This invention relates to the use of certain indole compounds, which are active as inhibitors of the fatty acid synthase FabH, for the treatment of bacterial infections.

This invention relates to the use of compounds as inhibitors of the fatty acid synthase FabH.
The pathway for the biosynthesis of saturated fatty acids is very similar in prokaryotes and eukaryotes. However, although the chemical reactions may not vary, the organization of the biosynthetic apparatus is very different. Vertebrates and yeasts possess type I fatty acid syntheses (FASs) in which all of the enzymatic activities are encoded on one or two polypeptide chains, respectively. The acyl carrier protein (ACP) is an integral part of the complex. In contrast, in most bacterial and plant FASs (type II) each of the reactions are catalyzed by distinct monofunctional enzymes and the ACP is a discrete protein. Mycobacteria are unique in that they possess both type I and II FASs; the former is involved in basic fatty acid biosynthesis whereas the latter is involved in synthesis of complex cell envelope lipids such as mycolic acids. There therefore appears to be considerable potential for selective inhibition of the bacterial systems by broad spectrum antibacterial agents (Jackowski, S. 1992. In Emerging Targets in Antibacterial and Antifungal Chemotherapy. Ed. J. Sutcliffe and N. Georgopapadakou. Chapman and Hall, New York; Jackowski, S. et al. (1989). J. Biol. Chem. 264, 7624-7629.)
The first step in the biosynthetic cycle is the condensation of malonyl-ACP with acetyl-CoA by FabH. In subsequent rounds malonyl-ACP is condensed with the growing-chain acyl-ACP (FabB and FabF, syntheses I and II respectively). The second step in the elongation cycle is ketoester reduction by NADPH-dependent xcex2-ketoacyl-ACP reductase (FabG). Subsequent dehydration by xcex2-hydroxyacyl-ACP dehydrase (either FabA or FabZ) leads to trans-2-enoyl-ACP which is in turn converted to acyl-ACP by NADH-dependent enoyl-ACP reductase (FabI). Further rounds of this cycle, adding two carbon atoms per cycle, eventually lead to palmitoyl-ACP whereupon the cycle is stopped largely due to feedback inhibition of FabH and I by palmitoyl-ACP (Heath, et al, (1996), J.Biol.Chem. 271, 1833-1836). Fab H is therefore a major biosynthetic enzyme which is also a key regulatory point in the overall synthetic pathway (Heath, R. J. and Rock, C. O. 1996. J.Biol.Chem. 271, 1833-1836; Heath, R. J. and Rock, C. O. 1996. J.Biol.Chem. 271, 10996-11000).
The antibiotic thiolactomycin has broad-spectrum antibacterial activity both in vivo and in vitro and has been shown to specifically inhibit all three condensing enzymes. It is non-toxic and does not inhibit mammalian FASs (Hayashi, T. et al., 1984. J. Antibiotics 37, 1456-1461; Miyakawa, S. et al., 1982. J. Antibiotics 35, 411-419; Nawata, Y et al., 1989. Acta Cryst. C45, 978-979; Noto, T. et al., 1982. J. Antibiotics 35,401-410; Oishi, H. et al., 1982. J. Antibiotics 35, 391-396. Similarly, cerulenin is a potent inhibitor of FabB and F and is bactericidal but is toxic to eukaryotes because it competes for the fatty-acyl binding site common to both FAS types (D""Agnolo, G. et al., 1973. Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 326, 155-166). Extensive work with these inhibitors has proved that these enzymes are essential for viability. Little work has been carried out in Gram-positive bacteria.
There is an unmet need for developing new classes of antibiotic compounds that are not subject to existing resistance mechanisms. No marketed antibiotics are targeted against fatty acid biosynthesis, therefore it is unlikely that novel antibiotics of this type would be rendered inactive by known antibiotic resistance mechanisms. Moreover, this is a potentially broad-spectrum target. Therefore, FabH inhibitors would serve to meet this unmet need.
This invention comprises indole derivatives and pharmaceutical compositions containing these compounds and their use as FabH inhibitors that are useful as antibiotics for the treatment of Gram positive and Gram negative bacterial infections.
This invention further constitutes a method for treatment of a Gram negative or Gram positive bacterial infection in an animal, including humans, which comprises administering to an animal in need thereof, an effective amount of a compound of this invention.
The compounds of this invention are represented by Formula (I):
wherein:
R1 is selected from the group consisting of aryl, substituted aryl, heteroaryl, C1-10 alkyl, cycloalkyl, arylalkyl, heteroarylalkyl and heterocyclicalkyl;
R2 is selected from the group consisting of aryl, substituted aryl, and heteroaryl;
R3 is selected from the group consisting of H, lower alkyl, CHO, and COR4;
R4 is selected from the group consisting of aryl, substituted aryl, heteroaryl, and C1-10 alkyl;
n is an integer selected from the group consisting of 0, 1, and 2; and
Y is selected from the group consisting of CH2, NR3, O, and S;
or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof.
Also included in the invention are pharmaceutically acceptable salt complexes.
As used herein, xe2x80x9cC1-10 alkylxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9calkylxe2x80x9d means both straight and branched chain rings of 1 to 10 carbon atoms, unless the chain length is otherwise limited, including, but not limited to, methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, iso-propyl, n-butyl, sec-butyl, iso-butyl, tert-butyl, n-pentyl and the like.
The term xe2x80x9ccycloalkylxe2x80x9d is used herein to mean cyclic rings, preferably of 3 to 8 carbons, including but not limited to cyclopropyl, cyclopentyl, cyclohexyl, and the like.
The term xe2x80x9carylalkylxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cheteroarylalkylxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cheterocyclicalkylxe2x80x9d is used herein to mean C1-10 alkyl, as defined above, attached to an aryl, heteroaryl or heterocyclic moiety, as also defined herein, unless otherwise indicated.
As used herein, xe2x80x9carylxe2x80x9d means phenyl and naphthyl;
As used herein, xe2x80x9cheteroarylxe2x80x9d means a 5-10 membered aromatic ring system in which one or more rings contain one or more heteroatoms selected from the group consisting of N, O or S, such as, but not limited, to pyrrole, pyrazole, furan, thiophene, quinoline, isoquinoline, quinazolinyl, pyridine, pyrimidine, oxazole, thiazole, thiadiazole, triazole, imidazole, or benzimidazole.
As used herein, preferred aryl substituents include halo, including chloro, fluoro, bromo and iodo, in any combination.
As used herein, xe2x80x9clower alkylxe2x80x9d means C1-4 alkyl.
The compounds of this invention may contain one or more asymmetric carbon atoms and may exist in racemic and optically active forms. All of these compounds and diastereomers are contemplated to be within the scope of the present invention.
Some of the compounds of this invention may be crystallised or recrystallised from solvents such as organic solvents. In such cases solvates may be formed. This invention includes within its scope stoichiometric solvates including hydrates as well as compounds containing variable amounts of water that may be produced by processes such as lyophilisation.
Since the antibiotic compounds of the invention are intended for use in pharmaceutical compositions it will readily be understood that they are each provided in substantially pure form, for example at least 60% pure, more suitably at least 75% pure and preferably at least 85%, especially at least 95% pure, particularly at least 98% pure (% are on a weight for weight basis). Impure preparations of the compounds may be used for preparing the more pure forms used in the pharmaceutical compositions; these less pure preparations of the compounds should contain at least 1%, more suitably at least 5% and preferably from 10 to 49% of a compound of the formula (I) or salt thereof.
Preferred compounds of the present invention include:
6-(2,6-Dichlorobenzyloxy)-3-(phenylthio)indole-2-carboxylic acid; and
6-(2,6-Dichlorobenzyloxy)-3-(phenylsulfonyl)indole-2-carboxylic acid.
Compounds of the Formula (I) wherein R1 is phenyl, R2 is 2,6-dichlorophenyl, R3 is H, and Y is O were prepared by the method described in Scheme 1.
a) 2,6-Dichlorobenzyl Bromide, NaH, DMF; b) N3CH2CO2Et, NaOEt, EtOH, xe2x88x9210xc2x0 C.; c) 125xc2x0 C., Xylene, 4 h; d) 1N NaOH, THFxe2x80x94MeOH, 50xc2x0 C.; e) NaH, Ph2S2, DMF, 25xe2x86x9255xc2x0 C.; f) 1) mCPBA, CH2Cl2.
4-Hydroxybenzaldehyde (1, Scheme 1) was reacted with 2,6-dichlorobenzyl bromide in the presence of NaH to form the ether 2. This aldehyde was then condensed with ethyl 2-azidoacetate to provide intermediate 3 which was then heated in xylene to yield the indole 4. Conversion of the ethyl ester 4 to the carboxylic acid 5 was accomplished by standard base hydrolysis with NaOH. Acid 5 was converted into the dianion using NaH followed by reaction with phenyldisulfide producing the desired phenylsulfide 6 (Example 1). Sulfone 7 (Example 2) was prepared from 6 via oxidation with a peracid; in this example m-chloroperoxybenzoic acid was used.

