A flexible sheet to which manufacturing processes are to be applied is tensioned within a carrying fixture having tacky surfaces to which the flexible sheet is fastened. One version of the fixture includes an "L"-shaped attachment surface on a frame member and two tensioning members deflected toward the frame member in mutually perpendicular directions. When the flexible sheet has been fastened to the carrying fixture, the tensioning members are allowed to return toward their undeflected positions while applying tensioning forces to the flexible sheet. Another version of the fixture includes "L"-shaped attachment surfaces on both a frame member and a tensioning member. A loading station includes a stack of unprocessed flexible sheets, a fixture for deflecting tensioning member(s) within the carrying fixture, and a robot arm moving a transport fixture capable of carrying a flexible sheet and a carrying fixture. An unloading station includes a stack to processed flexible sheets, a fixture at which processed flexible sheets are separated from the carrying fixtures, and a similar robot arm with a similar transport fixture. A lower conveyor carries loaded fixtures from the loading station to the unloading station. An upper conveyor carries empty fixtures from the unloading station to the loading station.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to apparatus for holding a flexible sheet, and, more particularly, to apparatus holding a flexible sheet under tension while the flexible sheet is carried through chemical processes.
2. Background Information
Processes applied during the manufacture of flexible circuits, which are applied, for example, to polyimide sheets having a thickness of 0.002 inch (0.08 mm), require the holding and tensioning of such sheets as membranes having sides up to 14 inches (35.6 cm) long. Such circuits, and the sheets from which they are made, must be held as they go through one or more chemical process steps during manufacture.
Present methods for holding circuit sheets as they are carried through chemical processes include the use of double-sided adhesive tape, pins, springs, clamps, and screws. (Hereinafter, the term "circuit sheet" is meant to describe a flexible sheet being prepared for the application of circuit traces, a flexible sheet to which circuit traces are being applied, or a flexible sheet to which circuit traces have been applied). Double-sided adhesive tape used to fasten a flexible sheet or circuit to a frame member must frequently be replaced on the frame member, in an operation which is often difficult because the tape cannot easily be removed completely and cleanly. Furthermore, such tape frequently transfers an adhesive residue to the product being manufactured. Mechanical clamping methods tend to be complex, expensive to build, and difficult to maintain. Such mechanisms may collect and retain solutions from various chemical processes, resulting in a need for frequent and difficult cleaning, in corrosion problems, and, sometimes, in the contamination of one chemical process with residual materials from another such process. Furthermore, such conventional clamping mechanisms often require special features in the product being manufactured, such as clearance holes for clamping pins or screws. In some instances, difficulties are encountered because the thin sheet product is not clamped uniformly, being allowed to sag or billow between conventional clamping devices.
Thus, what is needed is a frame, to which a flexible sheet can easily be attached, and from which the circuit sheet can easily be removed, having a capability to maintain membrane tension within the circuit sheet as it is carried through various chemical processes. It is particularly desirable that such a frame be composed of materials resistant to chemical attack, and that such a frame be configured to avoid presenting surfaces including notches or cavities to the chemical processes through which the circuit sheet may be carried, since such features tend to collect chemical residue and are difficult to clean. It is further desirable to provide attachment means usable with a number of different types of circuit sheets without placing requirements on such sheets for special features, such as attachment holes. Such a frame is needed for the chemical processing of flexible circuit sheets and for the processing of other types of flexible sheets.

Fixture and method for carrying a flexible sheet under tension through manufacturing processes

International Business Machines Corporation


A pendulum assembly comprises a cold forged steel pendulum or cold formed steel pendulum attached to a cold forged steel carrier or cold formed steel carrier. The carrier is attached to the crankshaft. The pendulum assembly includes a first outer steel plate, a second outer steel plate, and an intermediate steel plate. The stamped plates are formed from flat sheet steel to provide the pendulum shape and features. The outer steel plates are attached to the intermediate steel plate by any of a variety of methods. The pendulum carrier of the disclosed inventive concept is comprised of one or more steel plates that are also cold forged or cold formed from steel to provide the pendulum carrier shape and features. Alternatively, the pendulum carrier may include two cold forged or cold formed portions attached together or three cold forged or cold formed portions attached together.

Internal combustion engines having a relatively small number of cylinders provide automobile makers with an attractive solution to the need for improved fuel economy. In order to compensate for reduction of cubic capacity vehicle manufacturers developed technologies to improve engine power, such as direct fuel injection, turbocharging, and variable timing for inlet and exhaust camshafts. In this way six- and eight-cylinder engines can be scaled down without losing available horsepower.
An undesirable consequence of engines with a small number of cylinders is high crankshaft torsional vibration that is transmitted to the engine mounts and to the drive line. This results in higher seat track and steering wheel NVH as well as gear rattle.
Engineers manage these vibrations to one extent or another through a variety of approaches, many of which increase the cost of construction but reduce fuel economy. One accepted solution to overcome excessive vibration is the provision of one or more pendulums on the crankshaft to lower the torsional vibration of the crankshaft and the consequent vehicle noise and harshness. Such crankshaft-mounted pendulums function as vibration absorbers as they are tuned to address and thus reduce vibrations generated by oscillating torque, thus smoothing torque output of the crankshafts. This approach is taken as well by designers of some airplane piston engines where the pendulums smooth output torque and reduce the stress of the rotors.
An example of a pendulum vibration absorber associated with an engine crankshaft is set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 4,739,679, assigned to the assignee of the instant application. According to the arrangement set forth in this patent, a pendulum includes an inner curved cam follower surface that is alternately engaged and disengaged from a pin type cam fixed on the pendulum carrier.
The crankshaft pendulum and pendulum carrier used today are expensive to manufacture due to both material cost and machining cost. They must be made of steel for durability and, thus, are formed from hot forgings. Conventional pendulums include two such steel forgings that are bolted together. The individual steel forgings must be machined before assembly. The high cost of known pendulums and their associated carriers serve as a financial impediment to the wide-spread use of pendulums on crankshafts.
Thus a new approach to the pendulum crankshafts and their associated carriers is needed to address the problems associated with known arrangements.

Stamped steel pendulum and pendulum carrier for crankshaft


The present invention relates to a wireless communication system, and more particularly, to a method and device for performing or supporting selective decoding of a beacon frame in a wireless LAN system. A method of decoding a frame by a station STA in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention may include: determining whether to decode each of a first data portion and a second data portion of the frame; and decoding one or more of the first data portion and the second data portion if it is determined that the decoding is performed. Hence, the frame may further include information that is used for the determination by the station STA on whether to decode each of the first data portion and the second data portion, and whether to decode may be determined on the basis of whether to change one or more of the first data portion and the second data portion.

Recently, various kinds of wireless communication technologies have been developed together with the developments of the information communication technology. Particularly, wireless LAN (WLAN) is the technology for accessing Internet by wireless in a home, a company or a specific service provided area using such a mobile user equipment as a personal digital assistant (PDA), a laptop computer, a portable multimedia player (PMP) and the like based on a radio frequency technology.
In order to overcome the limitation put on a communication speed pointed out as a weak point of WLAN, the recent technology standard has introduced a system having an enhanced speed and reliability of a network and an extended operating distance of a wireless network. For instance, IEEE 802.11n has introduced the application of MIMO (Multiple Inputs and Multiple Outputs) that uses multiple antennas at both ends including a transmitting unit and a receiving unit in order to support high throughput for a data processing speed over maximum 540 Mbps, minimize transmission error, and optimize a data rate or speed.

