A miniature circuit breaker incorporating ground fault protection and arc fault protection includes a test mechanism including a ground fault test circuit for testing a ground fault detector trip mechanism, and an arc fault test circuit for testing an arc fault detector trip mechanism. A state machine circuit automatically controls the test mechanism to sequentially test both of the ground fault and arc fault detector trip mechanisms. A test push button is interconnected with the state machine circuit and, when pressed, initiates sequential testing of both of the ground fault and arc fault trip mechanisms.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to circuit interrupters provided with both ground fault and arc fault trip mechanisms and, more particularly, to a circuit breaker having a test actuator for enabling ground fault and arc fault tests.
2. Background Information
Circuit interrupters include, for example, circuit breakers, contactors, motor starters, motor controllers, other load controllers and receptacles having a trip mechanism. Circuit breakers are generally old and well known in the art. Examples of circuit breakers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,260,676; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,293,522.
Circuit breakers are used to protect electrical circuitry from damage due to an overcurrent condition, such as an overload condition or a relatively high level short circuit or fault condition. In small circuit breakers, commonly referred to as miniature circuit breakers, used for residential and light commercial applications, such protection is typically provided by a thermal-magnetic trip device. This trip device includes a bimetal which is heated and bends in response to a persistent overcurrent condition. The bimetal, in turn, unlatches a spring powered operating mechanism which opens the separable contacts of the circuit breaker to interrupt current flow in the protected power system. An armature, which is attracted by the sizable magnetic forces generated by a short circuit or fault, also unlatches, or trips, the operating mechanism.
In many applications, the miniature circuit breaker also provides ground fault protection. Typically, an electronic circuit detects leakage of current to ground and generates a ground fault trip signal. This trip signal energizes a shunt trip solenoid, which unlatches the operating mechanism, typically through actuation of the thermal-magnetic trip device.
A common type of ground fault detection circuit is the dormant oscillator detector including first and second sensor coils. The line and neutral conductors of the protected circuit pass through the first sensor coil. The output of this coil is applied through a coupling capacitor to an operational amplifier followed by a window comparator having two reference values. A line-to-ground fault causes the magnitude of the amplified signal to exceed the magnitude of the reference values and, thus, generates a trip signal. At least the neutral conductor of the protected circuit passes through the second sensor coil. A neutral-to-ground fault couples the two detector coils which causes the amplifier to oscillate, thereby resulting in the generation of the trip signal. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,260,676; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,293,522.
Recently, there has been considerable interest in also providing protection against arc faults. Arc faults are intermittent high impedance faults which can be caused, for instance, by worn insulation between adjacent conductors, by exposed ends between broken conductors, by faulty connections, and in other situations where conducting elements are in close proximity. Because of their intermittent and high impedance nature, arc faults do not generate currents of either sufficient instantaneous magnitude or sufficient average RMS current to trip the conventional circuit interrupter. Even so, the arcs can cause damage or start a fire if they occur near combustible material. It is not practical to simply lower the pick-up currents on conventional circuit breakers, as there are many typical loads which draw similar currents and would, therefore, cause nuisance trips. Consequently, separate electrical circuits have been developed for responding to arc faults. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,224,006; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,691,869.
Ground fault protection circuits and arc fault protection circuits typically include separate associated test circuits for affirming their continued operability.
Currently, separate test switches are provided for performing the ground fault and arc fault tests. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,459,630.
For ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs), the UL standard mandates that the device (e.g., receptacle, circuit breaker) includes a test switch which activates ground fault protection circuitry to detect line-to-ground and neutral-to-ground faults. In turn, the user may periodically check the operation of the device, by employing the test switch to cause the separation of the separable contacts.
For arc fault circuit interrupters (AFCIs), the draft UL standard proposes testing of the arc fault detection function.
Although multiple waveform tests could be achieved by multiple individual test switches, with operation of any individual test switch resulting in waveform analysis which, if successful, would cause separable contact opening, there is room for improvement.
There is also a more particular need for a circuit breaker providing ground fault and arc fault protection which has an improved mechanism for testing both the ground fault detector and the arc fault detector and, yet, can be contained in the standardized molded cases of miniature circuit breakers for use with conventional load centers.

