous radiation. It is assembled on the planar mounting by means of a first alignment cube 4, a first face of which is in planar contact with the mounting, and another face, perpendicular to the first, is in planar contact with an assembly face 3b of the first optical element. A second optical element 3′, corresponding here to a simple mirror, is arranged on the mounting 2 by means of a second alignment cube 4′, one face of which is in planar contact with the mounting 2. A second face of the second alignment cube 4′ is in planar contact with a first face of a third cube 4″. The third cube 4″ is itself in planar contact, at a second face perpendicular to its first face, with an assembly face 3′b of the mirror 3′. This cube combination allows the mirror to be angularly oriented along a main axis A with precision and to fix this orientation (as well as the orientation in both directions perpendicular to this axis A) by means of the assembly interfaces.
In such an assembly model, each interface is a potential source of failure. The stresses, for example, of thermal origin, to which the assembly may be subjected may lead to the development of slight displacements, which are likely to affect the correct functioning of the device. The same applies to the layer of adhesive or glue, which enables two faces to be joined together, the properties of which may vary over time and according to the environmental conditions to which the device is exposed.
The present disclosure is intended to mitigate some or all of the above-mentioned disadvantages.

Multi-passage cavity of an optical device for spatial manipulation of luminous radiation


An endoprosthesis assembly adapted to be positioned within a body lumen includes a resilient, self-expanding anchor attached to a tubular graft. The endoprosthesis can be recaptured in a delivery device to enable repositioning or removal of the endoprosthesis at any time prior to complete deployment of the endoprosthesis in the patient. The delivery device includes an outer tubular member that carries the endoprosthesis in a radially contracted configuration and an elongate inner tubular member that extends through the prosthesis and beyond the distal end of the outer tubular member. A retainer is carried by the inner member that engages and retains the proximal end of the endoprosthesis relative to the inner member until the endoprosthesis is released. The inner member is formed from an alloy that has superelastic characteristics throughout the range of body temperatures to which it will be exposed to enhance the column strength and pushability of the device while providing a high level of longitudinal flexibility.

