A thermal exchanger for a liquid chromatography system is provided. The tube-in-tube thermal exchanger comprises a first and a second sections of tubing, a first connector and a second connector. The first section of tubing carries sample solution from the packed chromatography column. The second tubing carries the sample solution from the detector out of the system, i.e., in an opposite direction to the direction of the first section of tubing. Both the first section of tubing and the second section of tubing connect to the first connector, which combines the two sections of tubing into a thermal exchange tubing. The thermal exchange tubing comprises the first section of tubing placed inside the second section of tubing such that waste fluid from the second tubing can optimally exchange thermal energy with fluid from the chromatography column. The thermal exchange tubing is configured into a plurality of coils. The number of coils in the thermal exchange tubing is specific to the chromatography application and is determined by various parameters including the composition of the sample solution, estimated temperature gradient, fluid flow rates and heat transfer coefficient. The thermal exchanger provides stabilized temperature fluid to a detector with minimal volume into the flow path between the chromatography column and the detector.

The present invention relates to thermal exchangers and more specifically to thermal exchangers capable of delivering a sample solution at a specified temperature to a detector for liquid chromatography systems.
Liquid chromatography systems are well known for analyzing sample solutions made up of different chemical compounds. Typically, a liquid chromatography system includes a chromatography column packed with packing material, a detector for analyzing the sample solution, a section of tubing for carrying the sample solution from the chromatography column to the detector, and a section of tubing for carrying the sample solution from the detector and out of the chromatography system.
The operation of a liquid chromatography system can be generally described as follows. A liquid solvent is pumped into the chromatography system at high pressure. At a point in the chromatography system ahead of the chromatography column, the sample solution is injected into the system and carried forward with the liquid solvent. Eventually, the sample solution reaches the packed chromatography column and begins to flow through it. Because each of the chemical compounds which make up the sample solution reacts differently with the packing material in the chromatography column, the various chemical compounds flow through the packed column at different rates. Thus, the different chemical compounds in the sample solution separate out as individual peaks in concentration as the sample solution flows through the chromatography column. From the packed chromatography column, the separated chemical compounds proceed to the detector where they are analyzed. In the detector, some physical characteristic of the compounds is measured to identify the chemical composition of the peaks in the liquid solvent.
One type of detector utilized in liquid chromatography systems is a refractive index detector. Refractive index detectors measure the difference in refractive index of a two fluids and typically consist of a light emitting diode (LED), a flow cell having a sample side and a reference side, and a dual element photodiode detector. The refractive index of a fluid is highly dependent on the temperature of the fluid. Even slight variations in the temperature of a fluid drastically affect the refractive index of the fluid. For this reason, refractive index detectors are often fitted with temperature-controlled ovens within which the above detector elements reside. The oven is typically set to a temperature higher than the ambient temperature or surrounding environment temperature to insure control within narrow limits.
Often times, the sample solution exits the packed chromatography column at temperatures significantly higher or lower than the detector oven temperature. Because the refractive index of a fluid is so highly dependent on the temperature of the fluid, liquid chromatography systems that utilize refractive index detectors or other similar detectors must include special heat exchangers in order to provide meaningful results. The special heat exchangers insure the sample solution received by the refractive index detector is at a stable temperature within narrow limits. The present invention is a special tube-in-tube heat exchanger which uses fluid counterflow to exchange thermal energy between the incoming sample solvent and the outgoing waste solvent. This exchange of thermal energy automatically raises or lowers the temperature of the incoming sample fluid to a value very close to that of the detector oven. Outgoing fluid is already at the same temperature as that of the oven and provides the proper amount of thermal energy to the incoming fluid. In this way, the incoming fluid can more easily be stabilized to the exact oven temperature by the next stage heat exchanger attached to the optical bench assembly inside the detector oven.
In addition to insuring the sample solution is presented to the detector at a stable temperature, a heat exchanger utilized in a liquid chromatography system that includes a refractive index detector or other similar detector must introduce minimal volume into the flow path between the chromatographic column and the detector. If the heat exchanger introduces too much volume into the flow path between the chromatography column and the detector, there is a high probability that the constituent compound peaks that were separated in the chromatography column will be distorted and made less distinct. To the extent any previously separated compound peaks are made less distinct, the performance of the liquid chromatography system is adversely affected.
Thermal exchangers like the one disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,284,352 entitled xe2x80x9cHeat Exchanger for Refractometerxe2x80x9d issued to Carson have been used previously in liquid chromatography systems. The Carson thermal exchanger is less than ideal for several reasons. One major problem with the Carson exchanger is that it is very difficult to manufacture, Four steps are required to manufacture the heat exchanger. First, four stainless steel tubes must be formed into a bundle. Second, the bundled tubes must be lashed or wrapped together with wire. Third, the tube bundle must be plated with copper so that the stainless steel tubes will accept solder. And fourth, the plated tubes must be dipped in solder to form a thermal contact path among the tubes.
An additional problem with the Carson heat exchanger is that it cannot be modified or repaired once it is manufactured. The heat exchanger is a permanent soldered assembly. If one of the tubes breaks or get clogged, the entire heat exchanger must be replaced.
The present invention provides a thermal exchanger capable of providing a fluid whose temperature has been brought very close to that of a desired stable temperature setpoint within a detector. The thermal exchanger introduces minimal volume into the flow path between the chromatography column and the detector. The thermal exchanger of the present invention is easy to manufacture, repair and it is modifiable.
According to the present invention, in a liquid chromatography system including a chromatography column packed with packing material and a detector, a thermal exchanger comprises a first and second section of tubing, a waste T connector and a sample T connector. The first section of tubing carries sample solution from the packed chromatography column. The second section carries the sample solution from the detector out of the system. Both the first section of tubing and the second section of tubing connect to the first T connector. From the first T connector, a third section of tubing emerges. The third section of tubing comprises the first section of tubing placed inside the second section of tubing such that waste fluid can exchange thermal energy with fluid from the chromatography column. The third section of tubing is wrapped into a plurality of coils. The number of coils in the third section of tubing depends on the specific chromatography application. The present invention provides a thermal exchanger capable of adjusting a high or low temperature incoming fluid to a stable temperature close to a desired temperature at a detector. The present invention also introduces minimal volume into the flow path between the chromatography column and the detector.
An advantage of the present invention is its ability to deliver sample solution at a desired, stabilized temperature to a detector where the sample solution is analyzed.
A minimal amount of additional volume is introduced into the flow path between a chromatography column and a detector. Another advantage of the present invention is that it is easy to manufacture, repair and it is modifiable.
Another advantage of the thermal exchanger according to the present invention is that it provides optimal thermal contact between sample solution coming into the chromatography system and sample solution exiting the sample solution.

Tube-in-tube thermal exchanger for liquid chromatography systems


Compositions for protective films for optical disc are provided. Compositions for protective films, particularly compositions for protective films for optical discs having low viscosity and low shrinkage without compromising scratch resistance even when a dilution solvent is not used. The compositions for protective films for optical discs include a composition for protective films containing a UV-curable acrylic radical-based resin as the main component including a multifunctional acrylic monomer, a multifunctional acrylic oligomer and a bifunctional acrylic monomer containing repeating units including at least one of an ethoxy and propoxy group as starting materials for the acrylic radical-based resin; and a photoinitiator.

The present application relates to resin compositions for protective films, particularly resin compositions for protective films used as protective films for optical discs such as compact discs (CDs), digital versatile discs (DVDs), and the like.
Typically, optical discs of this type are provided with hard coatings on the surfaces of their exterior parts to protect the surfaces of the exterior parts against scratches.
Effective materials for such coatings are inorganic materials having high scratch resistance, but the inorganic materials have the disadvantage that coating solutions thereof are difficult to apply in a small thickness because of high viscosities.
For this reason, studies have been recently conducted to achieve coatings of small thickness by using low-viscosity UV-curable coating materials.
In order to ensure both scratch resistance and good coating geometry in such UV-curable coating materials, it is effective to use coating materials having low shrinkage and low viscosity, but low-shrinkage UV-curable hard coating materials have the disadvantage that solutions thereof has high-viscosity.
A conventional approach to solve this problem is to lower the viscosity of coating solutions by solvent dilution, but this approach increases the number of processes because the step of diffusing diluted solutions is required.
Another possible approach is to prepare a low-viscosity hard coating solution by using a diluent monomer, but this approach may decrease scratch resistance or increase cure shrinkage (warp).
Moreover, it is necessary to select materials allowing light transmission in a necessary wavelength range when hard coating materials of this type are to be used in light-transmitting parts of optical discs.

Compositions for protective films for optical discs

Sony Chemical & Information Device Corporation


An apparatus, program product and method dynamically assign threads to computer resources in a multithreaded computer including a plurality of physical subsystems based upon specific “types” associated with such threads. In particular, thread types are allocated resources that are resident within the same physical subsystem in a computer, such that newly created threads and/or reactivated threads of those particular thread types are dynamically assigned to the resources allocated to their respective thread types. As such, those threads sharing the same type are generally assigned to computer resources that are resident within the same physical subsystem of a computer, which often reduces cross traffic between multiple physical subsystems resident in a computer, and thus improves overall system performance.