Circuit interrupter with test actuator for ground fault and arc fault test mechanisms


In a method and an apparatus for the flux-free application of a solder to a substrate or a chip an area on the surface of the substrate or on the pad of the chip, to which the solder is applied, is cleaned, to produce a sace which is suitable for soldering. Subsequently, the cleaned area is isolated from the surroundings by means of a protective gas, and finally the solder is applied to the cleaned, isolated area and remelted.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention refers to a method and an apparatus for the flux-free application of a solder to a substrate or a chip.
2. Description of Prior Art
In the prior art various methods are known by means of which solders can be applied to a substrate. The solder to be applied can be present in the form of so-called solder balls.
In one known method, solder balls are arranged on a substrate making use of a template. Subsequently, these solder balls are remelted making use of fluxes. When this method is used, the flux is applied to the substrate before the solder balls are applied so as to fix the solder balls on the substrate.
A further known method makes use of the screen printing technology. A soldering paste is here applied to the substrate by means of the screen printing technique. The soldering paste consists of fine solder balls and of a flux. When the soldering paste has been printed onto the substrate, remelting is carried out in a furnace.
The above-described screen printing method according to the prior art is disadvantageous insofar as the possibility of using the method for soldering in the so-called fine-pitch range is limited.
The use of a flux leads to increased environmental pollution when the methods described hereinbefore are used.
When aluminium is to be soldered, the oxidized surface must be cleaned prior to the soldering process, since soldering on aluminium oxide is not possible. This cleaning by means of etching is a very expensive process step.
This problem arises especially in connection with chip contacting, when the contacting is to be carried out not by means of the known bonded connections, but when a soldered connection is desired. Conventional chips are provided with so-called pads or contact pads which consist of aluminium. Although a bonded connection with these aluminium pads can be established by means of bonding wires, the production of a soldered connection requires a metallization of the initial pad with solderable metals, such as gold. Direct, soldered contacting of the chip on the aluminium pads is not possible due to the oxidation occurring, i.e. the formation of an aluminium oxide layer on the pad. The use of a flux cannot solve this problem either.

Multi-wavelength laser soldering device with substrate cleaning beam

Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft Zur Forderung der Angewandten Forschung EV


DsrA is an outer membrane protein of H. ducreyi that confers serum resistance to the bacteria. Isolated polynucleotides encoding the protein, end expression vectors and host cells encoding the same, are described. Also described is a mutant H. ducreyi strain that does not express DsrA. Vaccines against H. ducreyi and methods of using the same are also described.

Haemophilus ducreyi is the etiologic agent of chancroid, a genital ulcer disease transmitted by sexual contact. See, e.g. Albritton, W. L., Microbiol Rev. 53:377–89 (1989); Trees, D. L., and S. A. Morse, Clin Microbiol Rev. 8, 357–375 (1995). Chancroid has gained importance recently because it has been implicated as an independent risk factor for the heterosexual transmission of HIV in Africa. See Albritton, supra Trees, supra: R. M. Greenblattet et al., AIDS 2, 47–50 (1988); Jessamine, P. G., and A. R. Ronald, Med Clin North Am. 74, 1417–31 (1990); Plummer, F. A. et al., J Infect Dis. 161, 810–1 (1990); D. L., and S. A. Morse, Clin. Microbiol Rev. 8, 357–375 (1995): Wasserheit, J. N., Sex Trans Dis. 19, 61–77 (1991).
Serum resistance has been shown in numerous bacterial systems to be critical for the survival of invading bacterial and the establishment of disease, since mutations which result in the loss of serum resistance renders several bacterial pathogens avirulent. See. e.g., Blaser, M. J., American Journal of the Medical Sciences. 306, 325–9 (1993); Corbeil, L. B., Canadian Journal of Veterinary Research. 54,S57–62 (1990), Mobley, H. L. et al., Kidney International—Supplement. 47, S129–36 (1994); Rice, P. A., Clinical Microbiology Review. 2, S112–7 (1989); and Stull, T. L., and J. J. LiPuma, Medical Clinics of North America. 75, 287–9 (1991). In most systems, the serum resistance phenotype is the product of multiple genes. H. ducreyi is resistant to high levels of normal human serum (NHS; up to 50%). Early studies on H. ducreyi serum resistance by Odumeru and colleagues concluded that truncation of LOS in several strains was associated with avirulence and loss of serum resistance (see Odumeru, J. A. et al., Infect. Immun. 43, 607–611 (1984); Odumeru, J. A. et al., Infect. Immun. 50, 495–9 (1985); Odumeru, J. A. et al., J Med Microbiol. 23, 155–62 (1987)), whereas a recent study came to the opposite conclusion. See Hiltke, T. J. et al., Microb Path. 26,93–102 (1999)
Originally described as a cell spreading factor, vitronectin is now recognized as a multifunctional regulatory adhesive glycoprotein involved in a variety of extracellular processes such as the attachment and spreading of normal and neoplastic cells, as well as the function of the complement and coagulation pathways. Integrins are transmembrane αβ heterodimer receptors expressed on a wide variety of cells which are involved in extracellular matrix interactions. The ligands for several of the integrins are adhesive extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins such as fibronectin, vitronectin, collagens and laminin.
Proteins or fragments thereof that are able to interfere with vitronectin binding to various integrins and to block integrin-mediated cell attachment to extracellular matrix proteins are useful in preventing the attachment of the bacteria to the host organism, and thus infection of the host.
The ability to use a protein or antibody that interferes with vitronectin binding in a vaccine against H. ducreyi is desirable. These kinds of proteins are believed to be highly conserved among strains of a particular type of bacteria in that they are the protein molecules that mediate attachment by bonding bacteria to host cells, the initial step in the infection process. A vaccine against H. ducreyi comprising a protein or antibody that would interfere with vitronectin binding would be effective against a broad array of types and strains of H. ducreyi. The use of such a vaccine may prevent adherence of the bacteria to the tissue of the host animal. In that adherence is one of the initial step in H. ducreyi infection, accordingly, preventing or limiting the infection at this point would be advantageous.
In view of the foregoing, it would be desirable to determine the mechanism of serum resistance in H. ducreyi. Additionally, the development of an effective vaccine against H. ducreyi would be advantageous.