It has been long accepted practice to treat a variety of vascular disorders in a surgical procedure that involves placement of a tubular endoprosthesis, such as a graft, in a patient's vascular system. The construction and characteristics of the graft typically will be adapted to optimize its use in the specific surgical environment and condition to be treated and, accordingly, a number of different types of grafts are available. Among the most common types of vascular grafts are those formed from a woven or knitted tubular fabric as well as non-fabric tubes such as expanded polytetrafluoroethylene. Such grafts typically are placed in a patient's vascular system in an extensive surgical procedure. In general, the complexity of the surgical procedure required to place the graft will depend on many factors, including the location and surgical accessibility of the portion of the patient's vasculature where the graft is to be placed.
Not all vascular conditions in which it would be desirable to place a graft can be so treated. Among the particularly troublesome medical conditions in which it is desirable to place a graft is that of an abdominal aortic aneurysm, in which a portion of the patient's aorta, the major artery carrying blood from the heart, has developed a weakened wall such that the weakened portion will tend to expand under the influence of the patient's blood pressure. An aortic aneurysm presents a life threatening risk that the aneurysm may burst causing massive internal bleeding. Treatment of the condition typically has involved deeply invasive abdominal surgery in which the patient's abdominal cavity is opened to reach and expose the aortic aneurysm. While maintaining the patient on an independent life support system, the region of the aneurysm is incised lengthwise to enable insertion of the graft into the aorta to span the weakened region and define a structurally tubular flow path between the remaining healthy portions of the aorta. The graft so positioned then is sutured in place. The graft thus serves as a reinforcing liner for the weakened portion of the aorta. Such surgical procedures have been characterized by a relatively high mortality and morbidity rate. Typically, patients suffering from the condition are elderly and are less able to survive the rigors of major abdominal surgery. Additionally, there is a substantial degree of risk when the abdominal cavity is opened because the confining pressure of other abdominal organs on the aorta is released. In some cases, the abdominal wall in the region of the aneurysm is so weak that upon release of the confining pressure, the aneurysm bursts with resulting immediate massive hemorrhaging.
The difficulties and risks associated with the placement of a graft to reinforce an abdominal aortic aneurysm may be reduced significantly by using an endoprosthesis that can be inserted into the patient's blood vessel percutaneously and without requiring extensive surgery. Such devices, and delivery systems for their percutaneous placement are disclosed in the above-identified U.S. patent applications. Those devices include an endoprosthesis having an elongate flexible tubular graft attached to one or more anchors that support the flexible graft and serve to retain the graft in the deployed location in the blood vessel with reduced risk of the graft migrating from its deployed position. The anchor(s) is radially contractible and expandable between a reduced diameter, low profile configuration in which it can be inserted percutaneously into the patient's blood vessel and an expanded configuration in which the anchor(s) is deployed in the blood vessel and engages the inner luminal surface of the blood vessel sufficiently and in a manner to reduce the risk of the graft assembly migrating from its deployed location. In order to further reduce the risk of migration, the device may be provided with one or more hooks that can engage the wall of the blood vessel when the anchor is expanded. Although the use of such hooks is considered to be highly desirable, they may present some difficulty when the device is contracted to a deliverable configuration. The hooks which should extend radially outwardly, may become caught on a portion of the delivery device or may become caught with each other as the device is radially contracted. That may present difficulty when the device is deployed in the patient's blood vessel. Should any of the hooks become caught, that may impair the ability of the device to be properly expanded and may interfere with the ability of the device to be positioned initially or repositioned by the delivery device.
As described in the above-identified pending patent applications, the delivery system includes an elongate, flexible catheter-like device having a tubular sheath at its distal end (the end inserted into the patient). When the endoprosthesis is contracted radially, it can be contained within the sheath of the delivery device. The delivery device then is inserted into the patient either percutaneously or by surgical access and is navigated to the intended placement site. The endoprosthesis then can be ejected from the sheath and can expand to its deployed configuration. As described in further detail in pending application Ser. No. 08/147,498, the device may be only partially ejected from the delivery sheath to permit the physician to verify that the endoprosthesis is in its intended position. If so, the endoprosthesis can be fully released. If not, the endoprosthesis can be withdrawn into the sheath, the sheath can be repositioned, and the endoprosthesis can be again released at the intended location or totally removed from the patient.
It would be desirable, therefore, to provide an endoprosthesis and delivery system therefor that provides the advantages of using hooks to securely engage the blood vessel wall but in which the hooks can be easily disengaged from and reengaged with the blood vessel wall and with reduced risk of the hooks becoming entangled themselves or with other portions of the device and without hindering the deployment and repositioning of the endoprosthesis. It is among the general objects of the invention to provide such a devices and technique for their use.