Indole compounds useful for treating bacterial infections


A vacuum field effect, nanostructure-based transistor (VFET) that operates at pressures as high as 101 kPa, with an operating voltage magnitude as low as about 2 Volts and has a cutoff frequency as high as 0.46 THz, and has an electrode separation gap distance of about 150 nm or less.

Charged particle carrier transport in a conventional solid state transistor is dominated by a drift-diffusion mechanism, with an associated transport velocity limit of about 5×107 cm/sec. A vacuum channel, when constructed, will rely upon thermionic emission and quantum tunneling, with a theoretical ballistic transport velocity of about 3×1010 cm/sec. In conventional semiconductor action, electrons are scattered, and high temperature operation often results in reduction of drive current. Electrons in vacuum can move with few or no collisions, thereby increasing average electron velocity.
A conventional solid state semiconductor transistor does not perform well in extreme environments, such as very high temperature and/or where radiation is present. Vacuum devices offer immunity to radiation, increased robustness and relatively high frequency. A vacuum channel transistor might operate ballistically for carrier transport, if some operating conditions can be modified. However, this would require use of smaller transport distances, among other characteristics.
Early electronics centered use of a vacuum tube to amplify, switch, or modulate electrical signals. Many decades ago, vacuum tubes were replaced by solid-state devices such as the metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) and diode. Nevertheless, vacuum tubes are still used in niche applications such as premier sound systems and high-power radio base stations.
The transition from the vacuum tube to the solid-state device was not driven by the superiority of the semiconductor as a carrier transport medium, but by the ease of fabrication, low cost, low-power consumption, lightness, long lifetime, and ideal form factor for integrated circuits (ICs). The vacuum tubes were fabricated by mechanical machining and used as discrete components, whereas modern solid-state devices are batch processed in assembling the integrated circuits. The vacuum device is more robust than solid-state devices in extreme environments involving high temperature and exposure to radiation. The critical tradeoff is that vacuum tubes yield higher frequency/power output but consume more energy than MOSFETs. Transport in a vacuum is intrinsically superior to transport in a solid medium, because vacuum transport allows ballistic transport while solid state carriers suffer from optical and acoustic phonon scattering in semiconductors.
Charged particle carrier transport in a conventional solid state transistor is dominated by a drift-diffusion mechanism, with an associated transport velocity limit of about 5×107 cm/sec. A vacuum channel, when constructed, will rely upon thermionic emission and quantum tunneling, with a theoretical ballistic transport velocity of about 3×1010 cm/sec.
Cathodes of conventional vacuum tubes need to be heated for thermionic emission of electrons, and the energy for heating adversely overwhelms the energy required for field emission. A conventional vacuum device is, therefore, not suitable for low power devices. For high power amplification (e.g., >50 W), however, the solid state device needs a complex circuit architecture including many transistors, microstrips, and thermal management systems.
Advantages of both devices can be achieved together if the macroscale vacuum tube is miniaturized to a nanometer scale. A nano-vacuum tube can provide high frequency/power output while satisfying the metrics of low mass, small size, modest cost, lifetime, and stability in harsh conditions.
More importantly, further downscaling can allow use of a cold cathode, because the electric field itself is strong enough to emit electrons. Also, an ultimate downscaling combined with low work function materials may decrease the turn-on gate voltage and drain voltage to less than 1 Volt, thus enabling these devices to be competitive with modern semiconductor technology. These benefits can be attained by use of matured IC technology to fabricate nano scale vacuum tubes and to facilitate circuit integration.
The most common design of vacuum microelectronics is a vertical field emitter consisting of the emitter, gate, and collector. The emitter is a sharp conical tip, the gate is a circular aperture, and the collector is flapped at the top. The movement of electrons between the emitter (cathode) and the collector (anode) is controlled by the gate.
An array of vertical field emitters forms a large-area flat electron source. Unfortunately, the vertical structure may be undesirable for circuit implementation due to the difficulties in achieving geometrical dimensions with identical gap spacing over all devices on the substrate. In contrast, the geometry of a planar structure is defined by photolithography enabling practical integration.
However, as the distance between the emitter and the gate shrinks, processing becomes difficult. In addition, a fraction of the emitted electrons can be easily swept into the gate, and electrons at the gate can be emitted to the collector, both of which are detrimental in circuit design.

Nanostructure-based vacuum channel transistor


An inflatable mattress for use on a truck bed is disclosed and claimed. The inflatable mattress includes left and right lateral sides. Each lateral side includes a recession dimensioned to receive a respective one of the wheel wells. The inflatable mattress also includes left and right side cushions disposed above and in contact with an upper surface of the mattress adjacent the left and right lateral sides, respectively.

Trucks having truck beds are sometimes used to transport sensitive items that must be cushioned from severe mechanical shocks. Conventional mattress arrangements that are used on truck beds today are ill-suited for this task at least because items placed on such mattresses may be subjected to sliding or rolling impact with the inner sides of the truck bed during turns and periods of acceleration and deceleration. The shortcomings of conventional mattress designs can be even more conspicuous in military applications where such sensitive items may also need to be protected from intentional harm, where the truck may be operating on unimproved roads or other uneven surfaces, and where the truck operator may experience periods of distraction from the effort to drive the truck smoothly. Thus, there is a need in the art for an improved mattress design for use on truck beds.

Inflatable mattress with side cushions for a truck bed


A watermark is embedded in spatial domain. However, the same effect as the watermark is embedded in frequency domain is obtained by inverse frequency transforming the watermark, and then embedding it. By doing that, robustness of the watermark is enhanced in comparison with conventional method for generating a watermark and adding it in spatial domain. Also, the watermark can be detected, even though an image is passed through stirmark, by enlarging the size of the watermark generated by inverse frequency transforming through re-sampling.

Recently, together with the wide spreading of the internet and computers and the rapid distributions of multimedia data, illegal copies (piracy) and distributions are widely prevalent so that an effective protection apparatus for a copyright to multimedia data gets required. Watermarking technology is one that embeds user information (watermark), unrecognizable by a user, in multimedia data, to thereby prevent pirated copies and protect a copyright of a copyright owner.
The watermark means a mark developed in a step using a frame for pressing wet fibrous material to get rid of water in a process making paper from papyrus in ancient times. Marks embedded in paper in order for paper manufacturers in the middle ages to prove their own goods are the watermarks in the middle ages, and, nowadays, an image is embedded which can be recognized only with light when, in a process of making banknotes, printing on both sides of a sheet of paper after drying the wet sheet on which printing has been done, and the image is referred to as a watermark.
In these days, together with the increase of digital media, the concept of a digital watermark has appeared. Just as paper in an analog concept is substituted with the concept of digital paper, digitalizing all the analog media in which the past watermarks were embedded has brought into the concept of the digital watermark as a mark hidden in digital images, audio, video, and so on. That is, the watermarking refers to all technical methods hiding and extracting a special form of watermark in multimedia contents in order to protect a series of multimedia contents. At the beginning, researches have been carried out for methods hiding original multimedia contents themselves, but, at present, it is a trend that strong watermarking technologies using lots of technical transform methods are developing.
The watermarking is classified into a visible watermarking and an invisible watermarking based on the visibility of a watermark, and the invisible watermarking is again classified into a spatial domain watermarking and a frequency domain watermarking based on the methods embedding a watermark.
The visible watermarking specifies a copyright by embedding in an original image author information which can be recognized with eyes. The visible watermarking can be used with ease but has a drawback in that the originals are damaged.
Accordingly, the invisible watermarking is primarily used in the image watermarking technology in these days. The invisible watermarking is a technology embedding a watermark not to be visually perceived by using a limit of senses of the human visual system. While the spatial domain watermarking embeds and extracts a watermark with ease, there is a high possibility to lose a watermark by means of signal processing, video processing (non-linear filtering, rotating, cutting, moving, enlarging, and reducing transforms and the like), and compressing.
However, the frequency domain watermarking employs transform techniques such as Fourier transform, discrete cosine transform, or the like for embedding and extraction, so there exists a drawback in that it has a complicated algorithm and requires lots of arithmetic operations, but it has an advantage in that it is robust on general attacks such as filtering or compressions.
The invisible embedding of a watermark requires an embedding of the same in a low value on a broad area, which is carried out by the spread spectrum technology of Ingemar J. Cox. In the spread spectrum technology, a pseudo-random sequence is used as a watermark, which is a method that can be effectively used since the sequence has a uniform distribution function and is evenly distributed over the entire bandwidth of frequencies.
For methods transforming an original image into a frequency domain, the fast Fourier transform (FFT), discrete cosine transform (DCT), and wavelet transform are generally utilized a lot, which takes a method embedding and restoring a watermark into the original state in a transform plane. However, the method has a high possibility to lose a watermark on attacks such as image rotating, cutting, moving, enlarging, reducing, or the like.
As stated above, the watermarking methods in the spatial domain or frequency domain have advantages and disadvantages in their own ways. For an alternative, a watermarking method using the log-polar mapping and Fourier transform has been developed to compensate for the loss of a watermark, which is the weak point of the frequency domain watermarking method, in rotating, enlarging, or reducing an image. The method converts rotations, enlargements, and reductions into a simple movement forms through the log-polar mapping and detects a watermark by using the characteristics that the amplitudes of the Fourier transform are invariable with movements. However, the method is weak at the video processing such as compressions and has a drawback in that a big video and watermark loss exists.
As mentioned above, the developed watermarking technologies for video have advantages and disadvantages in general in their own ways. Further, the pseudo-random sequence watermark being widely used at present can confirm what key value a watermark embedded in an image has, but has difficulties in embedding and extracting various copyright information.
Furthermore, the anti-watermarking as a by-product, come up during the watermark researches, causes a problem, which attacks by diverse methods and incapacitates a watermark embedded in an image, and main products for the anti-watermarking are StirMark, UnZign, and so on, for example.
For reference, the StirMark is one of the products for removing a watermark (anti-watermarking), and the StirMark attack randomly transforms an image, like meshwarping the image, to slightly transform arbitrary pixel positions and cut out part of the image, to thereby destroy the watermark.