DsrA protein and polynucleotides encoding the same

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill


A drag-behind square hay bale accumulator that groups ten (10) bales of hay is claimed. The grouping configuration has the advantage of providing the first two bales of hay turned at right angles to the remaining bales, to provide for improved stacking of the hay bales. The accumulator is comprised of an open framework within which channels for routing the bales are positioned. After a group of ten (10) bales is collected, the accumulator leaves the bales on the field in a grouping that can be mechanically picked up and stacked.

1. Field
The present invention relates generally to a hay bale accumulator. More particularly, the present invention relates to an improved square hay bale accumulator that receives bales from a hay baler and groups them in a ten-bale group for easy pick-up and stacking.
2. Background of the Invention and Prior Art
Hay bale accumulators are used for collecting square bales of hay into close groups of a fixed number of bales so that they may be easily loaded and moved. Before the invention and use of hay bale accumulators, bales of hay ejected from the hay baler in a field would have to be picked up one at a time and manually loaded onto a truck or wagon. Because individual bales are heavy and unwieldy, and because the hay baler drops them off twenty to thirty feet apart from one another, collecting and loading bales of hay was a difficult and time-consuming task.
Hay bale accumulators make the job of collecting and loading bales of hay far easier. A typical hay bale accumulator is pulled behind the baler and collects the bales as they are ejected from the hay baler and then arranges them while they are dragging along the ground in an accumulator frame into a close rectangular grouping of bales, in a single layer with as many as 8-12 bales total. The accumulator then releases the neat grouping of bales onto the field, where the grouping can be picked up as a unit by mechanical lifting devices or special bale forks and loaded onto a wagon or trailer for removal from the field. With the aid of an accumulator, no manual lifting or stacking of bales is required.
Hay bale accumulators of the type discussed and disclosed herein are those in which the hay bales drag on the ground behind a hay baler while constrained within the open framework of the accumulator, as opposed to the type in which the hay bales are accumulated on some type of platform or trailer.
An example of a prior art hay bale accumulator is disclosed and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,779,402, which discloses an accumulator capable of grouping eight (8) bales of hay, in two (2) rows of four (4) bales each. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,053,064 discloses an accumulator for grouping a number of bales. In each of these prior art inventions, however, the bales of hay are all arranged in a grouping in which each bale is lined up in the same direction. For example, the hay bale accumulator disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,053,064 is capable of arranging bales as shown in FIG. 1 (in which eight bales are labeled "A"-"H" in the order in which they are collected and aligned by the accumulator). It would be desirable for the hay bales to be grouped so that some of the bales are turned at an angle to the other bales, because this configuration of bales stacks better than if the bales are all turned in the same direction. Specifically, if the bales on one end of the grouping are turned at right angles to the bales on the other end, as is shown in FIG. 2 (in which ten bales are labeled "A" through "I" in the order that the bales are collected by the accumulator) then when multiple layers of bales are stacked, the resultant stack is more stable.
Further, it would be desirable to have a hay bale accumulator that provides this improved configuration of bales in a ten-bale grouping.


A gearbox of a high speed compound rotary-wing aircraft includes a main module, an input module and a translational thrust module. The input module receives power from the engines to drive a dual, contra-rotating, coaxial main rotor system and a translational thrust system which provides significant translational thrust generally parallel to an aircraft longitudinal axis. Each of a multiple of engine drives the input module such that power is distributed to the main module and the translational thrust module. The gearbox provides a lightweight solution, since each module need only transmit a required fraction of available engines power.