Method and apparatus for recapture of hooked endoprosthesis


A cover device for a storage battery includes a sub-cover that includes a flat bottom with a plurality of first vent-holes, a top portion and a connecting wall which interconnects the flat bottom and the top portion to define a space therein. The cover device further includes a plurality of tubes, each of which having n open end which is connected to each of the first vent-holes of the flat bottom and a closed end which is plugged into a respective inlet-hole of a main cover of the storage battery so as to close the inlet-hole, and a second vent-hole which is formed in the sub-cover and which communicates the space in the sub-cover with an exterior of the same.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a cover device, more particularly to the cover device of a storage battery.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional storage battery is shown to comprise a container (1) that has a plurality of separate rectangular-shaped compartments (11) for receiving electrodes and a main cover (2) provided securely on the container (1) to close a top portion of the container (1). As best illustrated in FIG. 2, the main cover (2) confines a space (26) therein and has a flat bottom which is formed with a plurality of inlet-holes (23) therethrough for filling an electrolytic solution, such as dilute sulfuric acid, into the separate compartments (11) and a plurality of sub-cover units (25) for closing the inlet-holes (23). The main cover (2) further has a plurality of gas inlets (24) which are also formed in the flat bottom and which permit the gas that is produced in each of the compartments (11) to flow into the space (26) and out of a gas outlet (27) which extends outside the periphery of the main cover (2).
During mass production, a sheath (28) is provided hermetically on a free end of the gas outlet (27) and the inlet-holes (23) of the main cover (2) are sealed by aluminum foils (not illustrated) with the use of a hot melting process. Thus, the metal plates inside the storage battery are isolated from the exterior of the same so as to prevent oxidation action within the storage battery.
In use, the aluminum foils are removed first so as to permit pouring of the dilute sulfuric acid into the respective compartments (11) via the inlet-holes (23) of the main cover (2). The inlet-holes (23) are closed by the sub-cover units (25) after the filling operation. However, the user often forgets to remove the sheath (28) that seals hermetically the free end of the gas outlet (27) of the main cover (2). Thus, when the storage battery is electrically connected so as to provide light, the flow of current inside the storage battery causes electrolysis, i.e., bubbles of gas are produced on the electrodes. The gas accumulates within the storage battery and cannot escape to an exterior of the same through the gas inlets (24), the space (26) and the gas outlet (27). The accumulated gas eventually leads to an explosion and may endanger the persons nearby.


The present invention provides a pedestal that protrudes from a fluid reservoir device that retains fluid for a fluid-ejection printing device. A data storage device may be mounted on the pedestal such that when the fluid reservoir device is inserted into a supporting structure, the pedestal and data storage device mounted thereon protrude into or through an opening in a surface of the supporting structure. Consequently, a disconnectable connection to the data storage device may be made at a location other than the inside of the supporting structure. Accordingly, connection to the data storage device is simplified and the risk of damage or a reduction in performance to the data storage device or its electrical contacts from fluid leaks from the fluid reservoir device is reduced.

Recently, fluid-ejection printing devices, such as ink jet printers have incorporated data storage devices into their fluid reservoir devices in order to track the amount of fluid remaining in the reservoir as well as other important information. Typically, the amount of ink that has been used by fluid ejection and/or by maintenance operations is tracked by counting drop ejection events or maintenance events and multiplying by the amount used per event. Data related to the amount of fluid that has been consumed (starting from a known amount), or the amount of fluid that remains, is stored in the data storage device. In any case, the stored data is related to the amount of fluid remaining in the reservoir. FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a conventional scheme, according to U.S. Pat. No. 6,565,198, for mounting such a data storage device on a fluid reservoir device. As shown in FIG. 1, an ink cartridge 107K has a main body 171 in which a bottom-opened recess 173 is formed in a side frame 172. A data storage element 80 is located in the bottom-opened recess 173. The data storage element 80 has connection terminals 174.
As is commonly the case with ink jet printers, ink cartridges such as ink cartridge 107K must be inserted into a supporting structure such as the carriage attachment unit 18 shown in FIG. 2. The '198 Patent discloses that the carriage attachment unit 18 has an inner wall 184, a rear wall 188, a bottom 187, and a recess 183. When the ink cartridge 107K is inserted into the carriage attachment unit 18, a needle 181 penetrates the bottom of the ink cartridge 107K to allow the flow of ink. Carriage guides 182 assist in the registration of the ink cartridge 107K into the carriage attachment unit 18. Further, the data storage element 80, when the ink cartridge 107K is inserted into the carriage attachment unit 18, contacts a connector 186 such that electrodes 185 connect to the connection terminals 174.
Shortcomings of conventional schemes such as that disclosed by the '198 patent include a complex connection structure that requires that electrical wiring be provided from the connection between the data storage element 80 and the connector 186 within the carriage attachment unit 18 to locations external to the carriage attachment unit 18. In other words, the signals received or provided to the connector 186 often need to be provided to control or processing circuitry located remote from the carriage attachment unit 18. In cases such as these, it can be complex to route electrical wires to the connector 186 located within the carriage attachment unit 18. In addition, ink from the ink cartridge 107K may leak therefrom into the carriage attachment unit 18 and cause damage to or reduce the performance of the connection between the connector 186 and the data storage element 80. Accordingly, a need exists in the art for a simpler way to connect to a data storage element on a fluid reservoir device that is less prone to damage from fluid residue or leaks.