Method of embedding/detecting digital watermark and apparatus for using thereof

Abstract: In detecting the watermark, by high frequency filtering the watermarked image and getting all blocks of the watermarked image together, the effect of removing image component is obtained. Thereby, the detection speed of the watermark is improved, and the detection rate is increased as well.


Disclosed is a stepped embroidery machine. The stepped embroidery machine includes a plurality of head units including heads, embroidery frames installed at lower portions of the heads is such a manner that the embroidery frames are movable in X-axis and Y-axis directions, X-axis drive units for moving the embroidery frames in an X-axis direction, and Y-axis drive units for moving the embroidery frames in a Y-axis direction, a control unit for controlling an operation of the head units, and a control panel used for inputting and displaying information related to embroidery work and embroidery. The head units are individually driven per each head unit and aligned in a stepped pattern while forming a predetermined step difference therebetween. Since the head units are individually driven, it is possible to individually perform embroidery work with respect to various workpieces. The head units are aligned in the stepped pattern while forming a predetermined step difference therebetween, so the head units do not interfere with each other even if the embroidery machine performs the embroidery work with respect to workpieces having a large area. The head units are controlled with one control unit and one control panel, so the worker simultaneously controls the head units of the embroidery machine without changing positions of the worker, facilitating the embroidery work.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a stepped embroidery machine. More particularly, the present invention relates to a stepped embroidery machine having a single body and a plurality of head units aligned in a stepped pattern while forming a step difference therebetween for simultaneously and individually performing embroidery work with respect to various workpieces.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As generally known in the art, an automatic embroidery machine embroiders patterns on a workpiece fixed to an embroidery frame by moving the embroidery frame in X-axis and Y-axis directions while actuating a needle up and down with respect to the workpiece. That is, differently from a sewing machine which sews a cloth by using a needle moving up and down with respect to the cloth while passing the cloth through a sewing area of the sewing machine by means of a moving table having a toothed structure, the embroidery machine embroiders patterns on the workpiece by moving the embroidery frame in the X-axis and Y-axis directions, so the speed and movement of the embroidery frame may closely relate to quality of embroidery patterns.
According to the conventional embroidery machine, a plurality of heads and shuttles are simultaneously driven when a spindle shaft rotates, thereby embroidering patterns on the workpiece fixed to the embroidery frame. Therefore, the conventional embroidery machine presents a problem in that it can be used only for single embroidery work for a single workpiece.
In order to solve the above problem, applicant of the present invention has developed an embroidery machine equipped with a plurality of head units capable of simultaneously and individually performing embroidery work with respect to various workpieces. The above embroidery machine has been filed with Korean Intellectual Property Office and registered with Korean Utility Model Registration No. 350914.
The embroidery machine disclosed in Korean Utility Model Registration No. 350914 includes a plurality of head units, which are divided into at least two working groups, and embroidery frames provided in each working group. The embroidery frames have the same structure or mutually different structures.
However, since the embroidery machine must be equipped with a plurality of head units for individually performing the embroidery work with respect to various workpieces, the size of the embroidery machine may become enlarged as compared with that of the embroidery machine having one head unit. In addition, in order to facilitate the embroidery work, the embroidery frames installed corresponding to the plural head groups must be prevented from interfering with each other. For this reason, it is necessary to ensure a sufficient interval between the embroidery frames, resulting in the large-sized embroidery machine.
The large-sized embroidery machine does not match with the current tendency of providing a compact-sized embroidery machine suitable for a narrow place.


Drop cable assemblies suitable for an optical fiber distribution system are disclosed. For some embodiments, the drop cable assembly splits an input optical fiber to a plurality of optical fibers and provides optical connection to designated premises. For other embodiments, the drop cable assembly receives multi-fiber optical connection and provides the optical connections to designated premises.

Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates generally to cable distribution and, more particularly, to fiber-optic cable distribution system.
Description of Related Art
Optical fiber-based systems are playing a larger role in data communications as customer demand for data capacity increases. For example, fiber-to-the-premises (FTTX) systems permit direct optical connections to the home or other premises, thereby providing greater access to data at the premises. Consequently, there are ongoing efforts to improve FTTX systems as customer demands for data continue to increase.


A controlled latch clamp including a base and a handle pivotally connected to the base. The clamp has a link pivotally connected to the handle and to a plunger. The plunger also being pivotally connected to the base. The clamp includes an arm connected to an end of the plunger.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention broadly relates to a new pull action clamp mechanism. More particularly, the invention relates to a controlled latch clamp mechanism which has a special linkage system that provides unique advantages over the prior art.
2. Description of Related Art
Manual pull action clamps have been known for many years in the art. Some of these pull action clamps are over center toggle locking action clamps that are ideally suited for holding against heavy forces such as those generated in manufacturing environments. Many of these prior art pull action clamps are used with base bolted or welded in place applications wherein the units can be used for latching pressure vessels, clean out doors, lids, covers on a drum container or other vessel, and other industrial applications. These clamps are capable of being used in small spaces and may include bar members that are threaded to allow for convenient adjustment of the prior art pull action clamps.
Many of these prior art pull action clamps have a handle member fixed to an outside surface of a base member with the hook or lock arm typically rotatable about the handle member. These clamps provide a maximum holding capability with easy operation and simple adjustments necessary for use in the industrial applications.
However, there is a need in the art for an improved controlled pull latch clamp. There also is a need in the art for a controlled latch clamp that has a hook traveling along predetermined paths in predetermined directions with relation to the device being clamped. There also is a need in the art for a controlled latch clamp that allows 90° of hook movement between a clamp open position to a clamp closed position thus keeping the hook from interfering with the object being clamped.
There also is a need in the art for a new pull action clamp that is lower in cost and easier to manufacture. There also is a need in the art for an improved controlled pull action latch clamp that is capable of holding at higher holding forces while decreasing the chance of the clamp untoggling during use.


Avatars representing participants in a graphic chat session are periodically animated to produce a gesture that conveys an emotion, action, or personality trait. Each participant in the chat session is enabled to select one of a plurality of different avatars to represent the participant in a graphic chat session. Associated with each avatar is a bitmap file that includes a plurality of frames illustrating the avatar in different poses, actions, and emotional states. Selected frames are displayed in rapid sequence in accord with a script file to create an animation effecting each gesture. The same script file is used to define a gesture for all of the avatars used in the chat session. A selected gesture can be transmitted with a text message to convey the user's emotional state. A gesture associated with the avatar is automatically displayed from time to time when the avatar is not otherwise gesturing or moving. The user can determine participants in the chat session with whom the user will interact, e.g., by defining a proximity radius around the user's avatar or by selecting the specific participants from a list. Avatars of participants that are outside the proximity radius (or otherwise not selected) and messages received from them are not displayed on the user's monitor.

