A safety buoy (100) for use in a rip current area (35) having a rip current comprises a bow section (110) and a stern section (120). The bow section (110) is streamlined and the stern section (120) has a deck area. The safety buoy (100) is advantageously moored in the rip current area (35) so that the streamlined bow faces generally seaward towards incoming swell conditions, while the deck area at the stern section (120) faces generally shoreward and provides a surface for a distressed bather caught in an outgoing rip current.

Australia has many surf beaches, and in the early 1900's various surf lifesaving clubs and organisations formed to promote safety at surf beaches. Popular surf beaches have been patrolled by lifesavers or lifeguards ever since. Surf lifesaving equipment has changed considerably over the years. Surf rescues were once performed with a surf reel, or a surf boat, with both techniques requiring considerable strength and conditioning as well as a small crew of able lifesavers. These techniques are now historical for rescue purposes. Equipment that is currently favoured includes rescue tubes, rescue boards, inflatable rescue boats (IRBs) and jet skis. Helicopters may also be used when necessary and available, but widespread use is prohibitive due to their expense.
As is apparent, surf beaches present a considerable public safety challenge, particularly when frequented by those not familiar or confident with surf conditions. Due to the complexity of the surf environment, the approach of lifesavers and the accompanying public safety message has for many years been to direct bathers to swim "between the flags". A pair of distinctive red and yellow flags are positioned along the shoreline according to prevailing conditions to indicate an interval of the beach that is considered safe for bathing. Bathers are directed to swim between the flags for their own safety, and also to contain the area of beach that is more actively patrolled.
Despite the success of this approach, it is not without its limitations. Popular beaches tend to attract beachgoers having a wide diversity of surf experience and skills. Those lacking familiarity and confidence with surf conditions may not be aware of the importance of bathing only in designated areas and can often be drawn to calmer waters that lack breaking surf and thus appear safer. Unfortunately, these areas quite often harbour rip currents that can quickly find unsuspecting bathers out of their depth. This is disconcerting for those unable to swim well, and can be quite distressing for those unable to swim at all.
Many surf beaches are in fact prone to developing rip currents. Rip currents develop as a natural consequence of water flowing back out to sea after flowing into shore. Rip currents can vary in position, strength and direction and depend on local conditions. Rips may be permanent owing to the structure of the beach and marine surrounds, and any man-made structures. For example, rock formations, breakwaters, drainage channels and boat ramps may all contribute to permanent rip currents. Rip currents may also be temporary depending upon tide levels, and prevailing sand formations and winds.
Those experienced with reading surf conditions can identify rip currents due to various tell-tale signs. Typically a rip current shows no breaking surf. Instead, the area may be murky due to agitated sand beneath the water's surface, and sea foam and debris may be seen floating seawards. If there is large breaking surf nearby, the rip area more typically has a smoother surface with much smaller undulating waves. The water in a rip current area may also appear darker due to the water being deeper due to the absence of a sandbank. Rip currents typically flow out to sea, but can also flow along a beach. While rip currents occur predominantly at surf beaches, other marine environments such as coastal estuaries can also harbour dangerous currents.
While many improvements have been made to the working methods and safety equipment used by lifesavers over the years, significant effort and attention is required by lifesavers to rescue beachgoers caught in dangerous currents. This diverts attention from other beachgoers who may require assistance. Notwithstanding the efforts of lifesavers, a significant number of beachgoers drown every year in Australia, in the order of typically one drowning every two or three days.
A recent attempt at improved beach safety is published as US 2011/0207377, 25 Aug. 2011, in the name of Frederick William George, of Hawthorne, Queensland. Mr George envisions, in a typical configuration, a triangulated arrangement between spaced apart beach flags—conventionally indicating a safe bathing area—and floating lines that extend into the sea from the flags and meet at a safety buoy at a comparable distance out to sea. An advantage of this system is that bathers have a floating line to hold if distressed, and the safe bathing area is more emphatically demarcated for the benefit of beachgoers.
Similarly, another recent publication describes a marine safety buoy, namely AU 2010100100, published 4 Mar. 2010, in the name of Andrew David Curren, of Fadden, Australian Capital Territory. Mr Curren proposes using—moored in rip current areas—a buoy having suitable warning indicia. Mr Curren also contemplates using in the buoy some form of distress button and alert system for the benefit of distressed swimmers.
While the foregoing attempts represent contributions to the art of marine safety, the arrangements described are not the applicant's knowledge presently deployed in marine environments. Any further improvements in marine safety having practical and pragmatic application are accordingly welcome in view of the abovedescribed dangers of rip current areas.


An optical memory device having at least two nonlinear optical media connected together by at least two light paths. This optical memory device can make high-speed light pulse signal processing which cannot be realized by the conventional electric switch.