Method and device for selective decoding of beacon frame in wireless LAN system


The present invention relates to a method for the amplification of mRNA of a sample, comprising the steps of i.) generating cDNA from polyadenylated RNA employing at least one primer hybridizing to said polyadenylated RNA and comprising a 5′ poly(C) or a 5′ poly(G) flank; ii.)(aa) if present, removing non-hybridized, surplus primer(s) and/or surplus dNTPs; ii.)(ab) 3′ tailing of said generated cDNA with a poly(G) tail when in step i.(a) primer(s) comprising a 5′ poly(C) flank was employed or a poly(C) tail when in step i.(a) primer(s) comprising a 5′ poly(G) flank was employed; or ii.)(b) 3′ tailing of said generated cDNA with a poly(G) tail when in step i.(a) primer(s) comprising a 5′ poly(C) flank was employed or a poly(C) tail when in step i.(a) primer(s) comprising a 5′ poly(G) flank was employed using an RNA-ligase, irrespective of the presence or absence of surplus primer(s) and/or surplus dNTPs; and iii.) amplifying the tailed cDNA with a primer hybridizing to the tail(s) generated in step ii(ab) or ii(b). Furthermore, the present invention relates to methods for the preparation of in vitro surrogate(s), for identifying expressed genes in a test sample, for identifying a drug candidate for therapy of a pathological condition and for in vitro detection of a pathological condition employing said method for amplification of mRNA. In addition, the present invention relates to the use of amplified cDNA(s) as obtained by the method of the invention in hybridization, interaction and/or enzymatic arrays.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for the amplification of mRNA of a sample, comprising the steps of i.) generating cDNA from polyadenylated RNA employing at least one primer hybridizing to said polyadenylated RNA and comprising a 5′ poly(C) or a 5′ poly(G) flank; ii.)(aa) if present, removing non-hybridized, surplus primer(s) and/or surplus dNTPs; ii.)(ab) 3′ tailing of said generated cDNA with a poly(G) tail when in step i. (a) primer(s) comprising a 5′ poly(C) flank was employed or a poly(C) tail when in step i. (a) primer(s) comprising a 5′ poly(G) flank was employed; or ii.)(b) 3′ tailing of said generated cDNA with a poly(G) tail when in step i. (a) primer(s) comprising a 5′ poly(C) flank was employed or a poly(C) tail when in step i. (a) primer(s) comprising a 5′ poly(G) flank was employed using an RNA-ligase, irrespective of the presence or absence of surplus primer(s) and/or surplus dNTPs; and iii.) amplifying the tailed cDNA with a primer hybridizing to the tail(s) generated in step ii(ab) or ii(b). Furthermore, the present invention relates to methods for the preparation of in vitro surrogate(s), for identifying expressed genes in a test sample, for identifying a drug candidate for therapy of a pathological condition and for in vitro detection of a pathological condition employing said method for amplification of mRNA. In addition, the present invention relates to the use of amplified cDNA(s) as obtained by the method of the invention in hybridization, interaction and/or enzymatic arrays.
2. Description of the Related Art
Several documents are cited throughout the text of this specification. The disclosure content of each of the documents (including any manufacturer's specifications, instructions, etc.) is herewith incorporated by reference.
The study of gene expression and gene expression patterns have lately been revolutionized by global analysis of mRNA expression on cDNA filter assays or cDNA micro arrays (see, inter alia, Southern, Trends Genet. 12 (1996), 110–115; Debouck, Nat. Genet. 21:48–50 (1999); Hacia, Nat. Genet., 21, 42–7 (1999); Cole, Nat. Genet. 21, 38–41 (1999); Bowtell D D., Nat. Genet., 21, 25–32 (1999); Cheung, Nat. Genet., 21, 15–19 (1999); Duggan, Nat. Genet., 21, 10–14 (1999); Southern, Nat. Genet., 21, 5–9 (1999)). For example, Lockhart (Nature Biotechnology 14 (1996), 1675–1680) describes an approach that is based on hybridization of a large number of mRNAs to small, high-density arrays containing tens of thousands of synthetic oligonucleotides, allowing for the simultaneous monitoring of tens of thousands of (expressed) genes. Further micro arrays for gene expression have been described in Shalon (Pathol. Biol. 46 (1998), 107–109), Lockhardt (Nuc. Acids Symp. Ser. 38 (1998), 11–12) or in Schena (Trends Biotech. 16 (1998), 301–306). However, one of the major draw-backs of the above described cDNA-array technology is the fact that these technologies require an amount of 2.5 to 10 μg of nucleic acid probes to be tested either in the form of mRNA, reverse transcribed RNA or amplified cDNA (see, inter alia, Schena (Science 270 (1995), 467–470 and PNAS U.S.A. 93 (1996), 10614–10619) or Lockhardt (1996) loc. cit.). This amount of material is normally only derived from a large of number of cells such as about 109. Bryant, PNAS U.S.A. 96 (1999), 5559–5564 or Mahadevappa, Nat. Biotech. 17 (1999), 1134–1136 reported such an approach using at least from 50000 cells. The smallest number of cells yet used for ex-vivo tissue analysis and corresponding gene expression has been 1,000 cells (Luo, Nat. Medicine 5 (1999), 117–122). However, a plethora of physiological and/or pathological conditions would require to study the gene expression pattern or "transcriptome", defined as the entirety of mRNA molecules in a given biological sample (Velculescu, Cell, 88, 243–251 (1997) of a lower number of cells or even a single cell. For instance, the investigation of spatially and temporally regulated gene expression in embryogenesis would clearly profit from a method were a low number of cells, in particular a single cell, can be deduced. Similarly, it would be of high interest to investigate the gene expression pattern/transcriptome of individual cells or a low number of cells derived from adult tissue, like, inter alia, blood or neuronal (stem) cells. Furthermore, multiple pathological conditions could be clarified, e.g., the delineation of deregulated gene expression in a typical proliferation, mutaplasia, preneoplastic lesians and/or carcinomata in situ. Other examples of locally restricted pathological processes which could be investigated comprise, but are not limited to, restenosis, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, graft-versus-host disease or inflammations in autoimmunity. Furthermore, occult micrometastasis derived from a small cancer has dire consequences if the disseminated tumor cells survive in distant organs and grow into manifest metastases. Tumor cells left after resection of primary tumors are currently detected in bone marrow aspirates by immunocytochemical staining with antibodies directed against cytokeratins (reviewed in Pantel, J. Natl. Canc. Inst. 91, 1113–1124 (1999)). While several studies have established the prognostic significance of cytokeratin-positive micrometastatic cells in bone marrow (Braun, N. Engl. J. Med. 342, 525–533 (2000); Pantel, J. Natl. Canc. Inst. 91, 1113–1124 (1999)), the biology of these cells has largely remained enigmatic because of their extremely low frequency in the range of 10−5–10−6.
The systemic spread of cancer cells requires that cells evade from the solid tumor, distribute via blood or lymphatic vessels, cross endothelial and tissue barriers and survive ectopically as single cells. The phenotypic changes accompanying these steps are considered a developmental process, the so-called epithelial-mesenchymal transformation (EMT) (Hay, Acta Anatomica, 154, 8–20, (1995); Birchmeier, Acta Anatomica, 156, 217–226 (1996)). Only a small fraction of cells disseminated from a tumor may acquire EMT-associated features (Boyer, Acta Anatomica, 156, 227–239 (1996)). The epigenetic changes leading to EMT are not known so far but may have important implications for the development of future therapies.
Major technical hurdles in studying epigenetic changes of, e.g., disseminated tumor cells or pathological modified tissue are limited accessibility, low frequency, unambiguous identification, and subsequent transcriptome analysis at a single cell level or of a low number of cells. A variety of protocols has been developed for the generation of "single cell cDNA libraries" and the global amplification of mRNA from individual cells (see Belyavsky, Nucl. Acid. Res., 17, 2919–2932 (1989); Brady, Methods in Enzymology, 225, 611–623 (1993); and Karrer, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 92, 3814–3818 (1995)). However, these procedures have obvious drawbacks, such as the restriction to 3′-ends and an insufficient sensitivity when PCR amplificates are hybridized to cDNA arrays.
In these procedures, variation introduced during amplification of cDNA fragments was reduced by limiting the length of the cDNAs during reverse-transcription. This was accomplished through low substrate conditions for the reverse-transcriptase; i.e. the use of low concentrations of an oligo d(T) primer and low dNTP concentrations. However, there is a risk of compromising reverse-transcription and subsequent PCR-efficiency which may lead to arbitrary results when transcriptome/gene expression patterns of cells/single cells are to be investigated. Furthermore, the use of an oligo(dT) primer for PCR amplification limits the use of high annealing temperatures and thus stringent annealing conditions. Typically, annealing is performed at 42° C. (Brail, Mut. Res. Genomics 406 (1999), 45–54). As pointed out hereinabove, such an approach may be suitable for a 3′ restricted cDNA synthesis. However, higher annealing temperatures reduce the presence of secondary structures in the cDNA and the likelihood of unspecific annealing to internal sequences of the cDNA, which would result in shortening of the amplificates compared to the cDNA molecules. Annealing temperatures of the method of the invention are preferably above 45° C., more preferably above 55° C., even more preferably above 65° C.
As mentioned hereinabove, the amount of mRNA in a low number of cells or even a single cell is insufficient for use in direct global analysis. Therefore, global analysis of expressed mRNA (of a "transcriptome") from a low number of cells or even an individual, single cell requires amplification of extracted and/or reverse transcribed polyadenylated mRNA. To date, PCR amplification of small amounts of mRNA has not resulted in reliable representation of the relative expression of mRNA present in a certain cell/low number of cells at a specific timepoint, a specific developmental state and/or a specific physiological state (Brail, Mut. Res. Genomics 406 (1999), 45–54), Brail (1999), (loc. cit.) conclude that the method as described by Brady (Brady (1993) (loc. cit.) is likely to introduce variation(s) in the tailing reaction or the PCR amplification steps. In particular, Brail's analysis (Brail (1999), loc. cit) showed a five-fold variation even for highly-abundant house-keeping genes (direct comparison of GAPDH and ribosomal gene L32).
Thus, the technical problem of the present invention consists in providing means and methods which comply with the need of a global and uniform amplification of mRNA, in particular of the transcriptome of a low number of cells or a single cell. The solution to this technical problem is achieved by providing the embodiments characterized in the claims.


The invention includes methods for stimulating a hydrocarbon-bearing formation by perforating a wellbore and introducing an acidic composition in the wellbore. A preferred embodiment includes inserting an isolation plug in the wellbore at a predetermined location followed by inserting a perforating tool and a breakdown acid into the wellbore. The wellbore is perforated by the tool to create a perforated area. The breakdown acid is allowed to come into contact with the perforated area for a predetermined period of time sufficient to prepare the formation for stimulation. The tool is then removed from the wellbore wherein stimulation of the perforated area is thereby initiated. Also disclosed is a corrosion inhibiting composition for use with the acidic composition.