Use of the computer for communicating on-line with others has recently become much more popular with the increased awareness by the public of the Internet and of services provided by commercial service networks. In addition to enabling access to information, exchange of e-mail messages, and downloading of files, a link to the Internet or to a commercial service network provides an individual with the opportunity to interact with others who are connected to the network.
One of the more common options for enabling several users of an on-line service to interact is through a chat session. A user joining a chat session is added to a list of participants and can then view comments transmitted by other participants and enter and transmit a response. In text only chat sessions, each user's screen is typically divided into two panes. Comments that have been transmitted by those participating in the chat session appear in one pane, and any message being entered by the user appears in the other pane on the user's computer display screen. For practical reasons, chat sessions are usually limited to a predefined number of participants. If any person attempts to join once the limit is reached, the person is typically notified that the chat session is full and precluded from joining. Alternatively, the person may be offered the opportunity to join another separate chat session on the same topic in which others are participating. In chat sessions involving a well known personality, hundreds of people may join the session, but only the host and the moderator are active in the chat session, and all others are simply observers. However, provision may be made to enable questions previously submitted by the observers to be displayed to solicit a response from the guest. The host controls the chat session. The virtual space in which each chat session occurs is sometimes referred to as a "room," since the participants interactively communicate just as if they were meeting in a room.
With the increasing use of modems operating at speeds of 28.8 Kbps on commercial networks, graphical chat sessions are becoming more practical. In a graphical chat session, all of the participants are represented by avatars or icons that are grouped in a graphic environment or "world." In addition to a graphic window showing the chat world, the display screen on each participant's computer typically still includes the chat pane and the message entry pane, as described above. When another user joins the chat session, the person's identifier, moniker, or name is added to a list of the participants, and an avatar for the new participant is added in the graphic chat world. The list normally appears in a third pane. When any participant leaves the chat session, the withdrawal is noted in the member pane, and the avatar representing the person is removed from the graphic chat world.
Although the graphic chat session provides visual information that improves a participant's knowledge of the other participants, the approach for displaying the participants in a conventional graphic chat world is somewhat stilted and artificial, because it fails to convey much information about the personality and emotional state of the participants as the chat session progresses. A graphic chat session of this type is implemented in the Worlds Chat paradigm, which was developed by World, Inc. In a Worlds Chat session, each avatar is associated with a plurality of bitmap sprites, each sprite representing the avatar from a different angle. The multiple views of each avatar do not provide any animation. A user can customize the sprites that represent him/her by modifying these bitmaps using a conventional paint program and a format conversion program that is provided by World, Inc.
In the ImagiNation Network (INN) developed by AT&T, users can customize their avatars by selecting various facial components such as the eyes, nose, and hair style from predefined options, in a manner much like that used in police identikits to create a likeness of a person. The avatars that are thus automatically produced blink their eyes at random times, but this limited animation fails to convey any emotion, action, or personality trait of the individual who is represented by the avatar.
Even though the particular avatar selected by a person and any customization applied with a paint program may reveal some of the individual's personality, such avatars are generally too static in nature and do not reflect the changing emotional state associated with the text messages transmitted by a participant in a graphic chat session. Ideally, a chat session in a virtual world should convey the same kinds of visual interaction that might occur in an actual face-to-face meeting of the people involved in a discussion, and the avatars representing the participants should thus clearly indicate the personalities of each individual and the emotions that are associated with the words communicated between the participants. Although present technology does not permit an ideal virtual world to be achieved during an on-line graphic chat session, it should be possible to animate the avatars sufficiently so that they can convey gestures that represent these traits. When people converse, gestures are an important facet of the communication, since they indicate the personality and emotional state of the speakers. In a graphic chat session, gestures can provide the same visual clues that they provide in a normal conversation. Although gestures are normally used in conversation without conscious thought, in a graphic chat session, it would be preferable for a participant to be able to select the gesture that will be used in combination with text that is transmitted to indicate the emotion or state of mind associated with the communication.
There are times when a participant in a chat session may wish to limit those with whom the person interacts. For example, if a discussion between two of the people involved in the chat session is of particular interest to a third party, the third person may not want to be distracted by communications transmitted from others in the chat session. In many cases, the participant may want to enable only selected persons in the chat session to view his/her avatar and the messages that are sent to those persons; however, this type of interactive control is currently not practical. Yet, it should be possible to selectively limit the group of participants with whom a person interacts so that only selected avatars in the chat session are seen by the person and so that only communications from the selected members of the group are observed by the person. Moreover, it would be preferable to select the members of the limited group that will be observed by the participant in a more graphical and natural manner. When two people want to speak privately in a room, they simply move away from the others in the room so that their private conversation is not audible beyond the range of the other person with whom they are conversing. A similar approach should be applicable to limit those with whom a person interacts in a graphic chat world. Currently, no conventional graphic chat session provides a technique to spatially select the avatars of others that the participant wants to observe and from whom communications will be received. Providing this feature will enable a participant to perceive the avatars of those selected and to receive communications only from those members of the chat session who have been selected. The participant will not perceive the avatars or communications from those who are in the chat room, but were not selected.

Use of avatars with automatic gesturing and bounded interaction in on-line chat session


An endoscope insertion portion of this invention includes an air/water feeding portion for spouting gas or liquid from a spouting port to outer surfaces of the first observation optical system and the second observation optical system, which is disposed on the distal end portion so as to line up with the first observation optical system and the second observation optical system on a generally straight line. The air/water feeding portion is disposed on the distal end portion such that a spouting direction of the gas or the liquid has a first angle with respect to the first direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an endoscope insertion portion of an endoscope having a plurality of observation optical systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, endoscopes have been widely used in the medical field and the like. With an endoscope, for example, internal organs in a body cavity can be observed by inserting an elongated insertion portion into the body cavity, and various treatments can be performed using a treatment instrument inserted into a treatment instrument insertion channel as necessary. At a distal end of the insertion portion, a bending portion is provided. By operating an operation portion of the endoscope, observing direction of an observation window at a distal end portion can be changed.
In general, an endoscope is provided with an air/water feeding nozzle for cleaning for a case where body fluid or the like adheres on an outer surface of the objective optical system of the endoscope to disturb the observation when the endoscope is inserted into the body cavity. The outer surface of the objective optical system of the endoscope can be secured of a clean observation field of view with, for example, a cleaning liquid spouted out or air sprayed from the air/water feeding nozzle.
For example, an endoscope having a plurality of objective optical systems is proposed as described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 06-154155. This endoscope has a plurality of image pickup units, wherein the plurality of objective optical systems and an aperture of an air/water feeding nozzle are located at a distal end of an insertion portion to line up on a generally straight line.
Also, an endoscope used in recent years has a duct (hereinafter referred to as a treatment instrument channel) through which various forceps are inserted or body fluid, filth in a body cavity, and the like, are sucked, and a duct (hereinafter referred to as a forward water-feeding channel) from which a cleaning liquid is spouted in a direction of a diseased part for cleaning a mucous membrane and the like adhered on the diseased part as a region to be inspected. Respective aperture portions of these treatment instrument channels and the forward water-feeding channel are disposed on a distal end surface of a distal end portion.
Furthermore, an endoscope is used to observe inside of a body cavity where little natural light enters. Therefore, in an endoscope, illumination light introduced through a light guide or the like is irradiated into the body cavity from an illumination window, in order to obtain photographing light to be taken from the observation window.
The endoscope including a bending portion has a plurality of bending pieces in the bending portion, and four bending operation wires for performing a bending operation by pulling and relaxing these bending pieces. Distal end parts of the four bending operation wires are held and fixed by four fixing members to be extended to a proximal end side in a distal end portion of the endoscope, and further inserted and held by four wire guards provided to each of the bending pieces in the bending portion.
Each of these fixing members and wire guards are projected in inner diameter directions of the distal end portion and the bending portion, respectively, and disposed in up, down, left, and right directions of the distal end portion and bending pieces so as to correspond to bending up, down, left, and right directions of the bending portion.
Incidentally, as described above, endoscopes are set to have large observation windows in order to obtain sufficient amount of photographing light by illumination light from illumination windows inside the body cavity where little natural light enters. That is, in accordance with this, it is desirable that endoscopes can perform a good observation by increasing lens diameters of objective optical systems.
Furthermore, if the mucous membrane, blood, filth, or the like in a body cavity adheres on the outer surface of the illumination window, the amount of photographing light to be taken in decreases, so that there is a case where observation performance of each of the image pickup units can not be sufficiently exhibited. Therefore, it is necessary to surely clean also the outer surface of the illumination window.


Systems and methods for remotely evaluating antenna installations in a mobile radio communication system, wherein each antenna installation comprises at least one pair of antenna elements arranged for diversity reception. The received signal strength from a plurality of mobile stations is measured at the respective antenna elements of each pair of antenna elements; the signal strength values from each antenna element are compared for each pair of antenna elements; and, a plurality of comparison results are visually presented on a display as a function of both the comparison result and a parameter related to the position of each of the plurality of mobile stations relative to the location of the base station, whereby differences in reception characteristics between antenna elements of each pair can be detected and such pair can be identified for maintenance.

An important concern for radio network operators is to make sure that their networks provide good coverage. It has been seen that a common reason for loss of coverage and other network problems are related to antenna installation problems. For example could a feeder degradation of only a few dBs affect both uplink and downlink coverage. Such degradation can be hard to find and can be left unnoticed forever. For the operator coverage is directly related to the income. The situation becomes even worse as operators tend to reuse sites for different technologies and sometimes reuse the same antenna equipment.
Today, there are no proper tools or methodology for finding these problems. Only the largest problems will be detected through alarms
In a diversity instillation with more than one antenna branch, where one of the received paths is bad or slowly degrading, the uplink diversity will be affected or even lost. Typically base stations or access points for data traffic have two or more receiving antennas and the diversity gain is in the order of 3-5 dB. If an affected antenna path also carries a transmitter then the coverage on the downlink is degraded. For systems with more than one antenna the downlink diversity will be affected or the uplink coverage.
Another problem could be that the antennas are not aligned and thus not covering the same area. Also if the transmitters of the cell are separated, one transmitter on each antenna, then the downlink could be suffering from this misalignment and leading to poor coverage on both uplink and downlink. Similar problems occur in case of mismatch of the antenna diagram on the user side.
Often, third party contractors are responsible for the sites and installation of antennas and the operators have minimal insight in the installation of sites and antenna systems. Common for all these problems are that they are very difficult and some times almost impossible to find.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,970,394 discloses a method of detecting faulty antennas and other components of mobile telephone systems. The method is based on signal strength measurements for detecting inequality in path balance. At least theoretically the signal strength received at the mobile station and the cell site respectively are the same and a statistical analysis is made for the evaluation.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,266,528 receiving properties of an array of antennas for spatial diversity purposes is described. Long and short term samples of received signal strengths for the respective antenna elements are collected and subjected to a comparing analysis. In US published application 2004/0127261 performance of receive-only diversity antennas with two elements are checked by comparing quality parameters. Ideally there should be no difference and an actual difference could be used for generating an alarm or warming.