The present invention relates to a high-speed optical memory device and an optical circuit using this device. Particularly, this device is used for an optical temporary memory device, light clock and optical operator in for the fields of the next-generation multimedia communications, and optical signal communications such as microprocessor interconnection and optical computer.
The demand for large-capacity bidirectional communication network has been recently increased and is now steadily growing. In addition, the means for the transmission of information among more people is going to be developed and ready for use on a national scale as a social capital to be prepared in the twenty-first century. In order to build up this basic technology for the new century, it is necessary to use information processing techniques by which a large quantity of bidirectional information can be processed at higher speed. A part of the conventional electronics has evolved to optoelectronics for optical technology and is steadily expanding to photonics for optical technology to all. In this optical information processing and communication, it is important to increase the speed of signal processing and the amount of signal to be processed per unit time.
According to a document of, for example, "Semiconductor Laser, Light Communication and Optical Device", Conference Report:ClEO/QELS, '93 Report III, by Yawara Kaneko, et al., the trend of recent light communication toward great increase of the amount of information to be processed can be divided into the following two types.
The first type is the wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) system, or optical frequency division multiplexing, in which light of a different wavelength is mixed in a light pulse of several microseconds through several nanoseconds, thereby to increase the amount of information per pulse.
In this system, a light signal is generated by swiftly changing the oscillation frequency of a semiconductor laser to comply with an electrical signal which is desired to be transmitted. In addition, the light path through which this light signal is transmitted is changed chiefly by an optical device using electrooptical effect. Therefore, the response time of optical media necessary for the modulation of light pulse depends on the processing time in electric signal circuits, and hence the optical device can be made of an existing semiconductor material of silicon or germanium.
However, since light rays of different wavelengths on a single pulse are transmitted over a long distance, the light signal waveform is disturbed by group velocity dispersion and the light amplification in a repeater base station becomes irregular. Thus, there is a limitation in the maximum amount of signals which can be multiplexed.
Therefore, a time division multiplex system for transmitting and receiving shorter light pulses at high speed has been investigated as the second type for processing a large amount of information per unit time. In this system, since short light pulses of several picoseconds are successively transmitted at constant intervals of time as a train of light pulses of light signal, there are no such waveform disturbance and irregular light amplification as in the wavelength division multiplexing system mentioned above. In addition, since digital signals can be easily processed, a large amount of signals can be correctly transmitted over a long distance at high speed without any error in reading.
In order that this system can be practically used, it is necessary to use optical devices such as higher-speed light signal generators, light-path switchers and light signal readouts, and an optical system in which these devices are arranged in parallel at high density to operate in synchronism with each other. In addition, these fundamental optical devices depend on optical media with a high-speed response.
These optical media can be achieved not by silicon used so far of which the response speed to light pulse is as slow as at most several nanoseconds, but by a low dimensional system material such as of semiconductor superlattice gallium arsenide of which the response speed is as high as a value from several hundred picoseconds to several tens of picoseconds. In addition, faster response media of several picoseconds or below have been realized by use of conjugated system organic compound such as polydiacetylene. New optical devices can be expected to be produced by the development of the technology for the amount of driving light and establishment of process.
This fast response characteristic is closely related to the nonlinear optical effect of substance. The nonlinear optical effect is the phenomenon that when intense light such as laser beam is irradiated on a substance, electronic polarization occurs within the substance in proportion to a high-order power, such as square and cube, of electric field intensity of light. The fast response characteristic due to the nonlinear optical effect of substance is achieved by the change of charge distribution within the substance irradiated with laser beam and the rapid generation of new polarization. In other words, if the electric field intensity of incident light and induced polarization of substance are represented by E and P, respectively, the relation between both can be given by the following equation: EQU P=x1E+x2E.sup.2 +x3E.sup.3 +. . .
where .chi..sup.(1), .chi..sup.(2), .chi..sup.(3) . . . are coefficients called first-, second-, third-, . . . order electric susceptibility, respectively. The effect associated with the second-order term and above is called the nonlinear optical effect. Since the coefficients are normally decreased with the increase of the order number, the effect cannot be confirmed without intense light beam. The nonlinear optical effect due to the even-order, or second-order, fourth- order, coefficients does not occur in center-symmetrical substance such as glass fiber because induced polarization is canceled out when the polarization units of atoms and molecules themselves of a substance and the arrangement thereof within the substance are symmetric with respect to the center. As a result of this polarization, new light is generated of which the frequency is different from that of the incident light, and the refractive index and absorption coefficient of the substance are changed in proportion to the amount of incident light.
In practice, the effect associated with optical switch is the third-order nonlinear susceptibility. The amount of incident light necessary to make the substance function activated can be decreased with the increase of the sensitivity value. In other words, if the refractive index of a substance before being irradiated, the amount of incident light and the refractive index at the time of being irradiated are n.sub.0, I and n, respectively, the relation among them can be expressed by the following equation: EQU n=n.sub.0 +n.sub.2 I
where n.sub.2 is the nonlinear refractive index, and can be expressed in the unit of cm.sup.2 /W by the third-order nonlinear sensitivity .chi..sup.(3) (esu unit) and the following equation. EQU n.sub.2 =1.6.times.10.sup.8 .pi..sup.2 .times.3/cn.sub.0.sup.2
The light passing through the substance can be switched from a light path to another, modulated and shut off by changing the refractive index, reflection angle, transmissivity and reflectance. Since this polarization remains within the substance until it is extinguished by light or heat, a fast-speed optical switch must be made of a material of which the polarization is swiftly extinguished immediately after the incident light is passed therethrough. This effect is increased with the increase of the amount of incident light as shown by the above equations. Thus, when part of the light transmitting through the substance is again incident to the substance or when a resonator mirror is mounted on the substance, to increase the amount of light within the substance by feedback and arrive at the extent that it exceeds a particular threshold, the light within the substance is increased so that an extreme switching effect appears. Conversely, when the incident light is gradually decreased after the optical switch is operated by a constant value of light and again arrives at the extent that it is less than the threshold, the light passing through the substance is suddenly decreased.
The presence of these two definite states of passing light bisected by the threshold is called the optical bistability. When these low transmissivity and high transmissivity in this optical bistability are used as the on-state and off-state, respectively, the two states can be switched at high speed by changing the amount of incident light. In other words, the substance of an optical bistable switch using the third-order nonlinear optical effect fundamentally depends on the sum of the third-order nonlinear optical susceptibity and light polarization. The on and off states can be more sensitively made with the increase of nonlinear refractive index n.sub.2. Also, the optical switch using the optical bistability phenomenon can be driven at high speed by the increase of the speed at which the polarization once established by light is extinguished. In the signal transmission processing system using actual light, since the switch is driven by a small amount of signal light, it is necessary that constant bias light be added to bring the operating point to around the threshold so that the amount of all input light is changed at around the threshold in accordance with the presence or absence of signal light.
As described above, the optical bistable switch using the third-order nonlinear optical effect is able to make high speed operation which could not be made by the conventional electric switch, and thus it is increasingly expected to be used for the large-capacity high-speed light communication in the next generation.
However, in the actual optical information processing system, so far the first information generation is made by a computer chiefly of conventional electronic circuits, and the signal is converted into optical pulses, or converted from electric signal to light signal, by a semiconductor light-emitting device and then transmitted through an optical fiber. Therefore, for large-amount light communication, it is necessary to connect a large number of electrooptical transducers in parallel and concentrate all the light from those transducers into a single optical fiber. In order that the light signals from the separate electrooptical transducers can be regularly arranged to be parallel, it is necessary to exchange constant synchronizing signals among the transducers. In addition, when short light pulses are treated, the synchronizing means must have the same precision as that of the pulse duration.
Moreover, not only in the simple light path switching using the above-mentioned optical switch, but also in various different light signal processing operations such as logic sum by use of a combination of a plurality of optical switches, it is required to provide means for synchronizing the operations of the optical switches. In other words, a special optical memory function is necessary to hold the light signals at the respective devices for a constant time and regularly transmit in synchronism with a reference clock signal.
The above-given optical bistable switch can be turned on by applying a light signal to exceed the threshold, but cannot be swiftly turned off at an arbitrary time. In other words, when the optical bistable switch is operated without bias light, it returns to the off-state after the signal light has been completely passed through the switch. Thus, it has no memory means. In addition, when the bistable switch is operated with bias light, the bias light itself is required to be once stopped at high speed. Therefore, the light source, or semiconductor laser itself must be turned on and off at high speed, and it cannot be operated at a high speed of picoseconds or below.
In addition, although the synchronization among a plurality of transducers has so far been controlled by an electric signal, it cannot be controlled at super high speed by a light pulse of several picoseconds or below. Thus, light communication cannot be performed which transmits super short light pulses at high density.
Moreover, a huge laser system must be provided in order to generate light pulses of the order of picoseconds or below necessary for the control by super high speed light signal, and there are no simple generator means.

Optical memory device and optical circuit using optical memory device


A process for increasing the water solubility of gypsum in which gypsum is ground to about 5 to 50 mesh U.S. Standard Sieve Size, about 5 to 95 parts by weight of ground gypsum are mixed with about 2 to 25 parts by weight concentrated sulfuric acid having a concentration of about 93 to 98.5% H.sub.2 SO.sub.4, optionally in the presence of about 5 to 20 parts by weight water, and the resulting product is dried at a temperature of about 100-125.degree. C. to form a water-soluble, granular, solid, free-flowing gypsum product having a water solubility increased by about 2- to greater than 350-fold.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for increasing the water solubility of gypsum by treating the gypsum with concentrated sulfuric acid. The reaction product is useful for treating soils.
2. Description of the Related Art
Anhydrous calcium sulfate occurs in nature as the mineral anhydrite. The dihydrate, or gypsum (CaSO.sub.4.2H.sub.2 O) is, however, more common. The groups of gypsum products include calcined building materials. Calcined gypsum is employed in making wallboard and various other products.
Calcium sulfate is soluble in 375 parts cold water or 485 parts boiling water. Its solubility in water is increased by acids, ammonium chloride, or nitrate; it is diminished by magnesium sulfate. The Merck Index, p. 198 (7th Edition 1960). The U.S. Department of Agriculture 1957 Yearbook entitled "Soil" also refers to the solubility of gypsum at page 286, paragraph 2. In particular, the rate of reaction of gypsum is limited only by its solubility which is about 0.25%. Under field conditions, the application of three- to four-acre feet of irrigation water is required to dissolve four or five tons of high grade agricultural gypsum. In this regard, there are 2,715,400 pounds of water, or 325,978 gallons of water, to one-acre foot of water.
As a result of these properties, gypsum has a very limited degree of water solubility. Gypsum also has a very restricted reactivity especially with respect to its agricultural application to soils.

Process for increasing the water solubility of gypsum


This invention relates to the preparation of a dynamically vulcanized alloy comprising at least one elastomer and at least one thermoplastic resin, having a G′ at 1% strain and 100° C. as determined according to ASTM D7605 of about 4,500 to about 7,500 kPa. More specifically, the process produces dynamically vulcanized alloys with unique morphological features which have good impermeability and low temperature flexibility. In the process, the thermoplastic resin is added into the extruder in two stages with an intermediate addition of a compatibilizer. Also during the final addition of thermoplastic resin, the elastomeric curatives are added to the extruder.

Various types of thermoplastic elastomer compositions containing elastomers, both cured and uncured, and thermoplastic resins, are known in the industry as either thermoplastic plastic vulcanizates (TPVs) or as dynamically vulcanized alloys (DVAs). The elastomer is dispersed in the thermoplastic resin, providing flexibility to the material due to the elastomer and reprocessability due to the thermoplastic resin. These materials are known to be useful in a variety of applications including automotive parts, such as bumpers, knobs, and trim, electrical and applications, such as cable jacketing and connectors, and industrial applications, such as piping, o-rings, sleeves, extruded spiral hoses, and weather stripping. For all of these known applications, the TPVs or DVAs are cast or molded to form the final products.
The conventional fabrication process is a multiple-step process having the following steps. The compound is produced by (i) preparing a rubber master batch by mixing, at temperatures below the cross-linking temperature, the elastomer and curative until a uniform mix state is obtained (this is often referred to as pre-conditioning) and (ii) premixing a resin master batch comprising a thermoplastic resin and plasticizers. If desired, fillers such as carbon, oil, calcium carbonate, nanofillers, etc., may also be added to the rubber master batch. A thermoplastic resin masterbatch is mixed typically in a twin screw extruder by mixing the resin and plasticizers. The resin masterbatch may then be pelletized. The rubber master batch, resin master batch, and all remaining components are then fed into a mixer, as well as any desired secondary components, and mixed under shear conditions. The elastomer component is vulcanized during the melt mixing.
Commercial TPVs are typically not compounded or prepared for use in low-permeability applications, and are generally polyolefin based compounds. The processes existing to produce the polyolefin based TPV are operated at high extruder screw speeds (>greater than 250 revolutions/minute) and corresponding high peak shear rates. The higher screw speeds allows for high net output. See U.S. Pat. No. 5,298,211 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,594,390. The processes utilize the high shear rates to reduce rubber particle size, simultaneously during the curing reaction in the extruder. The typical rubber particle size for such thermoplastic elastomers is above 1 micron size, often 3 to 10 microns. An energy efficient process for producing sub-micron size particles is different from the above noted patents due to the fact that the basic rubber particle structure is thought to be formed in part due to an interfacial reaction between the rubber and the thermoplastic prior to cure.
DVAs compounded for low permeability [or stated alternatively: high impermeability] applications comprise low-permeability thermoplastic resin, such as polyamide or a blend of polyamides, in which there is dispersed a low-permeability rubber. Such low permeability rubbers include butyl rubber, halobutyl rubbers, or brominated isobutylene para-methylstyrene copolymers. The rubber is cured under conditions of dynamic vulcanization (curing the rubber during melt mixing as opposed to static curing that typically occurs in a rubber mold) and is intimately and uniformly dispersed as a particulate phase within a continuous phase of the thermoplastic resin. For low permeability applications, it is desired to achieve a composition having sub-micron size dispersed rubber particles. This dispersed particle size assists the material in having elastic properties.
The elastic nature is desirable for applications requiring flexibility, strength, and elongation. Such properties are also desirable in tire materials. Thus, in recent years, the use of DVAs as tire inner liner layers has been explored. The thermoplastic resin provides a very low permeability to the inner liner layer while the elastomer provides flexibility and durability to the inner liner layer. As the thermoplastic resin provides a very low permeability, in comparison to an all elastomeric inner liner composition, the inner liner layer formed from DVA can be formed as a very thin layer. Conventional inner liner layers, comprised of only a base elastomer(s), typically have a thickness or gauge in the range of 1.25 to 7.0 mm while inner liner layers formed from DVA have typically a thickness range of 0.25 mm to 0.08 mm.
However, the past work of Applicants and others in using DVA for tire innerliners has highlighted the need for continued improvement in the process of preparing DVAs. As noted above, TPVs and DVAs have conventionally been molded or cast to form the end products. Films having a thickness in range of 0.25 mm to 0.08 mm are not molded or cast, but must be extruded or blown thru a suitable die. The morphology of the DVA material, which is impacted by the DVA manufacturing process, has a significant impact on the ability to obtain a quality extrusion and quality film. In particular, a DVA film's low temperature durability is dependent not only on the composition but also on the morphology of the final product.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Process for preparing dynamically vulcanized alloys