The present invention relates to a split torque gearbox, and more particularly to a main gearbox for a rotary wing aircraft which directs significant power to a tail mounted pusher prop system.
A gearbox system of a rotary wing aircraft transfers power from a turbine engine to the rotor system. A typical system may direct power from several turbine engines to a single rotor system which may include a multiple of blades. Since the rotational velocity of the rotor is significantly lower than the rotational velocity of the turbine engines, the turbine engine rotational velocity must be reduced by the gearbox system. In reducing the rotational velocity of the turbine engine output, torque is increased through a series of intermediate gear stages and shafts, before the final output drive is provided to the rotor.
Conventional rotary-wing aircraft have a forward airspeed limited by a number of factors. Among these is the tendency of the retreating blade to stall at high forward airspeeds. As the forward airspeed increases, the airflow velocity across the retreating blade slows such that the blade may approach a stall condition. In contrast, the airflow velocity across the advancing blade increases with increasing forward speed.
Recent designs have pursued high speed compound aircraft in which a secondary translational propulsion system provides translational thrust while the main rotor system is operated in a reverse airflow condition during a high speed flight profile. Although such concepts have proven effective, the main planetary gearboxes for such aircraft are quite complicated and have heretofore resulted in gearbox systems which may be relatively heavy in weight and of significant packaging volume. As the rotor system locates the gearbox in an airframe center section, such a weighty and voluminous gearbox system often extends into the aircraft cabin section which may reduce aircraft payload and cabin space to an impractical capacity.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a lightweight, low profile gearbox system for a high speed compound rotary-wing aircraft that is readily mountable to an airframe above an aircraft cabin so as to increase payload and cabin space.

Split torque gearbox for rotary wing aircraft with translational thrust system


A shower head with structural features for providing a water spray pattern having revolving characteristics is disclosed. The shower head includes an inlet assembly connectable to a water source and a cooperatively engaged outlet assembly including a body having a front facing surface, an impeller having a plurality of blades and a rotator assembly having a spray surface defining a plurality of spray apertures. The rotator spray surface forms a portion of the front facing surface. A seal spacer disposed between the inlet assembly and the front facing surface has a plurality of radially spaced ports. Each port is axially transverse to a plane of the seal spacer. Water flow through the ports creates a multi-directional water current downstream from the spacer to drive the impeller and consequently, cause rotation of the rotator spray surface and water emission in a revolving spray pattern.

A wide variety of shower heads are known in the art for installation in conjunction with residential plumbing. They can be used to provide various flow rates and pressures, and pulsating and non-pulsating flow. These types of shower heads are increasingly popular and provide a variety of massaging flow patterns. Different flow patterns appeal to individual consumer taste.
Certain devices used to produce pulsating flow include internal impellers or rotators that rotate when in communication with water flowing through the shower head. Other designs produce an oscillating pattern by use of a wobbling member mounted internally within a nozzle housing. Still other designs rely on the cam action of a rotator actuating member to produce pulsating water emission. Consumers of such devices demand additional variety in the art, both in the style and the flow pattern produced. Further, a need exists for increased simplicity and lower cost of these devices.
The present invention provides a new and improved shower head for providing a water spray pattern having aesthetic revolving characteristics. Handheld and fixed embodiments of the present invention use a rotator to directly emit water through a series of apertures therein to produce a rotating spray pattern. The present invention uses a two part design wherein a fixed inlet assembly is rotatably engaged to an outlet assembly. A plurality of spray patterns are selectable by the user. The spray surface of a rotator spins in relation to a fixed portion of the shower head spray surface. This spinning surface creates a revolving spray pattern as water is emitted through apertures in the surface. The fixed portions of the showerhead spray surface produce a bubbling spray and a non-revolving full spray as selected by the user. Further, the present invention is unique in construction and easy to install.


Methods (3500-3695) and apparatus (10, 20) for controlling physical (30, 40) and virtual (12) access for accelerated recognition and processing of privileges, benefits, value transfers, crowd control, community membership and status, in particular for institutions, arenas and other large venues.