Data storage device mounting arrangement for printing device


Waste removal from raceways for raising aquatic animals is improved by providing a waste removal section at the downstream end of the raceways whereby the waste removal section is separated from the rest of the raceway by a vertical or near vertical screen. The mesh size of the screen is sufficient for the waste to pass through but not allow the aquatic animals to pass through. The natural flow of water through the raceway carries the waste material downstream within the raceway. A perforated pipe in the bottom of the waste removal section provides the outlet for the waste removal. A waste control valve connected to the perforated pipe controls the flow of the waste out of the waste removal section. Optional freeze protection for the waste control valve is provided.

Raceways are common configurations used in conventional aquaculture industries. While providing a continuously flowing stream of naturally oxygenated water for the aquatic animals, certain raceways configurations are not without problems. For example, in concrete raceways having rectangular cross-sections, the solid waste produced by the animals is labor intensive to remove. The concrete walls are also abrasive to the extremities of fish which are often grown in the raceways. Flexible liners used to provide a buffer against the concrete walls often meet with their own design difficulties such as degradation due to exposure to atmospheric elements such as sunlight. Also, the moving water stream in the raceway can lift the liner and effectively reduce the volume available within the raceway.
Aquaculture systems using raceways having a U-shaped or semi-circular cross section benefit from reduced labor in waste removal from the raceway since the shape facilitates both natural and manual sweeping of the waste from the walls of the raceway towards a center drain pipe running longitudinally along the bottom of the raceway.

Aquaculture raceway with waste removal section


In order that communication may be performed independently of indoors or outdoors, in this mobile satellite communication terminal, when it is used indoors, the indoor terminal transmitting and receiving a signal in the ground radio channel is connected to the repeater terminal installed at a position from which the satellite can be seen by the ground radio channel, further, the repeater terminal communicates with the satellite by using the satellite channel. On the other hand, when it is used outdoors, the outdoor terminal is constituted by mounting the outdoor unit for the satellite channel consisting of the antenna for the satellite channel and the radio frequency section instead of the indoor unit consisting of the antenna for the ground radio channel and the radio frequency section of the indoor terminal.

The present invention relates to a mobile satellite communication terminal which is used for a mobile satellite communication system and is especially designed for satellite communication from indoors.
A conventional mobile satellite communication terminal is described in the following using FIG. 1 which shows a system diagram of the mobile satellite communication terminal.
The system of FIG. 1 includes a central earth station 1, plural mobile satellite communication terminals 40-1 to 40-3, and a satellite 2.
Terminals 40-1 to 40-3 are mobile satellite communication terminals having the structure, however they are placed in different positions. For example, terminal 40-1 is used outdoors, and is connected to central earth station 1 through satellite 2. Terminal 40-1 can communicate with the satellite 2 in a range of visibility even if the terminal is moved between mountains and buildings and the like.
Terminal 40-2 is located inside a building or the like. Communication by terminal 40-2 with satellite 2 can be performed at any a position from which satellite 2 can be seen, such as adjacent to window 21 provided in the building with a slight signal attenuation.
On the other hand, since terminal 40-3 is located at a position inside of the building and not near window 21, satellite 2 cannot be seen by terminal 40-3 and, transmitting and receiving signals to and from satellite 2 cannot be accomplished.
To communicate with satellite 2 using terminal 40-3, it must be moved to a place such as the window 21 or the like at which radio waves can be received.
As mentioned above, in the conventional mobile satellite communication system, communication cannot be performed when an obstacle is located between the mobile satellite communication terminal and the satellite.
Particularly, in a structure such as a building or the like, communication using the prior art terminals can be performed only from limited locations such as adjacent to a window and accordingly such terminals cannot be used with a high degree of freedom.
The above-mentioned mobile satellite communication system is described in documents "PTC 1993 proceedings, p. 835-p. 840" "INMARSAT-M PORTABLE MES".


