People who wear a prosthesis currently have to use a bathing prosthesis if they wish to pursue water sports or take a shower or reach a body of water for recreational purposes and take active part in beach pursuits safely. However, these are usually taken off for swimming though this is very often not possible in the case of rocky shores or unsupervised beaches, quite apart from the unwelcome attention to which the person wearing the prosthesis is sometimes exposed in doing so. To solve this problem, a protective device for use for exterior prostheses is suggested, in which the protective device is a protective covering made from an at least semi-elastic, durable and damage resistant material being watertight or custom-designed sufficiently preventing a penetration of water into the inside of the protective covering and being dimensionally conformed to the shape of the body, and at least one end of which is furnished with a cuff or sleeve or collar like semi-elastic device that is dimensionally adapted to the contours of the anatomy of the person wearing the protective covering to prevent water or moisture or foreign bodies from penetrating the protective covering. This is particularly convenient and easy to carry and use when travelling and for recreational sport.

Exterior prostheses in the form of arm and leg prostheses are known in the art. They are made particularly from metals and/or carbon or other plastics and fibre materials. However, these materials do not lend themselves especially well to being worn when showering or pursuing water sports, because water, and particularly salt water, can attack and damage the very valuable, expensive materials of the prosthesis. Therefore, it is known to use "bathing prostheses". These are made from plastics, but they do not have the advantages of the valuable metal or carbon prostheses, either with regard to wearing comfort or handling, the person who is wearing the bathing prosthesis can take a shower with it on or use it to walk to a body of water for recreation. It can even be worn for brief periods in the water, to cool down. But the disadvantage remains in that it usually must be removed for swimming and left on the bank at the point of entry into the water. In this context, the further problem arises in that in the case of rocky shores or unsupervised beaches, this is often not possible. Moreover, as the person in question removes the prosthesis, his handicap becomes evident to third parties and accordingly draws irritating attention to him. Since the design of such bathing prostheses usually is relatively unsophisticated, the prosthetic-wearing person is also prevented from getting to bodies of water that can only be reached by walking over rocks, stones and paths, because such routes usually do not offer a secure purchase.
Tubes are also known that are made from thin material and may be tightened on one side with a rubber drawstring or similar. In order to be able to adapt these to the anatomical shape of the person wearing the prosthesis or plaster cast, underpressure is created inside the tube. A valve and pumping bulb are provided in the skin of the tube for this purpose or another kind of device for producing an underpressure. Such a solution for sealing casts is especially known from AT 61218 E or from products of the company Dry Corp., LLC under the name Dry Pro™. Alternatively, it is known to use heat to fit it closely to the body of the person wearing the prosthesis or cast in the manner of a shrink tube. In either of these cases, the result is not very appealing. Moreover, if a valve with pumping bulb is provides, the problem arises that the valve may be damaged or opened during use later, and the sealing effect will be lost. In addition, swimming in bodies of water is rendered awkward because of the excessive amount of material. The short service life of these tubes or shrink tubes represents a further problem, since they can become damaged and start to leak very easily. In case of breakdown or malfunction of the valve or damage of the tube, respectively, an excessive amount of water will penetrate into the inner of the tube within a very short time. Moreover, the shrink tube variant can only be used once, and takes a great deal of effort to remove afterwards. This variant is thus a disposable product which is difficult to take off after use.
DE 41 25 635 A1 discloses a cover for a femoral or shank prosthesis and a method for producing the same wherein the cover is made of an elastic material with a closely tight surface such that the cover is watertight and water absorption is prevented. The cover is tube-like with a shape adapted to the limbs to be replaced. It can be fastened to the respective parts of the prosthesis with its both opening portions spaced from one another. Thus, only the prosthesis is watertightly sealed such that in principal some kind of bathing prosthesis is provided on the basis of a regular prosthesis. The transition from the upper prosthesis edge to the skin of the person wearing the prosthesis is, however, not watertight or protected against the penetration of water into the inside the cover or the prosthesis, respectively, such that water can penetrate into the same. Without the outside sealing the material of the cover is not watertight but will absorb water, since here a regular textile is pulled over the prosthesis and is sealed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,593,453A discloses a prosthesis cover of a watertight latex material which closely conforms to the shape of the limb being covered. On the inner surface the cover has an anti-friction inner surface. Further, the cover has an anti-skid sole in the case of a leg cover. The anti-skid surface is provided with a plurality of inwardly directed ribs formed on the inner surface of the leg portion of the cover, the plurality of ribs being spaced apart from each other with each rib extending concentrically of the leg portion. The plurality of ribs extends from just above an ankle portion throughout the height of the leg portion to just an upper segment to space the cover from the prosthesis and to thereby reduce the frictional engagement when the cover is being applied by sliding over the prosthesis. At the outside the cover has finger loops for enabling the pulling on and off which finger loops will negatively affect the aesthetic of the cover and cannot provide the impression of a human skin.
The object of the present invention is therefore to overcome the problems mentioned with regard to the known protective devices and to create a device to replace both the bathing prosthesis and vacuum or shrink tubes as well as the above mentioned protective devices which enables the wearer to shower and swim safely, and to participate fully in beach life actively and without attracting undue attention, wherein the penetration of water and foreign bodies, respectively, like sand, dirt, dust, into the inside of the protective device can securely be prevented.

Protective device particularly for use for exterior prostheses


Various embodiments are described for considering the congestion level of an inter-base-station link during handoff of a mobile station. In one embodiment, the source and target base stations are communicatively linked via (i) a backhaul link on which a backhaul-network entity resides and (ii) an inter-base-station link on which the backhaul-network entity does not reside. A congestion level of the inter-base-station link is determined. Furthermore, a determination is made to hand off the mobile station from the source base station to the target base station. The mobile station is handed off using the backhaul link and not the inter-base-station link if the determined congestion level of the inter-base-station link exceeds a congestion threshold.

A typical cellular radio access system includes a radio access network (RAN) that is arranged to provide mobile stations with access to one or more transport networks such as the public switched telephone network (PSTN) and/or the Internet. The RAN may include a cellular base station (e.g., base transceiver station, access node, eNodeB, or the like), which itself may include an antenna configuration and associated equipment for radiating to define one or more coverage areas in which a mobile station can wirelessly communicate with the base station over an air interface. The cellular radio access system may further include various entities such as switches, gateways, and controllers that may facilitate connectivity with a transport network and/or may help control aspects of RAN operation such as registration and de-registration of mobile stations. For example, the cellular radio access system could include a mobile switching center (MSC), a mobility management entity (MME), a soft-switch, a media gateway controller (MGC), a packet data serving node (PDSN), a serving gateway (S-GW), and a packet data network gateway (P-GW). Further, these entities may be coupled with a signaling network to facilitate communication with other system entities such as a home location register (HLR) (e.g., a home subscriber server (HSS)) or a location-determination system, among other entities.
In practice, when a mobile station enters into coverage of the RAN, such as coverage of a base station, the mobile station may engage in a registration (e.g., attach) procedure so as to then be able to engage in bearer-data communication, perhaps to place and receive calls and engage in wireless packet-data communication, to the extent that the mobile station's service profile and capabilities allow, perhaps. During the registration procedure, the mobile station may transmit a radio-access-registration-request (e.g., attach-request) message via an air-interface uplink channel to the base station providing the coverage area. Upon receiving that registration-request message, the base station may signal to one or more other entities of the cellular radio access system, such as an MSC or MME as examples, which in turn may signal to the HLR.
After initially registering in a coverage area, a mobile station may continue to monitor the pilot signal of that coverage area as well as the pilot signals of adjacent coverage areas, and may at some point transmit to the serving base station a radio measurement report (e.g., pilot-strength-measurement message or data-rate-control message) indicating the strength of the monitored signals. If the base station determines based on such a message that an adjacent coverage area provides sufficiently stronger coverage than the currently serving coverage area, the base station may arrange for a handoff of the mobile station to the adjacent coverage area.

Methods and systems for considering the congestion level of an inter-base-station link during handoff of a mobile station


Two kinds of female terminal fittings (13a, 13b) are accommodated in a housing (10) and have connecting portions (22a, 22b) of different lengths. These terminal fittings (13a, 13b) are inserted into cavities (26a, 26b) of the housing (10) so that front ends of the terminal fittings (13a, 13b) are displaced along forward and backward directions so that rear ends of the connecting portions (22a, 22b) align along an inserting direction of a retainer (33). Thus, the retainer (33) can lock the respective terminal fittings (13a, 13b) substantially simultaneously.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a connector and to a connector assembly.
2. Description of the Related Art
A connector includes a housing and terminal fittings that are mounted in the housing. Each terminal fitting has a connecting portion configured for connection with a mating terminal fitting. Female terminal fittings in such a connector have tubular connecting portions for the connection with male terminal fittings. The front ends of the connecting portions of the terminal fittings are aligned as a prerequisite. A retainer normally is mounted in the housing and engages the rear ends of the connecting portions of the respective terminal fittings to retain the terminal fittings in the housing.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-182709 discloses a connector with large and small terminal fittings provided in a mixed manner in conformity with permissible current values. However, the tubular connecting portions have different volumes and different lengths along forward and backward directions depending upon the size of the terminal fittings. Thus, the rear ends of the connecting portions are not aligned with respect to forward and backward directions, and may interfere with a side-mounted retainer. The large and small terminal fittings can be arranged in the housing to avoid the interference with the retainer. Specifically, the shorter terminal fittings can be arranged at an entrance side with respect to an inserting direction of the retainer, and longer terminal fittings can be arranged at a back side with respect to the inserting direction of the retainer. However, connectors with terminal fittings of different lengths along forward and backward directions are deprived of a degree of freedom in designing the arrangement of the terminal fittings.
The present invention was developed in view of the above problem and an object thereof is to provide a connector in which terminal fittings whose connecting portions have different lengths along forward and backward directions are arranged in a mixed manner and with a higher degree of freedom in the arrangement of terminal fittings in a connector housing.