Given the continually increased reliance on computers in contemporary society, computer technology has had to advance on many fronts to keep up with increased demand. One particular subject of significant research and development efforts is parallelism, i.e., the performance of multiple tasks in parallel.
A number of computer software and hardware technologies have been developed to facilitate increased parallel processing. From a software standpoint, multithreaded operating systems and kernels have been developed, which permit computer programs to concurrently execute in multiple "threads" so that multiple tasks can essentially be performed at the same time. Threads generally represent independent paths of execution for a program. For example, for an e-commerce computer application, different threads might be assigned to different customers so that each customer's specific e-commerce transaction is handled in a separate thread.
From a hardware standpoint, computers increasingly rely on multiple microprocessors to provide increased workload capacity. Furthermore, some microprocessors have been developed that support the ability to execute multiple threads in parallel, effectively providing many of the same performance gains attainable through the use of multiple microprocessors.
A significant bottleneck that can occur in a multi-processor computer, however, is associated with the transfer of data to and from each microprocessor, often referred to as communication cost. Most computers rely on a main memory that serves as the principal working storage for the computer. Retrieving data from a main memory, and storing data back into a main memory, however, is often required to be performed at a significantly slower rate than the rate at which data is transferred internally within a microprocessor. Often, intermediate buffers known as caches are utilized to temporarily store data from a main memory when that data is being used by a microprocessor. These caches are often smaller in size, but significantly faster, than the main memory. Caches often take advantage of the temporal and spatial locality of data, and as a result, often significantly reduce the number of comparatively-slower main memory accesses occurring in a computer and decrease the overall communication cost experienced by the computer.
Often, all of the microprocessors in a computer will share the same main memory, an architecture that is often referred to as Symmetric Multiprocessing (SMP). One limitation of such computers, however, occurs as a result of the typical requirement that all communications between the microprocessors and the main memory occur over a common bus or interconnect. As the number of microprocessors in a computer increases, the communication traffic to the main memory becomes a bottleneck on system performance, irrespective of the use of intermediate caches.
To address this potential bottleneck, a number of computer designs rely on Non-Uniform Memory Access (NUMA), whereby multiple main memories are essentially distributed across a computer and physically grouped with sets of microprocessors and caches into physical subsystems or modules. The microprocessors, caches and memory in each physical subsystem of a NUMA computer are typically mounted to the same circuit board or card to provide relatively high speed interaction between all of the components that are "local" to a physical subsystem. The physical subsystems are also coupled to one another over a network such as a system bus or a collection of point-to-point interconnects, thereby permitting microprocessors in one physical subsystem to access data stored in another physical subsystem, thus effectively extending the overall capacity of the computer. Memory access, however, is referred to as "non-uniform" since the access time for data stored in a local memory (i.e., a memory resident in the same physical subsystem as a microprocessor) is often significantly shorter than for data stored in a remote memory (i.e., a memory resident in another physical subsystem).
Therefore, from a communication cost standpoint, performance is maximized in a NUMA computer by localizing data traffic within each physical subsystem, and minimizing the number of times data needs to be passed between physical subsystems.
Efficient utilization of the hardware resources in a computer often requires a collaborative effort between software and hardware. As noted above, from a software standpoint, much of the work performed by a computer is handled by various threads. To ensure optimal performance, threads are typically assigned to subsets of available computer resources in such a manner that the workload of the computer is evenly distributed among the available computer resources.
For efficient utilization of microprocessors, for example, it is desirable to evenly distribute threads among the available microprocessors to balance the workload of each individual microprocessor, a process referred to as "symmetric" resource allocation. However, given that communication cost can have a significant effect on system performance as well, it is also desirable to logically tie a thread with the data that it will use so that accesses to the data by the thread are localized whenever possible either in a cache, or if in a NUMA computer, at least within the same physical subsystem. Otherwise, the communication cost of accessing non-localized data may exceed the benefits of the symmetric distribution of threads. Typically, the tying of data with a thread requires human decisions to associate threads of a common type with physically localized memory, processors, and associated resources.
In a symmetric resource management scheme, threads are distributed at activation time, e.g., whenever threads are created or reactivated. Activated threads are typically assigned to the most available, or least loaded, resources or sets of resources. The non-uniform distribution of resources such as memory resources to address communication costs, however, is typically not implemented in such an automated and transparent manner. Rather, non-uniform resource management often requires substantial user analysis and custom configuration, including, for example, custom programming of computer programs to specifically address resource allocation issues.
Resource management is more desirably handled at the operating system or kernel level of a computer, and independent of any specific programming techniques applied to the applications or other computer programs that may be installed on a computer. In particular, resource management, when embedded in an operating system or kernel, requires no specific customization of a higher level computer program to support the optimal allocation of computer resources, and thus provides performance benefits to potentially all computer programs that are executing on a given computer. Particularly in NUMA computers, where performance benefits are achieved through the localization of thread-utilized resources within individual physical subsystems, it would be highly desirable to implement efficient resource allocation in a more transparent manner, and without requiring significant customization.

Dynamic allocation of computer resources based on thread type

International Business Machines Corporation


A pepper mill includes a receiving unit defining a receiving space, a grinding unit disposed at one end of the receiving space, and a stop unit dividing the receiving space into first and second space portions that are respectively distal from and proximate to the grinding unit. The stop unit is formed with a passage to permit peppercorns in the first space portion to fall into the grinding unit so as to be ground thereby through the second space portion when the pepper mill is disposed at a dispensing position, and is configured to stop a portion of residual ground pepper in the second space portion from reaching the first space portion via the passage when the pepper mill is disposed at a non-dispensing position.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a grinder, more particularly to a pepper mill.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional pepper mill includes a receiving unit for receiving peppercorns, and a grinding unit coupled to the receiving unit for grinding the peppercorns into ground pepper. In use, the conventional pepper mill is operated at a dispensing position, where the grinding unit faces downwardly for dispensing ground pepper. After use, the conventional pepper mill is turned upside down to a non-dispensing position, where the grinding unit faces upwardly. The receiving unit generally has a transparent surrounding wall so as to permit viewing of the peppercorns retained therein, such that the conventional pepper mill can also be a decorative piece on a dining table.
However, a portion of residual ground pepper will fall into the receiving unit and accumulate on the transparent surrounding wall of the receiving unit when the conventional pepper mill is placed at the non-dispensing position after use, thereby adversely affecting the visual aesthetic quality of the pepper mill.


The present invention provides a connector and connector sleeve assembly comprising a connector with reduced parts that is received in one side of the connector sleeve. The connector has a bayonet style protrusion that is received in a bayonet cut-out in the connector sleeve. The other side of the connector sleeve is configured to receive a standard connector design such as an SC connector or an ST type connector. The connector has an enlarged portion for being gripped by fingers such that the reduced part connector can be readily connected and disconnected from the connector sleeve in tight spaces.

The use of conventional fiber optic connectors such as SC connectors and ST type connectors are commonplace in fiber optic networks. As fiber distribution frames, panels, modules and other fiber optic hardware are developed for fiber optic networks, it is sometimes necessary to provide this hardware with SC or ST type connector sleeves to receive an SC or ST connector from an optical fiber or jumper to be connected to the hardware. When an SC or ST connector sleeve is so used, then the connector on the inside of the hardware typically must also be an SC or ST type. This is because the SC and ST connector sleeves are symmetrical in that they receive the same type of connector in each end of the connector sleeve.
The main advantage of SC and ST type connectors is their ease of connecting and disconnecting and resistance to pulling. Such advantages are needed on the outside of a piece of hardware where the optical fiber or jumper may be connected and disconnected several times and exposed to a risk of being snagged. However, on the inside of the hardware, often times the connector will not be removed from the connector sleeve for the life of the hardware. Also, the inside of the hardware is typically isolated from a risk of a pull against the connector. One downside of the SC and ST type connectors is their cost. They are made of several pieces that are assembled together to achieve the push pull or bayonet style connection and disconnection. Accordingly, the cost of hardware and particularly the connector sleeve/connector assembly could be reduced by making an asymmetrical assembly with a simpler connector and connector sleeve port for the interior side that may not have the advantages of the conventional SC or ST type connectors but is suitable for the interior of fiber optic hardware. The exterior half of the connector sleeve would still receive the conventional connector on the outside.
It has been found that NTT has proposed an asymmetrical connector sleeve/connector assembly for the SC style connector. See, for example, Japanese Publication Number 08248263. The conventional SC connector sleeve has one half that has the conventional latch arms to receive the conventional SC connector and the other half has a another pair of latch arms that couple with the simplified connector. The simplified connector has a square shaped flange that is received in the latch arms. The NTT design suffers from two main drawbacks. First, the removal of the simplified plug requires a special tool. The use of a tool is impractical in certain types of hardware where there is insufficient space to maneuver a tool into position to remove the simplified plug. Secondly, the NTT design does not appear to take into consideration other conventional connectors such as the ST type connector. Therefore a need still exists for a reduced part asymmetrical connector sleeve/connector assembly that does not require special tools for removal of the reduced part connector and that provides for a universal reduced part connector.