The present invention provides a rapid virus entry/binding detection assay. An enzyme such as luciferase was incorporated at the C-terminal end of viral envelope proteins of the HIV Nef protein that would specifically associate with cell membranes to deliver the enzyme into viral particles upon viral assembly. Virus entry/binding can then be assayed by determining the enzymatic activities in infected cells. The assay allows high-throughput non-radioactive detection of virus entry within 30 minutes after virus-cell contact. This assay provides high signal to noise ratio and is useful for screening compounds that affect virus-cell binding and entry. The design also permits packaging of potential therapeutic proteins into functional virus particles and delivering them to specific cellular targets.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of virology. More specifically, the present invention provides assays that measure virus binding and entry into target cells.
2. Description of the Related Art
pH-dependent models such as influenza A and semliki forest virus have been used to study the mechanisms of enveloped virus entry because it is possible to induce en-masse fusion event by dropping the pH of the medium. Fluorescence dequenching or FRET assays are used to measure the kinetics of fusion in such viruses and have been used to understand the effects of mutations and anti-viral drugs. In this assay, fluorescent probes incorporated in the virus membranes mix with and become diluted in the target cell or liposome membrane. The resulting change in fluorescence gives a real-time measure of fusion. These entry assays cannot be applied easily to pH-independent viruses since fusion events are infrequent, cannot be coordinated and the receptors are difficult to manipulate since they tend to be integral, multi-transmembrane span-containing proteins. In such studies, passive diffusion of fluorophore contributes significantly to the signal and complex analysis of the data is required to observe signal due to fusion.
The need for more sensitive measurement of pH-dependent virus entry has led to the development of assays to detect cell-cell fusion, early genome replication events and assays that use recombinant viral protein-GFP fusions. In assays detecting cell-cell fusion, which is used to confirm the role of factors important in fusion, cells made to express virus envelope proteins on the surfaces are labeled with one fluorophore and mixed with target cells bearing receptor and second fluorophore. Fusion is measured by observing syncytia formation. Independent labeling of cell membrane and cytoplasm provides information on membrane and cytoplasm mixing. It has been shown that syncytia formation is slow and does not correlate to infection kinetics. Additionally, in case of HIV, the chemokine receptor, Bonzo promotes syncytia but does not play any significant role in entry.
There are several assays that detect virus infection. Some assays measure infection by using reporter gene expression in the infected cell. This is a very complicated process. To obtain expression, a virus must penetrate the cell membrane, the core must be trafficked to the correct subcellular location, then the genome is exposed and finally the reporter is expressed. This requires, for example in retroviruses, the cell to be at a specific stage and the gene expression requires at least 24 hours after contact with cells which is far removed from the initial entry event.
Other assays, which involve making virus-protein fusions to green fluorescent protein, have been useful to follow virus after it has entered the cell. The use of fluorescently labeled dUTP even permits visualization of genomes undergoing reverse transcription. These assays cannot be easily used to examine virus entry as cell bound viruses cannot be differentiated from those which have just entered the cells. For retroviruses, particle to infectious particle ratios typically exceed 10-100. This means that most viruses are either defective or trafficked to non-productive pathways within the cell.
Contents-mixing assays, which measure release of virus contents into the cell or target vesicle, demonstrate great potential for rapid measurement of virus entry. In case of retroviruses, it takes advantage of the fact that viral cDNA synthesis is limited by access to deoxyribonucleotides. When the viral genome is exposed by capsid disassembly after entry, dNTPs can access the viral polymerase and synthesis proceeds. Transcripts can then be detected by PCR, typically around 4 hours after cell contact. It is not known at what point within this 4-hour window does genome uncoating take place nor is it known when the dNTP pool is contacted.
A method where enzyme β-lactamase is fused to HIV protein vpr was developed recently to obtain quantitative data. Vpr is packaged into HIV particles as part of virus assembly and provides a means of targeting a marker enzyme into the particle. Caged substrate was perfused into cells to give signal. Detection of entry required 12 hours of cell culture for production of sufficient reaction product. To enable shorter measurement times, an MOI of more than 10-100, which is not physiological, is required.
A few virus entry inhibitors exist for influenza and HIV. While these inhibitors show some promise, they are far from perfect and have low efficacy. Discovery of similar but more effective drugs has been hindered by a lack of high-throughput, high signal to noise assay for screening lead compounds/drugs. Thus, the prior art is deficient in assays that are fast, simple, physiological and sensitive to measure virus entry. The present invention fulfils this need by providing methods that allow rapid and high-throughput non-radioactive detection of virus entry.