The present invention relates generally to an optical disk device that records and reproduces information on and from an optical recording medium, such as a compact disk or a digital versatile disk. The optical disk device includes a measurement means and a calculation means.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an optical disk device that records and reproduces information on an optical recording medium, such as a compact disk or a digital versatile disk, and a method of recording optical information.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, as the Internet becomes popularized by the development of information and communication technology, a lot of information has been interchanged through networks. Under such a circumstance, a read only optical device, such as a Compact Disk-Recordable (CD-R), and a recordable optical disk, such as a Compact Disk-Rewritable (CD-RW), attract attention as information recording media. Recently, as a semiconductor laser used as a laser source has a short wavelength, the diameter of a focus tends to be reduced due to a high Numerical Aperture (NA), objective lens having a high NA and a thin substrate is adopted, high capacity optical disks, such as a. Digital Versatile Disk-Recordable (DVD-R), a Digital Versatile Disk-Rewritable (DVD-RW) and a Digital Versatile Disk-Random Access Memory (DVD-RAM), are used as information recording media.
The recording of information on a CD-R is performed after record information obtained from a Personal Computer (PC) has been converted into Eight to Fourteen Modulation (EFM) signals. However, since a problem arises in that a mark is undesirably formed due to the heat accumulation and short cooling rate of an optical disk attributable to the difference in the composition of a dye recording layer constituting the optical disk, desired marks and spaces are not formed when the EFM signals are recorded.
Accordingly, a method of, with respect to a reference recording waveform, setting unique parameters for each of optical disks being used and maintaining a desired recording quality (hereinafter referred to as "write strategy") is employed.
The write strategy is known to be related to a recording rate as well as the dye of an optical disk, a phase changing material, the film depth of, a dye, or the shape of a groove. Generally, for representative write strategies, there are a method of varying the ratio of a pit and a land, a method of adding an additional pulse to the front end of a recording pulse, a method of changing the rising or falling location of a pulse through the combination of a pit and a land, and a method of making the recording pulse a multi-pulse.
The method of varying the ratio of a pit to a land is implemented in such a way that the length of the pit is shortened at the time of low rate recording, and allows the shapes of the front and rear ends of a generated pit to be improved by irradiating a short pulse onto an optical disk using strong recording power.
The method of adding the additional pulse to the front end of the recording pulse is implemented in such a way that the irradiation of laser gives additional recording power to the front end of a pit difficult to be converted by heat, and allows the shape of the front end of the pit to be improved.
The method of changing the rising or falling location of a pulse using the combinations of pits and lands is to make the difference between the lengths of the pits and the lands uniforms for example, in such a way that the back end location of a land is changed according to the length of an antecedent land because the heat of the antecedent pit is transmitted to the land and influences a next pit, the front end location of the pit is changed according the length of a recording pit because the heat of the recording pit is transmitted to a position in front of the recording pit, the back end location of the pit is changed according to the length of the recording pit because the heat of the recording pit is transmitted to a location behind the recording pit, and the front end location of the land is changed according to the length of a posterior land because the heat of the posterior pit is transmitted to and influences a posterior land.
The method of making the recording pulse a multi-pulse is a method used in a phase change disk, such as a CD-RW, or a DVD. When information is recorded on the phase change disk using continuous pulses, the front end of a recorded pit is eliminated due to the action of heat, so-that the multi-pulse having cooling periods between the pits is used.
As described above, the write strategy is optimized and used for each of the optical disks because of a difference in the composition of a dye recording layer constituting the optical disk or a difference in a recording rate. Accordingly, a drive manufacturer requires various processes and a lot of time to optimize the write strategy.
Additionally, numerous kinds of optical disks that even the drive manufacturing companies are not aware of are sold commercially. Accordingly, it is impossible to prepare write strategies appropriate for all the optical disks currently distributed in the markets.
To solve the above problem, a method of recording a plurality of pieces of information, to which write strategies are converted, on a plurality of tracks, and selecting a write strategy, which allows a production jitter to be minimized, from the recorded write strategies (for example, refer to Japanese Unexamined Pat. Publication No. 2000-30254), or a method of recording information using a special recording pattern and obtaining the combination of a mark and a space having a minimum jitter value or deviation (for example, refer to Japanese Unexamined Pat. Publication No. 2000-30837).
The former method is problematic in that the write strategy finally selected is just the best write strategy in the set write strategies, so that the selected write strategy cannot always be an optimum write strategy. Furthermore, another problem arises in that only a recording region required for a test uses tracks.
Furthermore, the latter method is problematic in that in view of the use of a specific recording pattern, when a specific mark or space is changed, an influence on other marks and spaces are not taken into consideration, so that it is impossible to-set an optimum write strategy on, an optical disk being used through a single recording and reproducing test.

Optical disk device and method of recording optical data


The invention includes a mounting hat for a brake rotor having a lower section connected to an upper section. Also included is a plurality of aerodynamically shaped standoff vanes each having a leading edge, a trailing edge, a top and a bottom connected to the upper section. Further, a plurality of vents are formed between adjacent aerodynamically shaped standoff vanes. The vents are circumferentially distributed on the upper section. Air flow is induced to flow through the plurality of vents. Alternatively included is a mounting hat for a brake rotor having a lower section connected to an upper section. Also included is a plurality of first aerodynamically shaped standoff vanes each having a leading edge, a trailing edge, a top and a bottom connected to the upper section. Further, a plurality of second aerodynamically shaped standoff vanes each having a leading edge, a trailing edge and a top connected to the upper section is included. Additionally, a plurality of vents are formed between adjacent first aerodynamically shaped standoff vanes and second aerodynamically shaped standoff vanes. The vents are circumferentially distributed on the upper section. Air flow is induced to flow through the plurality of vents.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention includes an apparatus for improving air flow away from a disk brake rotor system used in a vehicle. More particularly, the invention relates to improved air flow motion over a disk brake rotor system used in a vehicle through aerodynamic standoffs.
2. Background Information
Friction brakes are used in cars, trains, airplanes, elevators, motorcycles and other machines. In order to slow or stop an automobile, a driver may step on a brake pedal. Through mechanical linkage, the movement of the brake pedal is transmitted to a set of opposing fixed brake pads, between which is a brake rotor that rotates as the axle of the automobile turns from the rotation of the wheel assembly due to energy stored in the vehicle as either kenetic or potential. The brake rotor may be fixed to the hub of a vehicle axle by an array of drive pin or drive lug/bolt combinations radially distributed about the axle. The brake rotor and the hub may be secured to one another by tightening each bolt and washer into its counter part drive pin or drive lug.
As the driver applies force to the brake pedal, that force may be transmitted as friction to the moving brake rotor by the fixed brake pads so as to slow the vehicle down or bring it to rest through controlled slippage. The energy absorbed by the controlled slippage may be converted into heat, principally within the brake rotor. In high performance vehicle applications, vents may be supplied between the inboard brake disc and the outboard brake disc to channel air over the surfaces of the discs so as to draw heat away from the discs. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,878,848, entitled "Ventilated Brake Rotor." Moreover, as illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,915,747, entitled "Method of Making a Rotor with Vented Hat Section and an Initial Casting," vents may be added to the sidewall of the brake rotor hub (or "mounting hat") to aid in cooling.
In addition to vents, brake rotor hub radial standoffs may be provided (i) to form a brake rotor/hub mating surface and (ii) to elevate the brake rotor hub from the brake rotor.