Fiber optic connector and connector sleeve assembly


The present disclosure provides a wire buffer device. The wire buffer device comprises: a frame; and multiple of support layers provided to the frame and arranged in layers. Each of the support layers includes multiple sections of wires that support a substrate. The multiple sections of wires are in the form of at least one integrated wire. The wire buffer device further includes at least one transmission structure. Said at least one transmission structure drives each of said at least one integrated wire to perform a reciprocating motion so that at least a part of each of said at least one integrated wire moves into or moves out from the frame. For the wire buffer device, work operability is improved, and secondary contamination to the device is avoided.

In conventional production line of TFT-LCD (Thin Film Transistor-Liquid Crystal display), a wire buffer device is normally used for storing and transferring a glass substrate. FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a wire buffer device that is normally used in the conventional production line of the TFT-LCD. As shown in FIG. 1, the conventionally-used wire buffer device includes a frame 20 and multiple support layers provided in the frame 20 for supporting multiple substrates 10. Each support layer includes multiple plastic coated steel wires 30, and each plastic coated steel wire 30 is fixed to the frame (For example, both ends of each plastic steel wire may be fixed to the frame via screws). The glass substrate may be placed on the plastic coated steel wires of each layer. The frame 20 ascends or descends together with the plastic steel wires in order to store or release the glass substrate.
The conventionally-used wire buffer device has the following problems. The plastic coated steel wires configuring each layer of the wire buffer device may be covered by great amount of dust when cleaning is not carried out to the plastic steel wires for a long period of time. Thus, the glass substrate in the production line may be contaminated by the dust. In the conventionally-used wire buffer device, since a space between adjacent two layers of plastic steel wires is narrow, it is difficult for an operator to perform maintenance work to an inside portion of the plastic steel wires of each layer. Even if the operator enters the inside portion, fiber contamination on the operator may cause a secondary contamination to the device. In order to clear the secondary contamination, a non-production purpose substrate needs to be transferred in the production line in order to clear the fibers. Usually, the buffer has relatively great number of layers. Thus, the number of non-production purpose substrates need to be transferred in the production line is not less than 120. This may cause a reduction in production efficiency, an increase in production cost, an increase in work load, and unsatisfactory effect of cleaning and maintenance.

BEIJING BOE DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


The radial foil bearing includes: a top foil; an intermediate foil; a back foil; and a bearing housing accommodating the top foil, the intermediate foil and the back foil. The top foil is formed by winding a rectangular metal foil which includes a first uneven portion and a second uneven portion, into a cylindrical shape so as to overlap the first and second uneven portions with each other, wherein the first uneven portion is composed of a projecting portion and a depressed portion formed on one edge of the metal foil, and the second uneven portion is composed of a depressed portion, and a projecting portion formed on another edge of the metal foil. The projecting portions of the first and second uneven portions pulled out near the bearing housing engage with engagement grooves of the hearing housing.

In the related art, as a bearing used for a high-speed rotating body, a radial bearing is known which is used in a state of being attached to a rotary shaft so as to encircle the shaft. As such a radial bearing, a radial foil bearing is well known, including a thin sheet-shaped to foil which forms the bearing surface, a back foil which elastically supports the top foil, and a cylindrical bearing housing which accommodates the top foil and the back foil. As the back foil of the radial foil bearing, a bump foil is mainly used in which a thin sheet is formed in a wave sheet shape.
In some foil bearings, for example, in order to improve the damping effect using friction between foils or to increase the rigidity of the top foil, an intermediate foil is inserted between the top foil and the back foil (refer to Patent Document 1).
In such a radial foil bearing, in general, in order to prevent the detachment of the top foil or the bump foil from the bearing housing, one end portion (toe portion) thereof is directly fixed to the bearing housing or is indirectly fixed thereto via a spacer, using spot welding. Additionally, in general, the intermediate foil is disposed on the entire circumference of the bearing housing similarly to the top foil, and one end portion thereof is also fixed to the bearing housing through welding.
In addition, in Patent Document 2, without using welding, both ends (both ends in the circumferential direction) of a top foil are locked by being thrust against fixing walls of the inner wall of a housing, to be fixed thereto.


A removable component is inserted into the receptacle provided in a housing, through an inlet port provided in the outer surface of the housing. A first lock member is provided in the housing and can move between a first lock position and a first release position. At the first lock position, the first lock member holds the removable component. At the first release position, the first lock member releases the movable component. A second lock member is provided in the housing and can move, by its weight, between the second lock position and the second release position. At the second lock position, the second lock member holds the first lock member at the first lock position. At the second release position, the second lock member is released from the second lock position.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an electronic apparatus such as a portable computer. More particularly, it relates to a structure for removably inserting, into the housing of the apparatus, a component such as a battery pack or an expansion unit having a communications interface.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electronic apparatuses such as portable computers have a battery pack. Thus, they may be used in any place where no commercial power supply is available. The battery pack is provided in the housing of the apparatus, which supports the keyboard and display unit.
The battery pack can easily removed from the housing to be recharged or replaced by a new battery pack. Computers are known whose housing has a pack receptacle in the bottom. A battery pack can be removably held in the pack receptacle. The pack receptacle is a recess made in the bottom of the housing and opening at two sides thereof. The battery pack has a first engagement member. The pack receptacle has a second engagement member. The first and second engagement members mutually engage when the battery pack is slid in the pack receptacle so to be attached to the housing. Once the engagement members so engage, the battery pack is firmly held in the pack receptacle. Once the pack is held in the pack receptacle, its bottom remains flush with the bottom of the housing, and its two sides remain flush with the sides of the housing. Thus, the battery pack looks as if it were part of the housing.
Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 7-230343 discloses a computer. The housing of the computer has a pack receptacle and a lock mechanism. The lock mechanism holds a battery pack in the battery receptacle, preventing the pack from slipping out. The lock mechanism comprises a release lever and a lock strip. The release lever and the lock strip mutually engage. The release lever is exposed at the bottom of the housing. The lock strip can move by the release lever between a lock position and an unlock position. In the lock position, the lock strip engages with the battery pack. In the unlock position, it is disengaged from the battery pack.
A stopper is provided in the bottom of the pack receptacle. The stopper has an arm. The arm is pivotally held and can rotate by its weight, between two positions. At the first position, the arm catches the battery pack placed in the pack receptacle. At the second position, the arm is spaced from the battery pack. The arm remains at the first position as long as the housing assumes its normal position, with its top turned upwards. When the housing is turned upside down, with its bottom turned upward, the arm rotates from the first position to the second position.
As long as the housing takes its normal position, the stopper keeps holding the battery pack in the pack receptacle. Hence, the battery pack will not fall from the housing if the user of the computer operates the release lever by mistake, moving the lock strip to the unlock position. Nor will the pack fall from the housing if the user lifts the computer off the desk, forgetting that the battery pack has been unlocked.
If the user lifts up the computer disclosed in Publication No. 7-230343, forgetting that the battery pack has been unlocked, the lock strip alone takes hold of the battery pack in the pack receptacle. The battery pack is one of the heaviest components of the computer. Here arises a problem. The lock strip may not withstand the weight of the battery pack. It may be broken or removed from the housing. Consequently, the battery pack will fall from the housing.

Electronic apparatus with a removable component


An electronic apparatus and a battery by which battery inserting and removing operations can be performed smoothly with certainty are disclosed. When a battery is inserted into a battery accommodating chamber, a locking projection of a spring is contacted once with and resiliently deformed outwardly in a widthwise direction by and then slidably moves on an edge portion of a projecting wall. However, when a connector section and an electronic apparatus side connector section are coupled soon, the locking portion of the spring is engaged with a locking recess. In this state, an inclined face of the locking portion displaced to the electronic apparatus side connector section is lockably engaged with a wall face of the locking recess displaced toward the connector section and biases the battery forwardly toward the electronic apparatus side connector section by resilient force of the resilient portion.

This invention relates to an electronic apparatus in which a battery is removably loaded and a battery for use with an electronic apparatus.
A battery is known which is incorporated in an electronic apparatus and includes a case having a length in the forward and backward direction, a battery cell accommodated in the case, and a connector section provided on the case. One of such batteries as just described is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-266826.
An electronic apparatus in which such a battery as just described is loaded is configured such that, when the battery is inserted along the lengthwise direction through an opening of a battery accommodating chamber provided in the electronic apparatus, the connector section of the battery side is connected to a connector section of the electronic apparatus side in the battery accommodating chamber.

Electronic apparatus with secure battery inserting and removing operation


Upon detection of a change in resolution from a first resolution to a second resolution, one or more user interface elements may be dynamically scaled based, at least in part, on the detected change in resolution. The user interface elements may be dynamically scaled in such a way as to maintain an aspect ratio of each of the user interface elements while adjusting a resolution of each of the user interface elements to the second resolution. After the user interface elements are dynamically scaled, a user interface, at the second resolution, may be presented on a display of an information handling system.