A new and distinct cultivar of Salvia plant named ‘DSALAXBL’ is disclosed, characterized by early flowering on compact, upright plants. Plants flower abundantly, producing violet-blue flowers with uniquely colored sepals of purple and green. The new variety is a Salvia, normally produced as an outdoor garden or container plant.

The new Salvia cultivar is the product of a planned breeding program conducted by the inventor, Gavriel Danziger, in Moshav Mishmar Hashiva, Israel. The objective of the breeding program was to produce new Salvia varieties for ornamental commercial applications. The open pollination resulting in this new variety was made in August 2016.
The seed parent is an, unpatented, unnamed proprietary Salvia nemerosa 'SAN-13-2959'. The pollen parent is unknown as it was an open pollination breeding program. The new variety was discovered in June 2017 by the inventor in a group of seedlings resulting from the 2016 open pollination, in a research greenhouse in Moshav Mishmar Hashiva, Israel.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar was performed by vegetative cuttings. This was first performed at a research greenhouse in Moshav Mishmar Hashiva, Israel in September 2017, and has shown that the unique features of this cultivar are stable and reproduced true to type in multiple successive generations.


User disposable sleeves for use with sound controlling structures having a non-constant radial profile can include an inner portion adapted to releasably attach to the sound controlling structure and an outer portion adapted to fit within a user's ear canal. The user disposable sleeve can include holding means configured to releasably secure the sleeve to the elongate sound controlling structure and fitment means configured to conform to an inner surface of an ear. The fitment means can be fixedly disposed over the holding means.

Several user disposable sleeves are known that have outer surfaces adapted to conform to the inner surface of an ear after a foam outer portion is compressed, inserted into the ear canal, and allowed to expand. These sleeves are adapted for releasable attachment to sound controlling devices or structures and are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,880,076; 5,002,151; 5,920,636; and 6,310,961, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. These patents show user disposable sleeves that are adapted for releasable attachment to sound controlling devices or structures having truncated conical outer surfaces diverging in cross-sectional size from their distal ends and having abutment surfaces spaced predetermined distances from their distal ends.
While such sleeves, when engaged with the sound controlling structures, can provide suitable interfaces between the sound controlling structures and the inner surface of an ear in which the sleeves are positioned, those sleeves may either be more expensive to manufacture and/or more difficult to remove from the sound controlling structures than may be desired for some applications. A need remains for improved user disposable sleeves.

User disposable sleeve for use within the ear canal


Embodiments of methods for attaching and upper bumper cover and a lower bumper cover to a vehicle comprise providing a vehicle body and a bumper fascia coupled to the vehicle body, attaching the upper bumper cover to the vehicle body at a position at least partially covering the bumper fascia, at a position above the bumper fascia, or combinations thereof, and attaching the lower bumper cover to the vehicle body at least partially cover the bumper fascia, wherein the lower bumper cover is coupled to and disposed underneath the upper bumper cover.

Improved styling and appearance are continual goals in vehicle design and development. In conjunction with these new vehicle designs, vehicle designers are developing new bumper assemblies which improve aesthetic appeal. For example, some new bumper assemblies may minimize the size of lamp units above the bumper fascia, thus improved bumper covers which eliminate the gaps between the lamp unit and the bumper fascia are desirable.

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.


A compound-eye imaging device comprises nine optical lenses arranged in a matrix array of three rows and three columns, and a solid-state imaging element for capturing unit images formed by the optical lenses. A stray light blocking member having a rectangular-shaped window is provided on the capture zone side of the optical lenses, eliminating the need to provide, between the solid-state imaging element and the optical lenses, walls by which light propagation paths of lights emitted from the optical lenses are partitioned from each other. The stray light blocking member blocks incident lights in a range outside each effective incident view angle range of each optical lens. This prevents the light entering each optical lens to form a unit image from interfering with other unit images formed by adjacent optical lenses, thereby obtaining a good quality image, without complicating the manufacturing process and increasing the cost thereof.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a compound-eye imaging device.
2. Description of the Related Art
A compound-eye imaging device is known as an imaging device to realize a thin camera as disclosed, for example, in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication Hei 10-84104. The compound-eye imaging device (image sensor) according to Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication Hei 10-84104 has a lenslet array of multiple integrated optical lenses (lenslets), and a solid-state imaging element (photosensor array) for capturing multiple unit images formed by the optical lenses.
Generally, in order to reduce the size of the compound-eye imaging device, the optical lenses are densely formed, and the unit images formed by the optical lenses are also formed close to each other on the solid-state imaging element. However, a compound-eye imaging device having densely formed optical lenses to form unit images close to each other has a disadvantage that light entering through each optical lens to form each unit image corresponding to the each optical lens may interfere with light (hereafter referred to as "stray light") entering through an adjacent optical lens or lenses, thereby degrading each unit image. This may cause a combined image or a panoramic image produced from the unit images to be no good.
In order to overcome this disadvantage, it is known to provide, between the solid-state imaging element and the optical lenses, walls (spacers in the compound-eye imaging device of Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication Hei 10-84104) by which light propagation paths of lights emitted from the optical lenses are partitioned from each other. However, such compound-eye imaging device has other problems. For example, the space between the solid-state imaging element and the optical lenses is narrow. Thus, there is a problem that a complicated and time-consuming work is unavoidably required to accurately incorporate the walls into the narrow space, causing the manufacturing process of the compound-eye imaging device to be complicated.
In addition, although components of light, which are emitted from each optical lens, and which have large emission angles and thus are likely to become stray light, are prevented by the provision of the walls from propagating any further to reach an adjacent unit image or images, the components of light reflected from the walls may reach the solid-state imaging element which is located in an area partitioned by the walls and which forms a unit image corresponding to the each optical lens, thereby interfering with and degrading such unit image itself Thus, in order to prevent the generation of stray light and the degradation of each unit image, the wall surface of the walls is required to have an extremely low reflectance e.g. by selecting the material of the walls. However, this further complicates the manufacturing process and increases the cost of the compound-eye imaging device.


A fiber optic module is provided that effectively reduces a returned light and is manufactured by a low time and cost consuming process and electronic equipment. The fiber optic transceiver module includes a block that includes an optical waveguide and a guide that is provided to one end of the optical waveguide and is a concave portion into which an optical fiber is inserted, and a micro tile-like element that includes a light emitting element or a light receiving element is attached to the block. A light emitting part of the light emitting element or a light receiving part of the light receiving element is disposed so as to face the other end of the optical waveguide. The optical waveguide includes a branch having a blind end.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a fiber optic transceiver module to optically couple a light emitting element or a light receiving element and an optical fiber and electronic equipment.
2. Description of Related Art
Optical fibers are used in optical communications systems to transmit laser beams and establishing communications. At the end of each optical fiber, a module for optical communications that includes a light emitting element or a light receiving element is installed. In installing this module, for example, the light emitting element, a lens, and the end of a core of the optical fiber are precisely aligned in three dimensions so as to efficiently lead light emitted from the light emitting element to the core of the optical fiber. See Japanese laid-open patent application No. 5-243688, for example.
The above-mentioned related art module for optical communications requires precise alignment among a light emitting or receiving element, a lens, and the end of a core of an optical fiber, to avoid a condition that each of these elements is out of alignment in three dimensions, thus consuming time and cost to install the module. Specifically, in order to install the module, a light emitting element, a lens, and an optical fiber are roughly aligned first. Then, light is emitted from the light emitting element. Subsequently, the alignment among the light emitting element, the lens, and the end of the optical fiber is finely adjusted in three dimensions so as to have light focused on the lens and directed into the end of the optical fiber.
A back reflection (returned light) at an end of the optical fiber may cause problems in a module for optical communications. The returned light problem will now be described by referring to FIG. 29. A fiber optic transceiver module 200 shown in FIG. 29 includes a block 211 including a optical waveguide 212 and a guide 13 and a light emitting element 201 attached on a side 214 of the block 211. An optical fiber 60 including a core 62 and a clad 61 is inserted into the guide 13. This makes it possible to transmit light emitted by the light emitting element 201 through the optical waveguide 212 to enter the core 62 of the optical fiber 60.
A part of the light emitted by the light emitting element 201 is reflected as a returned light R1 at the end of the optical waveguide 212 and a returned light R2 at the end of the core 62. For example, the light emitting element 201 may be a semiconductor laser (an edge emitting laser or an surface emitting laser). The returned light R1 and R2 enter the semiconductor laser so as to cause an unstable laser oscillation. A reflection mirror at an end of the laser plays a role of a resonator. Hence, if the emitted light returns, this returned light functions as a plurality of resonators so as to fluctuate an oscillation frequency. When using a laser as a light source in optical signal communications, it is always required to minimize the amount of the returned light for stable laser oscillation.
As for a countermeasure for the returned light, a method of filling transparent resin (called potting resin or matching resin), whose refractive index is similar to that of the optical fiber (core), is adopted. However, the method is not able to avoid the returned light effectively in normal surrounding conditions where temperatures vary, because of a temperature dependency of a refractive index of the potting resin. When the potting resin is applied to couple the guide to the optical fiber, a method allowing the block and the optical fiber to couple or decouple conveniently is not applicable. Specifically, the application is limited.
Alternatively, a method to cut the end of the optical fiber at an angle was introduced. The method, however, is also not able to cope with the returned light reflected from a part excluding the end of the optical fiber (for example, the end of the optical waveguide) and further the processing of the end of the optical fiber is expensive.