A hydraulically actuated electronically controlled unit injection system comprises a pressure intensifier associated with a hydraulically controlled differential valve (HDV) having a poppet valve opening into a working chamber of the pressure intensifier wherein there is a throttling slot between the poppet valve chamber and the working chamber with either at least a bypass channel between the poppet valve chamber and the working chamber or a bore connecting the working chamber to a control chamber of the HDV.

Some fuel injection systems have been designed as unit injectors which incorporate an hydraulically driven pressure intensifier with a stepped plunger for injecting fuel into the engine's cylinder and the fuel delivery and timing are controlled by an electronically controlled valve, also the spray pattern is controlled by means of modulating the base fuel pressure supplied to the unit injector. The present invention is similar to these unit injectors but improvements are added which are described herein which increase the injection pressure, decrease the amount of hydraulic energy required to drive and control the fuel injection system, improve the stability of fuel delivery in consecutive injections, reduce the minimum fuel delivery, allow for control of an injection pressure curve of the unit injector and improve its reliability. The present invention preferably also provides a method of reducing the noise level emanating from the engine.
The present invention concerns hydraulically actuated electronically controlled unit injection (HEUI) systems which are well known to the addressee. The closest art known to the present invention is that of SU-A-1671938, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
In a HEUI system, there is no cam for injection purposes and the fuel is supplied to the injectors under high pressure. The high pressure varies by means of a control signal from an engine management system and a top pressure may be 200 bars or around 3,000 psi and a bottom pressure could be 500 psi. The pressure is intensified within the injector. The fuel is then metered electronically and injected into the cylinder at pressures up to 27,000 psi or around 1800 bar.
The differences between the injector and injector system of the present invention and that of the Soviet specification mentioned above comprise firstly the inclusion of resilient means to bias an hydraulically controlled differential valve to its closed position; secondly, the inclusion of a throttling slot displaying the required characteristics. The Soviet specification reveals an hydraulic differential valve where the poppet end of that valve can close off the flow of fuel but in the present invention that part of the poppet and surrounds form a throttling slot with characteristics which alter the flow of fuel and alter the parameters under which the poppet will open or close. Specifically, the throttling slot provides a restriction such that the pressure in the poppet chamber is higher than the pressure in the working chamber in the injection part of the cycle and during the metering part of the cycle the throttling slot is designed to bring about a pressure difference which holds the HDV closed. The HDV in the Soviet design cannot carry out those functions due to the lack of a throttling slot and the lack of a by-pass channel between the control chamber and the poppet chamber.

Hydraulically actuated electronic fuel injection system


A lead frame includes a plurality of leads held by an insulative holding film and each formed of an inner lead portion for being bonded to a semiconductor chip and an outer lead portion, a pad portion formed at an end portion of the outer lead portion, an insulating film formed in a pattern so as to insulate the adjacent leads, a ground film formed on the pad portion and partially on the insulating film and having a wider area as compared with that of the pad portion, and a projecting electrode formed on the ground film.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lead frame and an integrated circuit package having a structure with pins of very large number obtained by jointing the above lead frame to a semiconductor chip.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a semiconductor device, i.e., an integrated circuit package in which a semiconductor chip can be connected to a circuit board or the like through an organic substrate having a projecting electrode formed of a solder ball or the like.
In FIG. 1, an organic multilayer circuit board a having about two to six layers formed of an organic material is mounted on its surface with a semiconductor tip b. An electrode of the semiconductor tip b and a wiring film c formed on a surface of the organic multilayer circuit board a are connected to each other by wire bonding employing metal wires d or the like.
A solder ball e is provided on a rear surface of the organic multilayer circuit board a and serve as a projecting electrode electrically connected through a through hole i to the wiring film c on the surface of the organic multilayer circuit board a. The solder ball e is faced to the outside through an opening of a solder resist film f. The semiconductor chip b together with the metal wire d are sealed by a sealing resin g.
An integrated circuit package j is formed such that the solder balls e formed on the rear surface of the organic multilayer circuit board a are connected to a circuit board h. Being provided with a large number of solder balls e arranged in a grid fashion, the organic multilayer circuit board a is often called a ball grid array (BGA). The integrated circuit package j employing the organic multilayer circuit board a is called a BGA package.
The BGA package j employs the wire bonding to connect the electrode of the semiconductor chip b with the wiring films c of the organic multilayer circuit board a. Therefore, this arrangement limits reduction of a pitch between electrode pads of the semiconductor chip b and inevitably enhances enlargement of the size of the semiconductor chip b.
The solder balls e in the BGA package j are provided physically. Therefore, when being set to predetermined positions, the solder balls e tend to be displaced, and there is a limit in arrangement of the solder balls e at a finer pitch. Since a large number of solder balls e are arranged in a grid fashion and the BGA package j is formed in a solid fashion by using the organic multilayer circuit board a, costs required for manufacturing the BGA package j is inevitably increased.
When the BGA package j is mounted on the circuit board h, the organic multilayer circuit board a sometimes becomes warped, which leads to the problem of the mounting.
The BGA package j cannot sufficiently radiate generated heat as a package having a large number pins, which prevents a high speed operation of the semiconductor device.
Since the solder balls e are formed in one layer, they cannot have both of satisfactory low-temperature bonding and satisfactory bonding strength.

Lead frame and integrated circuit package


A display control device includes circuitry configured to detect a specific object that is supported by an authentication target in an image, obtain content data associated with the specific object, the content data including a registered image of a registered user and positional information between the specific object and the registered image, and control a display to superimpose the registered image on the image at a position based on the positional information in order to provide a comparison between the authentication target and the registered user.

In the related art, there is a case in which identity verification by an operator (for example, security guard, or the like), not only authentication using identification information (ID) and a password of an access applicant is performed in an access management of a location or information. The identity verification operation by an operator is performed when the operator executes visual verification with respect to reference information such as a photograph (photograph of face or whole body) which is registered in advance, and a verification target. In addition, a related technology is disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2005-092700, and Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2012-239004.


Curable epoxy resin compositions, preferably solvent-free, wherein a fluorene amine curative is partially melt dissolved and partially dispersed as a solid in at least one aromatic polyepoxide. The compositions provide prepregs which exhibit tack with surprisingly good shelf life properties. Cured composites comprising the prepregs are also provided. The cured composites exhibit little resin migration and glass transition temperatures that are comparable to those of cured neat resins.

Fiber reinforced composites are rapidly emerging as a primary material for use in high performance applications such as manufacture of aircraft components. Fiber reinforced composites provide structural efficiency at lower densities compared to metallic structures, allowing for the manufacture of light weight, high strength components. Fiber reinforced composites may be prepared using a variety of techniques, for example, hand or automated layup of prepreg, filament winding, compression molding and resin transfer molding. Of these techniques, hand or automated layup of prepreg is most common.
A prepreg comprises a fiber reinforcement impregnated with an uncured or partially cured resin matrix. Prepregs are available in a variety of forms depending on the configuration of the fiber reinforcement. For example, when the fiber reinforcement comprises a fiber bundle (or tow), the prepreg is specifically referred to as a "towpreg". By way of another example, when the fiber reinforcement comprises a collimated series of fiber bundles, the prepreg is specifically referred to as "prepreg tape".
Prepregs are typically supplied to part fabricators who convert the material into cured composite components using heat and pressure to cure the resin. For example, when the prepreg is in the form of a tape, the part fabricator cuts lengths of the tape and places them on a tool surface in the desired ply orientation. This operation can be done manually or automatically and is generally referred to as "layup". When the tool has a complex or curved or vertical configuration, the prepreg preferably has good tack to hold the plies together and to the tool until layup is complete. The prepreg also preferably has good drape or conformability, allowing it to conform to the tool shape. Preferably, the prepreg cures uniformly to provide composite parts having high glass transition temperatures. This allows the cured composite to withstand a variety of stresses (such as elevated temperatures, mechanical stresses, exposure to solvents, etc.) without loss of structural integrity.
Epoxy resin compositions can be used as the resin matrix for prepregs. Several references describe epoxy resin compositions comprising fluorene amine curatives. U.S. Pat. No. 5,276,106 (Portelli et al.) describes a thermosettable epoxy resin composition prepared by dispersion of thermoplastic particles, curatives, hardeners, catalysts, and modifying additives into the epoxy resin at a temperature at which the thermosettable resin is liquid, generally at about 30.degree. C. to 60.degree. C. U.S. Pat. No. 4,684,678 (Schultz et al.) describes a thermally curable epoxy resin composition prepared by mixing aromatic polyepoxides and curing agent or agents and/or catalysts to form a substantially uniform mixture. WO 95/05411 (Hardy et al.) describes a thermally curable aromatic amine-epoxy composition prepared by combining a polyepoxy, a polyamine, and a cure accelerator with mixing until the solids are uniformly distributed.
While these compositions have proven useful for a variety of applications, a need still exists for an epoxy resin composition comprising fluorene amine curative that can be used to provide prepreg having tack, suitable viscosity characteristics even after aging, and which uniformly cures to provide cured composites that exhibit glass transition temperatures comparable to those of the corresponding cured neat resins (i.e., resins prepared without fiber reinforcement). Preferably, such an epoxy resin composition is solvent-free for environmental reasons and to preclude the presence of residuals which can cause porosity during cure, possibly resulting in reduced performance characteristics.