As the value and use of information increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available for such a purpose is the information handling system. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. Variations in information handling system build and capabilities allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
An information handling system may include a display for visually presenting information to a user. For example, an information handling system may display a graphical user interface to allow a user to view, edit, and generate information. Visual information may be stored as graphics files that define how the information is presented in the form of pixel matrices or bitmaps. A graphical user interface of an information handling system may simultaneously display a variety of fonts, icons, bitmaps, widgets, windows, images, and other graphical user interface elements generated based on one or more graphics files.
Information handling system displays may have native resolutions and aspect ratios, which may be hardware defined, but may also be configurable to operate at resolutions and aspect ratios that differ from the native resolutions and aspect ratios. For example, an information handling system may be configured to display a graphical user interface at a 16:9 aspect ratio, a 5:4 aspect ratio, a 4:3 aspect ratio, a 3:2 aspect ratio, or another aspect ratio. Information handling systems may further display graphical user interfaces at various resolutions having different aspect ratios. For example, an information handling system may generate a graphical user interface for display at a resolution having an aspect ratio of 16:9, such as a resolution of 1280 by 720, 1024 by 576, or 1920 by 1080, at a resolution with a 4:3 aspect ratio, such as 640 by 480 or 1920 by 1440, or at another resolution and/or aspect ratio. A change in a resolution at which a graphical user interface is displayed may result in stretching, compression, zooming in on, or zooming out on a user interface or elements of a user interface, which may cause information displayed by the user interface to be obscured or lost.
Shortcomings mentioned here are only representative and are included simply to highlight that a need exists for improved information handling systems, particularly for dynamic resolution scaling. Embodiments described herein address certain shortcomings but not necessarily each and every one described here or known in the art. Furthermore, embodiments described herein may present other benefits than, and be used in other applications than, those of the shortcomings described above.


A method and an apparatus serve for controlling a system for simultaneously producing a plurality of different product kinds of confectioneries in a plurality of product lines. The method includes the steps of dividing a base mass into a plurality of partial masses, the base mass being a common mass for all product kinds and all product lines; mixing the partial masses with different aggregates to produce a plurality of different product masses, the aggregates varying depending on the respective product kind; further processing the product masses as reservoir masses; observing the consumption of the reservoir masses during further processing; refilling the reservoir masses with the respective product mass in response to the result of the observation of the consumption of the reservoir masses, wherein refilling takes place in each of the product lines in batches of product mass, refilling takes place in the product lines at different points in time, and the batches of product masses have approximately identical batch sizes, the batch size of a product masses being the amount of the product mass; and following to a production ending signal, changing the batch sizes and batch times of at least one product mass in a way that the reservoir masses of all product lines are exhausted at the same time.

An apparatus for controlling a system for simultaneously producing sweets of different kinds is generally known in the art. The known apparatus includes a base container for a base mass which is common for all product types. The base mass is produced by weighing the raw materials with a weighing container in a known way. According to the respective recipe, the raw materials are introduced and weighed in the weighing container. Weighing of raw material is conducted in batches. First of all, a batch is transferred into a template container. The mass is continuously removed from the template container by a pump, and it is then transferred through a cooking apparatus and a vacuum chamber such that it may be introduced into the base container as the base mass. The base mass is a mass which usually forms the substantial portion of the product mass and which is used for all kinds of products. The respective product masses are produced from a portion of base mass plus certain aggregates which are product specific. This is realized in a product container which may also be designated as mixing container and weighing container. A respective conduit including a valve serves to transfer the base mass into a respective product container. The aggregates are introduced into the respective product containers in a similar way. For example, this is realized by aggregate containers for aggregates such as flavors, colors and the like. Weighing of the aggregates according to the recipe is realized by weighing containers for the aggregates, the weighing containers being located upstream of the respective product container. A reservoir container is located downstream of each product container. The respective reservoir mass is further processed from the reservoir container. For example, this takes place at a pouring machine. In this case, each reservoir container holds the respective reservoir mass to be processed, and it continuously pours out the mass. During this process, the amount of reservoir mass contained in the reservoir container decreases until a predetermined minimum or an adjustable minimum has been reached. A new batch of product mass is fed into the reservoir container, the volumes of the product container and of the reservoir container being coordinated in a way allowing for transfer of the mass. Transfer of the mass from one container into another container located downstream is realized under the influence of gravity and by opening valves being located in respective conduits. Due to respective weighing in the product container, it is possible to maintain the weights according to the respective recipe. The known system operates in a safe way, and it may be re-adjusted to process different products in a comparatively easy way. The known system automatically adapts to the mass consumption.
Usually, there are no severe difficulties during operation of such known systems during continuous production. The different product masses are mixed according to the recipe. The reservoir containers are refilled with product mass in batches such that adaptation to the throughput is realized. Refilling of the different product masses is shifted timewise during production. This may be caused by the fact that consumers consuming reservoir mass in the different pouring stations of a pouring machine are slightly different and/or that the masses have slightly different properties. A level observing system is arranged in the reservoir containers of the pouring stations. Refilling of the respective reservoir container with product mass is caused by the level observing system.
The product containers and the reservoir containers have different filling levels at the end of simultaneous production of a plurality of product kinds. Some of the product containers contain the same amount of product mass. One or more other product containers have just run empty. A new batch of product mass is just being mixed in one or more other product containers. Similar conditions result from a production interruption or from a change of the recipe. It then needs to be decided to, for example, still consume the present base mass and not to produce new base mass. In the following, this will lead to the product containers being filled and afterwards not being filled anymore which results in different amounts of mass reaching the different reservoir containers from which the mass is further processed. This will finally lead to some product kinds still being produced while other product kinds are no longer produced. When these product kinds as they have been produced are then packed, the ratio of the product kinds in the packages changes in an undesired way. There is the possibility of stopping production as soon as the first reservoir container has been emptied and no refilling of this reservoir container takes place. In this case, the desired ratio of product kinds is maintained, but there are lost masses in the product containers and in the reservoir containers. Such lost masses have to be disposed. This problem always occurs when product masses are mixed in batches. Such mixing in batches may be realized by relating to weight shares or to volume shares. It is not possible to prevent non-uniform consumption of product masses and reservoir masses. Such variations necessarily occur during longer production periods.
A pouring system for confectioneries in which the base mass is volumetrically divided into a product mass after production of a base mass is also generally known in the art.
The aggregates to be added to the base mass are also volumetrically divided by means of glass cylinders. The partial masses are brought together and mixed by opening valves being located in respective connecting conduits and under the influence of gravity. Level sensors are located in the product containers, the level sensors causing the production of a new batch of product mass. There are the same problems as they have been described with respect to the prior art before.
Furthermore, a mixing and dosing system for sweets containing gum or jelly is also generally known in the art. The system includes containers which are interconnected by conduits in which pumps are arranged. Each pouring head and each reservoir container of the pouring machine, respectively, is continuously fed with base mass and aggregates. The number of required pumps located in the conduits is high. Maintenance of the pumps is complicated and the function is unsafe. However, the change to a different product or the termination of a production does not cause problems since conveying by all pumps can be simultaneously interrupted. In this way, this known system does not show the above described problems.

Method and apparatus for simultaneously producing confectioneries of different kinds


A grounding apparatus includes a current detector configured to detect a current flowing in the ground line, a fuse inserted in series in a part of the around line and configured to melt when the current flowing in the ground line exceeds the first protection setting value, not destroying the current detector, and then exceeds the first protection setting value, causing a complete grounding fault, and a determination device configured to give an open command to the circuit breaker when the current detected by the current detector exceeds the first protection setting value of the circuit breaker.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a grounding apparatus for use in a system in which a power conditioner converts the DC power generated in a DC power source, for example, a solar cell, to an AC power to be supplied to an AC power system, the grounding apparatus being provided between the ground and the AC positive bus or AC negative bus connecting the solar cell and the power conditioner.
2. Description of the Related Art
Patent Literature 1 discloses a power supply apparatus configured to supply the DC power from, for example, a solar cell to a grounded load. The power supply apparatus has a power supply means, a first output switch, a grounding fault detection circuit, and a control means. The power supply means has non-insulated power input and output terminal for supplying power to the grounded load. The first output switch is configured to connect or disconnect the power supply means to or from the grounded load. The impedance means is provided between the ground potential and a point near the power input terminal of the power supply apparatus. The grounding fault detection circuit has a voltage or current detection means and a ground switch. The control means is configured to control the first output switch and the grounding fault detection circuit. If the control means opens the first output switch and closes the ground switch, the grounding fault detection circuit detects a change in the main voltage at a point other than the grounded load, thus detecting a grounding fault, from the voltage or from the current detected by the current detection means.
So configured as described above, the apparatus disclosed in Patent Literature 1 can detect the grounding fault without connection to the grounded load.
Patent Literature 2 discloses an interconnection inverter in which a converter circuit and an inverter circuit, not insulated from each other at the out of the former and the input of the latter, convert DC power to AD power, and which outputs the AC power to a system connected to it. The interconnection inverter comprises a DC grounding fault detection means for detecting the grounding fault of the solar cell. The interconnection inverter further comprises a control means for controlling either the input voltage or the intermediate voltage between the converter circuit and the inverter circuit is controlled, either raising or lowering the voltage, thereby setting the ground potential of the solar cell to a value other than a near-zero potential. Thus, the grounding fault detected is a change in the main current.
In the interconnection inverter discloses in Patent Literature 2, described above, the control means controls the input voltage or the intermediate voltage, raising or lowering the voltage, ultimately setting the ground potential of the solar cell to a value other than a near-zero potential. Therefore, any grounding fault of the solar cell can be reliably detected.