Fiber optic transceiver module and electronic equipment


The present invention discloses a prestressed-bolted dry-assembled segmental precast hybrid tower with grouting-free, comprising a top steel tower tube, a reverse self-balancing steal-concrete transition section, and a prestressed-bolted dry-assembled segmental precast concrete tower with grouting-free dry fast splicing and a gear reinforced wind turbine foundation; the steel tower tube, the steel-concrete transition section, the concrete tower tube and the hollow wind turbine foundation are integrally connected from top to bottom through a prestressed steel strand system to improve the overall bending resistance of the tower; the upper end of the prestressed steel strands is anchored to the steel-concrete transition section, and the lower end is anchored to the bottom face of the wind turbine foundation corbel; the concrete tower tube is composed of a number of segmental tapered precast concrete tower segments, which are grouting free spliced vertically, and the vertical splicing utilizes positioning pins to accurately position the installation position. The prefabricated concrete tower tube segment is formed by a number of circular arc-shaped prefabricated concrete pipe segments with circumferential grouting free dry splicing. The segments are spliced into a whole by prestressed bolts and then installed staggered from top to bottom to enhance the shear resistance.

It is an inevitable trend of wind power industry development that subsidies are gradually declining to achieve parity. How to reduce the cost of electricity per kilowatt hour and improve the generation capacity is a practical problem in front of wind power practitioners. There are three ways to improve power generation in the industry: increasing unit capacity, increasing impeller diameter and increasing hub height, and the three technical means are usually combined to maximize power generation. In the future, the onshore wind power market will gradually develop from traditional wind resource rich area to low wind speed area, and the wind turbine will develop to large single machine capacity and large impeller diameter. At present, the tower with 140 m hub height has entered the stage of large-scale commercial application, and will develop to a higher hub height in the future.
At present, most of the high-tower market uses steel conical towers, but as the height of the tower's hub increases, its overall stiffness decreases, which will induce poor vibration characteristics of wind turbines, and there are problems with frequency ride-through and vortex-induced vibration. The control strategy of the unit is extremely demanding, which limits the development of high-tower wind turbines. Because concrete has the characteristics of high rigidity and strong plasticity, the second technical route to raise the height of the hub is to introduce concrete medium. The lower part adopts concrete tower and the upper part adopts conventional steel tower, which can comprehensively utilize the rigidity advantage of the concrete tower and the rapid construction advantage of the steel tower, and weighs the safety, cost and construction period of the tower. At present, the existing steel-concrete hybrid towers (hereinafter referred to as "hybrid towers") are divided into pieces by setting exposed reinforcement bars on the splicing face during prefabrication, and spliced on-site by inserting the bars and grouting (also known as "wet connection"). The entire tower can be ring hoisted only after the grouting material reaches the design strength, which the construction efficiency is low and it is difficult to meet the large-scale popularization and application. In addition, the existing hybrid tower solution has the following problems: (1) it is difficult to guarantee the quality of the extensive prefabrication maintenance of the mobile prefabrication factory; (2) the prefabrication and transportation of the entire ring or C-slice is limited, and the transportation cost of large parts is expensive; (3) the precast components have poor flatness and cumbersome leveling procedures, and long grouting connection maintenance time causes uncontrollable construction period.

Prestressed-bolted dry-assembled segmental precast hybrid tower with grouting-free

POWERCHINA HUADONG ENGINEERING CORPORATION LIMITED


Methods and systems for absorbing infrared light, and for emitting current are described. A sample, such as a sample containing mainly silicon, is microstructured by at least one laser pulse to produce cone-like structures on the exposed surface. Such microstructuring enhances the infrared absorbing, and current emission properties of the sample.

Silicon devices and methods for fabricating them are ubiquitous in modern society. This ubiquity arises because crystalline silicon is cheap, abundant, and present in a myriad of optoelectronic devices that include microprocessor chips. Because of the wide use, many efficient methods have been developed for engineering silicon into various shapes and sizes. Therefore, if both silicon and a second substance can alternatively be used to fulfil some function, it is often more advantageous to use silicon because of familiarity of use, and manufacture.
While crystalline silicon has many useful properties that make the element eminently suitable for semiconductor applications, there are desirable properties that crystalline silicon does not possess. For example, crystalline silicon has a band gap of 1.07 eV, and hence only absorbs light that is no less energetic than visible light, which limits its use in certain optoelectronic devices. In addition, the current emitting and luminescent properties of crystalline silicon also limit the use of this element in certain optoelectronic devices. Any technique that would improve the 5 light absorption, current emission, or luminescent properties of silicon would be very welcome.

Systems and methods for light absorption and field emission using microstructured silicon

President and Fellows of Harvard College


A method of transferring an uncured composite laminate skin from a lay-up surface of a male mandrel tool to a female cure tool includes defining multiple vacuum zones on the lay-up surface, each zone corresponding to one of a multiple of portions into which the skin is to be separated. For example, to separate the skin into two portions, a low profile seal of a first membrane to the lay-up surface is formed at a first vacuum zone and a second low profile seal for a second membrane is formed at a second vacuum zone. The method further includes laying up a composite laminate skin over all the vacuum zones; separating the composite laminate skin into portions, for example, a first portion over the first vacuum zone and a second portion over the second vacuum zone; and releasing the portions individually into cure tools having an outside mold line surface.

The present invention generally relates to manufacturing of large-scale structures using composite materials and, more particularly, to a method of transferring large uncured composite laminates for the manufacture of large aircraft fuselage sections.
The structural performance advantages of composites, such as carbon fiber epoxy and graphite bismaleimide (BMI) materials, are widely known in the aerospace industry. Aircraft designers have been attracted to composites because of their superior stiffness, strength, and lower weight, for example. As more advanced materials and a wider variety of material forms have become available, aerospace usage of composites has increased. For the aerospace industry, composite lamination techniques that would provide faster material lay up rates, for example, would reduce the cost of manufacturing large composite structures. New and innovative composite lamination technologies are envisioned, such as the manufacture of large aircraft fuselage sections that may exceed, for example, 15 to 20 feet in diameter.
Without high speed tape laying techniques that are currently being explored, fabrication of large scale composite structures, such as commercial aircraft fuselage skins, will require the use of numerous pieces of expensive capital equipment—such as automated tape laying and fiber placement machines and large autoclaves—to achieve tape laying rates high enough to make the use of composites economical, allowing composites to replace metal as the primary structural components of the aircraft. Increasing the productivity of each machine is important to producing composite aerospace parts economically.
In the manufacture of aerospace components, current methods of maintaining the aero surface, also referred to as the outer mold line (OML), typically include laying skins into panel sections tooled to the aero surface. Small panels are assembled into larger components. Building smaller panels with equipment tooled to the aero surface requires more equipment and more processing steps than is desired.
Systems and methods for fabricating aerospace composite structures are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,693,678, issued Sep. 15, 1987, U.S. Pat. No. 4,780,262, issued Oct. 25, 1988, U.S. Pat. No. 6,012,883, issued Jan. 11, 2000, U.S. Pat. No. 6,168,358, issued Jan. 2, 2001, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,746,553, issued May 5, 1998, which are incorporated by reference.
Curing of composite laminate parts after lay up generally entails placing the composite laminate part into an autoclave. Curing is usually performed in a pressure environment inside an autoclave, for example, to eliminate voids within the material that could be caused by air bubbles, and that could cause serious degradation of the strength of the material in the final product. A compaction force on the skin laminate is commonly provided by "bagging" the panel, in which a plastic membrane is placed over the panel and sealed to the tool. Vacuum is then applied, inside the sealed plastic "bag", to the part while pressure is added to the autoclave and outside the bag, causing a differential pressure that compacts the laminate. In that manner, compaction pressures of greater than one atmosphere can be achieved. For composite material placed on the inside of a panel section tool, the aero surface side of the panel remains against the tool, and the non-aero, inside surface of the panel faces the vacuum bag. For a barrel section lay-up on the outside of a mandrel tool, the inside surface of the barrel section remains against the tool and the outside, aero surface of the panel faces the vacuum bag.
If one were to lay up and cure, for example, a fuselage barrel section on a male mandrel, the bag side surface would also be the aerodynamic surface of the barrel section. Since the bag side surface typically is aerodynamically rough and is difficult to make aerodynamically smooth, the result does not meet aero-smoothness requirements. Therefore, if one were to make a large barrel section, one would need to transfer it. That is, to maximize the efficiency of the capital equipment that places and cures the composite material, and to meet aero-smoothness requirements, it would be necessary to build the composite laminate on a male lay-up mandrel, as a complete barrel section, and cut it into sections and transfer them to female cure tools. Laying up the skin as a barrel on a mandrel would allow the equipment to operate at significantly higher rates, thus reducing the need for additional machinery, reducing capital requirements.