In the oil & gas industry, stimulation with an acid is performed on a well to increase or restore production. In some instances, a well initially exhibits low permeability, and stimulation is employed to commence production from the reservoir. In other instances, stimulation or remediation is used to further encourage permeability and flow from an already existing well that has become under-productive due to scaling issues or formation depletion.
Acidizing is a type of stimulation treatment which is performed above or below the reservoir fracture pressure in an effort to initiate, restore or increase the natural permeability of the reservoir. Acidizing is achieved by pumping acid, predominantly hydrochloric acid, into the well to dissolve typically limestone, dolomite and calcite cement between the acid insoluble sediment grains of the reservoir rocks or to treat scale accumulation.
There are three major types of acid applications: matrix acidizing, fracture acidizing, and breakdown acidizing (pumped prior to a fracturing pad or cement operation in order to assist with formation breakdown (reduce fracture pressures, increased feed rates), as well as clean up left over cement in the well bore or perforations.
A matrix acid treatment is performed when acid is pumped into the well and into the pores of the reservoir formation below the fracture pressure. In this form of acidization, the acids dissolve the sediments formation and/or mud solids that are inhibiting the permeability of the rock, enlarging the natural pores of the reservoir (wormholing) and stimulating the flow of hydrocarbons to the wellbore for recovery.
While matrix acidizing is done at a low enough pressure to keep from fracturing the reservoir rock, fracture acidizing involves pumping acid into the well at a very high pressure, physically fracturing the reservoir rock and etching the permeability inhibitive sediments. This type of acid treatment forms channels or fractures through which the hydrocarbons can flow, in addition to forming a series of wormholes. In some instances, a proppant is introduced into the fluid which assists in propping open the fractures, further enhancing the flow of hydrocarbons into the wellbore. There are many different mineral and organic acids used to perform an acid treatment on wells. The most common type of acid employed on wells to stimulate production is hydrochloric acid (HCl), which is useful in stimulating carbonate reservoirs.
It has been estimated that fracking can improve the production of a well by at least 10-20%. Also, as is well known to the person of ordinary skill in the art, a well can be fracked multiple times during its production life. The process of hydraulic fracturing or fracking requires the following steps. Once the determination of the wellbore's integrity has been assessed, the location of the perforations is determined. Subsequently, after a cement liner is in place, one must clear out the debris, and pump a plug and perforating guns to a desired depth and location. The plug is set slightly beyond the desired location to be stimulated and then the cemented liner in that zone is perforated by using perforating guns, creating a path for fracking fluid to be forced into the shale formation.
The final stage prior to fracking requires the use of perforating guns, typically a string of shaped charges lowered to a predetermined location within the wellbore. Once in position, the perforating gun is discharged and perforates the casing.
According to the conventional process, after perforation stage is completed, the tools are removed from the well. A ball is pumped down to isolate the zones below the plug. This process applies to solid bridge plugs (no ball) with which process it is required to squeeze wellbore fluid into the perforations at low or reduced rates until acid reaches the perforations and increases permeability to initiate a fracture and reduce injection pressures and also applies to "ball in cage" or other processes where the isolation ball can be placed just prior to, during or immediately after the perforating is completed.
A large volume of fracturing fluid is then pumped into the desired formation in a well. The high-pressure at which the fracturing fluid is pumped coupled with the constant pumping provide an increase in the fluidic pressure within the formation which leads to fracturing inside the reservoir.
After the fracturing pressure is reached fracturing fluid containing propping agents (proppant) are injected into the formation to increase the fractures within the formation and insert proppant to maintain the fractures open. The last step of the fracturing operation before being put back into production is to flush the well form all the loose proppants and fracturing fluids.
A slickline is a single strand wire used in the oil and gas industry transport tools within a well. It is typically a single wire strand set up on a spool located on what is referred to as a slickline truck. A slickline is connected by the drum it is spooled off the back of the slickline truck. A slickline is used to lower tools within a wellbore in order to perform a specific operation. Although not common for perforating work, slickline still has the potential to be involved in various workover activities. Wireline (or electric line) is the traditional way to run perforating guns or systems. Wireline provides the advantages of real-time depth control, high tensile strength, long term cycling life spans and selective firing control of the perorating system.
In highly deviated wells, flow restricted wells or specific other mechanical or stimulation methods may require coiled tubing to be utilized to transport or place the perforation guns into position, i.e. at a predetermined location. Modern slickline, coiled tubing or wireline may also allow incorporated integrated information transmission technology which can communicate real time information to the operator including but not limited to; depth, temperature and pressure. This type of information provides operators sufficient information to perform a plug and perforation operation by accurately targeting desirable hydrocarbon-bearing formations.
The benefit of this strategy is greater control of the placement of perorations and thus the stimulation. In many cases, casing the entire wellbore allows the operator better control of the stimulation, production and other life-cycle aspects of the reservoir fluids. It also allows the operator to select the formation which will be stimulated in order to obtain increased well production. It also allows the operator to seal off perforated sections, which have had their hydrocarbons extracted or are producing minimal oil or gas etc.
Accordingly, in light of the state of the art of fracking technology, there still exists a need to successfully develop a method or improve the current process which reduces the waste of water, minimizes equipment time on each stage of the method, provides a more optimal, reduced injection rate for the stage, provide a method and chemical to ensure optimal diversion of acid across all perforations as currently acid will tend to go the path of least resistance due to down-hole fluid dynamics. Most acid will only reach the top portion of perforations causing an increased or non-optimal injection rate and associated pressures during the stimulation. The resolution of this problem lies in combining a chemical composition with the mechanical tools in a specific order to achieve a more efficient oil recovery method.
There are a wide variety of corrosion inhibitor packages disclosed in the prior art, the following are but a sampling of what is known: US 2018312980-A1; U.S. Pat. No. 9,868,894-B1; US 2018127882-A1; US 2018135187-A1; RU-2648372-C1; U.S. Ser. No. 10/059,872-B2; US 2015118105-A1; US 2016222279-A1; US 2014091262-A1; U.S. Pat. No. 8,618,027-B2; US 2014135239-A1; US 2010105580-A1; US 2011269223-A1; US 2011028360-A1; US 2009247431-A1; US 2009221455-A1; EP-2179001-A1; US 2008227668-A1; US 2008227669-A1; WO 2008110789-A1; US 2008139414-A1; US 2007071887-A1; US 2007069182-A1; EP-1929072-A1; JP-2006348324-A; US 2007018135-A1; US 2003183808-A1; WO 02103081-A2; NL 1015012-C2; U.S. Pat. No. 5,961,885-A; U.S. Pat. No. 5,531,934-A; U.S. Pat. No. 5,591,381-A; EP-0593230-A1; U.S. Pat. No. 5,411,670-A; U.S. Pat. No. 5,120,471-A; EP-0009247-A1; U.S. Pat. No. 4,171,279-A; U.S. Pat. No. 4,039,336-A; U.S. Pat. No. 4,018,703-A; U.S. Pat. No. 3,819,527-A; U.S. Pat. No. 4,089,789-A; U.S. Pat. No. 3,770,377-A; U.S. Pat. No. 3,668,137-A; U.S. Pat. No. 3,535,240-A; U.S. Pat. No. 3,466,192-A; U.S. Pat. No. 3,457,185-A; U.S. Pat. No. 3,404,094-A; U.S. Pat. No. 3,288,555-A; U.S. Pat. No. 3,260,673-A; U.S. Pat. No. 3,146,208-A; U.S. Pat. No. 3,231,507-A; U.S. Pat. No. 2,863,780-A; U.S. Pat. No. 2,913,408-A; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,799,659-A. All of these patents are hereby incorporated by reference.
For example, teachings from acid corrosion inhibitors as made and described in the above documents may be utilized in practicing the method according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
Stainless steel has a high chrome content compared to other steels such as carbon steels. This makes stainless steel more prone to corrosion from acids. In that respect, in order to perform a method where the perforating tool, wireline or slickline and casing remain exposed to the acid downhole during the breakdown or spearhead placement step for potentially an extended period (hereinafter referred to as a one-step plug and perf and spearhead stage), it is desirable to have a suitable acid composition. Such an acid composition would necessarily be suitable for exposure to stainless steel and other carbon metals (from which most wirelines, slicklines and bottom hole tools connected to such are constructed of). When discussing suitability of exposure, the person skilled in the art will understand that the acid composition is sufficiently inhibited from damaging the steel of the wireline/slickline/casing as well as the tools mounted thereon to afford an economically advantageous method of performing one-step plug and perf and spearhead over the conventional method which requires a two-step approach to performing the plug and perf and then performing the spearhead stage after the tools are removed from the hole, adding time and consuming larger amounts of water
The art teaches many corrosion inhibitor compositions but not all such compositions can be said to be appropriate for use with stainless steel and standard oilfield casing, such as P110, for long term exposure cycles. Stainless steel like all other steels or alloys has advantages and drawbacks depending on the type of operations being carried out, stainless steel alloys may not be easily or readily substituted out by any other steel alloys as they are industry standard. Therefore, as one looks to develop and implement new and better processes to use in the oil and gas industry one must consider suitable corrosion inhibitor packages to minimize, or substantially eliminate corrosion on stainless steel alloys, wirelines/slicklines, down hole tools and common casing metallurgies. Such corrosion packages must be useful in preventing corrosion on stainless steel alloys as this is the metal of choice for wirelines/slicklines and the bottom hole assemblies used in several downhole oil and gas industry operations.
Accordingly, in light of the state of the art of stimulation and other downhole oil and gas industry operations, there still exists a need to develop a method which reduces the waste of water and decreases the time required to fully stimulate a well with multiple stages utilizing the common plug & perforate method. The resolution of this problem lies, in part, through the combination of an acidic chemical composition with the mechanical components in order to achieve a more efficient stimulation method.