It is well known that crowd control is necessary in many common venues, such as sports events, rock concerts, hotels, universities, and others It would also be desirable to handle crowd control in ways that are amenable to integrating ancillary services and products that are user friendly, and beneficial to both the system operator and to the user.
The backbone of this inventive system is the integration of a multiplicity of modern methods and apparatus around an accelerated people behavior control concept which could typically allow a concurrently available single smart card chip, off-line, to authenticate a vital up-to-date estimation of a single member of group of over two million members, or for a stadium control box to know even more relevant information about one or more individual from a plurality of membership groups, e.g., all of the fans of all of the leagues in the United Kingdom. Using this proprietary tested method, sports arenas and concert halls, universities and hotels can offer services and product in a more amenable fashion, at lower cost, with any such level of security which would be commensurate to the state of art, the resources available to the users, owners and unfortunately, the vast capabilities and resources of adversaries.
Hotel operators typically control hotel guests' access to hotel rooms with mechanical locks and metal keys, and mechanically differentiated, magnetically coded, or chip-card tokens. Stadium operators serve dynamically active crowds, consisting of enthusiastic fans of local and often adversarial teams; several classes of season subscribers; corporate and other fans with various entitlements; "aways" (mostly fans from the opposing team); buy-back "ticket" purchasers (from season subscribers who get remuneration for matches they cannot attend where the seat may be sold to an entitled fan or a chance purchasers); and of vital importance, stadium and sport club employees. As opposed to relatively acquiescent hotel guests or university students, sports fans are often an unruly crowd, with adversarial interests, demanding intense service in a short time interval.
Hotel keepers typically abandoning conventional door locks with keys, as they suffer from expensive lock maintenance, often demanding key replacement, lock adjustment or lock replacement typically caused by the "forgetful" guest who fails to return his keys upon leaving the hotel. Typically, conventional door locks are being replaced by a variety of coded plastic devices. Popular entitlement devices are magnetic stripe cards, magnetically coded and semiconductor embedded chip keys resembling conventional keys and mechanically coded (typically with strategically placed holes) tokens.
Typically, the electronic lock acceptors are self-contained, off-line operative and battery powered; occasionally the devices are wired; either networked to the guest check-in counter for on-line operation, or wired, only to avoid problems related to batteries and the difficulties of timely replacement.
In all instances, elaborate means are necessary to ensure that at a given time interval, the door lock will recognize the token to be bona fide, and, if possible, with an approved length of stay. In addition, means must be provided to ensure that authorized hotel employees can gain entrance to the hotel room, to provide routine and emergency services, e.g., cleaning or forced entrance to care for a disabled guest. In many installations, such hotel service personnel would have master electronic or mechanical master keys. Synchronizing the system, so that a door will recognize a synchronously encoded key to allow legitimate entrance at a given time, is typically the problem that faces designers of such systems. Typically, a new synchronized key or keys must be presented to the hotel door, when a guest's key is inoperative. Such service, typically, overrides normal security procedures. The principle involved in such conventional mechanical lock and electronically controlled door lock settings is that that the a door must be synchronized with specific parameters in advance to recognize the unique features of the token or key. Electronic keys typically possess time-variant features, and the systems typically employ vulnerable schemes for synchronization, whereas any mechanical time-variance entails manual mechanical adjustment or replacement.
Manually synchronized mechanical locks are described in Sedley, U.S. Pat. No. 4,312,198. Sedley's lock consisted of a non-magnetic key studded with small magnets, operative to repel magnetic studs in the lock mechanism. The placement of the studs in the lock could be changed manually by a tool operative to alter the small magnet "combination". Saliga, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,397,884 suggests a time variant code system, where the hotel check-in desk would algorithmically insert a series of time linked codes relating to the projected stay of the guest in the hotel. The door lock's microprocessor with a real-time clock, would then ascertain if a link code in the key's memory matches a current access code. U.S. Pat. No. 5,939,694 describes a check-in station for hotels, operative to issue time linked access control devices for VingCard AS, Norway's diverse access control product line of magnetic striped plastic cards, smart cards, and other plastic security devices. U.S. Pat. No. 5,321,395 describes a wireless electronic smart card type access control system, wherein a via a tuned circuit, a wireless contactless is activated to emulate a time variant keycode of entrance.
The methods of this invention are operative to safely prove identity of a valid entity in a system, to supply information to a cryptographically operated reader, with relative small memory size able to allow off-line entry to an applicant for entrance pendant on recent or immediate status of the applicant, as to the point of entry, the expected time interval of entry, and in some instances to revert in due time to an on-line mode as would be necessary in a crowd control environment, or time and attendance entrance points for university or hotel employees.
Older Fortress GB Ltd. systems, some of which were deployed several years ago, handle up to 50,000 dynamically changing system clients, and presently deployed systems are able to accommodate up to 250,000 system clients in a disbursed environment with a plurality of entry points. Fortress GB Ltd's competitors have not been able to control access to such large clientele. The new systems, will easily accommodate up to 1,000,000 potential users of such a system, where each of the 1,000,000 applicants for entry are recognizable in any one of the plurality of off-line points of entry. With new low-cost orders of magnitude large non-volatile memory, future entry controllers will easily accommodate, off-line, hundreds of millions of users' tokens and tens of millions of reader devices, embedded in a plurality of conventional and futuristic devices.
These systems have been and are being deployed with a multiplicity of security levels, methods and devices. Typically, the connections between the readers, servers, issuing computers and door and gate controllers have been protected with Public Key and symmetric Cryptographic means, e.g., RSA, DES, 3DES and Wolfram methods. Multi-application and multi-vendor applications have typically been implemented on public key protected smart cards and SIM chips. Users have had the benefit of multi-application public key protected smart cards and a plurality of emulated public key applications, using contactless Inside and Mifare devices.
In applicant's Provisional U.S. application No. 60/565,393, methods and apparatus for communicating with contactless smart cards are described, wherein the antenna in the terminal device, e.g., mobile phones, USB secured mass memory devices (Intellifiers) depicted in FIGS. 14 and 15 are integrated into the keypad of said terminal devices. In this patent we suggest that the antenna may also be included in the front plastic case or plastic clam shell cover of a terminal, to reduce power consumption, especially important for very near field NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) used in unique substance detection, e.g., the materials manufactured by Micro Tag Temed Ltd., wherein such materials and means of detection are revealed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,986,550. In this document, we refer to the applied proprietary material as magnetic icons, or by the applicant's trademark, Magicon. In the drawings we have depicted a Magicon residing in the same near field with semiconductor elements containing memory elements that may be adversely affected by the strong NMR fields. In such instances it may be necessary to either apply higher concentrations of proprietary detectable magnetically resonating substances, or alternately, to assure that the semiconductor memory element is designed to be sufficiently immune to the electromagnetic field necessary for validating the existence of the proprietary substance.
The idea of wireless communicating with microchip memories with a variety of devices is described in applicant's Provisional U.S. application No. 60/565,393. In that application the device antenna is on the keypad or the front cover of the terminal device. The idea of communicating with posters via mobile devices also appears in "Kowalski's Big Bet on Contactless", in Card Technology of May 2004, page 31.
In this invention, we have set out bases for business plans and technological combinations for negotiating product purchases, for mobile phone betting at the arena or purchasing tickets to a rock concert, etc., where the incentive is a poster with an embedded equivalent of a large memory smart card. Typically, embedded in the microchip is a proprietary material, typically one of the unique Micro Tag's proprietary NMR resonating materials, recognizable by the contactless magnetic scanner via the smart card contactless antenna, typically, giving assurance of origin of the token substrate. The mobile phone downloads the event program, a betting card, a mobile phone negotiation application from a poster. During or previous to the event, the user can place bets, learn the results of his wagers and receive last-minute updates of other sporting events where wagers may still be recorded. At a symphony concert, the user will know that his phone will not ring, except at intermission, and he will have, on the mobile screen, a review of the program, the instrumentalists, the sponsors, possibly with advertisements. At an opera, an additional benefit would be an on-line libretto, in the vernacular or the original, sponsored by an advertiser, or paid for by the user.