Method of transferring large uncured composite laminates


An adhesive composition is provided comprising at least one copolymer comprising repeating units from ethylene and at least one α-olefin, at least one tackifier resin, and at least one grafted polyolefin; wherein said adhesive composition has an onset of fiber tear of less than about 35° F. Articles and processes for producing the adhesive composition is also provided.

Hot melt adhesives are widely used in industry for various packaging applications. Most such applications require that the adhesive have a fast set time, good machinability, and good bond aging properties. In addition, it is desirable that the adhesive maintain bonds over as broad a temperature range as possible.
Most hot-melt adhesives are based on polyethylene or ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer. Polyethylene and chemically modified polyethylene based formulas tend to have excellent elevated temperature properties, while ethylene-vinyl acetate based adhesives tend to have very good low temperature properties. The choice of which of these two adhesives to use sometimes depends upon the needed properties of the final end use. Blending of polyethylene or chemically modified polyethylene with ethylene-vinyl acetate to obtain broader temperature properties is often not very effective because of compatibility problems. Therefore, a hot melt adhesive for packaging applications having good bond strength over a broad temperature has not been possible.
In light of the above, it would be desirable to be able to produce a hot melt adhesive having good bond strength at elevated temperatures and at low temperatures in order for the adhesive to be utilized in a broad array of applications.

Hot melt adhesives with improved performance window


A digital multiplier accumulator for performing the sum of products operation on two or more signal groups is described. The signal groups may be digitally coded and weighted. The multiplier accumulator will multiply selected signals from each signal group. Additionally, the multiplier accumulator can multiply the product of the signals by a scale factor. All of the products can then be summed to provide an analog output which represents the accumulated products of the digital inputs, scaled by the appropriate scale factor. The entire operation may be performed within a single logic element delay, since all the multiplication circuits operate in parallel and the summing is performed simultaneous to the multiplication. The digital multiplication is implemented with standard digital logic, while the analog multiplication and accumulation is implemented with a resistor array.

Signal processing systems that perform a "sum of products" operation on digitally encoded signals are widely used in various filtering and signal conditioning applications. The object of these systems is to process digitally encoded and weighted signals to produce an analog output. The signal processing entails multiplying the digital input signals, summing the results of the intermediate multiplication procedures, and producing an analog output.
The "sum of products" operation can be defined for one or more signal groups. In the case of two signal groups, the "sum of products" expression is given as: ##EQU1## where
C is the final result (or system output);
A.sub.i is the i.sup.th signal from signal group A, where A is a group containing n.sub.a signals, each signal being m.sub.a bits long, and thus having resolution of m.sub.a bits;
B.sub.j is the j.sup.th signal from signal group B, where B is a group containing n.sub.b signals, each signal being m.sub.b bits long, and thus having a resolution of m.sub.b bits;
and, .gamma..sub.i,j is a constant or scale factor for the product of the i.sup.th signal from group A and the j.sup.th signal from group B.
Further, each element of the signal group A is represented as a weighted sum of m.sub.a bits and may be expressed as: ##EQU2## where a.sub.i,k is the k.sup.th bit which has a value of plus or minus one in the case of a bipolar coding scheme, and zero or one in the case of a unipolar coding scheme, and .alpha..sub.k is the weight of the k.sup.th bit.
Similarly, the signal group B is represented as a weighted code of m.sub.b bits and may be expressed as: ##EQU3## where b.sub.j,l is the l.sup.th bit which has a value of plus or minus one in the case of a bipolar coding scheme, and zero or one on the case of a unipolar coding scheme, and .beta..sub.l is the weight of the l.sup.th bit.
Thus, the result, or system output, may be expressed as: ##EQU4##
Several approaches to designing a digital multiplier accumulator to perform the necessary computations are widely used in the art. One approach is a mostly analog approach, characterized in that the digitally encoded signals are first converted to analog signals, through the use of a D/A converter or equivalent. These analog signals are then multiplied and summed in the analog domain, to produce the desired sum of products output. The analog multiplication may be achieved via either Gilbert cell or transconductance amplifier based techniques, while the addition may be accomplished through the use of traditional amplifier techniques.
The mostly analog approach yields a design with a relatively high operational speed; however, there are significant disadvantages. First, such an approach consumes a relatively high amount of power. Second, since this approach is very heavily dependent on analog circuitry, the performance of this approach is limited due to the inherently unstable nature (drift) of analog circuitry. The accuracy of the analog approach is typically in the range of 1 to 5%, with 1% being the limit of state of the art technology.
An alternative approach is the mostly digital approach, characterized in that it utilizes only digital processing elements. The digitally encoded signals are multiplied using well known digital multiplication techniques. The individual multiplication results are then summed using digital adders, to produce the system output which is the "sum of products."
The mostly digital approach is plagued by several disadvantages. First, due to the inherent computational delays within the digital multipliers and adders, this approach results in a relatively low operational speed. Second, due to the complexity of the digital processing elements used, this approach also consumes a relatively high amount of power. Also, in the digital approach, a digital to analog stage must be used in order to convert the digital result to an analog output.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a digital multiplier accumulator suitable for low power, high speed operation.
Another object of the present invention is to perform a digital multiplier accumulator operation within a time period corresponding to a single logic element delay.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a highly integrated digital multiplier accumulator, realized with standard Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) logic technology and thin film resistor technology.
Still another object of the present invention is the provision of a highly integrated digital multiplier accumulator achieved using Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) technology.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious to those skilled in the art from the description itself, and further will be appreciated by those practicing the invention and using the resulting digital multiplier accumulator.
In accordance with the present invention, the signals used in the multiplication and addition operations are broken down into sign and magnitude components. Since the sign component is limited in the number of input and output states that may be assumed, a digital logic implementation is conveniently used to perform the multiplication of the sign portion. The computation of the magnitude portion and the multiplication of the magnitude and sign portions of the signal is implemented with the use of a network of resistors that connect the output of the digital logic sign portion to the processing element output.


A climate control system for vehicles includes an internal combustion engine that may be coupled to selectively power a first motor generator, and an air conditioning compressor that may be selectively powered by one or both of the first motor generator and a second motor generator, or by the internal combustion engine. The system may include a rechargeable battery, and a vehicle controller having a vehicle state circuit structured to determine a vehicle operating condition value and a state-of-charge value of the rechargeable battery, and a coupling determination circuit structured to provide an internal combustion engine-first motor generator coupling command in response to the vehicle operating condition value and the state-of-charge value. In response to the internal combustion engine-first motor generator coupling command being provided as coupled, the internal combustion engine may power the first motor generator.

Previously known heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems for vehicles having an internal combustion engine include auxiliary power units (APUs) for periods where a vehicle may not be moving but where the cab or other environment on the vehicle still needs to be maintained at a controlled temperature. Conventionally known APUs require additional integration efforts and/or a secondary air conditioning (A/C) system. Alternatively, conventionally known systems require overnight idling of the engine.

Apparatus and system for controlling power to an air conditioning compressor for a vehicle


Techniques for reading data from a storage medium (150) having a high track density prone to adjacent track interference are disclosed. One or more sensing elements (120) are used to extract data stored on adjacent tracks. Multiuser detection (130) is then used to detect/decode a single track that is closely spaced to its neighboring tracks, resolve interference from adjacent tracks, or to simultaneously detect/decode multiple adjacent closely packed tracks.