High-throughput assay for virus entry and drug screening

The Board of Regents of the University of Texas System


A lift arm linkage includes a pair of lift arms, a pair of extension arms, and a tool. Each lift arm of the pair of lift arms includes a first lift arm end and a second lift arm end. Each extension arm of the pair of extension arms includes a first extension arm end pivotally attached to the second lift arm end and a second extension arm end. The tool is pivotally attached to the second extension arm end.

Skid steer loader machines are known for being versatile machines in a wide variety of lifting and moving operations. In general, skid steer loaders are utilized in construction job, demolition jobs, and anywhere else relatively small, nimble machines are needed. One particular capability skid steer loaders are utilized for is gathering materials in a work tool such as a bucket, moving the materials and depositing the materials in a dump truck or container.
One issue conventional skid steer loaders face is that when lifting a load into a high position, the arc path of the lift arm linkage brings the bucket or work tool over top the skid steer loader. This makes it difficult to then place the contents of the bucket into a high sided container or perform other similar operations. To minimize this issue, the lift arm linkage is generally attached at a relatively high point near the rear of the skid steer loader. In this manner, the arc path of the lift arm linkage takes the bucket or work tool forward of the conventional skid steer loader until the bucket is at the same height as the linkage attachment point. Unfortunately, once the bucket is raised above the attachment point of the linkage, the arc path of the lift arm again brings the bucket over top of the conventional skid steer loader.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,053,075 (hereinafter "the '075 publication"), entitled "High Lift Mounting Means for Loader Buckets," describes a linkage arm system to deliver contents of the bucket above the loader without the bucket being over top the loader. However, this linkage is complicated by dozens of pins and linkage arms.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved lift arm linkage to address the problems described above and/or problems posed by other conventional approaches.

Lift arm linkage with extension cylinder


A method of operating a modulated continuous-wave radar system at least includes steps of transmitting, with a modulation frequency, a plurality of n modulated continuous radar waves that represent mutually orthogonal codes towards a scene with a potential object to be detected, wherein the transmitted modulated continuous radar waves of the plurality of modulated continuous radar waves are consecutively transmitted with a constant time lag given by one nth of a period of the modulation frequency; digitally converting a plurality of reflected and received radar signals with a sampling rate that is equal to the modulation frequency; decoding individual range information for each received radar signal; and determining a range between the radar system and the object on the basis of the decoded individual range information.

In the field of automotive technology it is known to employ radar technology, in particular continuous wave (CW) radar systems, in interior as well as exterior automotive applications, for providing improved safety in many ways. Most commonly, automotive radar systems are operated at radar carrier frequencies in regimes about 24 GHz or about 77 GHz. Many automotive radar system applications, such as parking assistant systems or seat occupant detection systems exploiting a breathing motion of occupants, require a high resolution in range to provide precise information about objects potentially appearing in the near field of the radar system. In such applications, the range resolution of an automotive radar system may be limited by the sampling rate of employed analog-to-digital converters.

Radar system operating method and radar system having improved range resolution by mutually delayed orthogonal codes

IEE INTERNATIONAL ELECTRONICS & ENGINEERING S.A.