Aerodynamic standoffs to air cool disc type auto brake rotors


A respiratory gas delivery system monitors gas flow over the course of a breath in real time and uses this parameter to simulate, in whole or part, the function of a reference respiratory gas delivery system, in particular structural features, particularly structural components of parts of the reference system, to overcome a structural limitation of the reference system.

In many clinical and research situations, a subject is required to breathe through a breathing circuit. These circuits are normally designed to deliver different compositions of gases at different points throughout the breath cycle. In many cases, the breathing circuits are designed to minimize the use of an expensive component gas of the breathing mixture. These circuits, however, are normally designed with, and constructed from, components such as tubing, reservoir bags, and valves. These components are expensive, bulky, and prone to failure.
For example, the Hi-Ox 80 (CareFusion) breathing circuit is a breathing circuit designed to provide high inspired fractions of oxygen while minimizing the flow rate of oxygen to the patient. In this circuit, a constant flow rate of oxygen is provided to the circuit, the oxygen accumulating in a reservoir. The patient inspires through two one-way valves in parallel. The inlet side of the oxygen one-way valve is connected to the oxygen reservoir, while the inlet side of the air one-way valve is open to the atmosphere. The oxygen-supply one-way valve has negligible cracking pressure and so opens for any inspiratory effort. The air-supply one-way valve has a small cracking pressure which causes it to open only when a negative pressure is generated in the breathing circuit. In this way, during a typical inspiration, the patient inspires oxygen from the oxygen reservoir first. When the reservoir is empty, continued inspiration generates a negative pressure in the circuit thereby opening the air-supply one-way valve. Therefore, the balance of the breath is drawn from ambient air. Expiration is directed to the ambient atmosphere through a third expiratory one-way valve.
While this circuit is effective, it has a number of limitations. Firstly, the mechanical components are prone to failure. Failure of the one-way valves, such as a failure of the oxygen-supply one-way valve to open, may cause the subject to breath only ambient atmospheric air. Failure of the air-supply one-way valve to open will limit the subject's minute ventilation to the flow rate of oxygen to the circuit. On the other hand, if the oxygen-supply one-way valve does not effectively prevent back flow, the subject may expire into, and rebreathe from, the oxygen reservoir. Secondly, in addition to potential failures, the one-way valves increase the resistance to flow in the breathing circuit thereby increasing the work of breathing. This is uncomfortable for most patients, and may be a significant limitation to use in elderly patients or those with pulmonary disease. Thirdly, the size of the manifold which houses all the valves together with the reservoir can be quite large and cumbersome for some situations. For example, in an emergency medical resuscitation situation where access is required to the subject's chest, the oxygen reservoir may be in the way. Here, the physicians must remove the breathing circuit to access the chest.

Virtual respiratory gas delivery systems and circuits


The improved vehicle navigation system and method uses information from a Global Positioning System (GPS) to obtain velocity vectors, which include speed and heading components, for "dead reckoning" the vehicle position from a previous position. If information from the GPS is not available, then the improved vehicle navigation system uses information from an orthogonal axes accelerometer, such as two or three orthogonally positioned accelerometers, to propagate vehicle position. Because the GPS information should almost always be available, the improved vehicle navigation system relies less on its accelerometers, thereby allowing the use of less expensive accelerometers. The improved vehicle navigation system retains the accuracy of the accelerometers by repeatedly calibrating them with the velocity data obtained from the GPS information. The improved vehicle navigation system calibrates the sensors whenever GPS data is available (for example, once a second at relatively high speeds). Furthermore, the improved vehicle navigation system does not need to rely on map matching to calibrate sensors. System flexibility is improved because map matching is oblivious to the hardware, and the system hardware can be updated without affecting map matching or a change in the map database.

Current vehicle navigation systems use GPS, such as an electromagnetic wave positioning system, to determine a vehicle's position. Such a GPS system is the Navigation Satellite Timing and Ranging (NAVSTAR) Global Positioning System, which is a space-based satellite radio navigation system developed by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). GPS includes NAVSTAR GPS and its successors, Differential GPS (DGPS), or any other electromagnetic wave positioning systems. NAVSTAR GPS receivers provide users with continuous three-dimensional position, velocity, and time data.
NAVSTAR GPS consists of three major segments: Space, Control, and User as illustrated in FIG. 1. The space segment 2 consists of a nominal constellation of 24 operational satellites which have been placed in 6 orbital planes above the Earth's surface. The satellites are in circular orbits in an orientation which normally provides a GPS user with a minimum of five satellites in view from any point on Earth at any one time. The satellites broadcast an RF signal which is modulated by a precise ranging signal and a coarse acquisition code ranging signal to provide navigation data.
This navigation data, which is computed and controlled by the GPS control segment 4, includes the satellite's time, its clock correction and ephemeris parameters, almanacs, and health status for all GPS satellites. From this information, the user computes the satellite's precise position and clock offset.
The control segment consists of a Master Control Station and a number of monitor stations at various locations around the world. Each monitor station tracks all the GPS satellites in view and passes the signal measurement data back to the master control station. There, computations are performed to determine precise satellite ephemeris and satellite clock errors. The master control station generates the upload of user navigation data from each satellite. This data is subsequently rebroadcast by the satellite as part of its navigation data message.
The user segment 6 is the collection of all GPS receivers and their application support equipment such as antennas and processors. This equipment allows users to receive, decode, and process the information necessary to obtain accurate position, velocity and timing measurements. This data is used by the receiver's support equipment for specific application requirements. GPS supports a wide variety of applications including navigation, surveying, and time transfer.
GPS receivers may be used in a standalone mode or integrated with other systems. Currently, land-based navigation systems use vehicle speed sensor, rate gyro and a reverse gear hookup to "dead reckon" the vehicle position from a previously known position. This method of dead reckoning, however, is susceptible to sensor error, and therefore requires more expensive sensors for accuracy and dependability.
The systems that use odometers, gyros and reverse gear hookups also lack portability due to the required connections to odometers and the frailty of gyros. Moreover, these systems are hard to install in different cars due to differing odometer configurations which can have different connections and pulse counts in the transmission. Odometer data also varies with temp, load weight, tire pressure, speed. Alternative connections to cruise control or ABS sensors bring up safety concerns.
Prior systems use a road network stored in a map database to calculate current vehicle positions. These systems send distance and heading information to perform map matching, and map matching calculates the current position based on the road network and the inputted data. These systems also use map matching to calibrate sensors. Map matching, however, has inherent inaccuracies because map matching must look back in time and match data to a location. As such, map matching can only calibrate the sensors when an absolute position is identified on the map, but on a long, straight stretch of highway, sensor calibration using map matching may not occur for a significant period of time.
Accordingly, there is a need for a potentially portable, vehicle navigation system which is flexible, accurate, efficient and cost-effective in determining a current position from a previous position.


A seal for a large annular opening between a launch tube and a missile comprising a suspended hoop composed of a pair of cylindrical rings spaced apart by axially disposed chevron-shaped struts, the inner cylindrical ring having a frustoconically shaped lip extending from its lower margin and a foot cylindrical ring is disposed below the suspended hoop with a frustoconically or half-toroid shaped membrane having a fibrous cloth embedded therein extending between and into the inner cylindrical ring and the lip portion to provide a stabilizing seal.

This invention relates to a seal and more particularly to a seal for a large annular opening.
Seals such as this are utilized in missile launch tubes to control the distribution of eject gas pressure on pressure sensitive areas of the missile surface, as the seal prevents eject gases from leaking up the annulus formed by the launch tube and missile. Since the annulus is spacious in order to provide room for lateral missile motions during shock and launch, large seals which can allow these missile motions while controlling the eject gas are required.
Despite performance which is not entirely satisfactory and predictable, lip-type seals such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,033,593, have been in general use for this application. The reasons for the usage of lip seals include ease of manufacture, installation, and they allow lateral missile excursion while sealing against excessive launch pressure leakage. While such seals have been adequate to withstand the normal launch pressures, their disadvantages include: (1) forces induced in the seal tend to concentrate at specific locations on the attachment surface, raising the possibility of attachment system failure; (2) adverse lateral force differentials are induced in the missile as it becomes offset in the launch tube; and (3) the lip seal will tend to hump up under pressure and may invert if pressure differentials become too high.
Generally speaking, design criteria for large seals of this type include: (1) minimization of destabilizing lateral impulses; (2) generation of stabilizing lateral forces; (3) high reliability; (4) high pressure capability; and (5) minimal performance variability. The unique configuration of the suspended hoop seal provides the potential means to improve seal performance in these areas.


Methods and systems for instantiating an enclave according to a request, the enclave being instantiated at a determined location of a set of locations in a computing environment of a computing resource service provider hosting a set of computing resources. The enclave further being instantiated with executable code specified by a customer for processing network traffic in accordance with the executable code in a computing environment.