Toshiba Mitsubishi-Electric Industrial Systems Corporation


The invention relates to disposable device for the continuous centrifugal separation of a physiological fluid. The inventive device comprises: a fixed axial element; a centrifugation chamber which is mounted such that it can rotate around the axis of said element; an inlet channel for the blood to be centrifuged, the dispensing port of which is located close to the base of the chamber; and an outlet passage for a separated constituent, the inlet port of which is located close to the other end of the chamber in a concentrated area of one of the separated constituents having the lowest mass density in order for same to be removed continuously. The above-mentioned chamber takes the form of a long tube. The fixed axial element comprises a second outlet passage for a second of the separated constituents, the inlet port of which is located close to the end of the chamber opposite the above-mentioned base in a concentrated area of said second separated constituent having the highest mass density in order for same to be removed continuously.

Known separation buckets or bowls of this type are intended for semi-continuous separation, which entails gradually removing the plasma separated from the red blood cells and storing the red blood cells. The reason why the red blood cells are not removed from the separation chamber gradually as they become separated, as the plasma is, is because the tangential force applied to them is relatively high and the deceleration that would be experienced during a sudden transition into a fixed removal pipe would give rise to a high degree of hemolysis.

Disposable device for the continuous centrifugal separation of a physiological fluid


A case for a laptop computer, the case comprising upper and lower shells which are entirely separate from one another. Each shell comprises an outer layer of a first injection moulded polymer and an inner liner of a second injection moulded polymer softer than the first. Each shell defines a cavity having a back surface and upstanding side walls, the cavity being arranged to receive, in use, one half of the laptop computer. The second polymer comprises a plurality of inwardly extending clips which protrude across the cavity from an edge of the side wall furthest from the back surface to, in use, retain the shell on the laptop half.

Such cases are known in the art and comprise two separate shells each arranged to clip onto the two halves of the laptop, namely the base and the screen. One such case is the "Impact Snap Case" produced by the applicant. This case is formed of two materials, namely an outer harder layer of polycarbonate with an inner lining of a softer polymer material which extends across a portion of the main face of the case as well as up the sides in order to provide a degree of impact protection. In the event of an impact on the case, the harder material dissipates a significant portion of the impact, while the softer polymer absorbs a further portion.
The Impact Snap Case, in common with all other available laptop cases of this type that we are aware of has a number of clips around the periphery of each shell part which project inwardly in order to grip the edges of the laptop. These are formed in the polycarbonate material as this has the greatest rigidity and is therefore best suited to providing a snap fit over the edge of the laptop half.


A method of controlling a light source (105) via a handheld computing device (110) is disclosed. The method comprises receiving an input produced by one or more sensors of the handheld computing device, the input being indicative of a current orientation of the handheld computing device. The method further comprises determining, based at least in part on the input, that the handheld computing device is in a predefined triggering orientation, e.g. in a generally horizontal orientation. In response to so determining, one or more frames of image data are acquired via an image sensor connected to the handheld computing device (110). The method further comprises obtaining an identifier of the light source, e.g. from information encoded into light emitted by the light source (105), having determined that the one or more frames of image data comprise image data representative of the light source (105). The method further comprises transmitting to the light source (105) a command indicative of a desired light setting for the light source (105), which desired light setting may for example have been provided via user input or may be a predefined setting retrieved from memory. A handheld computing device (110) and a lighting system (100) are also disclosed.

Some lighting systems permit one or more light sources thereof to be controlled via a handheld wireless controller.
Typically, a small group of light sources (e.g. the light sources in a workspace) will have a dedicated controller, which is configured to communicate with those light sources only. A person wishing to vary the light settings of one or more of the light sources must first locate the controller, and then determine how to use it. A user may consider it more convenient to control the light settings using his or her personal handheld computing device, e.g. smartphone or tablet computer.
The applicant's co-pending patent application, no. PCT/IB2012/051370, discloses a handheld computing device which is configured to use its image sensor to record variations in the light emitted by a light source, and then to derive information from the recorded variations. The information may include an identifier of the light source, such as a MAC address and/or IP address. It is envisaged that such a device could, once it has received the MAC address and/or IP address of a light source, be used to communicate with and thereby control the light source e.g. via WiFi or Zigbee. The device would require the user to determine when to activate the image sensor, and to position and orient the device such that the image sensor is able to record the variations in the emitted light. For example, the user would be required to 'take a picture' of the light sources which are to be controlled. This might be suitable for specialist applications such as commissioning lighting systems, but non-specialist users may consider it to be inconvenient.

Controlling light source(s) via a portable device


Methods are provided for handling a device wafer. For example, a method includes providing a stack structure having a device wafer, a handler wafer, and a bonding structure disposed between the device wafer and handler wafer, and irradiating the bonding structure with long-wavelength infrared energy to ablate the bonding structure.

In the field of semiconductor wafer processing, increasing demands for large-scale integration, high density silicon packages has resulted in making semiconductor dies very thin. For example, for some applications, silicon (Si) wafers are backside grinded and polished down to a thickness of 50 μm or thinner. Although single crystal Si has very high mechanical strength, Si wafers and/or chips can become fragile as they are thinned. Defects can also be introduced by processing steps such as through-silicon via (TSV) processing, polishing, and dicing, which further reduces the mechanical strength of a thinned wafer or chip. Therefore, handling thinned Si wafers presents a significant challenge to most automation equipment.
In order to facilitate the processing of a device wafer, a mechanical handler wafer (or carrier wafer) is usually attached to the device wafer to enhance the mechanical integrity of the device wafer during processing. When processing of the device wafer is complete, the handler wafer needs to be released from the device wafer. The most common approach to handling a device wafer is to laminate the handler wafer with the device wafer using specially developed adhesives. Depending on factors such as the processing steps, the product requirements, and the type of the adhesive, various techniques have been used or proposed to debond or separate a thinned device wafer from a mechanical handler wafer, including thermal release, chemical dissolving, and laser ablation techniques.
A typical laser-assisted debonding process uses a polymeric adhesive (which is capable of sufficient absorption of energy in the UV (ultra violet) spectrum) to bond a device wafer to a UV transparent glass handler wafer. A laser ablation process is performed to ablate the polymeric adhesive and achieve debonding between the glass handler wafer and the device wafer. The use of a glass handler in the UV laser ablation process has several drawback including poor thermal conductivity, incompatibility with certain semiconductor processing equipment, as well as high cost. Although the use of Si wafer handlers can potentially overcome these drawbacks, silicon is not transparent to UV spectrum and therefore is not compatible with previously developed UV laser release technology.

Wafer debonding using long-wavelength infrared radiation ablation


An optical disc (1) for storing digital data, comprising a first storage area (10) for storing a first type of digital data and a second storage area (20) for storing a second type of digital data. Each of the first and second areas comprises a user-data area (11, 21). Furthermore, the storage areas (10, 20) are logically independent. The second storage area (20) has a defect management area (22a, 22b) associated with the user-data area (21) of the second storage area (20) for storing defect management data.

Optical discs of today may e.g. be a CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory) disc, a CD-R (Recordable) disc, or a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) for storing digital information. The discs may have different storing capacity and data transfer rates for transferring data to or reading data from the disc. Providing audio/video data for real time recording/reading requires a high data transfer rate.
One optical disc supporting real-time recording/reading of audio/video data is the Blu-ray disc. Using a short-wavelength blue-violet laser, the Blu-ray disc successfully minimizes its beam spot size by making the numerical aperture (NA) on a field lens that converges the laser 0.85. In addition, by using a disc structure with a 0.1 mm optical transmittance protection layer, the Blu-ray disc diminishes aberration caused by disc tilt. This also provides a better disc readout and an increased recording density. The tracking pitch of the Blu-ray disc is reduced to 0.32 μm, almost half that of a regular DVD, achieving up to 27 GB high-density recording on a single-sided disc.
Since the Blu-ray disc utilizes global standard MPEG-2 transport stream compression technology, it is highly compatible with digital broadcasting for real-time audio/video recording, and a wide range of contents can be recorded. It is possible for the Blu-ray disc to record digital high-definition broadcasting while maintaining high-quality and other data simultaneously with video data if they are received together.
To read/write digital data on an optical disc by a drag and drop functionality, it is preferred that physical defect management in the drive is provided. Thus, the optical disc has to have a dedicated area of the recordable area wherein defect management data may be provided.
The Blu-ray video real-time requirements, i.e. 36 Mb/s read/write and 800 ms seek, match the maximum read-write speed of the Blu-ray disc and device. However, the requirements are incompatible with defect management. This means that there is currently no room for the extra delay caused by defect management while playing or recording digital real-time Blu-Ray video data.
In the Blu-ray standard a disc is a single partition containing either a continuous area without defect management or an area with defect management. The standard also requires a certain file system: BDFS (Blu-Ray Disc File System). UDF (Universal Disc Format) is a file system for optical discs. BDFS cannot administer as many files as UDF can, which makes BDFS impractical for PC data use, in which tens of thousands of files on a 27 GB disc can be expected. BDFS is an integral part of the Blu-ray disc and is highly capable of storing data with real-time requirement. UDF, on the other hand, may be used on a Blu-Ray disc in the PC environment. UDF may be used with a Blu-ray disc in which defect management is switched on and can hold tens of thousands of files. The Blu-ray disc standard makes it impossible to have defect management switched on and use it for BDFS at the same time because the logical to physical relationship, i.e. the logical zero point, is at a different location of the disc, is different in the two cases. Thus, separate discs have to be provided in order to meet the conflicting requirements of reading/writing both digital data with support for defect management and read/write real-time audio/video data according to the Blu-ray standard.