A lighting device according to the invention comprises at least one semiconductor layer; at least one light emission surface comprising an array of high luminance areas configured to emit light at a first local luminance level and low luminance areas configured to emit no light or to emit light at a second local luminance level lower than the first local luminance level; a plurality of semiconductor light emitting devices formed in the semiconductor layer to define the plurality of high luminance areas; wherein the high luminance areas and the low luminance areas are arranged in accordance with a predefined light emission profile of the light emission surface.

Lighting devices comprising semiconductor light emitting devices such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs) may form advantageous light sources in many fields of applications including hand-held battery powered devices, such as cameras and cell phones, automotive applications including automotive head or taillights, etc. Semiconductor light emitting devices can be arranged in one or two-dimensional arrays, where individual semiconductor light emitting devices act as individual pixels. Examples of such arrangements include micro LED arrays or matrices (two-dimensional arrays) typically including pixels with a width of about 100 μm or less (for example 40 μm). Such pixels may for example be separated by recesses, trenches or gaps with a width of e.g. 20 μm or less (for example 5 μm). An exemplary micro LED array is disclosed in US 2019/0198564 A1.
When used for example for automotive headlight applications, semiconductor light emitting devices are usually combined with optical elements such as collimating lenses to direct light into desired directions and to avoid e.g. upward projection of light, thereby avoiding undesirable glare to oncoming road users. Headlight beam distributions may be shaped by mapping multiple luminance images of the light source onto one another (within a Fourier plane of the optics) using dedicated and specifically tailored optical elements.
However, while such optical elements may be tailored to satisfactory quality, there is still room for improvement.