Methods for stimulating a hydrocarbon-bearing formation by perforating a wellbore and introducing and acidic composition in the wellbore


A method of creating a synthetic bridge (100) has select data (406) logically extracted from an application layer of a first network (12A) which contains one or more first data streams to be transported to a second network (12B). Select data (406) is logically extracted from an application layer of the second network (12B). Select data (406) is logically extracted from an application layer of the second network (12B) which contains one or more second data streams to be transported to the first network (12A). The two or more first and second data streams are transported over separate sets of non-network media link interfaces (130-133) that only allow for limited information encoding and inherently prevent any network protocol information from being passed with the two or more first and second data streams until after the two or more first and second data streams are in the control of the opposite network from which they were transported.

Businesses are requiring more agility in bow they design and develop new products and services. With the ever expanding global economy, these businesses are requiring that knowledge be transferred and leveraged from across their organization or partners no matter where their or their partner's employees are located in the world. However, the need for protection of any knowledge shared becomes ever the more important as the free flow of capital, knowledge, and people across national borders limits the ability of businesses to take remedial legal action to protect against intellectual property theft of the transferred knowledge. Thus, to remain competitive around the globe, businesses must become more proactive in protecting their people and intellectual property from competitors and others who wish to damage world's economic system.
However, building large information technology (IT) departments to support the collaboration of ideas across geographical boundaries is especially difficult due to the need to have a large diverse IT workforce that can understand the language, culture, and intimacies of various foreign IT departments within their own companies. This difficulty is further complicated when IT departments from various companies must come to agreement on how to share data over separate and secure corporate data networks. Using a general purpose IT path such as the Internet exposes the business's intellectual property to unknown threats and also opens the possibility of outside attack to the corporate network by unknown or known hackers. Often times, the sheer inertia of trying to get the IT departments of two different companies to agree to firewall and other network protocols in sharing data between their two data networks prevents the desired collaboration from even taking place. Thus, most IT departments require a customized IT path between different network sites that requires agreement between different IT departments to setup and administer.
Accordingly, a new approach to providing a demonstrateably secure way to exchange data between different groups within and between businesses across the world is needed while protecting and insulating network infrastructures of the various businesses. Preferably this new approach can be achieved by the necessary collaborating groups with little or no IT department involvement, once the new approach is setup and approved. Thus, there is a need for a secure, reliable knowledge transport between two or more global sites that do not require a customized IT path between the sites' data networks.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A digital phase-locked loop (1) has a counter (4) which counts pulses from a voltage controlled oscillator (8). The counter (4) is latched periodically with a period which is determined by an input signal (I) to the counter (4). The latched value is supplied to a compensation unit (5) which deducts a value which approximately corresponds to half the count counted by the counter circuit (4) when the phase lock is locked correctly. The compensated counts are supplied from the output of the compensation unit (5) to an integrator (6) and counter (9) which applies a control signal to the voltage controlled oscillator (8) via a D/A converter.

Digital phase-locked circuits of the above-mentioned type are used e.g. in digital data transmission networks, which may be constructed as a synchronous digital hierarchy consisting of a plurality of network elements between which data may be transmitted.
When data are transferred in an SDH system, data are positioned e.g. in a so-called STM-1 frame which consists of 270 columns with 9 bytes in each column. The first 9 columns in a frame contain overhead functions, frame lock, etc. A frame is transferred from one network element to another with a period of 125 .mu.sec. This means that all bits in the frame, which are transmitted serially, e.g. through an optical fibre, must have been transmitted after 125 .mu.sec. For this to be feasible, the bits in an STM-1 frame must be transferred with 155.520 megabits per second.
Of course, it is important that the transfer rate of the complete frame and the timing of the transmission of the individual bits of the frame correspond closely to each other. In other words, it is important that the frame transfer time of 125 .mu.sec. and the bit read-out of 155.520 megabits per second are very accurate.
Therefore, it is desirable that the above-mentioned times are observed, and if this cannot be done, then to ensure that the bit read-out rate is closely bound up with the transfer time of the frame.
It is noted in this connection that the 125 .mu.sec. are not controlled by a reference, but solely by a frequency derived from a transmission channel.

Method of regulating a digital phase-locked circuit, and a digital phase-locked circuit having a voltage-controlled oscillator


A waterproof pocket, usable in beach or boating environments, can hold articles therein while keeping the articles dry. The pocket is formed of a water-impervious material. A seal, such as a slide fastener or interlocking ridges, is formed to prevent water from entering the pocket. The pocket can be attached to clothing, particularly to a swim suit. Alternately, the pocket may be held in a slot or other similar opening in the clothing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns waterproof, sealable pockets. More particularly, the present invention concerns such sealable, water-impervious pockets deployed on clothing or otherwise deployable on the body of a user.
2. Prior Art
The formation of pouches that are waterproof, that is, formed of water-impervious material and having formed therein a releasable water-impervious seal, is known. A commonly known version of this type of pouch is the sealable food bag, such as that sold under the trademark "Ziplock".
Such a bag has been deployed in combination with a beach towel, as set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 4,195,378 issued Apr. 1, 1980 to Parker and entitled "MIULTIPURPOSE BEACH EQUIPMENT". Parker teaches a plurality of pouches formed at the top of a blanket. Each pouch is formed of a waterproof lining and sealed with a waterproof zipper.
As helpful as the Parker device is, Parker presents problems to a user. When at the beach or other water recreation, the Parker device will keep an article within a waterproof area. However, if the towel is unattended, the articles contained therein are vulnerable to theft. Further, the articles cannot be carried around in a waterproof pouch unless the entire towel is carried. Even if the entire towel is transported, it is bulky and cumbersome.
Additionally, there is the inherent problem in the environments where such waterproof devices are utilized of securing timepieces. Watches and similar devices are often not waterproof. Therefore, these timepieces must be taken off, where loss due to misplacing or theft is possible. Even if stored in a waterproof pouch, such time devices must be removed to be utilized.
What is needed is a waterproof, releasably sealable pocket that can be either permanently or releasably attached to a suit or other item of clothing or, alternately, to means for disposing the pouch on a user. Further, there is a need for such a pocket with a timepiece therein to facilitate the tracking of time. It is to this need that the present invention is directed.


A stereo HMD with an in-dwelling video camera at a patient site, and a stereo camera at a doctor's site are provided for performing examinations of a patient's eyes over a video link. The patient wears the stereo HMD with cameras. Over the video link, images of the patient's eyes are sent to the doctor. The doctor is positioned in front of a stereo camera and an image of the doctor is sent back to the patient for display on the HMD. The doctor can view the external eye structures and can direct the patient to look in various directions. The doctor may move an object in the direction desired. The doctor views the response on a monitor. The doctor may control light to each eye of the patient by covering the appropriate lens of the stereo camera. By alternately covering left and right cameras, the "swinging flashlight" test can be done. Slit light sources built into the HMD are provided to illuminate the front portions of the eyeball, i.e., the anterior chamber, for examination.

A number of devices have been developed for use in medical or veterinary examinations, some of which can be applied in a telemedicine context, i.e., in which data or results from the examination are transmitted over an electronic or other communication link (e.g., via telephone line, radio communication, etc.) so that the physician or other medical worker need not be in the same location as the patient. For example, the video otoscope may be used to examine the external ear canal and eardrum of a patient in a remote location.
Because of present concerns for the cost of medical care, it would be preferable to provide devices for telemedicine which help contain the costs for such procedures. Because it is anticipated that some telemedicine may be practiced relative to patients who cannot readily move to central medical facilities (e.g., patients who are in extremely remote areas, inaccessible locations such as aircraft or spacecraft, "third world" regions where medical facilities are sparse, or who are in combat or other dangerous situations) such telemedicine devices preferably are sufficiently rugged, light-weight and reliable that they can be easily sent to such remote and/or dangerous locations with little need for maintenance or repair.
Numerous medically valuable examinations involve examination of the external eye, often including examination of the lids and lashes as well as the physical structures of the eyeball (globe). For examination of the pupilliary response, a light is shown in each eye alternately. Each pupil should constrict when light is on and dilate when light goes off. The pupil responses should be the same in each eye. To study the movements of the eyes, the subject follows a moving target (often the examiner's finger) and holds the direction of gaze in various positions: center, up, down, left, right, approaching the eye and away from the eye. The eye is examined for abnormal movements called nystagnus or other abnormalities. The character of any nystagnus indicates possible disease in the brain or the brain's movement sensors.
Accordingly, it would be useful to provide an apparatus and method for examination of a patient's eyes, permitting, where desired, remote examination, preferably using a reliable, rugged, low-maintenance, and relatively low-cost apparatus.