Prepregs of curable epoxy resin compositions with 9,9-Bis (4-aminophenyl) fluorenes as curatives


The present invention relates to an electron emitting device having a structure for efficiently emitting electrons. The electron emitting device has a substrate comprised of an n-type diamond, and a pointed projection provided on the substrate. The projection comprises a base provided on the substrate side, and an electron emission portion provided on the base and emitting electrons from the tip thereof. The base is comprised of an n-type diamond. The electron emission portion is comprised of a p-type diamond. The length from the tip of the projection (electron emission portion) to the interface between the base and the electron emission portion is preferably 100 nm or less.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electron emitting device extensively applicable to such apparatus as high-frequency amplifiers, microwave oscillators, light emitting devices, and electron beam lithography apparatus.
2. Related Background Art
The conventional electron emitting devices (electron sources) having been used heretofore include thermionic emission sources using a tungsten filament, cold cathodes using lanthanum hexaboride, thermal-field emission cathodes using zirconia-coated tungsten, and so on. Among materials applied to these electron emitting devices, diamond is drawing attention in recent years because of possession of negative electron affinity. Examples of the known electron emitting devices of this type include the electron emitting device in which a metal cathode is coated with diamond, as described in Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology B 14 (1996) 2060 (Document 1), the electron emitting device in which a layer with continuously varying bandgap is formed in a diamond emitter of projecting shape, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-154455 (Document 2), in order to effectively utilize the negative electron affinity of diamond, and the electron emitting device using a pn junction of diamond, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-67528 (Document 3).

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Electron emitting device with projection comprising base portion and electron emission portion


A sham for a travel pillow has a bottom panel, a left panel with three edges sewn to the bottom panel forming a left pocket, and a right panel with three edges sewn to the bottom panel forming a right pocket. The right panel overlaps the left panel form a single pillow pocket. A left handle is attached to the left side edge portion of the bottom panel and a right handle is attached to the right side edge portion of the bottom panel. The right side edge portion of the bottom panel folds over the left side edge portion of the bottom panel to thereby bring the left and right handles together for carrying the pillow sham. A zipper double stitched to the left and right side edges fastens the right side edge portion of the bottom panel to left side edge portion of the bottom panel while the right side edge portion of the bottom panel is folded over the left side edge portion of the bottom panel.

Pillow shams have been used to cover and decorate a conventional bed pillow. When traveling, many people prefer to carry a their personal bed pillow. They are accustomed to their personal pillow covered with a conventional pillow case. Regular bed pillows are generally larger in length and width than a travel pillow, such as those used on trains, buses and airplanes. Carrying a conventional bed pillow is often difficult because it is bulky and difficult to hold. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that it would be highly desirable to have a device that uses a personal bed pillow and that is easy to carry.


In one embodiment, a method for locating one or more leaks in a power generating system while the power generating system is online includes adding a detectable gas to a cooling system of a power generating system while the power generating system is online. The detectable gas is capable of absorbing light having one or more particular properties. The method also includes directing light having the one or more particular properties at a section of the power generating system and viewing the section of the power generating system to determine whether detectable gas emanating from the section of the power generating system is absorbing light directed at the section of the power generating system. Detectable gas emanating from the section of the power generating system would indicate a leak in the power generating system.

In a typical power generating system, a cooling system circulates hydrogen gas through the power generating system to cool one or more components of the power generating system when in service. Leaks often occur at seals, joints, or other areas on components of the power generating system, and hydrogen gas in the cooling system often leaks out of the power generating system through such leaks. Because hydrogen gas is extremely flammable, such leaks are often hazardous. Such leaks also tend to increase costs associated with operating the power generating system. To maintain operating pressure inside the cooling system, an operator of the power generating system might need to replace the hydrogen gas leaking out of the cooling system. Costs associated with replacing the hydrogen gas leaking out of the cooling system tend to increase costs associated with operating the power generating system online.
To locate one or more leaks in a cooling system of a power generating system, an operator of the power generating system typically takes the power generating system offline, removes all hydrogen gas from the cooling system, and pumps a mixture of air and helium gas into the cooling system. The operator then uses a device for detecting helium gas to locate one or more general areas where helium gas is leaking from the cooling system and applies soapy water to the power generating system where the operator detected helium leaking from the cooling system. The operator then looks for gas bubbling out through the soapy water to attempt to pinpoint the leaks and, if the operator pinpoints the leaks, makes repairs to the power generating system to fix the leaks. To determine whether such repairs have adequately stopped leakage from the cooling system, the operator typically repeats the above process, which usually takes several days to complete. Because the power generating system is offline and not generating power sellable to customers, the operator often loses revenue during the above process.

Locating one or more leaks in a power generating system while the power generating system is online


In a compact camera including a flash unit that pivots between a folded storage position integrated with the camera body and an unfolded use position elevated from the camera body, the flash unit has respective parts that lie within separate cavities in the rear, top, and one end of the camera body when the flash unit is in its storage position.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to photography, and in particular to a compact camera with a pivotally folding flash unit. More specifically, the invention relates to a compact camera having a flash unit that is flipped up from the camera body for use and is flipped down towards the camera body for storage.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A current trend in most camera design is to incorporate an electronic flash unit in the camera housing and yet make the housing relatively small in order to improve its ease of storage, portability and handling. As a consequence of making the camera housing small, however, the separation between the built-in flash unit and the taking lens is reduced, which possibly creates an undesirable effect commonly known as "red-eye". When using a flash unit and color print film, red-eye is typified by the pupils in the eyes of a person being photographed coming out red-tinted on a resulting color print. This phenomenon is attributable to the incidence into the taking lens of the red light reflected from the retinas in the person's eyes illuminated by the flash light.
Red-eye may be substantially avoided by increasing the separation between the flash unit and the taking lens. As a result, the light emitted from the flash unit will reach the eyes of a person being photographed at too great an angle to be reflected by his or her retinas into the taking lens. In this connection, U.S. Pat. No. 4,261,658, issued Apr. 14, 1981, discloses a compact camera comprising a camera body, a taking lens, and a flash unit pivotally supported for swinging movement about a pivot axis parallel to an optical axis of the taking lens between a folded storage position received within a top cavity in a top face of the camera body and an unfolded use position standing up out of the top cavity to increase the separation between the flash unit and the taking lens.


A method for configuring an electronic device having an equalizer suited for processing a numeric audio signal according to an objective equalization improves the equalization of the numeric audio signal. The equalizer has a transfer function that implements a set of band-pass filters having a constant band-pass and a configurable weight in the transfer function. The method provides a set of objective gains representing the objective equalization, with each objective gain corresponding to a respective frequency. The method also determines values of the weights of the band-pass filters that minimize an error evaluated by comparing the set of objective gains to the transfer function. The set of band-pass filters includes at least one pair of band-pass filters having a common central frequency and distinct band-passes. The method also sets the weights of the band-pass filters to the determined values.