System and methods for accelerated recognition and processing of personal privilege operative for controlling large closed group environments


A leg guide for use in a leg of a jack up unit adapted to provide sliding guidance of the leg during vertical movement of the leg. The leg guide has a first portion contacting an edge of a leg chord and a second portion contacting a face of the leg chord along a longitudinal plane opposite the contact plane of the first portion. The edge contacting guide has a deflecting guide unit, which uses a compressible member sandwiched between two rigid plates. As the leg moves, the teeth of the leg chord contact the edge guide unit, with the compressible member absorbing compressible loads acting on the leg chord. The second portion provides for a face plate mounted transversely to the edge contacting guide for reducing the build-up of horizontal moment acting on the leg chord during the vertical movement of the leg and for reducing bending moments acting on the leg.

This invention relates to offshore structures, and more particularly to offshore structures adapted for supporting oil and gas exploration/production operations at sea. Even more particularly, the invention relates to a type of an offshore structure known as a jack-up unit. A typical jack-up unit design uses a floatable hull with three or four supporting legs, which may be circular, square or triangular in cross-section, extending through the hull within leg guides. The legs may be built as truss units using a system of horizontal and diagonal braces. The legs support the hull during offshore operations, and are supported by the hull during transit.
Once the platform is delivered to the desired location, the legs are lowered through openings in the hull to reach the seated. The legs are secured to the bottom and then the hull is elevated to the operational height. The lowering and raising of the legs is performed by a plurality of jack-up assemblies typically located at the corners of the platform.
In a typical rack and pinion type jacking system, there are a total of nine jacking assemblies, three assemblies per leg of legs having triangular configuration. Each jacking assembly unit comprises four to six pinions, which are housed in a jack frame and supported on bearings. A series of guide plates are installed above and below the jacking mechanism. The guide system consists of upper guide plates, middle guide plates and lower guide plates. Gaps between the guide plates and rack are pre-determined to ensure smooth transition in raising and lowering of the legs.
Conventional assembly of guide plates is shown in FIG. 2. The guide is firmly fixed to the supporting structure. Edge guide plates 1 are located in opposite edges of the rack teeth 2. The edge guide plates 1 allow the rack teeth 2 to support and slide during the jacking process. Initially, when the whole hull unit is resting on the pinions, the differential loads on the pinions cause a vertical moment couple during the jacking up process.
Under environmental loads, the unit tilts and the rack teeth will react against the guide plates 1. This generates a reaction on the guide plates along the chord and indirectly on the horizontal and the diagonal braces 3. The differential loads on the guide plates cause a horizontal moment couple to be developed. As the jacking process continues, the transfer of the loads from a vertical to a horizontal moment couple increases. As a result, the legs between the upper and lower guide plates sustain a large bending moment. Thus the horizontal and diagonal braces between the upper and lower guide plates develop compressive and tensile forces. Since the legs have truss structure, the braces tend to fail under compressive load that is built up due to the horizontal moment couple.
The industry understands that high compressive loads are undesirable as they result in buckling of the braces under severe environmental conditions. For example, when a rig suffers a severe punch through situation or when the spud can at the base of the unit slides into old footings. This guide assembly is inefficient, as the generated high compressive loads located mainly between the upper and lower edge plates. This constitutes a local failure within the system. A premature load buckling of the brace eventually occurs. In the conventional system, since only a few top and bottom plates are reacted, the development of the horizontal moment couple is high. Only a small number of guide plates 1 are sharing the reacted loads.
The capacity of the drilling unit to maintain stability and strength during working conditions is determined by the extent the braces are subjected to the loads through the guide plates 1. Under harsh environmental conditions, the leg structure would deflect and a large bending moment is generated; the large bending moment is reacted against by the guide plates along the rack teeth 2. This reaction generates high compressive loads in the bracing members, which results in failure of the brace by buckling. To overcome this phenomenon, a system of guide plates is installed to significantly reduce the buckling loads exerted on the braces by converting an otherwise compressive load into tensile load.
The present invention contemplates elimination of drawbacks associated with the prior art and provision of an improved system of guide plates in a jacking system.