Eye examination apparatus and method for remote examination of a patient by a health professional


A method for storing scene detection information is disclosed. The method comprises identifying scene candidates from received video data and formatting the scene candidates for storage on optical storage media. The optical storage media has a recordable capacity. The method also comprises storing the formatted scene candidates on the optical storage media in a media structure without reducing the recordable capacity.

With the proliferation of optical storage media such as Digital Versatile Discs (DVDs), consumers are often interested in creating discs containing data such as home videos to share with other family members or friends. Consumers may use video devices such as analog and digital camcorders and digital cameras to capture moving pictures as well as still-framed pictures. Such devices may record video data on a wide range of media, typically magnetic videotape, although other types of media, such as rotating magnetic and optical discs, may also be used. In addition, consumers may wish to record data that may be captured or streamed over the Internet.
Consumers may also use these devices to record home movies or home videos involving a wide range of subject matter. Consumers may easily and inexpensively capture large quantities of video material that may be maintained in good condition for many years. Unfortunately, it is usually necessary for a user to view videotape to determine what scenes may be contained on the tape. Furthermore, videotape technology is only sequentially or linearly accessible, which makes it difficult for a consumer to readily skip to a desired scene, unless the user has previously catalogued locations of the desired scenes by using tape footage or time counter functions available with typical videotape playback machines.
Moreover, scene or shot boundary detection has not traditionally been performed in real-time as video data is being recorded to media such as DVD. Even if scene detection can be performed in real-time, storing such information typically reduces the recordable capacity of the DVD discs.

System and method for scene detection information storage


A vehicular sunroof apparatus includes a front panel, a rear panel, a linking rod, a rod-locking part, and a slider linking part. The linking rod is connected to a rear slider provided for opening the rear panel. The rod-locking part is disposed on a vehicle roof for locking a distal end of the linking rod when the rear panel is in a fully closed state. The slider linking part is provided on a front slider provided for opening/closing the front panel. The slider linking part is designed to engage with the distal end part and to release the distal end part from the locking engagement with the rod-locking part when the front slider moves from a fully closed position to a half-open position.

Recently, there have been advances in the development of techniques for increasing as much as possible the amount by which the opening in a roof opens in sunroof apparatuses for vehicles. In systems for opening and closing the opening by means of one sunroof panel, there are limits to increasing the size of the opening. Systems for segmenting the sunroof panel have been considered to overcome these limits. However, this is not the best recourse because the configuration becomes complicated if the panel is segmented excessively. To this end, a technique of a system for longitudinally halving the sunroof panel into a front panel and a rear panel is proposed in, for example, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 04-26254 (JP-U 04-26254 B) and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2002-103977 (JP 2002-103977 A).
In the sunroof apparatus disclosed in JP-U 04-26254 B, a front panel and a rear panel are opened and closed separately by a motor via a wire cable. The operation of the rear panel is in indirect engagement with the operation of the front panel via the wire cable. The motor opens the front and rear panels by pulling the wire cable, and closes the front and rear panels by pushing the wire cable.
More specifically, when in a fully closed state, the front and rear panels are opened in the following procedure. First, the rear end of the front panel is inclined upward (i.e., tilted up). Next, the front panel retracts along the outside surface of the roof, and opens to a half-open position. Next, the rear panel is lowered below the inside surface of the roof. Lastly, while the rear panel retracts along the inside surface of the roof and opens to a fully open position, the front panel retracts along the outside surface of the roof and opens to a fully open position.
The vehicular sunroof apparatus disclosed in JP 2002-103977 A is arranged similarly to the sunroof apparatus disclosed in JP-U 04-26254 B.
As described above, a front panel and a rear panel are opened and closed separately via a wire cable. That is, the rear panel is arranged to act in unison with or in an interlocked relation to the front panel via the wire cable. However, the wire cable is liable to encounter sagging as a result of aging. Due to such sagging, the front and rear panels encounter positional discrepancies. If such positional discrepancies are left unattended, timed actions of the front and rear panels will fail. It is quite important to maintain the timing of action between the front and rear panels in an appropriate state for a long period of time because the timing of action will have a large influence on the action of the vehicular sunroof apparatus.
To this end, one may propose adding to the apparatus an adjusting mechanism for adjusting discrepancies in timed operations of associated members, which may arise due to flexure of associated a wire cable. However, this is not advantageous in that it makes the sunroof apparatus more complex in construction and requires periodical adjustment operations
One may also propose replacing the wire cable with another suitable transmission member such as a bar-shaped transmission member. However, it is difficult to arrange such a bar-shaped non-flexible transmission member to extend from the motor to the front and rear panels. In addition, this will make the sunroof arrangement complex in construction and hence is unacceptable.
Again, one may propose directly connecting the front panel with the rear panel, without using a wire cable. However, since the front and rear panels move and stop at largely different timings, simply connecting the two panels is insufficient. For connecting the two panels, due considerations should be given to different timings at which the two panels move and stop as well as to measures for keeping the unison operations of the front and rear panels for a prolonged period of time.
Consequently, there is a demand for a technique whereby appropriate unison operations of the front and rear panels are provided for a prolonged period of time.


The subject of the present invention is to provide a microarray for introducing nucleic acid, the microarray capable of introducing and expressing nucleic acid into cells simply by adding the nucleic acid onto a plate and the like, and then seeding the cells thereon and culturing them without adding a nucleic acid-introducing reagent or additives. The subject is achieved by preparing the microarray including atelocollagen, a gene-introducing agent and nucleic acid on a plate and the like for the introduction of nucleic acid. The nucleic acid can be introduced into a cell by seeding cells into which nucleic acids are introduced on the microarray and culturing them without the need of preparing a mixture of viral vectors, nucleic acids and a nucleic acid-introducing agent after culturing cells or the need of adding a nucleic acid-introducing agent and additives.

Introduction of nucleic acid (transfection) into a cell of a potential host, which is one of approaches for genetic research, is a useful method to analyze gene function. In particular, the observation of changes in cell function after gene expression or after inhibiting the expression of genes has been conducted by introducing plasmid DNAs, viral vectors, antisense oligonucleotides, siRNAs and the like into cells. As of now various kinds of genomes have been decoded, and technologies to analyze those gene functions at the cell level attract the attention in genetic research. The development of apparatus to analyze cell function, for example, recent multi-imaging analyzers and plate readers provide short time analysis of cell function of multiple samples cultured in multi-well plates, so that the cell level analysis of gene function combining the transfection of nucleic acid with apparatus for analyzing cell function is increasing its importance.
However, the conventional methods for introducing nucleic acid is conducted by seeding cells in a culture container, culturing them and then infecting them with viral vectors into which the nucleic acid to be introduced have been integrated, or by mixing the nucleic acid with an introducing agent and adding the mixture into a culture medium, thus the preparation step of the mixture of viral vectors or nucleic acid with an introducing agent is needed each time, making the methods complicated and exceedingly laborious especially in a case introducing nucleic acid of multiple samples from diverse kinds. Further, there has been a problem in those methods that cell function can not be accurately determined due to the cytotoxicity of viruses or introducing agents, which interfere with, for example, cell growth and apoptosis assays.
Accordingly, a transfection method has been developed, wherein genes are placed on a slide glass in advance, an introducing agent is added at the time of use and then cells are seeded there (Non-patent document 1).
Further, a gene screening method based on changes in cell function has been reported, wherein the changes are presented by facilitation or inhibition of the gene expression, using a cell transfection array in which plates are precoated with the mixture of atelocollagen and nucleic acid (Non-patent document 2, patent document 1). (Non-patent document 1) Nature 411, 107, 2001 (Non-patent document 2) Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 289, 1075-1081 (2001) (Patent document 1) Pamphlet of International Publication WO 03/000297

Cell transfection array for introduction of nucleic acid


A method of radar detection in a channel for radio local area networks operating in a regulatory band. First, a quiet time and quiet period are set, in which the ratio of the quiet time to the quiet period equals 1:4. The channel is quieted for the quiet time periodically at a rate dictated by the quiet period in order to be tested for radar. During each quiet time, a received power is measured to determine whether it exceeds a predetermined threshold. Radar presence is declared when the received power on that channel exceeds the predetermined threshold.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a wireless local area network (WLAN), and more particularly to radar detection required for high-speed WLANs in regulatory frequency ranges.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recent approval of the IEEE 802.11 standard for wireless networking and rapid progress toward higher data rates have positioned this technology to fulfill the promise of truly mobile computing. IEEE 802.11, part of a family of standards for local and metropolitan networks, defines wireless LAN media access control (MAC) and physical layer (PHY) specifications. In addition to the base standard, IEEE 802.11a is a supplement defining the high-speed PHY in the 5 GHz band, and IEEE 802.11h is another supplement for spectrum management in the 5 GHz band in Europe.
The 5 GHz band in Europe refers to the nineteen 20 MHz channels between 5 GHz and 6 GHz in which WLAN operation is allowed in the regulatory frequency bands ranging from 5.15˜5.35 GHz and 5.47˜5.725 GHz. According to ERC Decision of 29 Nov. 1999 made by European Radiocommunications Committee, WLANs (a.k.a. radio LANs, RLANs) operating in the 5 GHz band are required to implement a mechanism to avoid co-channel operation with radar systems and to ensure uniform utilization of available channels. Therefore, RLAN equipment conforming to the IEEE 802.11h standard must employ a Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS) mechanism to detect interference from other systems and to avoid co-channel operation with other systems, notably radar systems. However, the methods to detect radar operation in a channel that satisfy regulatory requirements are not defined in IEEE 802.11h.
Accordingly, what is needed is an efficient method of radar detection to meet requirements in some regulatory domains for operation in the 5 GHZ band.