A composite manhole unit comprising a plastic inner element and an outer skeletal frame made of a structural material is provided. The plastic inner element is fitted within the skeletal frame, leaving large sections of the plastic inner element exposed. The exposed plastic sections can be readily cut in the field as necessary for attaching inlet and outlet pipes. A plurality of manhole units may be combined and assembled in a stacked manner to form a manhole system. The plastic pipe sections are sealed or connected to each other in a water-tight manner while the skeletal frame of the respective manhole units rest upon each other. The skeletal frame provides the structural support for the manhole unit and system. The excessive weight of the system and each respective manhole unit is reduced by using the skeletal frame in combination with the plastic inner element. The plastic inner element protects the skeletal frame from the corrosive atmosphere within, for example, a sewer system.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to manholes and to the construction, replacement and alteration of such structures in the field. More particularly, the invention relates to a composite manhole system comprising a corrosion resistant plastic cylinder surrounded by a rigid concrete frame which provides structural integrity but does not entirely encapsulate the plastic cylinder, thus facilitating manipulation in the field.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Manhole structures provide access to underground facilities, such as sewer systems and pipelines, for the purposes of repair, cleaning, maintenance and inspection. For convenience, manholes are usually placed at frequent intervals along a sewer line. In addition, manholes often provide a junction point for two or more intersecting pipelines.
There are numerous problems associated with present manhole technology, many of which relate to the harshness of the environment. Manholes are constantly exposed to eroding, oxidizing and corrosive elements associated with the soil on the outside and with the acidic sewage that flows on the inside. The concrete frequently used to construct manholes provides the strength necessary to withstand some of the harshness of the environment and load concentration.
The inflow of rainwater into sewer systems causes overloading of sewer plants, resulting in increased expenses associated with the treatment of larger flow volumes. Studies have shown that inflow and infiltrating rainwater can increase the flow in a sewer system up to 40% and that up to 75% of such inflow may result from defects in manholes. Exfiltration from manholes allows seepage of raw sewage into the surrounding soil and eventually into rivers and streams. This defeats the whole purpose of a sewer system, which is to isolate raw sewage away from the rest of the water supply until it can be treated and detoxified.
Another drawback to common manhole technology relates to the difficulty of construction and assembly. Manhole structures are commonly built using brick, tile or concrete, making it necessary to build or cast the structures in place in the field. This adds extra labor costs which could be greatly reduced using prefabricated manhole systems. However, even precast concrete manholes are problematic because they are heavy and difficult to manipulate. Also, concrete manholes are difficult to cut, decreasing their versatility in situations where it becomes necessary to connect new inlet and outlet pipes. Moreover, concrete manholes, whether they are precast or constructed in the field, are still highly subject to corrosive forces and joint leaks at the connections.
The problems associated with conventional concrete manhole technology have led workers in the field to utilize prefabricated manhole structures made of reinforced plastic. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,715,958 and 3,938,285 both teach large, preformed manhole structures made entirely of plastic and glass fiber. These structures effectively overcome the problems of corrosion associated with conventional concrete manhole technology but they are bulky, difficult to handle, expensive to ship and lack the versatility required for proper sizing and customization to a particular site. Furthermore, they lack structural integrity and resistance to crushing by external forces.
To add strength and versatility to preformed plastic manholes, improvements such as stackable segments and plastic ribs or stiffeners have been developed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,974,599 teaches an underground vault or manhole featuring increased rigidity of the body by the addition of reinforced plastic mortar rings and struts. In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 4,089,139 teaches stackable manhole units with internal reinforcing ribs which are an integral part of the body of each unit.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,386,669 further improves upon manhole technology by disclosing a complex modular manhole system comprising stackable double-walled units. The double walls give two potential sources of strength. First, the cavity between the walls may be filled with a structural material such as concrete that can be pumped through a hole drilled in the upper portion of each unit. Second, adjacent recesses are placed in the outer walls of some units to form structural ribs between the recesses. One disadvantage of this type of system is that the use of rebar to reinforce the concrete poured into the units is difficult and impractical. A second disadvantage is that, once the concrete is poured into the units, the manhole is entirely encapsulated by a thick, hard shell, making it difficult to later cut through the structure when it becomes necessary to splice in new pipelines.
Other patents have also disclosed manhole technology which takes advantage of the strength of concrete and the corrosion resistance of plastic. U.S. Pat. No. 4,540,310 discloses a manhole system comprising a stackable concrete lower section and an upper plastic cylindrical sleeve which has a integral flange extending outwardly from the bottom. The bottom of the sleeve including the flange is integrally cast into the top concrete riser section of the lower concrete structure. When the whole structure is placed underground, the top plastic sleeve is surrounded by the sleeve portion of an iron frame and grade rings of a desired thickness, the lower most of which contacts the flange portion of the iron frame. The manhole cover rests on the top of the sleeve portion of the iron frame. The grade rings are required to bring the manhole cover up to grade level. This sleeve is advantageous because it can be made extra long, preincorporated into the concrete riser section, and then cut to the desired height at the jobsite. One disadvantage of the system is that the bottom section is made entirely of concrete and is subject to the typical corrosive forces and joint leaking problems discussed above. Another disadvantage is that the plastic is only used for the top sleeve portion and is fully encapsulated by the surrounding iron frame. Although this frame provides necessary structural reinforcement, it does not allow workers easy access when it becomes necessary to splice a new pipeline into the plastic sleeve.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,383,311 discloses a manhole system wherein concrete is cast against a plastic preshaped liner containing integral, hollow, outward projections. Once the concrete is cast, the hollow projections become filled with concrete and protrude into the resulting outer layer of concrete, forming a tight lock between the plastic liner and the concrete. This system is disadvantageous because the liner is entirely encapsulated by concrete, making the unit extremely heavy and difficult to manipulate. In addition the encapsulation by concrete makes it extremely difficult to cut as necessary to add pipe connections.
As seen above, the prior manhole technology is not sufficiently versatile and suffers from various disadvantages and problems. For example, prior art that employs concrete by itself allows for corrosion and deterioration over time. On the other hand, plastic alone does not provide the strength that concrete does. The prior art that discloses the use of both plastic and concrete does not allow for easy access to the plastic for the purpose of splicing in new pipelines. Moreover, the technology disclosed by the prior art is highly labor and cost intensive, owing either to the amount of construction which must be done at the jobsite or to the difficulty of manipulating the bulky components of such manhole systems.

Composite concrete and plastic manhole system