Digital (i.e. numeric) audio Equalization (also noted EQ or EQUA) is a widely known functionality needed in many audio applications, such as the enhancement of audio rendering in music player configuration or the correction of audio transducers such as loudspeakers or microphones. Among equalization techniques, graphic audio equalization allows the user to modify the audio equalization curve visually and in real-time. A graphic equalizer generally presents a limited amount of spectral bands and the user of the equalizer is free to modify the amplitude, generally in a decibel (dB) scale, in a limited range for each band (e.g. between −12 dB and +12 dB).
Many audio graphic equalization realizations exist. The complexity of realizations usually depends on the relying technology (whether the signal is analog or digital). A vast literature describes many ways of realizing graphic audio equalizers suited for processing a numeric audio signal. Different designs correspond to different needs.
One category of graphic audio equalizers suited for processing a numeric audio signal relies on multi-rate implementations with a polyphase analysis (respectively synthesis) network. These are known as efficient digital implementations for uniform filter bank. With these equalizers, a tree structured filter bank can implement logarithmic scaled bands. Multi-rate solutions are efficient but quite complex to realize. Thus, multi-rate implementations are not appropriate for low-latency applications.
Another category of graphic audio equalizers suited for processing a numeric audio signal relies on a FIR direct-form implementation with an adhoc FIR coefficient optimization procedure, such as the well known least-square procedure. This design method is well suited for linear-phase filter design cases. However, these equalizers also present a high latency. Furthermore, a FIR direct-form implementation requires a large amount of taps (and therefore a significant complexity) in order to cover low-frequency bands.
A last category of graphic audio equalizers suited for processing a numeric audio signal relies on a bank (i.e. a set) of band-pass filters, tuneable in gain. Such equalizers have an improved latency and a simple architecture.
The filters of the bank may be of constant band-pass. The paper entitled "Using Stereo 10-Band Graphic Equalizer using the DSP56001", Motorola, 1988 provides an example of a graphic equalizer belonging to this last category with ten bands implemented as a constant band-pass biquadratic filter. In other words, the band-pass, or the quality factor (Q), is not tuneable. Such equalizers present an issue of spectral ripples, notably when similar gains are given in adjacent bands. The paper entitled "Graphic Equalizer design Using High-Order Recursive Filters", M. Holters, U. Zölzer, Proc of DAFx-06, 2006, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,687,104, discuss ways of limiting such spectral ripples. However, the issue of ripples remains significant.
Other graphic equalizers belonging to this last category, based on variable-Q filters (e.g. band-pass filters with a tuneable, i.e. configurable, band-pass), such as the solution discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,266,205 B2 allow a better control of the ripple phenomenon. The implementation of variable-Q filters however presents some issues, notably within the context of fixed-point processors. Variable-Q filters may present ringing audio artefacts when IIR parameters are switched (while the signal is processed). Also, local filter divergence or clipping may occur when IIR parameters are interpolated. Finally, there may be a formation of limit cycles when the system returns to rest. This is notably due to the fact that variable-Q filters have variable parameters that belong to feedback loops.


The present invention is directed to novel benzodiazepine derivatives which are synthesized for the covalent attachment to antigens (proteins or polypeptides) for the preparation of antibodies or receptors to the benzodiazepine metabolites. The resulting novel antigens may be used for the production of antibodies or receptors using standard methods. Once generated, the antibodies or receptors and the novel derivatives which are covalently attached to proteins, polypeptides or labels may be used in the immunoassay process.

Benzodiazepines are a class of drugs which possess sedative and tranquilizing properties. The benzodiazepines are used clinically to treat a variety of ailments, including depression, anxiety, insomnia and muscle spasms. The class of benzodiazepines include alprazolam, bromazepam, clonazepam, diazepam, flunitrazepam, flurazepam, halazepam, lorazepam, medazepam, nitrazepam, oxazepam, prazepam, quazepam, temazepam and triazolam. The abuse of benzodiazepines has prompted a need to monitor the concentration in urine. Benzodiazepines are metabolized to a variety of derivatives and the majority of the metabolites are excreted in the urine as glucuronides, for example, see Clin. Pharm. Ther. 19, 443 (1976), Arz. Forsch. 22, 687 (1972) and Clin. Pharm. Ther. 20, 329 (1976).
The preparation of antibodies to benzodiazepine metabolites requires the synthesis of a benzodiazepine derivative in order to covalently attach the derivative to an antigenic polypeptide or protein. In addition, the benzodiazepine derivative is covalently attached to various polypeptides, proteins or labels for use in screening antibodies and in the immunoassay process. The benzodiazepine derivative should mimic the structure of the benzodiazepine metabolite sought to be measured. Therefore, the selection and synthesis of the types of benzodiazepine derivatives for covalent attachment to proteins, polypeptides or labels is critical. In addition, the benzodiazepine derivatives need to be stable and soluble in an aqueous solution.
Benzodiazepine compounds and conjugates for immunization and immunoassay have been described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,046,636, 4,083,948, 4,243,654 and 4,869,895.


According to one aspect, a system that supports an undeployed airbag is arranged to enable the airbag to be substantially cradled while undeployed, and to enable the airbag to be deployed in a manner that substantially protects a vehicle panel positioned over the airbag from being severely damaged when the airbag deploys. Such a system may enable the undeployed airbag to be attached to the vehicle panel such that the panel may deform upon deployment of the airbag to substantially absorb some deployment energy. The absorption of some deployment energy may effectively reduce the likelihood of a person being injured, or an object being severely damaged, upon contact with a deploying or deployed airbag.

Vehicles are often faced with obstacles as the vehicles navigate roads. Obstacles generally include pedestrians who may choose to cross into the path of a vehicle without regard for their own safety. The ability for vehicles such as autonomous vehicles to avoid collisions with obstacles is crucial to protect pedestrians. However, there may be unavoidable collisions that may arise when an autonomous vehicle may not reasonably avoid impact with a pedestrian. In such cases, the ability to protect a pedestrian as much as possible during a collision is critical.

Methods and apparatus for implementing an external airbag


A method for recursively determining alignment of a flight vehicle during flight is provided. The method includes generating data in a reference coordinate frame and in a second coordinate frame at a plurality of points in time during the flight, recursively generating first and second matrices from the data in the reference coordinate frame and the second coordinate frame, and at each point in time, determining an alignment output based on the inverted first matrix and the second matrix.

Weapons systems have been developed that include reentry bodies that with guidance and navigation systems to control reentry of the body after separation from a launch vehicle. To accurately control the trajectory of the reentry body, the guidance and navigation system of the reentry body uses position, velocity and orientation information. Typically, the reentry body has an inertial measurement unit (IMU) to provide data to the guidance and navigation system during reentry.
The launch vehicle typically also has a guidance and navigation system along with appropriate sensors, e.g., an IMU, etc. The IMU in the launch vehicle has its own reference frame; commonly called the inertial frame (I-frame). Similarly, the IMU in the reentry vehicle has its own reference frame; commonly referred to as the pseudo-inertial frame (P-frame). To allow the reentry vehicle to properly navigate after separation from the launch vehicle, flight systems commonly determine the orientation of the P-frame with respect to the I-frame using, e.g., a Kalman filter. The Kalman filter outputs information used by the reentry body's navigation computer to determine the vehicle position and velocity in the reference I-frame.
Unfortunately, the Kalman filter is complex and difficult to implement. Specifically, the Kalman filter requires an initial estimate of the relative orientations of the I-frame and P-frame such that the small angle approximation is valid. A poor initial estimate could lead to divergence of the Kalman filter even when there is complete observability of the relative orientations.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for an alignment mechanism in a flight vehicle that does not require an a priori estimate that is good enough for the small angle approximation to be valid.

Alignment of a flight vehicle based on recursive matrix inversion


A method and apparatus are provided for reading a radiation image that has been stored in a photostimulable phosphor screen including a divalent europium activated cesium halide phosphor wherein the halide is at least one of chloride and bromide. The screen is scanned by a laser spot having a diameter which is less than 100 micrometer.