Radar detection method for radio local area networks


The present invention relates to a flag which is adapted to keep the flag distended and appearing as natural as possible under all wind and weather conditions. The flag includes a flexible bar (1), the ends of which are retained in pockets (2 and 3) along the upper rim (4) of the flag and the rim (5) of the flag adjacent the flagpole, whereby the bar is firmly fixed and extends substantially in the plane of the flag while forming a curve extending upwards towards the upper corner of the flag adjacent the flagpole. The flag includes a fixing part (6) for the bar in an area between the pockets. The fixing part includes a strip of the flag resulting from two short cuts (7 and 8) therein.

Flags are known inter alia from the U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,732,823 and 3,091,215, and these flags are provided with a pocket extending diagonally from the lower corner adjacent the flagpole to the upper corner farthest away from said flagpole. A reinforcing rib is placed in the pocket. These arrangements are primarily adapted to be used in connection with strong plastic traffic flags. Problems arise, however, when these arrangements are used for flags of ordinary fabric because such flags are not kept distended so as to present a natural appearance.
Arrangements are furthermore known where the flag is hanging loosely downwards from a horizontally projecting bar arranged perpendicular to the flagpole. This flag cannot be kept distended either so as to present a natural appearance.

Flag with a means for keeping it distended


A relay mechanism for a network management system permits ready extension and/or modification to an existing system through the use of standard network protocol agents. The relay mechanism uses standard SNMP messaging for both local and remote communication. Only the SNMP relay mechanism is connected to UDP port 161 into listen for management application requests. In operation, the relay examines incoming SNMP requests from a management application and, based on a number of parameters, creates one or more individual smaller SNMP requests which are relayed to the individual agents. When the SNMP relay mechanism receives all the responses to the local SNMP requests, it marshals the information into a single response which is then sent back to the management application.

This invention relates to network management, and in particular to the support of a plurality of network management agents.
In order to manage a network, it is useful to be able to collect statistics about messaging traffic, provide assistance with load balancing, get early warning of potential problems, look out for attempted security violations, carry out trouble shooting operations and remotely configure a messaging application.
Network management systems have been proposed for addressing these matters. A typical structure which has been adopted is to provide a management application operating on a management workstation which communicates with individual managed systems via an information processing network. The managed systems are provided with agents which handle requests for information from the management application and send out alarms when necessary.
The management application, or manager, typically includes various tools for determining a view of messaging applications running on the managed machines, statistical tools for providing statistical information regarding the operation of the network, various presentational tools for displaying such statistical information and mechanisms for enabling the configuration of messaging applications. The communication between the management application or console and the managed system will normally be via the network system concerned, for example via the Internet. For a network management system, operating over the Internet, a so-called `Simple Network Management Protocol` (SNMP) has been proposed (RFC 1157). SNMP is a standard protocol designed to offer simple management services for TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) networks. In the appropriate terminology, when an agent and a management application communicate using SNMP, they form an SNMP community identified by a community name. The messages that the agent and the management application exchange always contain this community name as a simple authentication method.
An SNMP operation can be one of the following: GET, GET-NEXT, or TRAP. A management application uses the GET and GET-NEXT operations to send a request to an SNMP agent (GET-REQUEST or GET-NEXT-REQUEST). SNMP agents use the GET-RESPONSE operation to send a response to a request from the management application. SNMP agents also use the TRAP operation to send unsolicited event reports, for example for reporting faults or errors.
FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings is a schematic representation of such a management structure with a management console 24 communicating with a managed system 10 via an Internet Protocol network 22. At the managed system 10, an SNMP agent 14 is connected to the Internet Protocol network via a UDP/IP (User Datagram Protocol/Internet Protocol) interface 12. In TCP/IP, UDP is a packet-level protocol built directly on the Internet Protocol layer. UDP is used for application-to-application programs between TCP/IP host systems.
Internet standards groups have also defined the so-called Management Information Base (MIB). This forms a global information model for network management. The information model is described in FRC 1155: "Structure and Identification for TCP/IP-Based Internets. This model contains information objects that are organised in a tree structure to allow for future extensions. FIG. 2 of the accompanying drawings is a schematic representation of part of the global information model. An example of a standard MIB is defined in RFC 1213: "Management Information Base for network Management of TCP/IP-Based Internets: MIB II". Further details on SNMP and MIBs can be also be found in "Data and Computer Communications" (4th Edition) by William Stallings, Maxwell MacMillan International, 1994 ISBN 02-415441-5, pages 701-724)
Sub-trees of the global MIB tree, which address a particular area of network management, are also called MIBs. For example, there is a Mail Monitoring MIB ((RFC1566) for message transfer agents.
Each object in the global MIB has a meaningful English-language object name and a Unique Object Identifier (OID). The English language object name reflects the semantic contents of the object, whereas the OID is a sequence of numbers that is obtained by combining the OIDs of all objects in the `path` between the root and a particular object. The OID indicates the exact location of the corresponding object in the global MIB. For example, the application table object shown at the bottom left of FIG. 2 has the object name `applTable` and the OID 184.108.40.206.188.8.131.52.
Standard information objects designed to manage and monitor systems and applications are included under the management sub-tree `mgmt(2)`. The `application (27)` sub-tree and the tables below, `applTable` and `assocTable`, are defined in the Network Services Monitoring MIB. Information objects, or variables, that are to be found in these tables, are not shown in FIG. 2.
An SNMP agent can support an entire sub-tree of the global MIB, or specific tables or individual objects. An SNMP agent operates such that it supports particular objects within the sub-tree and, on receipt of a request from a management application, will return the values of the MIB objects which it supports. For example, a management application might query a server SNMP agent for information such as application status, number of associations between applications, and number of volume of messages transmitted or stored.
Thus, for example, a server agent might monitor a messaging server and an Internet adaptor and support extensions for handling messages, storing data and traps. The MIBs will describe the type of information an SNMP agent can collect.
The SNMP standard states that an SNMP agent must wait on the so-called UDP port 161 for incoming requests. This effectively means that a managed system can only have one agent. Although as indicated above, an agent could manage a complete MIB sub-tree, in practice, SNMP agents are typically configured to support specific tables or individual objects or groups of objects from within the MIB. If, therefore, one wishes to use standard SNMP agents, this has had the effect of restricting the level of management which is possible on any given managed system.
It would be possible to create new super agents which are capable of managing all the tasks required at a managed system, but this would be a very expensive solution. Also, it has been proposed to provide a multiplexing mechanism connected to UDP port 161, but the proposed solutions have all required modifications to standard SNMP agents in order to achieve operability. These solutions have not found acceptance.
Accordingly, there is a need for a solution to the problems described above which is acceptable to the industry.


A packaging assembly includes a pair of opposed channel members joined at their upper end by at least one intermediate cross member. The cross members and channel members are fitted together with a plug and socket arrangement. The channel members and cross members are assembled on an item to be packaged, in preparation for application of a plastic overwrap. The channel members and cross members include lifting flanges at their upper ends for mechanized handling of the package.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to cartons and packaging assemblies therefor and, in particular, to packaging assemblies having translucent or transparent portions for viewing the products contained therein.
2. Description of the Related Art
For many years, appliance manufacturers preferred shipping cartons made exclusively or substantially entirely from paperboard material. For example, commonly assigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,807,804 and 3,734,389 provide shipping cartons for larger size items, particularly heavy manufactured items. U.S. Pat. No. 3,734,389 is illustrated for use with a refrigerator appliance and discloses corner post constructions formed of folded paperboard material. U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,804 provides a lifting flange at the top of the carton whereby the carton and its contents can be raised using a lift blade. The pocket for receiving the lift blade is integrally formed from folded portions of the carton blank, the top cover of the package being formed by folding over portions of the carton blank.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,236,437 discloses an end closure or top cap having a pocket for lifting the carton to which the closure is applied. The end closure is interlocked with sidewalls of the carton, a construction detail which is repeated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,163,290 and 3,616,986. The above carton constructions have solid sidewalls blocking the view of the carton contents. U.S. Pat. No. 3,982,682 discloses a folded fiberboard construction to form a corner post of a type which could be-used with the above packages. The corner post includes a hollow tubular body part and a flange at one end comprised of layers of material pressed together in intimate engagement with one another.
While the above packages have met with commercial acceptance over the years of their use, manufacturing industry and in particular the appliance manufacturing industry are turning to transparent or seethrough packages having portions through which the contents of the package may be viewed. Thus, the contents of the package may be readily inspected during shipping and transit, and also during warehousing of the commercial product, prior to delivery to a customer. Thus, if any damage is observed during the shipping and distribution process, the goods can be set aside prior to completing the product's delivery. The potential cost savings of such a system are considerable, and accordingly, interest in see-through packaging is increasing.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,835,986; 31891,086; and 4,811,840 show examples of see-through packages. In general, these packages have one or more hollow side portions overlaid by a plastic wrap which may be either shrink-fit to the paperboard structure, or else tightly wrapped about the paperboard structure, which serves as an internal skeleton or framework, providing the structural strength necessary for the carton, and providing a cushioning for corners of the product being shipped. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,835,986 and 3,891,086 disclose corner post constructions which are secured to top and bottom cap members. U.S. Pat. No. 3,835,986 shows an interlocking of the corner posts and cap members, the cap members having depressions formed therein for receiving ends of the corner posts. U.S. Pat. No. 4,811,840 has a pair of side panels on each side of the product being shipped. Each panel has a pair of corner posts formed from a central portion of the panel, in a manner which forms a window through which the product being shipped can be viewed. A separate base member is provided, which completely underlies the product. The panels have top portions which telescopically interfit with one another so as to overlie the product. This construction offers a fewer number of parts, compared to packages having discreet corner posts. However, the construction is relatively complex and improvements have been sought.