Modern computer systems place a high importance on maintaining data and application security. In a modern distributed and/or virtual computer system where a plurality of users, services, applications, virtual machines, controlling domains and hosts may have access to a computer system, maintaining data and application security may be a difficult problem. In a distributed and/or virtual computer system environment, for example, where the computer system resources may be provided by a computing resource service provider, customers may also wish for additional security for confidential data and/or privileged applications, safeguarding such data and/or applications from others and even from the computing resource service provider.
Encrypting data and/or applications may help ameliorate the security risks, but the owners of the data and/or applications often desire additional assurances. For example, customers may desire assurances that users, services, applications, virtual machines, controlling domains and hosts may not access confidential data that the customer has saved in a data storage repository on a computer system accessible by one or more users, services, applications, virtual machines, controlling domains or hosts. Without such assurances, customers may be reluctant to use the computer system services provided by the computing resource service provider and, likewise, such computing resource service providers may be apprehensive about hosting such sensitive data on hosts accessible to other customers. Furthermore, application of additional security measures for protecting sensitive data, such as additional and/or more computationally intensive encryption techniques, may be costly to both the customer and the computing resource service provider and may lead to decreased system performance, decreased resource availability, and a degradation in customer satisfaction.

Transforms within secure execution environments


A replacement data storage circuit stores an address of a defective memory cell. The replacement data storage circuit includes a plurality of word lines, a plurality of bit lines, and a plurality of replacement data memory cells. The replacement data memory cells are connected to the word lines and the bit lines to store an address of a defective memory cell. Each of the word lines is connected to a plurality of replacement data memory cells and each of the bit lines is connected to one replacement data memory cell.

1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to replacement data storage circuits, and more particularly, to replacement data storage circuits to store an address of a defective memory cell.
2. Description of the Related Art
For example, as disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 11-238393, a nonvolatile memory device includes a redundancy circuit to replace a defective memory cell with a defect-free memory cell. The redundancy circuit stores replacement data (i.e., information about which memory cell is to be replaced) in a replacement data memory cell array. The redundancy circuit compares replacement data, which is read from the replacement data memory cell array, with a selected address, and performs a replacement operation on an address including a defective memory cell. Thus, the redundancy circuit needs a replacement data storage circuit including the replacement data memory cell array.
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a typical replacement data storage circuit.
Referring to FIG. 5, a typical replacement data storage circuit includes a word line WL, a bit line BL, a replacement data memory cell array 11, a word line driver 12, a gate circuit 13, a sense amplifier 14, a latch circuit 15, and a control circuit 16. The replacement data memory cell array 11 includes a plurality of replacement data memory cells MC.
FIG. 6 is a timing diagram illustrating an operation of the typical replacement data storage circuit of FIG. 5.
Referring to FIG. 6, the typical replacement data storage circuit drives the word line WL when supplied with a power supply voltage VCC. Also, the typical replacement data storage circuit controls the gate circuit 13 when supplied with the power supply voltage VCC. That is, when supplied with the power supply voltage VCC, the typical replacement data storage circuit reads replacement data stored in the replacement data memory cell array 11. The read replacement data are transferred through the sensor amplifier 14 to the latch circuit 15.
However, when the power supply voltage VCC is supplied to the typical replacement data storage circuit, all the replacement data are transferred to the latch circuit. Thus, the amount of replacement data storable in the typical replacement data storage circuit may be restricted by the layout of a replacement data read circuit. Also, the typical replacement data storage circuit has low replacement efficiency.

Replacement data storage circuit storing address of defective memory cell


Cleaning brush is provided in the down stream of the cleaning member around the pressing member, and after toner stuck to the pressing member is recovered by the cleaning member, calcium carbonate stuck to the pressing member is recovered by the cleaning brush. Thus the toner volume stuck to the surface of cleaning brush is reduced and the calcium carbonate recovery performance by the cleaning brush is maintained.

In case of fixing device for electro-photographic image forming apparatus such as copiers, printers etc., toner image is fixed on paper by passing paper through a nip between a pair of rollers consisting of a heat roller and a press roller, or similar belts. In such a fixing device, a phenomenon that a portion of the toner image sticks to the heat roller at the time of fixing, may take place, and the toner stuck to the heat roller is further transferred to the press roller, so that the press roller is suffered from corruption. For this reason, a device is provided in which a metallic cleaning roller is pushed on the press roller to remove the toner stuck to the press roller and the toner is deposited on the surface of the cleaning roller.
On the other hand, in such a fixing device, a phenomenon that particle of calcium carbonate which is a composition of paper sticks to the press roller at the time of fixing takes place. As the particle is apt to stick to the toner, especially when the European paper or Chinese paper etc. which contains a large quantity of calcium carbonate is used, a phenomenon that particle of calcium carbonate in the paper is mixed with the toner stuck to the surface of the press roller and the mixture sticks to the press roller takes place.
As the stuck toner mixed with the particle calcium carbonate forms balls and the stickiness is weak, the toner sticks again to the press roller after cleaning by the cleaning roller and, as the result, paper may suffer from corruption. Or the cleaning performance of the cleaning roller may be reduced. Furthermore, in case of Chinese paper, rough calcium carbonate of irregular shape is contained often. For example, there has been a case that the number of detected rough particles of calcium carbonate that are more than 20 μm in length was 1,204 pieces/cm2.
The stuck toner that is mixed with such rough particles of calcium carbonate of irregular shape can be recovered hardly by a cleaning roller and deposited on the surface of the press roller and, as the result, the press roller and paper are suffered from corruption. Or the cleaning performance of the cleaning roller may be reduced. Also, when the heat roller and the press roller are pressed each other, as the rough particles of irregular shape, consisting of calcium carbonate and the stuck toner exist on the surface of press roller, the surface of the heat roller may cause dents. As the result, the smooth surface of the heat roller is roughed. The roughed surface of the heat roller reduces the shape-separating performance of the heat roller. As the result, the toner stuck to the heat roller from the toner image at the time of fixing increased, and the quality of the image was deteriorated due to the drop of the fixing performance and/or corruption of paper.
For this reason, as shown in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2001-312173, there is an apparatus that the toner stuck to the press roller is removed completely by utilizing both a cleaning roller that removes the toner stuck to the surface of the press roller and a cleaning brush that removes the adhesion from the press roller such as particles of calcium carbonate.
However, in case of the cleaning brush laid open by Japanese Patent Application Publication No.2001-312173, the cleaning brush is located in the upper stream of the cleaning roller in the turning direction of the press roller. Such being the case, when the particles of calcium carbonate on the press roller are removed, the toner stuck to the press roller is caught by the cleaning brush that contacts at first. For this reason, when the paper which contains a large quantity of calcium carbonate is used, cleaning brush is pushed to the press roller and mainly particles of calcium carbonate are removed by the cleaning brush. On the other hand, when paper containing a small volume of calcium carbonate is used, the cleaning brush is separated from the press roller, in order to prevent that the toner with strong adhesion stuck to the cleaning brush is transferred to the press roller. As in this case, a construction that the contact position of the cleaning brush can be changed against the press roller is provided. Such being the case, there is a problem that the mechanism supporting the cleaning brush becomes complicated in the case of the fixing device laid open by Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-312173.


A thermal battery assembly may include a thermal battery that includes a housing and a plurality of internal pins extending therefrom. The thermal battery assembly may also include an enclosure surrounding the housing in spaced relation therefrom and maintaining a vacuum therebetween and a connection header. The connection header may include a flange coupled to said enclosure, at least one dielectric body coupled to the flange, and external pins extending through the at least one dielectric body. Each external pin may be coupled to a corresponding internal pin along a path having at least one bend therein to accommodate relative movement between the housing and the enclosure.

One type of battery is a thermal battery. A thermal battery is typically inert before activation, and thus it may be stored for a relatively long time period without adversely affecting performance such as, for example, operational duration.
A thermal battery typically includes cells each having an anode, electrolyte, and cathode. The electrolyte maintains separation between the anode and cathode until activation.
A thermal battery may be activated mechanically, pyrotechnically, and/or with a rapid acceleration or change in temperature. Upon activation, a pyrotechnical thermal energy source releases heat which causes the electrolyte to melt or permit ion exchange between the anode and cathode. Thus energy is provided. The heat generated by the ion exchange may be dissipated relatively quickly while electrical energy may be provided for a duration in the range of a few seconds to up to an hour, for example.

Thermal battery assembly and related methods


A method and apparatus for reducing energy consumption and minimizing martensite formations when joining a connecting piece of metal with a metal surface by pin brazing. The method comprises the steps of 1) measuring the exact amount of energy required to melt a particular brazing pin against a certain workpiece surface; 2) applying a welding current through the particular brazing pin and the certain workpiece surface to effect pin brazing; 3) calculating the amount of energy which has passed through the brazing pin during pin brazing by multiplying the square of the welding current times the duration of the welding current; 4) advancing the brazing pin automatically toward the workpiece surface during pin brazing so that the distance between the brazing pin and the workpiece remains constant while the welding current is being applied; 5) terminating the welding current when the calculation of the amount of energy which has passed through the particular brazing pin results in the exact amount of energy required to melt the particular pin; and 6) automatically interrupting the welding current if a predetermined period of time expires prior to termination of the welding current. An apparatus is provided for carrying out this method.