Interactive leg guide for offshore self-elevating unit

Offshore Technology Development Pte Ltd.


A hand-held battery powered device senses when it is picked up, and then automatically turns on. When the device is released or set back down, it automatically turns off. Touch or contact sensors sense the touch of a human hand, causing a circuit in the device to switch on a light source, such as an LED, or a motor, or other load. The device is advantageously designed so that when grasped or picked up, the fingers of the user's hand lay over touch sensors. Various types of touch sensors may be used. The touch sensors operate electrically, and without any movement, or moving parts.

Hand-held electrical and electronic appliances and similar devices typically have an external switch used to turn the device on and off. Various switches have been used on these types of devices, including push-button switches, sliding switches, twist-on/twist-off switches, dial switches, and many others. These switches are generally mechanically actuated by the user's finger or thumb. However, switch actuation is necessary to turn the device on or off. This can result in difficulty and/or delay, especially in dark conditions, where the switch cannot be seen, and when the user is not familiar with the design of the device.
Some types of hand-held electrically powered devices, such as flashlights, have been designed with switches that automatically turn the flashlight on when the flashlight is removed from a charger, wall socket, or other location. Alternatively, some flashlights and other devices automatically switch on when immersed in water, or when moved into a specific vertical or horizontal position, or when some other event occurs. While these automatic-on designs avoid the need for manually switching the device on, they can also result in premature and inadvertent battery depletion.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved electrically powered hand-held devices.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Hand-held devices with touch sensing on/off operation


A method of searching through a collection of images, includes providing a list of individuals of interest and features associated with such individuals; detecting people in the collection images; determining the likelihood(s) for each listed individual of appearing in each collection image in response to the detected people and the features associated with the listed individuals; and selecting in response to the determined likelihood(s) a number of collection images such that each individual from the list appears in the selected number of collection images.

With the advent of digital photography, consumers are amassing large collections of digital images and videos. The average number of images captures with digital cameras per photographer is still increasing each year. As a consequence, the organization and retrieval of images and videos is already a problem for the typical consumer. Currently, the length of time spanned by a typical consumer's digital image collection is only a few years. The organization and retrieval problem will continue to grow as the length of time spanned by the average digital image and video collection increases.
A user desires to find images and videos containing a particular person of interest. The user can perform a manual search to find images and videos containing the person of interest. However this is a slow, laborious process. Even though some commercial software (e.g. Adobe Album) permits users to tag images with labels indicating the people in the images so that searches can later be done, the initial labeling process is still very tedious and time consuming.
Face recognition software assumes the existence of a ground-truth labeled set of images (i.e. a set of images with corresponding person identities). Most consumer image collections do not have a similar set of ground truth. In addition, the labeling of faces in images is complex because many consumer images have multiple persons. So simply labeling an image with the identities of the people in the image does not indicate which person in the image is associated with which identity.
There exists many image processing packages that attempt to recognize people for security or other purposes. Some examples are the FaceVACS face recognition software from Cognitec Systems GmbH and the Facial Recognition SDKs from Imagis Technologies Inc. and Identix Inc. These packages are primarily intended for security-type applications where the person faces the camera under uniform illumination, frontal pose and neutral expression. These methods are not suited for use in personal consumer images due to the large variations in pose, illumination, expression and face size encountered in images in this domain.
In the article "Face Annotation for Family Photo Album Management", International Journal of Image and Graphics, Vol. 3, No. 1 (2003), pp. 1-14 a face annotation with automatic recognition is described. However, this system does not solve the problem that arises when attempting to search for images containing more than one individual of interest. Specifically, this system does not solve the problem of searching for a set of images such that each of a set of individuals or objects of interest is contained within the set of images.