The present invention relates to a method and a system for reading a radiation image that has been stored in a photostimulable phosphor screen.
Radiation image recording systems wherein a radiation image is recorded on a photostimulable phosphor screen by exposing the screen to image-wise modulated penetrating radiation are widely used nowadays.
The recorded image is reproduced by stimulating the exposed photostimulable phosphor screen by means of stimulating radiation and by detecting the light that is emitted by the phosphor screen upon stimulation and converting the detected light into an electrical signal representation of the radiation image.
In several applications e.g. in mammography, sharpness of the image is a very critical parameter.
Sharpness of an image that has been read out of a photostimulable phosphor screen depends not only on the sharpness and resolution of the screen itself but also on the resolution obtained by the read out system which is used.
In conventional read out systems used nowadays a scanning unit of the flying spot type is commonly used. Such a scanning unit comprises a source of stimulating radiation, e.g. a laser light source, means for deflecting light emitted by the laser so as to form a scanning line on the photostimulable phosphor screen and optical means for focussing the laser beam onto the screen.
Examples of such systems are the Agfa Diagnostic Systems, denominated by the trade name ADC 70 and Agfa Compact. In these systems photostimulable phosphor screens are commonly used which comprise a BaFBr:Eu phosphor.
The resolution of the read out apparatus is mainly determined by the spot size of the laser beam. This spot size in its turn depends on the characteristics of the optical light focussing arrangement.
It has been recognised that optimizing the resolution of a scanning system may result in loss of optical collection efficiency of the focussing optics. As a consequence an important fraction of the laser light is not focussed onto the image screen.
A severe prejudice exists against the use of systems having an optical collection efficiency of the focussing optics which is less than 50% because these systems were expected not to deliver an adequate amount of power to the screen in order to read out this screen to a sufficient extent within an acceptable scanning time.
For example in the case of a BaFBr:Eu phosphor a minimal power value of 15 mW on the screen is required to read the image to a sufficient extent within a reasonable time.
Even when all the light emitted by the laser would be captured by the focussing optics, the optical collection efficiency would still not be higher than 50% because of reflections at the optical elements and because of losses at mirrors that are used in the system.
Applying a scanning system that only captures 50% or less of the laser light reduces the collection efficiency to 25% and hence would require the use of a laser which is stronger than 60 mW.
This requirement needs to be complemented by the requirement to have a small emitting area.
Both requirements are hard to solve by means of an inexpensive solution.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and a system for reading a radiation image that has been stored in a photostimulable phosphor screen.
It is a further object of the invention to provide such a method and system that yields a high sharpness.
The above mentioned objects are realised by a method according to claim 1.
Another aspect of the invention relates to an apparatus as set out in claim 6.
Specific features for preferred embodiments of the invention are set out in the dependent claims.
According to the present invention a screen comprising a divalent europium activated cesium halide phosphor wherein said halide is at least one of chloride and bromide is used. The laser beam which is used to stimulate the screen is focussed so that the spot diameter of the laser spot emitted by that laser, measured between 1/e2 points of the gaussian profile of the laser beam, is smaller than 100 micrometer, preferably even smaller than 50 micrometer.
The present invention provides a solution to the prior art problems described in the introductory part of the present invention.
The use of the divalent europium activated cesium halide phosphor allows the use of focussing optics with a low collection efficiency.
In this way the scanning unit can be optimized with regard to small laser spot size on the phosphor screen so that a high resolution system is obtained.
Because the divalent europium activated cesium halide phosphor inherently has a very good optical stimulablility, occasional loss of optical efficiency which originates from the measures taken to obtain a small laser spot size, becomes acceptable. The occasional loss of optical efficiency does not deteriorate the overall image quality obtained in the radiation image read out system, nor does it have a negative effect on the overall throughput of the system.
The photostimulable phosphor screen applied in the present invention comprises a divalent europium activated cesium halide phosphor wherein said halide is at least one of chloride and bromide.
Such a phosphor is known in the art and has for example been disclosed in EP-A-174 875 (and U.S. Pat. No. 5,028,509). The phosphor is especially well suited for manufacturing xe2x80x98binderlessxe2x80x99 phosphor screens. Binderless phosphor screens provide optimal sharpness.
It is advantageous however to use a CsX:Eu phosphor wherein X represents a halide selected from the group consisting of Br and Cl which is obtained by the following method:
mixing CsX with between 10xe2x88x923 and 5 mol % of a Europium compound selected from the group consisting of EuXxe2x80x22, EuXxe2x80x23 and EuOXxe2x80x2, Xxe2x80x2 being a member selected from the group consisting of F, Cl, Br and I,
firing the mixture at a temperature above 450xc2x0 C.
cooling said mixture and
recovering the CsX:Eu phosphor.
A phosphor that has been obtained as a result of the above method of preparation has an increased conversion efficiency compared to the state of the art divalent europium activated cesium halide phosphor. The phosphor can be stimulated by means of a lower amount of stimulating light energy.
A photostimulable phosphor screen using such a phosphor is preferably obtained by the method of
preparing said CsX:Eu phosphor by firing a mixture of said CsX with between 10-3 and 5 mol % of an Europium compound selected from the group consisting of EuXxe2x80x22, EuXxe2x80x23 and EuOXxe2x80x2, Xxe2x80x2 being a halide selected from the group consisting of F, Cl, Br and I and
applying said phosphor on a substrate by a method selected from the group consisting of physical vapor deposition, thermal vapor deposition, chemical vapor deposition, radio frequency deposition and pulsed laser deposition.
This method of preparation is advantageous because it allows to deposit the phosphor in the form of needle-shaped crystals. These needle-shaped phosphor crystals act as light guides so that they reduce the lateral spreading of light in the phosphor layer. Reduced lateral light spread leads to images of higher resolution.
Alternatively a phosphor screen containing a CsX:Eu stimulable phosphor, wherein X represents a halide selected from the group consisting of Br and Cl can also be manufactured by performing the steps of:
bringing multiple containers of said CsX and an Europium compound selected from the group consisting of EuXxe2x80x22, EuXxe2x80x23 and EuOXxe2x80x2, Xxe2x80x2 being a halide selected from the group consisting of F, Cl, Br and I in condition for vapor deposition and
depositing, by a method selected from the group consisting of physical vapor deposition, thermal vapor deposition, chemical vapor deposition, electron beam deposition, radio frequency deposition and pulsed laser deposition, both said CsX and said Europium compound on a substrate in such a ratio that on said substrate a CsX phosphor, doped with between 10xe2x88x923 and 5 mol % of an Europium compound, is formed.
This method of preparation is advantageous because it likewise allows to deposit the phosphor in the form of needle-shaped crystals. These needle-shaped phosphor crystals act as light guides so that they reduce the lateral spreading of light in the phosphor layer. Reduced lateral light spread leads to images of higher resolution.
The above phosphors and screen preparation methods have been described in the following U.S. provisional applications which are incorporated by reference into the present application: Nos. 60/159,004 and 60/142,276.
Further advantages and embodiments of the present invention will become apparent from the following description and drawings.

Method and apparatus for reading a radiation image that has been stored in a photostimulable screen


The invention relates to novel polynucleotides which encode novel polypeptides that are acetylcholine-gated chloride channel subunits and immunogenic or acetylcholine-binding fragments thereof. The novel polypeptides may be used for identifying compounds that modulate the acetylcholine-gated chloride channels, e.g. for use as pesticides and antiparasitic agents. Methods for identifying compounds that modulate the acetylcholine-gated chloride channels are provided.

Many successful pesticides and anti-nematode agents target ligand-gated ion channels (LGICs). Examples include dieldrin, which targets insect A-type gamma-aminobutyric acid receptors (GABAA receptors) (Ffrench-Constant R H, Rocheleau T A, Steichen J C, Chalmers A E (1993) A point mutation in a Drosophila GABA receptor confers insecticide resistance. Nature 363:449-451.), imidicloprid, which targets insect nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) (Zwart R, Oortgiesen M, Vijverberg H P M (1994) Nitromethylene heterocycles: selective agonists of nicotinic receptors in locust neurons compared to mouse N1E-115 and CBC3H1 cells. Pest Biochem Physiol 202-213.), levamisole, which targets nematode nAChRs (Fleming J T, Squire M D, Barnes T M, Tornoe C, Matsuda K, Ahnn J, Fire A, Sulston J E, Barnard E A, Sattelle D B, Lewis J A (1997) Caenorhabditis elegans levamisole resistance genes lev-1, unc-29, and unc-38 encode functional nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunits. J Neurosci 17:5843-5857; Harrow I D, Gration K A F (1985) Mode of action of the anthelmintics morantel, pyrantel and levamisole on the muscle cell membrane of the nematode Ascaris suum. Pest Sci 16:662-672), and ivermectin, which targets nematode and insect glutamate-gated chloride channels (GluCls) (Cully D F, Paress P S, Liu K K, Schaeffer J M, Arena J P (1996) Identification of a Drosophila melanogaster glutamate-gated chloride channel sensitive to the antiparasitic agent avermectin. J Biol Chem 271:20187-20191. Cully D F, Vassilatis D K, Liu K K, Paress P S, Van der Ploeg L H, Schaeffer J M, Arena J P (1994) Cloning of an avermectin-sensitive glutamate-gated chloride channel from Caenorhabditis elegans. Nature 371:707-711.).
However, the evolution of resistance to pesticides and anti-nematode agents in exposed populations requires an ongoing search for new drug targets.

Polynucleotides encoding acetylcholine-gated chloride channel subunits of


Apparatus and methods for the communication of data in a printing device are described. The apparatus enable communication between a control system and a plurality of printhead controllers. They have respective interface controllers for encoding and decoding one or more data streams that are communicated via a coupling medium. Print data is encoded for transmission as one or more data streams with a deterministic latency. Packet-based control data is also embedded in the one or more data streams. After receipt, the print data and the packet-based control data are extracted from the one or more data streams for control of at least the plurality of printhead controllers. Status data may also be encoded as a data stream and sent back to the control system.