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for saving energy when joining a connecting piece of metal with a metal surface by pin brazing, wherein heat is generated by an electronic welding arc and the required energy for the process is carefully supervised and controlled and wherein structural changes such as martensite formations, are minimized under the brazing site in, for example, a railway track or in pipe lines.
A conventional method for producing the above mentioned connections is described in Swedish patent 129 849 and 8404050-0.
One problem with using the conventional methods on railway tracks is that the strong heat released under the brazing site causes a proportionately strong martensite formation, which, in turn, can result in crack formations.
A further problem is the large energy consumption of the conventional methods, among other things, due to the use of brazing pins having a timed wire (or fuse wire). This wire, which is usually made of copper, regulates the duration of the welding process by melting after a certain period of time. This, in turn, causes the current supply to cease. Furthermore, the conventional equipment includes many contacts with large energy consumption. All these items result in fewer brazings for each current supply unit.
Another problem with the conventional methods involves the fact that at the beginning of the process, the brazing pin is raised up from the work-piece a distance of about 2 mm. This distance must be manually adjusted with precision and must be controlled visually, in an arrangement in a brazing gun, at every brazing occasion in order to avoid brazing failure and high martensite formations.
A still further problem with conventional pin brazing methods is that the current from the current sources normally used, is not constant. The current usually comes from a source consisting of batteries. The current used when brazing is not constant, and varies usually depending on the battery, cables, fuse wire, contact passages in the brazing gun as well as the length of the welding arc. These variables result in unsatisfactory brazing and large structural changes in the work material. Furthermore, the distance between the brazing pin of the brazing gun and the work piece increases as the brazing pin melts down, which, in turn, affects the current.
Another problem with conventional methods is that the work-piece can be insufficiently grounded thus resulting in a failed brazing and consumption of material.

Method and apparatus for reducing energy consumption and minimizing martensite formations when joining a connecting piece of metal with a metal surface by pin brazing


A resist composition of the invention includes: (A) a resin being insoluble or poorly soluble in alkali aqueous solution, but becoming soluble in an alkali aqueous solution by the action of an acid, (B) an acid generator represented by the formula (II), and (D) a compound represented by the formula (I),

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a resist composition and a method for producing resist pattern.
2. Background Information
A resist composition which contains a resin, an acid generator, and a quencher containing 2,6-diisopropylaniline is described in Patent document of JP-2006-257078A.
However, with the conventional resist composition, the focus margin (DOF) at producing a resist pattern may be not always satisfied with.

Resist composition and method for producing resist pattern

Abstract: wherein R1, R2, m, n, Q1, Q2, L1, ring W1 and Z+ are defined in the specification.


A compound having the formula I

Compounds with affinity for estrogen receptors have found long-standing utility in the treatment of a variety of medical indications. Despite the long history of the field there still is a need for more effective, safer and more economical compounds than the existing ones. For the control or prevention of estrogen sensitive tumor growth, compounds are needed which are antagonists or partial antagonists.
The discovery of subtypes of estrogen receptors, there being an α-subtype (ERα) and a β-subtype (ERβ) of such receptors (Mosselman et al., FEBS Letters vol. 392 (1996) pp. 49-53 as well as EP-A-0 798 378), offers the possibility to influence one particular subtype of those two receptors more selectively, immanently resulting in more effective treatments or treatments with less side effects. Since these receptors have a different distribution in human tissue, the finding of compounds which possess a selective affinity for either of the two is an important technical progress, making it possible to provide a more selective treatment in estrogen-receptor related medical treatments with a lower burden of estrogen-related side-effects.
Attempts to replace the steroid skeleton with other cyclic structures have led to explorations of a tetrahydrobenzfluorene skeleton (Tedesco et al.; Bioorganic Med Chem Letters Vol 11, pp 1281-1284; 2001) as compounds with influence on estrogen receptors. Compounds with a differing tetrahydrobenzfluorene skeleton were found, which within strict stereochemical requirements, display very selective actions on estrogen receptors.
It is found that compounds having the formula I
wherein    the O—(CH2)n—N(R1,R2) substituent on the phenyl ring can be in meta or para position;    n is 2-4    Re and ′Re are OH, optionally independently etherified or esterified;    R1 and R2 are independently (1C-4C)alkyl, (2C-4C)alkenyl, hydroxy(2C-4C)alkyl, (1C-3C)alkoxy(2C-4C)alkyl, aryl or aryl(1C-2C)alkyl; or R1 and R2 together with the nitrogen form an aromatic or non-aromatic heterocyclic ring structure, optionally mono- or poly-substituted with (1C-4C)alkyl, (2C-4C)alkenyl, hydroxy(1C-2C)alkyl, (1C-2C)alkoxy(1 C-3C)alkyl or aryl.
The compounds of the invention can be used in medical treatments aimed to selectively influence estrogen receptors (ERα, and ERβ) in an organism, being a human or an animal.

Abstract: A compound having the formula I

Abstract: wherein    the O—(CH2)n—N(R1,R2) substituent on the phenyl ring can be in meta or para position;    n is 2-4    Re and ′Re are OH, optionally independently etherified or esterified;    R1 and R2 are independently (1C-4C)alkyl, (2C-4C)alkenyl, hydroxy(2C-4C)alkyl, (1C-3C)alkoxy(2C-4C)alkyl, aryl or aryl(1C-2C)alkyl; or R1 and R2 together with the nitrogen form an aromatic or non-aromatic heterocyclic ring structure, optionally mono- or poly-substituted with (1C-4C)alkyl, (2C-4C)alkenyl, hydroxy(1C-2C)alkyl, (1C-2C)alkoxy(1C-3C)alkyl or aryl. These compounds can be used for estrogen receptor β selective medical treatments.


An apparatus for assisting a driver to achieve optimized driving of a vehicle includes a controller and a display unit. The display unit is configured to display at least one visually highlighted range in place of a conventional fuel consumption display.

The invention relates to a driver assistance system for driver assistance for consumption controlled driving.
There exist a plurality of driver assistance systems that help the driver, for example, by navigation, by controlling the longitudinal dynamics or by means of warnings while he is driving. Some driver assistance systems also consider to some extent measures for reducing the fuel consumption. For example, DE 10 2007 006 501 describes an automatic cruise control system that intentionally allows larger deviations in order to reduce the fuel consumption. Furthermore, there already exist navigation systems that offer the driver the possibility, when entering a destination, to choose a route from a selection of efficient routes.
It is an object of the invention to improve a driver assistance system of the above-mentioned type with respect to further reducing the fuel consumption while simultaneously taking into account the intentions of the driver.
The invention achieves this and other objects by providing a driver assistance system for assisting the driver in consumption controlled driving. The system includes an electronic control system and feedback functions. The driver assistance system is characterized by a proactive assistant consisting of a control system and a display as the visual feedback function. The control system evaluates the speed and distances as a function of the route data of a predetermined route combined with current vehicle data such that the exact time or the route point, after which a predetermined speed in a defined distance, can be reached in overrun mode and/or in coasting mode. Upon reaching this exact time or this route point, the control system sends by way of the display at least one driving recommendation to release the accelerator pedal of the vehicle.
The invention is based on the following considerations, knowledge and ideas.
When a vehicle driver plans a route with the current generation of navigation systems, the navigation systems provides the driver with the expected trip duration and distance to the destination as the selection criteria for various routes. An improved efficiency oriented navigation system (for example, the future BMW green driving assistant) can offer the automobile driver a tool that also informs him about the fuel consumption on the route and, thus, helps him to select a fuel consumption optimized route.
In the course of planning a route before the start of a trip, the driver can compare the routes that offer the shortest driving time or the lowest fuel consumption. In order to help the driver make a decision, the green driving assistant lists not only the known criteria, arrival time and distance, but also the expected amount of fuel that will be saved. As a result, it is easy to decide whether the potential reduction in fuel consumption is worth a somewhat longer driving time.
In addition, while driving, the green driving assistant offers options to ensure that the driver will reach his destination even more efficiently and comfortably. The assistant alerts the driver as soon as it registers that the remaining range is insufficient to reach the desired destination with the current driving style and route. The system shows whether the fuel consumption could be optimized by activating the ECO mode (for example, by activating an ECO mode button) or by choosing another route, in order to reach the destination nevertheless without having to stop to refuel and, thus, without the associated loss of time.
If the driver wants to continue with the same driving style, the gas station assistant of the green driving assistant allows the timing of a stop at a gas station to be planned into the route. When offering the gas stations, the system takes into consideration whether the driver prefers a particular gas station company because it holds a customer loyalty card or a particular fuel and how great a detour would be involved due to the stop at the gas station. As soon as the driver has decided on a gas station, this station is entered into the navigation system as an intermediate destination, and the route calculation is adapted accordingly.
A driving and/or driver profile, learned by the navigation system, serves as the basis for calculating the range, arrival time and the reduction in fuel consumption for a route. In this context reference is made to BMW's patent application DE 10 2009 039 092, which has not been published yet. For example, an appropriate driver and/or vehicle adaptive algorithm in a control unit can learn the typical fuel consumption preferably by means of a predetermined learning route (of, for example, about 500 km), which the green driving assistant uses to plan each new route.
As stated above, the vehicle may have, in principle, a selector button (ECO mode button), which offers the driver at the touch of this button a number of options to ensure a fuel optimized driving style. A holistic approach comprising the drive configuration and the display concept offers the driver the possibility of reducing his fuel consumption in a number of different ways. The combination of the "proactive driving assistant" and "coasting in neutral" (see below) significantly increases the potential to save fuel.
Therefore, the route data from the navigation system and the measures for an efficient driving style can be combined to save fuel. In accordance with the invention, the drive configuration, the display concept and the proactive driving assistant are the center of interest in the considerations and are explained by and large in more detail below.