Optical disc for storing both data requiring defect management and real-time av data


The present invention relates to a pre-collapsed capacitive micro-machined transducer cell (10) comprising a substrate (12), and a membrane (14) disposed above a total membrane area (Atotal), wherein a cavity (20) is formed between the membrane (14) and the substrate (12), the membrane comprising a hole (15) and an edge portion (14a) surrounding the hole (15). The cell (10) further comprises a stress layer (17) on the membrane (14), the stress layer (17) having a predetermined stress value with respect to the membrane (14), the stress layer (17) being adapted to provide a bending moment on the membrane (14) in a direction towards the substrate (12) such that the edge portion (14a) of the membrane (14) is collapsed to the substrate (12). The present invention further relates to a method of manufacturing such pre-collapsed capacitive micro-machined transducer cell (10).

Recently micro-machined ultrasound transducers (MUT) have been developed. Micro-machined ultrasound transducers have been fabricated in two design approaches, one using a semiconductor layer with piezoelectric properties (pMUT) and another using a membrane (or diaphragm) and substrate with electrodes (or electrode plates) forming a capacitor, so-called capacitive micro-machined ultrasound transducer (cMUT).
A cMUT cell comprises a cavity underneath the membrane. For receiving ultrasound waves, ultrasound waves cause the membrane to move or vibrate and the variation in the capacitance between the electrodes can be detected. Thereby the ultrasound waves are transformed into a corresponding electrical signal. Conversely, an electrical signal applied to the electrodes causes the membrane to move or vibrate and thereby transmitting ultrasound waves.
Initially, cMUT cells were produced to operate in what is known as an "uncollapsed" mode. The conventional "uncollapsed" cMUT cell is essentially a non-linear device, where the efficiency strongly depends on the bias voltage applied between the electrodes.
In order to solve this problem, so-called "pre-collapsed" cMUT cells have recently been developed. In a pre-collapsed cMUT cell a part of the membrane is permanently collapsed or fixed to the bottom of the cavity (or substrate). Above a certain bias voltage the efficiency of a pre-collapsed cMUT cell is substantially bias voltage-independent, which makes the cMUT cell much more linear.
In the pre-collapsed cMUT cell, the membrane can be collapsed using different methods, for example using electrical or mechanical collapsing.
Electrical collapsing can for example be achieved using the bias voltage. WO 2009037655 A2 discloses a method for producing a cMUT, comprising providing a nearly completed cMUT, wherein the nearly completed cMUT defines one or more cMUT elements that include: (i) a substrate layer, (ii) an electrode plate, (iii) a membrane layer, and (iv) an electrode ring, defining at least one hole through the membrane layer for each cMUT element, applying a bias voltage across membrane and substrate layers of the one or more cMUT elements so as to collapse the membrane layer relative to the substrate layer, and fixing and sealing the collapsed membrane layer relative to the substrate layer by applying an encasing layer.
Mechanical collapsing can for example be achieved using the ambient air pressure. WO 2010097729 A1 discloses a cMUT cell comprising a substrate, a first electrode attached to the substrate, a movable membrane formed in spaced relationship to the first electrode, a second electrode attached to the membrane, and a retention member, overlaying the movable membrane when the membrane is in a pre-collapsed state which acts to retain the membrane in its pre-collapsed state in the absence of the bias voltage. In one example, the retention member is cast over the cMUT transducer cell while the membrane is brought to a pre-collapsed state by application of (atmospheric) pressure to the membrane.
Pre-collapsed cMUT cells as disclosed in WO 2010097729 A1 have been successfully manufactured as low frequency cMUT cells having a relative large diameter membrane. The collapse pressure was low and the cMUT cells were pre-collapsed by ambient air pressure (i.e. the membrane touches the bottom of the cavity). However, for high frequency cMUT cells a retention member as disclosed in WO 2010097729 A1 cannot be applied, as the collapse pressure is very large and can easily exceed for example 5 Bar or even 10 Bar. In this case, the retention layer as disclosed in WO 2010097729 A1 is not strong enough to keep the membrane in place. Thus, the problem with the cMUT cells as disclosed in WO 2010097729 A1 is that it is essentially a "large membrane" solution, but does not work for high frequency cMUT cells, having a small membrane diameter.
There is a need to improve such pre-collapsed capacitive micro-machined transducer cell, in particular for high frequencies.

Pre-collapsed capacitive micro-machined transducer cell with stress layer


A mounting bracket for a prefabricated column assembly comprising a column having an external wall and an internal wall defining a channel for receiving a mounting post, the mounting bracket configured to be received by the channel having a body defining a hole for receivingly engaging the mounting post and having a peripheral edge. The peripheral edge defining a slot for receiving an elongated support strip for providing a lateral support anchor for the column assembly.

Outdoor columns are typically constructed with masonry building materials such as concrete, cement mortar, reinforcing steel bar, clay, marble, brick, stone or stackable pre-cast concrete block of various shapes to achieve a column. Often these columns are in the form of prefabricated column assemblies adapted to be installed on site by a mounting post secured to the ground. These materials require extensive labor, packaging and heavy equipment to transport to and install at the installation site.

Architectural Composite Technologies, LLC


A method for facilitating a secured data transmission in near field communication is provided. The method includes dynamically interleaving data to be transmitted, using randomization and transmitting the dynamically interleaved data and the interleaved settings/parameters to the destination. Further, a receiver device performs dynamic de-interleaving of received data using the received interleaved settings/parameters. Further, in order to ensure security to the data transmission, the system may use Random Skip Count (RSC) values. If necessary, new dynamic interleaving settings/parameters are calculated based on an RSC value and the new settings/parameters are used to dynamically interleave the data. The process of interleaving can be performed in 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional formats. Further, in the 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional interleaving schemes, data can be first dynamically interleaved in the form of sub matrices and the sub matrices can be further dynamically interleaved to form the final dynamically interleaved data matrix.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of storage systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to transaction recovery in storage systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
Near Field Communication (NFC) is a technique that helps devices such as mobile phones establish radio communication by bringing the devices into close proximity. NFC facilitates various applications such as contactless transactions, data exchange, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag scanning, mobile payments, and so on. Further, NFC enabled handsets can be used to view real time travel information and to purchase transport tickets. Further, the NFC communication is based on RFID standards. Mobile devices are equipped with NFC chips that are capable of sending encrypted data over a small distance. An NFC system normally has an initiator and a target. The initiator generates a Radio Frequency (RF) field that triggers the passive target. The NFC targets normally take the form of tags, stickers, cards, etc. that can store information and do not require a battery to operate.
However, NFC also has certain disadvantages. For example, the RF signal used in the NFC communication can be picked up using an antenna. This can be further decoded which may result in loss of sensitive information. Further, the data transmitted using NFC communication may be destroyed using a suitable device such as RFID jammer. Further, the NFC communication is prone to data modification attacks if not transmitted without proper modulation. Further, when NFC is used for making contactless payments, it may happen that the money could be duplicated. In another case, money may be transferred to another person in turn causing loss of money.
Another disadvantage of the NFC based communication is that it is prone to a man-in-the-middle attack. In this case, an attacker can make independent connections with the NFC users and can control transaction of messages and/or data between the NFC enabled user devices. This kind of attack can critically affect the NFC transactions and security because the data, such as transaction id, password, and so on, get compromised to an unauthorized third party user.
Existing systems use a method of data interleaving for ensuring security in the NFC based transaction systems. Interleaving permits arrangement of data in specific formats. Further, the receiver may de-interleave the information using information on how the data is arranged in the interleaved format. One disadvantage associated with these systems is that a third party may still decode the information after identifying the format in which the data is interleaved.
An existing method for secured data transmission discloses a process of interleaving rows and columns of the interleaved matrix separately. The method ensures secured data transmission by using distinct interleaving sequences. A disadvantage of this method is that it does not provide any mechanism for dynamically changing the interleaving sequence in case of an attack. This may affect the security of the system and may result in data loss.
Accordingly, due to the aforementioned reasons, there is a need to have a method for ensuring data security in NFC communications. Also, the method should be reliable and highly precise to prevent data loss and data leakage.
The above information is presented as background information only to assist with an understanding of the present disclosure. No determination has been made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the above might be applicable as prior art with regard to the present invention.