An integrated optic gyroscope is disclosed which is based on a photonic integrated circuit (PIC) having a bidirectional laser source, a pair of optical waveguide phase modulators and a pair of waveguide photodetectors. The PIC can be connected to a passive ring resonator formed either as a coil of optical fiber or as a coiled optical waveguide. The lasing output from each end of the bidirectional laser source is phase modulated and directed around the passive ring resonator in two counterpropagating directions, with a portion of the lasing output then being detected to determine a rotation rate for the integrated optical gyroscope. The coiled optical waveguide can be formed on a silicon, glass or quartz substrate with a silicon nitride core and a silica cladding, while the PIC includes a plurality of III–V compound semiconductor layers including one or more quantum well layers which are disordered in the phase modulators and to form passive optical waveguides.

Accurate sensing of angular velocity is an essential element in the guidance and control of vehicles of many types including land vehicles, manned or unmanned aircraft, guided missiles and smart munitions. Many types of partially or completely integrated optical gyroscopes have been disclosed in attempts to provide a rotation rate sensor having certain advantages over conventional rotating mass gyroscopes in terms of improved reliability and robustness, reduced size and power, and lower cost (see e.g. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,326,803; 5,327,215; 5,408,492; 6,259,089; and 6,587,205 which are incorporated herein by reference).
Optical gyroscopes (i.e. gyros) are based on the well-known Sagnac effect which defines a linear relationship between the rotation rate of light propagating in a circuital path and a phase shift Δφ of the light propagating around the path in opposite directions given by:
      Δ                          ϕ    =            8            π                                      A                                      Ω              λ                                      c      where A is the area of the circuital path, Ω is the angular rotation rate, λ is the wavelength of the light, and c is the speed of light. The phase shift Δφ of the light for a given rotation rate Ω can be increased N-fold when the circuital path with the area A is looped around N times. A further increase in sensitivity of the optical gyroscope can be achieved when the circuital path forms a resonator. In this case, the phase shift Δφ will be increased by a finesse, F, of the resonator. Further details of the operation of various types of optical gyroscopes can be found in a book chapter by S. Merlo et al entitled "Fiber Gyroscope Principles" (in Handbook of Fibre Optic Sensing Technology, chapter 16, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., 2000).
The integrated optical gyroscope of the present invention with a bidirectional laser source, phase modulators and waveguide detectors formed as a photonic integrated circuit (PIC) on a compound semiconductor substrate and with a passive ring resonator formed separately and attached thereto represents an advance in the art which is expected to provide many of the advantages listed above while being more easily fabricable using current technology than a completely-integrated device with the passive ring resonator formed on the same substrate as the PIC.
These and other advantages of the present invention will become evident to those skilled in the art.

Integrated resonant micro-optical gyroscope and method of fabrication


A socket assembly mounted on a printed circuit board comprises a socket mounted upon the printed circuit board; a metal backplane, mounted below the printed circuit board and configured with a board-like shape; and an insulative sheet. The insulative sheet is sandwiched between the printed circuit board and the metal backplane and is formed with at least one latching portion extending downwardly to latch the metal backplane. The insulative sheet further has a plurality of protruding portions extending upwardly to insert into corresponding circular holes defined on of the printed circuit board.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a socket assembly, and more particularly, to a socket assembly for use with included an insulated reinforced plate having a printed circuit board sandwiched therebetween
2. Description of the Related Art
Present computer usually has a high speed and double data transmission rate and continually works for a long time. As a result, a powerful CPU (Center Process Unit) of the computer brings up more and more heat. Therefore a heat sink is required to dissipate the heat during a normal work of the computer. When such a heat sink including a plurality of metal fins is mounted on top of a socket, which is mounted on a PCB and adapted to electrically interconnect the CPU and the PCB. Since the PCB can not endure so heavy weigh, a backplane is assembled on a bottom surface of the PCB to strengthen the PCB. In the existing application, the heat sink is locked to a so called retention module (RM) which is bolted onto the PCB. In addition, the socket assembly includes a stiffener which is bolted to a reinforced backplane disposed on the underside of the PCB. In order to effectively dissipate heat from the CPU, the heat sink must press hardly against to a top surface of the CPU. Inevitably, the spring load will also are transferred to the CPU and the socket on which the CPU is mounted. As a result, the backplane mentioned plays a vital role in this application.)
Commonly, typical backplanes include two types, one is configured by plastic, another is formed by metal. The plastic backplane has a simple manufacture process and can be manufactured with a lower cost, but it can not provide a sufficient rigidity to support the socket assembly. A socket assembly 100′ shown in FIG. 1 includes a socket 1′ which electrically connect an semiconductor package 5′ to a PCB 3′, and a metal backplane 4′ is disposed on the backside of the PCB. The metal backplane 4′ has a high rigidity and can well properly support the PCB. However, the metal backplane 4′ must be insulated from the PCB to prevent short circuiting conductive traces of the PCB, an improved design is to dispose a soft insulative film (not shown) on a metal plane over a surface facing the PCB. The soft insulative film is attached to the metal plane by agglutinant to be integral backplane, then a plurality of screws are used to assemble the socket, the PCB, the soft insulative sheet and the metal plane to assemble them together.
Each of the soft insulative film and the metal plane defines a plurality of mounting holes for the screw passing there through. However, since the soft insulative sheet agglutinates to the metal plane, crimple airs and bladders may occur over the surface of the backplane, and it may takes time to align the mounting holes of the soft insulative sheet with that of the metal backplane. Furthermore, it is also not an easy thing to accurately position the insulative sheet together with the metal plane to the PCB for there is no positioning member between the insulative sheet and the PCB.
Hence, it is required to improve the disadvantages of the above sockets.


A method for the application of solution processed metal oxide hole transport layers in organic photovoltaic devices and related organic electronics devices is disclosed. The metal oxide may be derived from a metal-organic precursor enabling solution processing of an amorphous, p-type metal oxide. An organic photovoltaic device having solution processed, metal oxide, thin-film hole transport layer.

The present disclosure generally relates to organic solar cells and similar electronic devices. Today's increasing demand for renewable energy resources, especially solar power, is driving researchers to develop low cost, efficient photovoltaic devices. Organic photovoltaics (OPVs) are an attractive route toward solving the terawatt energy problem. In addition to the potential low cost of this technology, bulk heterojunction (BHJ) based solar cells can offer other advantages, such as flexibility, lightweight, and high throughput manufacturing, such as roll-to-roll and other similar techniques. BHJ systems have shown power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of 4% to >7%. Organic solar cells have undergone a three-fold increase in PCE between 2001 and 2010, from about 2.5% to about 7.7%. These rapid gains may be a consequence of enhanced performance in polymer photovoltaic materials in BHJ solar cells. A benchmark goal for OPV researchers is to achieve a PCE in excess of 10%, which would help to make OPV competitive with other thin-film photovoltaic technologies. The ability to control the multiple interfaces within an OPV device may help achieve this and other objectives.
The foregoing examples of the related art and limitations related therewith are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive. Other limitations of the related art will become apparent to those of skill in the art upon a reading of the specification and a study of the drawings.
Corresponding reference characters and labels indicate corresponding elements among the view of the drawings. The headings used in the figures should not be interpreted to limit the scope of the claims.

Solution processed metal oxide thin film hole transport layers for high performance organic solar cells


Methods and systems are presented for configuring a rectifier across a secondary side of a current transformer; configuring circuitry to harvest energy across one or more loads coupled across an output of the rectifier selectively in response to an indication that a variable line current at a primary side of the current transformer is small enough; configuring circuitry to shunt at least a first load of the one or more loads coupled across the output of the rectifier selectively in response to an indication that a line current at the primary side is large enough; and configuring circuitry to harvest energy across the first load of the one or more loads coupled across the output of the rectifier again selectively in response to an indication that a line current at the primary side is again small enough.