Driver assistance system for driver assistance for consumption controlled driving

Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft


The present application provides a piezoelectric microphone, and it includes a substrate having a back cavity and a piezoelectric cantilever diaphragm fixed to the substrate. The piezoelectric cantilever diaphragm includes a plurality of diaphragm flaps, and each of the diaphragm flaps has one end fixed to the substrate and another end suspended above the back cavity. Every two adjacent ones of the diaphragm flaps are spaced apart to form a gap. The piezoelectric microphone further comprises an elastically stretchable member connecting the two adjacent diaphragm flaps, and the elastically stretchable member is provided between at least one set of two adjacent ones of the diaphragm flaps. The piezoelectric microphone of the present disclosure has better performance.

MEMS microphones are now widely used and popularized in consumer electronic products. A conventional MEMS microphone is mainly a condenser microphone, and it includes a substrate, and a back plate and a diaphragm that are formed on the substrate. The diaphragm and the back plate form a capacitor system. Vibration of sound waves will drive the diaphragm of the microphone to vibrate back and forth, and in turn changes a distance between the diaphragm and the back plate and a value of a plate capacitance. By detecting a change in the capacitance, a sound signal can be converted into an electrical signal. When the mobile device is in a dusty environment, particles in air easily enter and get caught between the diaphragm and the back plate of the microphone, such that the diaphragm cannot move; and when the mobile device is in a humid environment, it is easy for water droplets to condense between the diaphragm and the back plate of the microphone, so that the diaphragm and the back plate are adhered by the water droplets. Both of the above conditions can cause the microphone to fail. In order to avoid such problems, piezoelectric MEMS microphones have emerged.
A fabrication process of the piezoelectric microphones is simple, and a design framework employing a single-layer membrane makes it unrestricted by air damping, such that an SNR is naturally improved. In addition, the piezoelectric microphone only includes the diaphragm, and does not include the back plate, which fundamentally eliminates harm caused by the particles and water vapor in the air to the microphone, thereby greatly improving reliability of the microphone.
A diaphragm flap of the diaphragm of many piezoelectric microphones in the related art has one end fixed and one end being a free cantilever structure, and the cantilever structure is used to avoid an influence of residual stress in the process on acoustic performance. When an external sound signal is introduced from a sound hole, a sound pressure causes the cantilever to deform, to generate a voltage change, thereby sensing an acoustic signal.
However, as shown in FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B, in the related art, the free end of the diaphragm flap of the diaphragm 1 will be deformed when the piezoelectric microphone is subjected to a residual stress. Moreover, because of an uneven stress distribution of the entire substrate 2 during a fabricating process, deformation of the free ends of different diaphragm flaps of the diaphragm 1 varies. A structure difference of the diaphragm flaps of the diaphragm 1 further deteriorates the performance of the microphone.
Therefore, it is necessary to provide an improved piezoelectric microphone to solve the above problems.

AAC ACOUSTIC TECHNOLOGIES (SHENZHEN) CO., LTD.


‘FL06-203’ is a new and distinct southern highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) variety distinguished by a very low chilling requirement, early bloom, upright growth habit, and fruit that are firm, sweet, with a small dry picking scar.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct hybrid variety of southern highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) named 'FL06-203'. 'FL06-203' is a blueberry clone distinguished by its low chilling requirement, vigorous, upright bush, and large, sweet, firm berries that ripen from early February through late April when grown in south central Florida under evergreen conditions. Several hundred plants of 'FL06-203' have been propagated by softwood stem cuttings in Gainesville, Fla., and the resulting plants have all been phenotypically indistinguishable from the original plant. Contrast is made to 'Emerald' (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 12,165), an important variety widely planted in the southeastern United States. The claimed plant is important because it is more upright, earlier blooming, and has earlier maturing fruit than 'Emerald'. Fruit of 'FL06-203' are also sweeter, firmer, and have a small, dry picking scar when compared to 'Emerald'. 'FL06-203' has higher yields than 'Emerald' when grown as an evergreen plant.
'FL06-203' originated as a seedling from a cross between 'FL02-12' (unpatented) as the female (seed) parent and 'Farthing' (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 19,341) as the male (pollen) parent. This cross was made in a greenhouse at Gainesville, Fla., in February 2002. The seedling was planted in a high-density field nursery located in Citra, Fla., in May 2003, and the first fruit were evaluated in April 2004. After the third year of fruiting in the field, in the spring of 2006, 'FL06-203' was asexually propagated by softwood stem cuttings, and an experimental 15-plant test plot was established as part of a variety test in Windsor, Fla., in February 2007. Based on the growth, yield, and fruit quality of this plot, 'FL06-203' was repropagated by softwood stem cuttings and experimental test plots ranging from 5 to 50 plants were established near Arcadia, Citra, Interlachen, Haines City, and Windsor, Fla. These plots have been observed during flowering and ripening each year, and no mutations or off-type plants have been observed.
'FL06-203' differs from the parent 'Farthing' (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 19,341) in that 'FL06-203' has a lower chilling requirement, an earlier bloom period, a more upright growth habit, and sweeter fruit with more blue color. 'FL06-203' differs from the proprietary parent 'FL02-12' (unpatented) in that 'FL06-203' is earlier ripening and has a lower chilling requirement. 'FL06-203' differs from the commercial variety 'Emerald' (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 12,165), an important variety widely planted in the southeastern United States, in that 'FL06-203' blooms earlier and has a lower chilling requirement that allows it to be grown as an evergreen plant in regions conducive to this management system. 'FL06-203' berries ripen earlier and are sweeter than 'Emerald' berries.


A system and method for providing customized help to a vehicle user when a vehicle problem is detected. The method includes detecting vehicle data that indicates a condition of a vehicle and obtaining profile data comprising an estimated mechanical skill level of a user. The method further includes providing instructions, based upon the profile data and the vehicle data, to the user for addressing the condition.

Many current automobiles are equipped with onboard monitoring systems that are capable of detecting imminent or occurring operational problems (e.g., low tire air pressure, high engine temperature, etc.) For example, various sensors may be disposed within the vehicle and connected to a microprocessor that analyzes data from the sensors. The sensors may include, for example, tire air pressure sensors, fluid level sensors, temperature sensors, etc. The microprocessor is programmed to recognize predetermined patterns of data from the sensors as indicative of the existence of a current problem or the imminent occurrence of an oncoming problem. The microprocessor is also preprogrammed to alert the driver when a problem is recognized. The alert may take the form of an audible and/or visual warning (e.g., warning chime, dashboard indicator light, text message on a video display, voice recording, etc.). Such systems promote safety and provide drivers with a sense of security.
Although such systems alert the driver of a problem, there is often little or no information available to the driver on how to repair (e.g., fix) the identified problem. The hard copy of the vehicle owner's manual usually provides only generic guidance for troubleshooting minor problems, often for a range of types of vehicles. Moreover, if the driver is in traffic or a deserted area, attempting to use the hard copy of the owner's manual (either by reading while driving or by pulling over) may be cumbersome and/or dangerous. Thus, the hard copy of the owner's manual is often of little use at the time that the problem is occurring.
Aftermarket manuals that provide greater detail of troubleshooting and repair procedures than the typical owner's manual are available in the form of books and CD-ROMs. However, these manuals suffer from some of the same drawbacks as the typical owner's manual. That is, consulting a book or a CD-ROM (e.g., via a laptop computer) is often cumbersome and/or dangerous in driving situations in which many problems occur. Moreover, there is typically so much detailed information packed into these manuals, that a driver having little to no mechanical experience often has trouble finding the information that they need to address the current problem. Thus, in either case, a driver that is presented with a problem by the vehicle monitoring system is often left without adequate instruction for addressing the problem.
Accordingly, there exists a need in the art to overcome the deficiencies and limitations described hereinabove.

International Business Machines Corporation


An endoscopic system including an accessory that fits over an endoscopic device, the accessory including at least one collapsible tube which has a collapsed state and an expanded state, wherein in the collapsed state, the accessory increases an outer perimeter of the endoscopic device by not more than 10%, and in the expanded state, the at least one collapsible tube has fluid that flows therethrough and the accessory increases the outer perimeter of the endoscopic device by at least 10%.