Certain printers use one or more printbars to print an image on a print medium. In an ink-jet printer, a printbar may comprise one or more printheads with a plurality of nozzles to eject liquid ink onto a print medium. Ink is ejected from each nozzle using a transducer. In a thermal ink-jet printer, the transducer comprises a nozzle resister; in other ink-jet printers the transducer may comprise a piezoelectric element. Continuous ink-jet printing is also possible, wherein ejected ink is directed onto a print medium using an electro-magnetic field. In most cases, the ejection of ink by a transducer is controlled by a voltage signal, sometimes referred to as a firing signal. Commonly, one or more printbars of a printing device are mounted above a media transport that transports a print medium along a path under said printbars. In these cases, ink is ejected across a gap formed below the one or more printbars and is deposited on to the print medium carried by the media transport.
Typically, a print controller or print engine needs to generate firing signals for a plurality of printheads located in one or more printbars based on an image to be printed. Due to the location of the one or more printbars above the media transport, the print controller or print engine is often located in a central printer structure or in a coupled computing device. The print controller or print engine thus sends nozzle firing signals to individual printheads over a plurality of printhead data lines that extend between the central printer structure (or coupled computing device) and the printbar. The nozzle firing data is unidirectional and time-dependent; the transducers need to be accurately controlled in time in order to print a suitable image on a print medium. In many cases it is also not possible to guarantee when the printing data will be generated; for example, this depends on the image to be printed and real-time processes such as those based on encoder signals and print media location. A printhead monitoring and control bus may also be supplied. Since the printing data flow is unidirectional and it is not possible to guarantee when the printing data will be generated, the printhead control data needs to travel on its own control bus.
Existing configurations are suitable for scanning printer configurations with a relatively low number of printheads. However, as the number of printheads increase, for example as found in page-wide-array, there are problems with a reliability of communicated data and hardware complexity and cost.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


The invention refers to a reheat burner that includes a flow channel for a hot gas flow with a lance arranged along said flow channel, protruding into the flow channel for injecting a fuel over an injection plane perpendicular to a channel longitudinal axis, wherein the channel and lance define a vortex generation zone upstream of the injection plane and a mixing zone downstream of the injection plane in the hot gas flow direction. The mixing zone provides at least one axially region having different cross sectional areas along its longitudinal axis with continuously changing shape, or having non circular cross section areas which change location along its longitudinal axis by continuously rotation around the longitudinal axis.

Sequential combustion gas turbines are known to comprise a first burner, wherein a fuel is injected into a compressed air stream to be combusted generating hot gases that are partially expanded in a high pressure turbine.
The hot gases coming from the high pressure turbine, which are still rich in oxygen, are then fed into a reheat burner, which is commonly named as second stage combustion, wherein a further fuel is injected there into to be mixed and combusted in a combustion chamber downstream of the reheat burner; the hot gases generated are then expanded in a low pressure turbine.
The reheat burner of the sequential combustion gas turbine has a duct which is often square, quadrangular or trapezoidal in shape, enclosing static vortex generators typically made of tetraedrical elements connected to the walls in an upstream region of the duct and extending into the duct partially.
Downstream of the vortex generators the reheat burner has a lance made of a straight tubular element placed perpendicularly to the direction of the hot gases flow and provided with a terminal portion that is parallel to the direction of the hot gases flow. The terminal portion usually has more than one nozzle that injects the fuel.
During operation the hot gases flow passes through the turbulence generators, for example vortex generators, flute VG lance, flute lobes lance, by increasing its vortices; afterwards the fuel is injected through the lance such that it mixes with the hot gases flow.
Currently downstream of the lance mixing is basically enhanced by a reduction of the cross sectional area of the burner duct, which reduces the effective diameter to length ratio of the burner. In order to minimise the combustor pressure loss the cross sectional area is increased again towards the end of the mixing zone. Such a reheat burner is disclosed in EP 2 420 730 A2 for example. This cross sectional area increase at the downstream end region of the burner duct is limited by potential separation of the flow from the ducts' walls within the mixing zone. Therefore a conflict between achievable mixing quality and pressure loss exists.
Providing large scale and/or small scale structures along the mixing zone for the purpose of increasing vortices is not the means to encounter the problems due to the risk of recirculation zones and therefore flame holding inside the mixing zone. It is also exacerbated that turbulences, which were created by vortex generators and/or lances decreases constantly inside the mixing zone in flow direction. Therefore mixing does not happen as effective towards the end of the mixing zone as it does close to the injection.
Furthermore, in order to increase the gas turbine efficiency and performances, the temperature of the hot gases circulating through the reheat burner should be increased. Such a temperature increase causes the delicate equilibrium among all the parameters to be missed, such that a reheat burner operating with hot gases having a higher temperature than the design temperature may have flashback, NOx, CO emissions, water consumption and pressure drop problems.
To encounter these constraints partially a reheat burner is proposed, see EP 2 420 730 A2, having a mixing zone with a cross section of diverging side walls in the hot gas flow direction, wherein the diverging side walls define curved surfaces in the hot gas flow direction having a constant radius.
Another proposal for reducing the narrative problems is disclosed in EP 2 420 731 A1 which discloses a reheat burner providing a high speed area with a constant cross section along the mixing zone. Downstream in hot gas flow direction to the high speed area a diffusion area borders with a flared cross section.
It is known that at the downstream end of the mixing zone between the mixing zone and the combustion chamber a step in cross section has the effect of a flame holder.

Reheat burner and method of mixing fuel/carrier air flow within a reheat burner


In an apparatus at a carding machine having a web removal and sliver formation device, there are provided, following on from the web removal device, a web funnel and a pair of draw-off rollers, which are arranged to pivot together with a rotary mounting. In order to provide an apparatus which is dimensionally stable and which facilitates servicing work, the web-guiding element, on the one hand, and the web funnel together with the pair of draw-off rollers, on the other hand, are arranged to pivot separately about the rotary mounting and are connected to one another by a locking and unlocking device.

The invention relates to an apparatus at a carding machine having a web removal and sliver formation device, wherein there are provided, following on from the web removal device, a web-guiding element, a web funnel and a pair of draw-off rollers (calender rollers), which are arranged to pivot about a rotary mounting.
In a known apparatus, a screw connection is provided between the web-guiding element, the draw-off rollers (calendering mechanism) and the draw-off roller covering. In order to be able to carry out maintenance and servicing work on the calendering mechanism, the screw connections have to be released and removed, which can be done only by using tools. Because the fastening is screwed through several components in succession and consists partly of sheet metal edge parts, dimensional discrepancies can occur in the spacing dimension between the web-guiding element and the associated nip roller. Even when the web-guiding element (for example "Webspeed" web-guiding device) is completely disassembled, the accessibility of the calendering rollers (draw-off rollers) is still inadequate.
It is an aim of the to provide an apparatus of the kind described at the beginning which avoids or mitigates the mentioned disadvantages and which especially is dimensionally stable and facilitates maintenance and servicing work.

Apparatus at a carding machine having a web removal and silver formation device


An array of hollow fibers including a plurality of hollow fibers of a predetermined diameter configured to receive a gas having oxygen therein and transfer the oxygen to a fluid and/or transfer carbon dioxide in the fluid to a gas. The array is configured in a predetermined pattern having a predetermined packing density that is a fraction of a total cross-sectional area of the array occupied by the hollow fibers.

Conventional hollow fiber oxygenators may be used to oxygenate the blood for patients suffering with diseased or damaged lungs. One conventional oxygenator, often referred to as a wrapped hollow fiber oxygenator, relies on hollow fibers wrapped around a hollow core. The wrapped design often results in a random or irregular spacing of the hollow fibers. Additionally, because the hollow fibers are wrapped about a hollow core, there is a relatively large amount of void space in the oxygenator. Such a design may compromise the efficiency of the oxygenator.
Another conventional oxygenator, often referred to as a bundled oxygenator, relies on an array of hollow fibers bundled together potted in glue at each end. The glue is then cut to form a header on each end of the array. The bundling design of the array typically results in a random arrangement of hollow fiber which prevents the hollow fibers from being packed closely and in a regular pattern which may compromise the efficiency of the oxygenator.

Array of hollow fibers and a system and method of manufacturing same


An orthopedic fixation assembly, an orthopedic fixation system, and a traction bow assembly are provided. The orthopedic fixation assembly includes a first arm configured for positioning at a first side of a traction location, a second arm configured for positioning at a second side of the traction location, and a joint connecting the first arm to the second arm.

Particular circumstances, including an increase in vehicles in many countries, have increased the frequency of skeletal fractures, such as femur and pelvic fractures to name non-limiting examples, in pedestrians and animals, such as when struck by vehicles. Upon fracturing a bone, such as a femur, a person is typically immobilized for a period of time during which the leg is placed in traction.
Traction involves positioning a pin, wire, screw, or other object through the fractured bone. A traction bow, a Kirschner wire tractor, or similar device typically fixes the pin, wire, screw, or other object from each side of the fractured bone or another nearby bone. The traction bow or other device is attached to an orthopedic fixation system or structure to apply tension to and/or fix the traction bow or other device and/or bone to create and maintain the necessary tractive force to keep the fractured ends of the bone in a desired relationship, often against contractive forces of the large muscles, such as one or more structures or systems described in Zimmer Traction Handbook: A Complete Reference Guide to the Basics of Traction, published in 2006 by Zimmer Orthopaedic Surgical Products, Inc. and hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety herein.
For some fractures, the traction device may be positioned at a limb extremity. Due to the geometry of conventional traction devices, a portion of the limb or body part, such as a knee in the case of a femur fracture, may contact, press against, or otherwise interfere with the traction device. Such interference may result in discomfort, pressure sores, or even lacerations to the limb or body part. Further, a conventional traction bow assembly includes several moveable parts between a rotating adjustment part and expandable arms. The collection of interconnected parts results in imprecise control and a relatively loose and insecure assembly.
Accordingly, there exists a need for an orthopedic fixation assembly, an orthopedic fixation system, and a traction bow assembly that provide a desired tractive force without discomfort or injury to the patient. Further, there exists a need for an orthopedic fixation assembly, an orthopedic fixation system, and a traction bow assembly that improve control and handling of the conventional traction device.