Near field communication method and apparatus thereof


This invention provides an isoparaffin-olefin alkylation catalyst composition comprising hydrofluoric acid, an additive, and a superacid promoter. The additive is present in concentration sufficient to effect deactivation of the hydrofluoric acid for isoparaffin-olefin alkylation such that the catalytic properties of said admixture of the hydrofluoric acid and the additive, in the absence of superacid promoter are characterized by the conversion of a mixed isoparaffin-olefin stream to product containing more than about 0.1 weight percent of alkyl halide.

Alkylation is a reaction in which an alkyl group is added to an organic molecule. Thus an isoparaffin can be reacted with an olefin to provide an isoparaffin of higher molecular weight. Industrially, the concept depends on the reaction of a C.sub.2 to C.sub.5 olefin with isobutane in the presence of an acidic catalyst producing a so-called alkylate. This alkylate is a valuable blending component in the manufacture of gasolines due not only to its high octane rating but also to its sensitivity to octane-enhancing additives.
Industrial alkylation processes have historically used hydrofluoric or sulfuric acid catalysts under relatively low temperature conditions. Acid strength is preferably maintained at 88 to 94 weight percent by the continuous addition of fresh acid and the continuous withdrawal of spent acid.
Hydrofluoric acid and sulfuric acid alkylation processes share inherent drawbacks including environmental and safety concerns, acid consumption, and sludge disposal. For a general discussion of sulfuric acid alkylation, see the series of three articles by L. F. Albright et al., "Alkylation of Isobutane with C.sub.4 Olefins", 27 Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., 381-397, (1988). For a survey of hydrofluoric acid catalyzed alkylation, see 1 Handbook of Petroleum Refining Processes 23-28 (R. A. Meyers, ed., 1986).
Hydrogen fluoride, or hydrofluoric acid (HF) is highly toxic and corrosive. However, it is used as a catalyst in isomerization, condensation, polymerization and hydrolysis reactions. The petroleum industry uses anhydrous hydrogen fluoride primarily as a liquid catalyst for alkylation of olefinic hydrocarbons to produce alkylate for increasing the octane number of gasoline. Years of experience in its manufacture and use have shown that HF can be handled safely, provided the hazards are recognized and precautions taken. Though many safety precautions are taken to prevent leaks, massive or catastrophic leaks are feared primarily because the anhydrous acid will fume on escape creating a vapor cloud that can be spread for some distance. Previous workers in this field approached this problem from the standpoint of containing or neutralizing the HF cloud after its release.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,938,935 and 4,985,220 to Audeh and Greco, as well as U.S. Pat. No. 4,938,936 to Yan teach various methods for containing and/or neutralizing HF acid clouds following accidental releases.
But it would be particularly desirable to provide an additive which decreases the cloud forming tendency of HF without compromising its activity as an isoparaffin-olefin alkylation catalyst. Solvents and complexing agents for hydrofluoric acid complexes have, in the past, been disclosed for various purposes as noted in the following references.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,615,908 to McCaulay teaches thioether-HF-copper complex compounds and a method for preparing the same. Potential uses for the thioether-HF-copper complex compounds are listed from column 6, line 55 through column 8 at line 3. The method is said to be useful for purifying HF-containing vent gases from an industrial HF alkylation plant. See column 7, lines 10-24.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,531,546 to Hervert discloses a HF--CO.sub.2 catalyst complex which is said to be useful for alkylation as well as olefin isomerization.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,795,712 to Torck et al. relates to acid catalysts comprising a Lewis acid, a Bronsted acid, and a sulfone of the formula R--SO.sub.2 --R', where R and R' are each separately a monovalent radical containing from 1 to 8 carbon atoms or form together a divalent radical having from 3 to 12 carbon atoms.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,856,764 to Throckmorton et al. teaches an olefin polymerization catalyst comprising (1) at least one organoaluminum compound, (2) at least one nickel compound selected from the class consisting of nickel salts of carboxylic acids, organic complex compounds of nickel, or nickel tetracarbonyl and (3) at least one hydrogen fluoride complex prepared by complexing hydrogen fluoride with a member of the class consisting of ketones, ethers, esters, alcohols, nitriles, and water.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,636,488 discloses an anhydrous nonalcoholic alkylation catalyst comprising a mixture of a mineral acid and an ether in proportions of from about 50 to about 99 weight percent of mineral acid and from about 1 to about 50 weight percent of ether. Useful mineral acids include HF; see column 4 at lines 56-60.
Promoters such as alcohols, thiols, water, ethers, thioethers, sulfonic acids, and carboxylic acids are disclosed in combination with Bronsted acids such as HF, fluorosulfonic and trihalomethanesulfonic acids in U.S. Pat. No. 3,778,489 to Parker et al. The promoters are said to modify the activity of the Bronsted acids for alkylation.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,795,712 to Torck et al. teaches hydrocarbon alkylation in the presence of a sulfone and from 10.sup.-5 to 5 moles of hydrofluoric acid per liter of sulfone.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,025,577 and 4,094,924 to Siskin et al. teach isoparaffin-olefin alkylation catalysts comprising a hydrogen halide and a metal floride, and, optionally, a suitable diluent.
The preceding references describe catalyst complexes containing Bronsted acids which are useful as catalysts for various reactions. In view of the increasing safety and environmental concerns surrounding the cloud-forming tendency of hydrofluoric acid, providing an additive to mitigate Bronsted acid cloud formation while preserving the properties of the Bronsted acid for isoparaffin-olefin alkylation would be a major advance in the art.

Liquid acid alkylation catalyst and isoparaffin-olefin alkylation process


The present invention includes novel soybean derived human thyroglobulin, methods of producing human thyroglobulin in plants such as soybean, and novel diagnostic applications for the detection and stratification of endocrine malignancies including thyroid cancer and thyroiditis. The invention also includes the use of soybean-derived human thyroglobulin in affinity matrices to remove autoreactive anti-thyroglobulin antibodies from patient's sera prior to analyses. Moreover, the invention also includes methods and compositions of treating, preventing and or/ameliorating symptoms associated with thyroiditis.