Magnetic recording devices, such as magnetic disk and tape drives, use heads to read and write information to and from a magnetic surface. In a typical rotating storage device, data is stored on magnetic disks in a series of concentric tracks. These tracks are accessed by the read/write head, which detects variations in the magnetic orientation of the disk surface. Note that a track generally refers to a segment parallel to relative motion of the head. The read/write head moves back and forth radially on the disk under control of a head-positioning servo mechanism so that the head can be selectively positioned over a specific track.
In more detail, an actuator arm typically moves the head across the data tracks under the control of a servo system based on servo data stored on the disk surface within dedicated servo fields. The servo fields can be interleaved with data sectors on the disk surface or on a separate disk surface that is dedicated to storing servo information. As the head passes over the servo fields, it generates a readback signal that identifies the location of the head relative to the centerline of the desired track. Based on this location, the servo system rotates the actuator arm to adjust the head's position so that it follows the center line of the selected track.
One parameter that impacts the overall storage capacity of such rotating storage devices is referred to as track density (e.g., tracks per inch). The greater the track density, the greater number of tracks that can be recorded on the disk, thereby providing greater overall data storage capacity. A known factor limiting track density is referred to as adjacent track interference.
In particular, as track density increases, the information from several tracks will appear mixed together on the readback head, thereby degrading signal integrity. Thus, even though write heads are technically capable of writing into smaller areas (thereby enabling the dense packing of a storage disk), the available read heads tasked with extracting the stored data have limitations that restrict the size of the storage cells and track spacing.
To avoid this adjacent track interference so as to maintain data integrity, conventional disk drives are required to write the tracks sufficiently far apart (lateral separation) to effectively reduce the amplitude of the adjacent interfering tracks. Guard bands are used to separate neighboring tracks. No usable data can be stored in the guard bands. A single readback signal is used in retrieving the stored data from the tracks of the disk.
Readback intelligibility (i.e., data integrity) is therefore achieved by spatially separating the magnetic information on the disk. This required separation of tracks on the disk limits the track density of the drive for a given disk size and geometry. Moreover, storage capacity is fundamentally limited and can only be increased by increasing the size or number of layers on the disk.
What is needed, therefore, are techniques for increasing the readback intelligibility for densely packed disks. In a more general sense, there is a need for techniques that increase storage capacity without having to increase the size of the disk or of the disk drive.

Multitrack readback and multiuser detection for disk drives

Bae Systems Information and Electronic Systems Integration INC


A method for detecting an imperfect mounting of an essentially rod-shaped metallic object in a metallic hollow shaft is provided. The imperfect mounting may lead to the formation of metallic particles. The rod-shaped object is mounted electrically insulated from the hollow shaft. The electrical resistance between the rod-shaped object and the hollow shaft is measured. An alert is issued when the electrical resistance is lower than a predefined level. A device includes a spin unit with a hollow drive shaft and a nozzle mounted inside the hollow shaft. The device is configured to use the inventive method.

Some devices comprise a hollow drive shaft through which a rod-shaped object is passed. While the drive shaft is rotating the rod-shaped object remains fix.
An example for a device in which this kind of arrangement is used is a spin unit in wafer production. More specifically, a cleaning unit in wafer production comprises an electrical motor, a so-called spin motor, comprising a hollow shaft. The motor shaft may rotate with a velocity of about 1000 to 5000 rounds per minute (rpm). A common velocity is about 3000 rpm. The shaft of the spin motor is attached to a wafer holder for turning or spinning a wafer quickly.
Inside the hollow shaft a rinsing nozzle is mounted. Through the rinsing nozzle de-ionized water (DIW) is led to the wafer for high pressure rinsing or cleaning.
The nozzle is mounted to be stationary while the shaft turns round.
The drive shaft as well as the rinse nozzle is made of metal. The nozzle is mounted so that it is spaced from the inside wall of the drive shaft.
In practice, the metal nozzle must be remounted into the shaft after repair, preventive maintenance or still other occasions.
If due to an imperfect mounting the nozzle contacts the inside wall of the drive shaft this is not visible because it is inside the shaft. A slight contact will not hinder movement of the drive shaft either. However, grinding of the nozzle against the drive shaft leads to an abrasion of metal particles. These metal particles which may be very small are transported to the wafer surface due to the under-pressure in the cup in which the wafer is mounted.
As a result, short circuits occur on the circuits realized on the wafer due to the metallic particles. As entire wafers are concerned the influence on the production is important, the scrap rate increases severely. Furthermore, it is very difficult to locate the error source.

Method for detecting imperfect mounting of a rod-shaped metallic object in a metallic hollow shaft and a device


A collection of fault categories, including faults associated with internal resources at a provider network, is presented via an interface of a fault injection service. A fault injection mode, selected from a set which comprises a non-randomized mode, to be used to inject faults into a target environment is determined. Fault injection agents introduce faults into the target environment in accordance with the fault injection mode.

Many companies and other organizations build and deploy applications using network-accessible services of provider networks or cloud computing environments. For example, some clients of provider networks may utilize compute instances (e.g., guest virtual machines) of a computing service of a provider network, storage objects stored at one or more storage services, databases supported by a relational or non-relational database service, load-balancers of an auto-scaling service and the like, collectively to implement one or more applications that are then exposed to the clients' end customers via web-services or similar interfaces. In some cases, the provider network may include a software development and deployment service which can be used by clients to develop and deploy their applications, with resources of other provider network services being used at various stages of the deployment pipeline.
The benefits of using provider network services for client applications may include, among others, high levels of scalability, manageability, security, availability, and worldwide accessibility, all obtained at relatively low costs. Clients may be able to use the provider network services to design, develop and deploy complex applications whose implementation may not otherwise have been feasible given typical constraints on in-house resources at the clients' organizations. In general, clients may not have to concern themselves with many of the internal details of the underlying provider network services, including hardware configurations, networking-related settings, and the like.
As the level of sophistication of the applications deployed on behalf of provider network clients increases, the complexity of testing the resilience of applications to unusual events also rises. Especially when multiple services are used for a given application, with operations using resources of different services being performed at very high rates (e.g., tens of thousands of operations per second), and with the resources distributed among numerous data centers around the world, anticipating all the different types of events and event sequences that could potentially lead to application errors or sub-par application behavior becomes extremely difficult for the clients on whose behalf the applications are configured.
While embodiments are described herein by way of example for several embodiments and illustrative drawings, those skilled in the art will recognize that embodiments are not limited to the embodiments or drawings described. It should be understood, that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit embodiments to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope as defined by the appended claims. The headings used herein are for organizational purposes only and are not meant to be used to limit the scope of the description or the claims. As used throughout this application, the word "may" is used in a permissive sense (i.e., meaning having the potential to), rather than the mandatory sense (i.e., meaning must). Similarly, the words "include," "including," and "includes" mean including, but not limited to. When used in the claims, the term "or" is used as an inclusive or and not as an exclusive or. For example, the phrase "at least one of x, y, or z" means any one of x, y, and z, as well as any combination thereof.


A boat can include batteries, a generator, a remote control unit provided in a hull, and an outboard motor controlled through the remote control unit so as to generate thrust. The batteries and the generator can be connected to the remote control unit and the outboard motor via power supply cables. The remote control unit and the outboard motor can be connected via drive by wire controller area network (“DBW CAN”) cables . At least two systems of power supply cables and at least two systems of DBW CAN cables can also be provided.

1. Field of the Inventions
The present inventions relate to boats having electrically controlled boat propulsion units for producing thrust according to the operation of remote control units provided in a hull of the associated boat.
2. Description of the Related Art
In some known conventional boats, outboard motors provided at the stern of the hull of the boat are controlled by a remote control unit provided near an operator's seat of the boat. When the remote control unit is operated, the throttle opening and or other devices of the outboard motor, such as the engine, are controlled so as to drive the device, such as the engine, in a desired manner.
The outboard motor, which can serve as the propulsion unit of the boat, and the remote control unit can be connected to a power source via a power supply line. Additionally, the boat propulsion unit and the remote control unit can be connected to each other via a communication line.
Electric power is supplied from the power source to the boat propulsion unit and the remote control unit via the power supply line, and signals such as a target throttle opening signal and a target shift position signal are sent from the remote control unit to the boat propulsion unit via the communication line, thereby allowing the boat to run. Examples of this type of boat are disclosed in Japanese Patent Documents JP-A-Hei 5-152996 and JP-A-2003-200895 1, for example.


A device for correcting interchanged pipe connections in a sink or bathtub faucet has a housing 1 with passages 10,11 for hot and cold water. From each passage tap lines 14, 15 run to a cylindrical recess 2 having a flat bottom 22. Discharge pipes 5,5' for mixed water are also led to the bottom by tap lines 16,17. The two feed tap lines 14,15 and, diagonally opposite, the discharge tap lines 16,17, empty centrally. A connector 6 installed in the recess 2 is provided with passages 34-37, which starting from annular channels 18-20 located at the bottom, lead to openings of feed pipes 24-27 in a fitting housing 9. The connector has two pieces, a central part 7 installed interchangeably by 180.degree. in a peripheral part 8. The connector 6 can also be rotated by 180.degree. on the housing 9, or by 360.degree. together with the housing.

This invention relates to a connecting device for a sanitary appliance mixing valve, such as a hot and cold water mixing valve for bathtub and shower outlets.
A connecting device for assembling a mixing valve to feed or discharge pipes, which were installed chaotically or interchanged, is described, for example, in German Offenlegungsschrift No. 3,826,064. A flush mounted branch fitting, which has continuous ducts for hot and cold water, is provided with tap pipes for connection with the fitting. Between the housing of the fitting and the branch fitting is an interchangeable connector, with which both correct and also interchanged hot-cold water feed can be attached. By inserting the tap lines in ring channels, even chaotically mounted feed pipes can be corrected by correspondingly rotating the housing of the fitting until the fitting itself is in the correct angular position.
A drawback with this connecting device is its relatively large total height and difficult standardization. For designs according to FIGS. 7 and 9 the distance between the housing and the branch fitting can be adjusted, but this possibility demands a significantly higher cost of production.

Connecting device for a sanitary appliance mixing valve