Orthopedic fixation assembly and orthopedic fixation system


A method and a system embodying the method for automatic generation of a verification environment, comprising providing a first model of an application-specific instruction-set processor; providing a second model of the application-specific instruction-set processor; and generating automatically the verification environment from the first model and the second model is disclosed.

1. Field
The present invention relates to processor design. More particularly, this invention is directed toward automatic generation of verification environment for processor design and verification.
2. Description of Related Technology
Electronic devices play an important role in our daily life, being used in various areas, e.g., entertainment (game consoles), communication (mobile phones), health care (diagnostic equipment), and the like. The functionality of such devices may use dedicated hardware units or processors. Dedicated hardware units may achieve high performance, low power consumption, and are usually employed in specialized devices. In contrast, their specialized function is disadvantageous in devices requiring changes due to, e.g., changes to the specifications, transition to the new standard, and similar events, where processors are preferred due to their programmability.
General purpose processor may be characterized as a processor which is not tied to or integrated with a particular application domain or piece of software. This flexibility comes with at the expense of size of an area on a chip, power consumption, and processing efficiency when execution a specialized application.
In contrast, application-specific instruction-set processor (ASIP) is a processor designed for applications, having specific requirements. By means of an example mobile devices, e.g., mobile phones require low power consumption, while requiring only specialized processing capability. Because the requirements of a target application are known, the design can be optimized for the requirement, e.g., low power consumption, size of an area on a chip, adequate processing efficiency, and other requirements known to a person of ordinary skills in the art. The optimization is achieved by implementing some software functionality in hardware and adapting the instruction set to the target application.
Development of an ASIP starts with determining requirements for the ASIP in accordance with the target application; the requirements being summarized in ASIP specifications. Traditionally, the development comprises several iterations usually done manually. In the first step of the iteration, tools for programming and estimation of the ASIP performance are developed from the ASIP specifications. Such tools may comprise e.g., higher programming language compiler, assembler, simulator, or profiler. These tools serve for a development of an instruction set. First, the required instructions are identified, by compiling the target application to be executed on the ASIP from the higher programming language in which the application is initially written. In this aspect, the term compiling is understood as translation of the higher programming language application into executable file, by means of a compiler, an assembler and a linker. The executable file is then executed by the ASIP. The simulator or profiler of the ASIP simulates the application compiled into the executable file so that debugging may be carried out before the ASIP design is committed to a physical processor implementation (target hardware technology), e.g., on a silicon chip, or a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). The results of the simulation/profiling may indicate a need to change/optimize the instruction set and/or a need to change the ASIP specifications. Of course, any such change requires another iteration, changing of all the tools, a task demanding on both time and resources, since the changes are carried out manually.
In the next step, after the instruction set was stabilized, the optimal micro-architecture is designed in accordance with the ASIP specifications. Micro-architecture is an implementation of an architecture, wherein the architecture comprises an instruction set, registers and other components exposed to the programmer. Consequently, the micro-architecture design comprises design decision regarding, e.g., the number and types of Arithmetic Logic Units (ALUs), how many stages a pipeline has, connection to a memory subsystem, registers, and other design decision known to a person of ordinary skill in the art. After the micro-architecture is designed, the instruction set and the micro-architecture is re-evaluated in view of the target application and target hardware technology. This re-evaluation may affect only the micro-architecture, only the instruction set, or both. As mentioned supra, any such change requires changes of all the tools.
The above-mentioned complexity resulted in development of Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tools, automating the above-described tasks. One category of the EDA tools comprises tools for ASIP design. These tools eliminate or at least mitigate the design complexity, allow shorter development time, and deliver the resulting product in higher quality.
A class of the EDA tools is focused on generating programming and simulation tools, e.g., high level programming language (HLL) compiler, assembler, simulators, debugger, profiler, as well as hardware description in hardware description languages, e.g., VHSIC Hardware Description Language (VHDL), Verilog, and other languages known to a person of ordinary skills in the art in accordance with the ASIP specifications. To describe an instruction set and micro-architecture of an ASIP, Architecture Description Languages (ADL) have been developed. ADL languages can be divided into two main categories. The first category of languages allows modification of a limited part of the ASIP; the un-modifiable part is given by a template. An example of an ADL using templates is a Tensilica Instruction Extension (TIE), which is further limited to customization of the Xtensa processor core architecture. The second category allows to describe and modify all parts of ASIP. Examples of this category are Language for Instruction Set Architectures (LISA), nML, Codasip Architecture Language (CodAL).
The latter category of languages provides two levels of abstraction. The first level of abstraction, simpler and targeted at design space exploration (DSE), i.e., exploring optimal instruction set, is the instruction accurate description (IA). IA model is primarily aimed at the description of instruction set architecture (ISA) and defines instructions without any ties to the micro-architecture or target hardware technology. The hardware cannot be generated from the IA model, but is suitable for generating at least some of the programming and simulation tools.
The second level of abstraction, the cycle accurate (CA), is targeted at micro-architecture design for the target hardware technology. From the CA model a processor hardware description is generated in the hardware description languages.
As disclosed supra, the traditional design approach is to use the IA model to develop the description of instruction set architecture. The IA model is either designed by the user of the EDA tool, or is supplied by the EDA tool provider. Alternatively, the IA model may be produced by/for the specific EDA tool and supplied by a third party. Then, elements of the hardware description are added to the IA model, until the IA model morphs into the CA model, which is then used to generate the hardware description in hardware description languages. Once the hardware description has been generated, the model may be tested.
This traditional design approach has serious drawbacks. Since there is only single model used as an input for generating both the programming and simulation tools and the hardware description, the programming and simulation tools and the hardware description contain the same potential errors. As a consequence, testing and/or verification cannot find the errors, because the behavior of the hardware description and the simulators is the same. Therefore, a reference model for verification, additional simulators for testing, and/or a verification environment need to be created manually, which is time and resource demanding task. As discussed supra, an error found during testing may require restart of the entire cycle, starting with re-development of the IA model. Furthermore, the result of testing is limited to a binary outcome—a specific test either passed or failed. Thus, additional effort is needed to investigate and determine, what caused the failure.
Additionally, the single model may require separate and different descriptions for at least some of the programming and simulation tools. By means of an example, a description of a compiler is separate and different from a description of a simulator. Therefore, in case that a change/optimization is required for the programming and simulation tools, all descriptions have to be changed, which is both labor intensive and has a potential to introduce errors due to inconsistencies between descriptions.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an improvement in verification environment of the design process, providing a solution to the above identified problems, as well as additional advantages. An automatic processor design and verification that may use such verification environment is disclosed in co-pending application Ser. No. 14/183,482, filed on Feb. 18, 2014, by Zdenek Prikryl, et al., entitled A METHOD AND AN APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATIC PROCESSOR DESIGN AND VERIFICATION

Method and an apparatus for automatic generation of verification environment for processor design and verification


Systems and methods are provided for using an integrated circuit design tool to analyze timing requirements of a circuit design for an integrated circuit. A slack is calculated for a timing path in the circuit design that fails to satisfy a timing constraint. The slack is decomposed into multiple categories of delays in the timing path. The categories of delays for the slack may include intrinsic margin, clock skew, logic delay, and fabric interconnect delay. The logic delay may include local interconnect delay and logic circuit delay. The fabric interconnect delay may include delays in interconnect elements that are used to make connections between larger blocks of the logic circuits. Different optimization strategies are provided to solve the timing constraint failure for each of the different categories of slack breakdown. Slack profiles of the entire design in each of the four categories of slack are also provided.

Designers of programmable logic integrated circuits, such as field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), spend a substantial amount of time performing timing closure. Timing closure refers to the process of ensuring timing constraints of a circuit design are satisfied in a programmable logic integrated circuit that is configured according to the circuit design. Timing closure is often a time consuming task that may require a deep understanding of the FPGA hardware and computer aided design (CAD) algorithms. Discerning which optimizations to perform in a circuit design to close timing can be exceptionally difficult.