PCT Patent Application WO 2010/138521 describes an improved endoscopic device for performing endoscopy in a body lumen, such as the GI tract. The device includes an irrigation lumen (irrigation includes, inter alia, cleaning and/or washing) that provides a jet of cleaning fluid that cleans the body lumen during imaging thereof. Debris is sucked through a suction tube for discarding. Cleaning may be performed during imaging, during insertion of the endoscope, during withdrawing, and any combinations thereof. The device enhances performance of an endoscope for use with a body lumen that has not been sufficiently cleaned for viewing with the endoscope, which is particularly useful for colonoscopy.

Endoscopic accessory for endoscopic device


A method of incorporating a fastener with a molded brassiere of a seamless construction and that includes an exterior panel of moldable material and an interior panel of moldable material that is contiguous with the exterior more panel and has been laminated therewith except at at least a non-laminated region where the fastener is to be located, and wherein the fastener includes a connector supported by a flexible mounting panel, the method comprising creating an opening through one of the exterior panel and the interior panel at the non-laminated region and at a location thereof through which at least part of the connector is to extend, locating the flexible mounting panel intermediate of the exterior panel and the interior panel at the non-laminated region in a manner to allow the at least part of the connector to extend through the opening, affixing at least one of the exterior panel and the interior panel to the flexible mounting panel.

Molded brassieres are known. For example, US 20040224604 describes how a brassiere made from moldable materials can be made without any or no significant use of stitching, at least to the perimeter shape of the brassiere and preferably also at any other parts of the brassiere.
Perimeter stitching or stitching elsewhere on a brassiere to hold components of the brassiere together can be undesirable. Stitching can have a tendency to come undone and unravel thereby affecting the integrity of the bra. Regions of stitching that are exposed may also irritate the skin of the wearer of the bra. Furthermore the incorporation of stitching is also time consuming as it needs to be controlled by a person and is hence a labour intensive exercise.
Brassieres of a shape that includes two breast cup regions from each of which part of a chest band extends are the most common form of brassieres. At the end of each chest band are provided clasps or connectors that, when the chest band portions are in part wrapped around the torso of a person, can allow for the connectors to become mutually engaged to thereby ensure that the bra remains attached to the wearer of a person. The connectors used in traditional forms of brassieres include a series of hooks and eyes usually made of a metal wire that can become mutually engaged with each other. The hooks and eyes are normally mounted by sewing or stitching, onto a mounting panel or tape. In the traditional form of brassiere, the mounting panel or tape is sewn onto the chest band portions of the brassiere at or towards their free end. Again such a sewing step is labour intensive as it needs to be done by a person. Furthermore such mounting panels or tapes are normally sewn onto an exterior of a chest band and can have an un-aesthetic appearance. In addition the sewn or stitched panels, if not finished to a degree where it is relatively smooth, can also cause irritation to the back of a person wearing the brassiere.
Accordingly it is an object of the present invention to provide a molded brassiere incorporating fasteners which addresses the abovementioned issues or which will at least provide the public with a useful choice.

Molded seamless brassiere incorporating fasteners


A reciprocating fluid driven apparatus has a hollow elongate barrel with an inlet and an outlet in fluid communication with portions of a pipeline, a piston reciprocating within the barrel and having a through hole for fluid communication between spaces above and below the piston, and a cyclically operable closure member for opening and closing the through hole allowing upward and downward piston movements, the piston having piston rods extending from an upper end and a lower end of the piston to an exterior of the barrel so that a pressure at opposite sides of said piston is balanced to allow operation at unlimited pressures.

The present invention relates to a piston system and apparatus for harnessing energy from a pressurized fluid flowing in a pipeline.
Fluids flowing through a pipeline are typically under pressure to provide motive energy to the fluid. A fluid, namely liquid or gas, which is under pressure from natural sources such as oil or natural gas from an underground reservoir or well may be harnessed in whole or part to perform other functions or tasks. At well sites in the oil and gas industry, for instance, energy is often needed to operate instrumentation and pumps for a variety of purposes, including glycol dehydration, methanol injection, heat tracing of liquid lines, chemical injection, and the like.
At remote well sites where delivery of electricity is not feasible from an existing power grid, the associated pumps must be operated by other means. Typically, at natural gas well sites, a portion of the gas from the well""s main gas stream is diverted for running the instrumentation and pumps. A significant drawback of these existing arrangements is that the gas is vented to atmosphere as exhaust after being used in the pumps and instruments. There appeared to be no practical and economical means for recovering such vented gas, particularly since the exhaust is at a significantly lower pressure than that of the gas pipeline. Hence, well site operators are faced with the undesirable results of emitting raw gas to atmosphere, which is believed to be detrimental to the environment, as well as losing the opportunity to sell the vented gas.
A new system and apparatus which overcomes the limitations and problems of the prior pump arrangements was proposed in my U.S. Pat. No. 6,065,387. In the apparatus disclosed in this patent a hollow elongate barrel having a top end, an opposed bottom end with an inlet in fluid communication with an upstream portion of the pipeline, and an outlet located intermediate the top and bottom ends in fluid communication with the pipeline downstream of the upstream portion are provided. A piston is movable upwardly in the barrel by pressurized fluid beneath the piston to an upper limit of travel upon the closure member closing the throughhole and the piston is allowed to fall by the force of gravity from the upper limit of travel to a lower limit of travel upon the closure member opening the throughhole to allow the fluid beneath the piston to travel to the interior cavity and to the outlet of the barrel for discharge into the downstream portion of the pipeline. A piston rod extends from the upper end of the piston and slidably through the top end of the barrel in a relatively fluid tight manner for transferring movement of the piston to the exterior of the barrel. This apparatus represents a fairly simple and compact device with a few moving parts for efficiently and automatically harnessing energy from a pressurized fluid stream in a pipeline to perform a desired task. The system is fully self contained in that any fluid diverted from the main fluid stream is returned to that fluid stream without any venting to atmosphere. The harnessed energy may be transferred elsewhere mechanically, such as by a movable piston rod to perform work such as pumping or compressing other fluids, or by other suitable means such as an electrical transfer. The above described apparatus can however be further improved.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a piston apparatus for gas/liquid pipeline of the above mentioned type, which is a further improvement of the existing apparatus.
In keeping with these objects and with others which will become apparent hereinafter, one feature of present invention resides, briefly stated, in an apparatus which has a hollow elongate barrel having a top end, an opposed bottom end, an inlet in fluid communication with a portion of the pipeline, and an outlet in fluid communication with another portion of the pipeline; a piston located within said barrel for reciprocating sliding therein in a relatively fluid-tight manner, said piston having a through hole for fluid communication between a space above said piston and a space below said piston, and a cyclically operable closure member for opening and closing said through hole, said piston being moved upwardly in said barrel by the pressurized fluid beneath said piston to an upper limit of its travel upon said closure member closing said through hole and being allowed to fall by force of gravity from said upper limit of travel to a lower limit of travel upon said closure member opening said through hole to allow said fluid beneath said piston to travel above said piston for discharge of the fluid into the pipeline, said piston including a piston rod extending from an upper end of said piston through said top end of said barrel in a relatively fluid-tight manner for transferring movement of said piston to an exterior of the barrel, and a lower piston rod extending from a lower end of said piston through said bottom end of said barrel in a relatively fluid-tight manner for transferring movement of said piston to an exterior of said barrel.
When the piston apparatus is designed in accordance with the applicant""s invention, it allows a load to be connected to either or both ends of the apparatus. A further important benefit of connecting a piston rod to each of the upper and lower ends of the piston, is that it allows the device to operate at unlimited pressure. The piston surface exposed to the pressurized fluid on the upper end of the piston is equal to that on the lower end of the piston. When a rod is used only on the upper end, the above mentioned surface areas are not equal, and the undesirable result is that the piston can be held at the upper limit of travel indefinitely, by the greater force on the lower end, due to the greater surface area on the lower end.
Another important improvement lies in the closure member apparatus, which achieves a xe2x80x9csnap actionxe2x80x9d of the valve and full travel of the valve to its limits in both directions. As a result, the situation is eliminated where the valve may open only partially, or close only partially, and the piston xe2x80x9cstallxe2x80x9d in a state of equilibrium.
A third significant improvement is the fact that the valve now enters into the opening, to close off the through hole. This ensures equal area on top and bottom surface of the valve, exposed to the pressurized fluid. A valve which simply covers over the opening, as in the prior art, has the problem of unequal areas exposed to the pressurized fluid, and requires greater total force to open it.
A cost saving improvement is the fact that the cylinder ends are now simply flat surfaces. No cone is required on the underside of the top end, and no bridge is required on the upper side of the bottom end.
Still another improvement is that fluid exits the barrel out the top end, just as it enters through the bottom end. No opening is required through the side wall of the barrel or cylinder.
Finally, the piston no longer has to be a hollow structure. It is simply a solid piece with a hole through it.
The novel features which are considered as characteristic for the present invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

Piston apparatus for gas/liquid pipeline