Thyroid cancers are common endocrine malignancies. One function of the thyroid gland is to store thyroglobulin as a source of thyroid hormones, and patients with thyroid cancers routinely have increased circulating levels of the thyroglobulin. Detecting increased levels of circulating thyroglobulin produced by these cancerous cells is, therefore, an extremely valuable tool for the physician in the diagnosis of thyroid cancers. Furthermore, once patients receive treatment to ablate cancerous thyroid tissue, it is important that they are monitored for any metastasized thyroid cancer remnants. Such metastases can also secrete thyroglobulin, and for these cancer survivors, quantification of thyroglobulin in sera is the gold standard for monitoring the presence of such malignant tissue. Stated simply, the quantification of thyroglobulin in the sera of patients who have, or have had, thyroid cancers is an essential tool for diagnosis and monitoring, respectively.
Thyroglobulin levels in the sera of thyroid cancer patients are routinely quantified using various agency-approved (e.g. FDA) immunoassays. Physicians frequently order these diagnostic immunoassays to determine thyroglobulin levels in their patients. Therefore it is not surprising that such a commonly ordered diagnostic test has produced a variety of immunoassays developed by many different companies for use in the clinical laboratory.
Despite the current availability of numerous thyroglobulin immuno assays each suffers from inherent limitations. In fact, it is not possible to accurately compare the results obtained from one thyroglobulin immunoassay with those obtained by another. There are two major problems which need to be solved. First, the lack of a universally consistent thyroglobulin standard contributes significantly to variability between FDA-approved immunoassays made by different suppliers. Presently, the only source of human thyroglobulin for use as a standard in immunoassays comes from cadavers or surgically removed human tissue. The heterogeneity of human-derived thyroglobulin isolates is a limitation which has not been solved. Second, anti-thyroglobulin autoantibodies present in some thyroid cancer patients' sera can interfere with immunoassays that attempt to detect and quantify thyroglobulin. Currently, there are no clear solutions to either of these dilemmas.
Human thyroglobulin is often iodinated with up to four iodine atoms (on various tyrosine residues). Defects in thyroglobulin are known to be the cause of congenital hypothyroidism due to dyshormonogenesis type 3. A disorder due to thyroid dyshormonogenesis often causes large goiters of elastic and soft consistency in most patients. Although the degree of thyroid dysfunction varies considerably among patients with defective thyroglobulin synthesis, patients usually have a relatively high serum free triiodothyronine (T3) concentration with disproportionately low free tetraiodothyronine (T4) levels. The maintenance of relatively high free T3 levels prevents profound tissue hypothyroidism except in the brain and pituitary, which are dependent on T4 supply, resulting in neurologic and intellectual defects in some cases.
Thus, the ability to synthesize homogenous thyroglobulin in an expression system, its use in assays, and the ability to chemically control the amount of iodination on the homogenous thyroglobulin molecules (for example by using the Iodination Beads from the Pierce Chem. Co.; see 4 and 5) could provide means of accurately comparing the results of various assays, allow the removal of autoantibodies that bind thyroglobulin allowing for more accurate diagnoses of diseases, and also potentially lead to the treatment of patients that suffer from these thyroglobulin implicated diseases with synthesized thyroglobulin conjugates.
Moreover, in an embodiment, recombinant thyroglobulin can be used as a prophylaxis therapy to prevent and/or ameliorate the host response against thyroglobulin observed in autoimmune thyroiditis in humans and animals (e.g. dogs and other animals that exhibit a host response against thyroglobulin). In a variation, the present invention can also be used in therapeutic interventions to reduce and/or eliminate the autoimmune response against thyroglobulin seen in patients and animals with autoimmune thyroiditis.
As a group, thyroid diseases are second only to diabetes as the most common endocrine disorder in the United States. Almost 100,000 new cases per year of clinically diagnosed thyroid disease occur, making the number of individuals with some clinical form of thyroid disease an estimated 4-5 million people in the United States. Hypothyroidism accounts for the majority of the cases of clinical thyroid disease in the United States and other developed countries, with autoimmune Hashimoto's thyroiditis accounting for about 80% of hypothyroiditis. Beginning in the fourth to fifth decade of life, the usual onset of autoimmune hypothyroidism is insidious, with the vast majority of cases occurring in women. Hypothyroidism results in an inadequate supply of the thyroid hormones, T3 and T4, to the body, and this deficiency can be treated using the hormone replacement drug, levothyroxine. Since hypothyroidism is a chronic disease, and since symptoms can advance with the age of the patient, replacement hormone therapy with levothyroxine can be life-long. The total U.S. market for the two leading levothyroxine products, Synthroid and Levoxyl, was 1.1 billion in 2003.
The most important limitation of hormone replacement is the fact that such therapy treats symptoms and not the cause of the disease itself. Autoimmune hypothyroidism results from the activation of helper T lymphocytes which recognize thyroid antigens (e.g. thyroglobulin) and contribute to the destruction of the thyroid gland. The presence of antibodies against thyroglobulin made by B lymphocytes may also contribute to mechanisms of thyroid destruction. Therefore, the most effective therapy for such destructive autoimmunity would be to permanently eliminate, or greatly reduce the activity of, these thyroid-reactive T and B lymphocytes in patients.
To accomplish this goal, in an embodiment, the present invention produces soybean-derived thyroglobulin that, when taken orally or systemically, has the potential to prevent and/or ameliorate the development of, or limit ongoing, autoimmune responses against thyroglobulin.
To date, there has been only limited human study to investigate the efficacy of oral immune suppressive/tolerance as a therapy for autoimmune hypothyroidism. In the one study, no substantial therapeutic value from such therapy was observed. However, the study was seriously flawed in its design.
Other groups have demonstrated that it is possible to induce suppression/tolerance with oral preparations of thyroglobulin in animals models. Therefore, while the animal studies have been encouraging, there is no clear therapeutic regimen in humans or domesticated animals for the suppression/tolerance against thyroid antigens in autoimmune thyroiditis.
Previously, in an editorial, two leaders in the field. Drs. Rapoport and McLachlan, identified major hurdles that had to be overcome before oral suppression/tolerance therapy for treatment of hypothyroidism could become a reality. These hurdles included: 1) the extreme cost associated with producing kilogram quantities of human thyroglobulin; 2) the need to identify patients with preclinical disease so that therapy could start early; and 3) the length of therapy required to maintain suppression/tolerance.
The uniqueness of soybean-derived thyroglobulin formulations can overcome these hurdles. The first hurdle can be overcome because expression of proteins in transgenic soybeans is extremely cost-effective, being less than a penny per dose to produce. The second hurdle can be overcome because the sensitivity and reproducibility of diagnostic tests (for example, as disclosed herein) for identifying patients who have preclinical hypothyroidism has progressed to the point where physicians are questioning whether or not to provide hormone replacement therapy to this ever expanding population of patients. Stated simply, it is now possible to identify preclinical patients for prophylactic therapy. The third hurdle can be overcome because while therapeutic regimens might require several weeks to demonstrate efficacy, and may have to be repeated, even such an extended treatment would be advantageous over taking daily doses of levothyroxine for a lifetime. Taken together, these technical advances should lead one to reevaluate the feasibility and practicality of oral and/or systemic suppression/tolerance therapy for autoimmune hypothyroidism.

Immunoassay for detecting thyroglobulin utilizing soybean produced recombinant thyroglobulin


A display control apparatus comprises a recording unit which records a still image and a moving image associated with the still image on a recording medium; a setting unit which sets whether to set the associated moving image as a start image to be displayed first at a start of image reproduction; and a control unit which controls to, when the associated moving image has been set as the start image, display the associated moving image from images recorded on the recording medium at the start of image reproduction, and controls to, when the associated moving image has not been set as the start image, display an image based on another condition irrelevant to whether the image is the associated moving image, from images recorded on the recording medium at the start of image reproduction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image display control apparatus and display control method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, a function of shooting a still image during moving image shooting, and a function of automatically recording a moving image immediately before shooting at the same time as still image shooting have been proposed as shooting functions of digital cameras.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-222417 discloses a technique of, when a moving image associated with a still image which is being viewed exists in a recording medium, displaying an icon representing the presence of the associated moving image together with the still image so that the associated moving image can be easily reproduced by selecting the icon.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2008-053936 proposes a technique of determining whether the remaining capacity of an image recording medium has changed after the end of previous reproduction, if the remaining capacity has not changed, performing reproduction resume to reproduce images from one reproduced at the end of previous reproduction, and if the remaining capacity of the recording medium has changed, reproducing images from the latest one.
The apparatuses in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 2000-222417 and 2008-053936 do not consider a case in which a moving image different from a finally shot image or an image displayed at the end of the previous reproduction mode is displayed first at the start of the reproduction mode. Even if the user starts the reproduction mode in order to view a moving image associated with a still image, he needs to cumbersomely perform an image scrolling operation and an operation of displaying a moving image associated with a still image until a moving image he wants is displayed.

Display control apparatus and display control method


A drive unit for a vertical Venetian blind includes a shared driving element (15) for the displacing motion and the rotating motion of vertical slats. A differential gear (13) is provided with a driving element coupled to the shared driving element (15), a first driven element (17) coupled to the first drive means (21) for the rotating motion of the vertical slats, and a second driven element (16) coupled to second drive means for the displacing motion of the vertical slats. Displacing motions and rotating motions of the vertical slats can be driven by the shared driving element (15). A complete closing of the vertical slats is made possible in both directions of rotation and, at the same time, a hooking up of the vertical slats by means of displacing same in an unsuitable rotating position is prevented.

In drive units of this type, both the displacing motion and the rotating motion of the vertical slats are driven by means of the shared driving element. In the meaning of this patent application differential gear is defined here such that a driving element with two driven elements is coupled using gears, so that either both driven elements or, with one driven element fixed, the other driven element are or is driven by means of the driving element. Moreover, by means of a differential gear of this type, it is possible, like in a differential, by fixing one driven element, to achieve a reversal of direction of the other driven element. In drive units of the above-mentioned type, a driving gear for the displacing of the vertical slats is driven, for example, by means of a planet gear as a differential gear. In this case, moreover, a spline shaft for the rotation of the slats is driven via an outer ring on the pinion cage of the planet gear. Since the necessary forces for the rotation of the slats are lower than for the displacing of the slats, when the driving element is actuated, first the necessary rotating motion of the vertical slats is carried out and then the displacing of the vertical slats. In particular, in case of an open vertical Venetian blind, at first the vertical slats are rotated into their closed orientation and then extended in this closed, rotated position for closing the vertical Venetian blind. To open the vertical Venetian blind, the shared driving element is actuated in the opposite direction. Here, the vertical slats again rotate at first into their opposite rotated position because of the lower force that is needed for this. When this opposite rotated position is reached, a stop limits a first rotation, such that the rotating motion and the related first driven element are blocked. With another actuation of the shared driving element, a displacement of the vertical slats takes place by means of the second driven element for the complete opening of the vertical Venetian blind. So that the vertical slats do not now get hooked up in their opposite rotated position with the opening of the vertical Venetian blind, this opposite rotated position is aligned in such a way that complete shading in this opposite rotated position is not possible. However, with different angles of incidence, it would be desirable for the vertical slats to be able to be closed completely in both directions of rotation. Up to now, however, this possibility requires either a separate driving element for the rotating motion or a gear with switching possibilities between rotating motion and displacing motion. A separate driving element for the rotating motion is uncomfortable, since in this case, for example, two ball chains have to be operated and, according to experience, the wrong ball chain is usually actuated. Thus, instead of performing a turning of the vertical slats, a displacing of the slats may be actuated in this case, which, in the closed rotated state, may lead to hooking up of the vertical slats. A switchable gear is in turn complicated and prone to difficulties. Moreover, the actuation of such a switchable gear is possible only with difficulty at unfavorable pulling angles.

Drive unit for a vertical venetian blind