Techniques for providing optimizations based on categories of slack in timing paths


A variable-speed control apparatus computes the leakage inductance of an AC motor, correctly compensates the leakage inductance, and controls the variable speed of the AC motor. The variable-speed control apparatus has an AC signal generation circuit for generating an AC signal, and obtains a leakage inductance calculation value of the AC motor based on the AC signal and the measured actual current value. The differential value of the summation of a current command value and the AC signal is multiplied by the leakage inductance calculation value to generate a signal for use in compensating the voltage drop caused by the leakage inductance, and added to a voltage command value to cancel the deviation between the actual current value and the M-axis current command value and to obtain the second voltage command value. The second voltage command value is converted into a 3-phase voltage command value and used in controlling the AC motor, and the voltage drop caused by the leakage inductance can be compensated.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a variable-speed control apparatus for controlling the variable speed of an AC motor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, an induction motor is used as an AC motor. The terminal voltage of the induction motor includes a transient voltage represented by the product of the differentiation term of a primary current and the leakage inductance of the induction motor. In controlling the electric current to an AC motor, the transient voltage is reduced by the feedforward compensation method in which the product of the differentiation term of a current command value and a predetermined leakage inductance is computed and the result is added to a voltage command value.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the conventional variable-speed control apparatus for an induction motor which reduces the transient voltage by the feedforward compensation method.
In FIG. 1, an induction motor 3 is operated at a variable speed by converting the AC power provided by an AC power source 1 into an AC power of a desired voltage and frequency by a power converter 2. In the variable-speed control apparatus which controls the power converter 2, the U-phase current actual value i.sub.u and the W-phase current actual value i.sub.w in the 3-phase output of the power converter detected by current detectors 4 (at least two of three phase outputs) are divided by a first coordinate conversion circuit 5 into the M-axis current actual value I.sub.M, which is the current in the M-axis direction (component in the magnetic flux direction) of the motor, and the T-axis current actual value I.sub.T, which is the current in of the T-axis direction (component in the torque direction). The M-axis is perpendicular to the T-axis. A command value generation circuit 7 outputs the M-axis current command value I.sub.M * and T-axis current command value I.sub.T *. An M-axis current adjuster 8 outputs a signal V.sub.M ** which sets the deviation to zero between the M-axis current actual value I.sub.M and the M-axis current command value I.sub.M *. A T-axis current adjuster 9 outputs a signal V.sub.T ** which sets the deviation to zero between the T-axis current actual value I.sub.T and the T-axis current command value I.sub.T *. If these axis current adjuster outputs V.sub.M ** and V.sub.T ** are provided as voltage command values for the power converter 2 through a second coordinate conversion circuit 6, the above described transient voltage is generated.
Then, the leakage inductance set value L* which is predetermined in the command value generation circuit 7, the M-axis current actual value I.sub.M, the T-axis current actual value I.sub.T, the M-axis current command value I.sub.M *, and the T-axis current command value I.sub.T *, are input to a feedforward compensation voltage operation circuit 11 to compute the M-axis feedforward compensation voltage command value V.sub.MF * and the T-axis feedforward compensation voltage command value V.sub.TF *. An M-axis compensation voltage adder 12 adds the M-axis feedforward compensation voltage command value V.sub.MF * and the above described M-axis current adjuster output V.sub.M **, and the sum V.sub.M * is provided as an M-axis voltage command value for the second coordinate conversion circuit 6. Similarly, a T-axis compensation voltage adder 13 adds the T-axis feedforward compensation voltage command value V.sub.TF * and the T-axis current adjuster output V.sub.T **, and the sum V.sub.T * is provided as a T-axis voltage command value for the second coordinate conversion circuit 6. The second coordinate conversion circuit 6 converts the M-axis voltage command value V.sub.M * and T-axis voltage command value V.sub.T * into 3-phase voltage command values v.sub.u *, v.sub.v *, and v.sub.w *. The power converter 2 is controlled using these 3-phase voltage command values v.sub.u *, v.sub.v *, and v.sub.w *.
The operations performed by the above described feedforward compensation voltage operation circuit 11, M-axis compensation voltage adder 12, and T-axis compensation voltage adder 13, are expressed by the following equations (1) and (2). EQU V.sub.M *=V.sub.M **+V.sub.MF *=V.sub.M **+p.multidot.L*.multidot.I.sub.M *(1) EQU V.sub.T *=V.sub.T **+V.sub.TF *=V.sub.T **+p.multidot.L*.multidot.I.sub.T *(2)
where p indicates the differential operator, and L* indicates a leakage inductance set value. PA1 where I.sub.M indicates an M-axis current actual value, I.sub.T indicates a T-axis current actual value, V.sub.M indicates an M-axis voltage actual value, V.sub.T indicates a T-axis voltage actual value, R1* indicates a primary resistance set value, and .omega.1* indicates the frequency set value.
The actual current value and actual voltage value are detected to compute the M-axis induction voltage E.sub.M * and T-axis induction voltage E.sub.T * of an induction motor by the following equations (3) and (4). EQU E.sub.M *=V.sub.M -R1*.multidot.I.sub.M -p.multidot.L*.multidot.*I.sub.M +.omega.1.multidot.L*.multidot.I.sub.T ( 3) EQU E.sub.T *=V.sub.T -R1*.multidot.I.sub.T -p.multidot.L*.multidot.I.sub.T +.omega.1.multidot.L*.multidot.I.sub.M ( 4)
The control by obtaining the induction voltage from the actual voltage value and actual current value is disclosed as, for example, the "speed-sensorless vector control" in the Japanese Patent Publication Tokukohei No. 7-71400.
The M-axis voltage command value V.sub.M *, T-axis voltage command value V.sub.T *, M-axis induction voltage E.sub.M *, and T-axis induction voltage E.sub.T *, are computed by each of the above listed equations. Each of the equations contains an operation for the voltage drop caused by the leakage inductance. Therefore, if there is a difference between the leakage inductance set value L* and the actual leakage inductance value of a motor used in the operation for the voltage drop, then there will be an error in the operation for the induction voltage and in the feedforward compensation by the conventional variable-speed control apparatus described above by referring to FIG. 1. As a result, there will also occur an error in controlling the motor from the feedforward compensation, thereby incurring a disadvantage that, for example, the transient voltage cannot be appropriately reduced.
The present invention aims at providing a circuit for appropriately controlling a motor using a correctly obtained leakage inductance value of the motor.

Variable-speed control method and apparatus for AC motor


The present invention relates to tamandarin and didemnin analogs which have a deoxo-proline residue or a dehydro-proline residue in their structure. These analogs are useful as anti-cancer agents and for other purposes. Methods of making these analogs and methods of using them as inhibitors of protein synthesis, cell growth, and tumorigenesis and as enhancers of apoptosis are also provided.

Didemnin B is a macrocyclic depsipeptide isolated from a species of marine tunicate. Didemnin B exhibits potent anti-viral, immunosuppressive, and anti-tumor activities in vitro and in vivo, and was the first marine natural product to enter clinical testing against human cancers (Li et al., 1992, Studies in Natural Products Chemistry, 10:241-302; Sakai et al., 1996, J. Med. Chem. 39:2819-2834; Wipf, 1995, Chem. Rev. 95:2115-2134). Didemnin B is a didemnin, a family of compounds which potently inhibit protein synthesis and cell cycle progression, and induce more rapid apoptosis than any other natural products that has been isolated to date (Grubb et al., 1995, Biochem. Biophys, Res. Commun. 215:1130-1136; Johnson et al., 1996, FEBS Lett. 383:1-5; Johnson et al., 1999, Immunol. Cell Biol. 77:242-248; Johnson et al., 1999, J. Cell. Biochem. 72:269-278). Other members of this family of compounds, including didemnin M and dehydrodidemnin B, exhibit cytotoxic and cytostatic effects as well.
Tamandarin A (also designated {(2S)Hiv2}didemnin B) is a naturally occurring didemnin congener which has recently been isolated from a marine tunicate. Tamandarin A exhibits biological activity which is analogous to the activities exhibited didemnin B. For example, tamandarin A is a potent inhibitor of protein synthesis, cell growth, and tumorigenesis. Tamandarin A exhibits greater in vitro activity against pancreatic carcinoma than does didemnin B (Liang et al., 1999, Org. Lett. 1: 1319-1322). A significant limitation on use of tamandarin A, either for research or for practical applications, is the limited supply of tamandarin A that is available from natural sources and the difficulty and expense of isolating this product. A need exists for a method of synthesizing tamandarin A and other didemnin analogs (including dehydrodidemnin analogs).
Despite the potency of didemnin B in isolated studies, its clinical effectiveness is hampered by side effects associated with therapeutic doses of the compound. As with many anti-proliferative agents, didemnin B exhibits a relatively narrow therapeutic window. Although didemnin M and dehydrodidemnin B exhibit improved therapeutic potential, relative to didemnin B, a need still exists for anti-proliferative agents which exhibit less toxicity at a therapeutic dose (i.e. didemnin analogs having a greater therapeutic index).
The present invention satisfies the needs set forth above.

Deoxo-proline-containing tamandarin and didemnin analogs, dehydro-proline-containing tamandarin and didemnin analogs, and methods of making and using them

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