Electric-power transmission refers to the bulk transfer of electrical energy, e.g. in the form of high-voltage three-phase alternating current (AC), via transmission lines from one or more generating power plants to one or more electrical substations. Electric-power transmission systems may be distinct from the local wiring between high-voltage substations and customers, which may be referred to as electric power distribution. Transmission lines, when interconnected with each other, become transmission networks referred to as power grids and/or electrical grids. Such a power grid may be distributed across a relatively large physical area.
A key limitation in the distribution of electricity is that, with minor exceptions, electrical energy cannot be stored, and therefore must be generated as needed. A sophisticated system of measurement and control may be used to ensure electric generation very closely matches the demand. If supply and demand are not in balance, generation plants and transmission equipment can shut down which, in the worst cases, can lead to a major regional blackout. To reduce the risk of such failures, electric transmission networks may be interconnected into regional, national or continental wide networks thereby providing multiple redundant alternate routes for power to flow should a failure occur.
To monitor the state of a power grid it may be advantageous to deploy portable sensor devices at various points on the power grid in order to detect such failures. However, such portable sensor device may themselves may require electrical power in order to operate and, because of the distributed nature of power grids, such portable sensor devices may need to be placed in locations without ready access to usable power sources. Therefore, such sensors can only be used for as long as there is sufficient charge stored in the sensor's battery or they have some means of harvesting power from the environment, such as from a solar panel. The power lines being monitored by a sensor may be bridged to collect power for the sensor, but due to the very high voltages involved, such a sensor may be both heavy and difficult to use. As a result, portable transmission line senor devices have been designed with energy harvesting features such as solar panels or inductive charging from the power line.
Inductive charging based off current transformers may require less maintenance than other techniques such as solar charging, but the charge rate to the sensor device's battery may depend on the current flowing through the power line (ILine). As a result, there a minimum required line current must be present in order for the sensor device to be self-sustaining.
It may be possible to optimize the current transformer used for energy harvesting either high or low line currents. The current generated on the transformer's output (Io) is dictated by the formula:
      I    o    =            I      Line                          N        Line                    N        S            where NLine is the number of windings on the line side of the transformer and Ns is the number of windings on the secondary side. NLine may equal 1 for use on a power line.
Having low value of Ns means more power is generated on when there is a low line current (ILine) but it also means that at a high line current, a large amount of power must be either used or dissipated. As a current transformer is a current source rather than a voltage source, the current generated must be either dissipated or used otherwise excessive voltage will be generated that can damage the portable sensor device. Furthermore, since the current transformer output current (Io) is directly related to the line current (ILine), the portable sensor device has no control over how much current it needs to dissipate. As a result, there is a tradeoff in which a portable sensor device can be optimized for low current but cannot tolerate as wide a range of line currents or the portable sensor device may be optimized for a wide range of line currents but the amount of energy able to be harvested is limited at low line currents, so the portable sensor device may not be self-sustaining at such a low line current.
Furthermore, if a portable sensor device is optimized for operating with low line currents, at high line currents a significant amount of heat may need to be dissipated. However, since these portable sensor devices need to be operable in a wide variety of environmental conditions, so they may need to be sealed against moisture and rain. As a result, it becomes very difficult to dissipate heat as there is no airflow available to remove it.
Some implementations consist of a current transformer followed by one or more clamping Zener diode(s) and a rectifier of some sort. A Zener diode allows current to flow from its anode to its cathode like a normal semiconductor diode, but it also permits current to flow in the reverse direction when its "Zener voltage" (Vz) is reached. To compensate for high current scenarios, the clamping diodes need to have a low enough Zener voltage so that they do not overheat. Overheating can occur if all the current being generated isn't used such as if the scavenge circuit is charging a battery and the battery is now full. Since charge isn't being consumed, the battery voltage will rise and a Zener diode will eventually conduct, and power P will be dissipated at a rate of:P=IVz where I is the current passing through the Zener diode. However, this may cause issues at relatively low line currents, as Zener diodes leak current as the voltage approaches the Zener voltage, so the energy harvesting at low currents is limited.
If you optimize for low currents by using any combination of high Vz, low leakage Zener diodes, and possibly voltage amplifiers such as a Cockcroft-Walton multiplier, voltage at the low end is increased but it is also increased on the high end. Furthermore, it limits how much power may be harvested under higher line conditions. Increasing the turns ratio of the current transformer has the same effect.
To balance these effects, a static or dynamic resistive load may help limit the voltage swing. However, this will constantly drain current and may still allow spikes that are higher than intended when there are line faults or other causes of spikes in current.

Selectable power scavenging systems and methods


A turntable structure includes a cleaning turntable having one side connected with a cleaning piece; an adjusting component slidably connected with the cleaning turntable along a target direction, and located on another side of the cleaning turntable opposite to the cleaning piece, the adjusting component having a side far away from the cleaning turntable and connected with a driving mechanism of a robot to rotate the cleaning turntable, the target direction being parallel to a rotating shaft of the cleaning turntable; a pressure unit provided between the cleaning turntable and the adjusting component and for pressing against the cleaning turntable; and a first limiting structure configured to limit a sliding distance of the cleaning turntable relative to the adjusting component along the target direction.

With the development of the science technology, cleaning robots are widely used in production and life. According to different usages, the cleaning robots can be divided into sweeping robots and mopping robots. The cleaning robots can meet users' demands for cleaning the floor. The cleaning robots achieve the cleaning operations on the floors by the cleaning components. However, on a uneven floor, the cleaning components of the cleaning robots cannot fit the floor, thereby the cleaning effect on the floor is poor.
The above content is only provided to assist the understanding of the technical solutions of this application, and does not mean that the above content is recognized as prior art.

Turntable structure, mopping device and robot

Yunjing Intelligence Technology (Dongguan) Co., Ltd.


Disclosed is an air purifier with a small size, having an excellent air purifying capacity, capable of preventing a large amount of ozone from being generated, the ozone harmful to a human body. The air purifier includes a case, a pair of discharge electrodes provided at upper and lower parts of the case, a ground electrode provided between the pair of discharge electrodes, a pair of insulating dielectric layers provided on upper and lower surfaces of the ground electrode, and a power source coupled respectively to the ground electrode and the discharge electrode so as to supply voltage thereto.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air purifier, and more particularly, to an air purifier having an excellent air purifying function, although the size of which is small, and preventing a large amount of ozone which is harmful to a human body from being generated.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
In general, an air purifier removing dust and bad smell for a pleasant atmosphere is widely used in a living room of a general home, interior of a car, and such places many people gathers as restaurants, hospitals, and offices.
The air purifier is usually used independently. It is however a trend that the air purifier is used as a supplementary device mounted to home appliances such as an air conditioner. In other words, recently, many home appliances having not only cooling/heating and ventilating functions but also air purifying function have been manufactured.
FIG. 1 illustrates a diagram schematically showing a related art air purifier, and FIG. 2 illustrates a diagram showing a corona discharge generated from the related art air purifier. Referring to FIG. 1, the related art air purifier includes a case 10 having opened top and bottom surfaces, a plurality of ground electrodes 20 and a plurality of discharge electrodes 30 provided in the case 10.
The plurality of ground electrodes 20 are spaced apart a predetermined distance from each other in the case. One of the discharge electrodes 30 is provided between every other consecutive ground electrodes 20. In this case, each ground electrode 20 includes a rectangular plate, and each discharge electrode 30 includes a round wire.
The discharge electrode 30 and the ground electrode 20 are spaced apart a predetermined interval from each other, the predetermined distance being more than a common number cm, and respectively coupled with a power source 50 (Refer to FIG. 2) for supplying a high voltage. On upper and lower surfaces of the case 10, a net 40 is provided for preventing large impurities from being entered into the case 10.
An operating principle of the related art air purifier structured as above-mentioned will be briefly described as follows. Referring to FIG. 2, when a voltage is supplied by the power source to the ground electrode 20 the discharge electrode 30, a corona discharge for ionizing surrounding air is generated between the ground electrode 20 the discharge electrode 30.
Due to the corona discharge, anions and ozone separating contaminants contained in air and sterilizing germs are generated around the electrode. Accordingly, the air entered into the air purifier is purified by the anions and ozone.
Meanwhile, the corona discharge is generated when a high voltage of more than 5 KV is supplied to the ground electrode 20 and the discharge electrode 30. In this case, a voltage generating the corona discharge is called an onset discharge, and the onset discharge is different depending on an interval between the discharge electrode 30 and the ground electrode 20.
The related art air purifier in accordance with the related art has following problems. First, since the air purifier in accordance with the related art has a plurality of discharge electrodes and ground electrodes, there is a limitation in miniaturizing it. Particularly, when an air purifier is provided in a home appliance, there is a problem that the whole size of the home appliance is increased.
Second, the related art air purifier generates a plurality of ozone during the corona generation. The higher a voltage supplied to an electrode is, the more amount of ozone is generated. Ozone being a strong acid substance, performs a role of disassembling organic matters in air, but is harmless to a human body.
Therefore, there is a problem that the related art air purifier demands a post-cleaning process for removing ozone generated after the corona discharge.