Finding images with multiple people or objects


A tamper-evident cargo seal is disclosed, comprising a pin that is passed through a hasp on a shipping container, a body member, a pair of parallel guide members, at least one security label blank, and a cover. One end of the pin is keyed. The body member has a slot through a side surface extending into the interior, and is keyed to receive the pin. Abutting the top surface of the body member are two parallel guide members, bounding an area comprising the top surface of the body member. One of the guide members also has a slot to allow the pin to engage the slot in the body member. One or two removable security label blanks are inserted between the guides after the pin is inserted into the slot, and a security label is affixed over the blanks. A cover engages the body and guide members to protect the label.

Large cargo containers are widely used to transport cargo by sea, rail, and truck; and the significant value of this cargo requires that the cargo container be sealed from the time of loading until the container arrives at its destination. Typical cargo containers have a pair of doors that are secured with a locking pin through a hasp. Known in the art to secure cargo containers are simple padlocks, as well as strap and cable seals, some with RFID tags, such as those produced by the EJ Brooks Company.
Also known to persons skilled in the art are cargo bolt seals that enhance security by inserting and affixing a pin into a receiver with an adhesive. Removing the prior art pins requires cutting the bolt or pin part of the assembly with bolt cutting tools. The parts are not re-useable, and tampering attempts can be hidden within the plastic or metal housing of the permanent assembly. In addition, the pin is not easily customized for different applications and users.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,120,097 and 5,125,700, both entitled "SECURITY SEAL," discloses a two-part security seal comprising a spear shaped member that engages a receiver to lock the two parts together. The locked assembly cannot be disassembled without cutting or breaking the spear shaped member. Also included in the security seal is a conductive path that can be continuously monitored for continuity or checked before opening a container secured with the security seal, since the conductive path will break if someone tampers with the seal. The present invention is not limited to a single use security seal and does not include a conductive path for checking continuity (seal) of the device. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,120,097 and 5,125,700 are hereby incorporated by reference into the specification of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,331,022, entitled "CARGO SEAL," discloses a strap type cargo seal, with the strap having either one or, preferably, two coupling ends. The first end of the strap is inserted through a horizontal bar that holds the container doors shut, and the second end passes through the hasp. Each end is also serialized to deter tampering. As with all strap type seals, the strap must be cut to gain entry into the cargo container and is therefore not reusable. The present invention is not limited in this regard. U.S. Pat. No. 6,331,022 is hereby incorporated by reference into the specification of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,063,362, entitled "SEAL ASSEMBLY FOR A CARGO CONTAINER," discloses a cable type cargo seal, with the cable wrapping around the horizontal bars typically attached to the doors of a cargo container to restrain the doors in a closed position, and having one end inserted through the hasp end of the closure mechanism and the other retained inside the cargo container. As with most security seals, the cable is serialized to deter tampering and readily identify replaced seals. As with the prior art seals mentioned above, opening the container requires destructively (cutting) removing the cable. The present invention is not limited in this regard. U.S. Pat. No. 7,063,362 is hereby incorporated by reference into the specification of the present invention.
There exists a need to securely lock cargo containers with a reusable cargo seal that also permits retention of serialized parts for forensic analysis of the sealing mechanism.

The United States of America as represented by the Director of the National Security Agency


A composite fan casing for a gas turbine engine is provided includes, in an exemplary embodiment, a core having a plurality of core layers of reinforcing fiber bonded together with a thermosetting polymeric resin. Each core layer includes a plurality of braided reinforcing fibers with the braids of reinforcing fibers aligned in a circumferential direction.

This invention relates generally to gas turbine engines, and more particularly, to methods and apparatus for operating gas turbine engines.
Gas turbine engines typically include high and low pressure compressors, a combustor, and at least one turbine. The compressors compress air which is mixed with fuel and channeled to the combustor. The mixture is then ignited for generating hot combustion gases, and the combustion gases are channeled to the turbine which extracts energy from the combustion gases for powering the compressor, as well as producing useful work to propel an aircraft in flight or to power a load, such as an electrical generator.
When engines operate in various conditions, foreign objects may be ingested into the engine. More specifically, various types of foreign objects may be entrained in the inlet of a gas turbine engine, ranging from large birds, such as sea gulls, to hailstones, sand and rain. The foreign objects may impact a blade resulting in a portion of the impacted blade being torn loose from a rotor. Such a condition, known as foreign object damage, may cause the rotor blade to pierce an engine casing resulting in cracks along an exterior surface of the engine casing, and possible injury to nearby personnel. Additionally, the foreign object damage may cause a portion of the engine to bulge or deflect resulting in increased stresses along the entire engine casing.
To facilitate preventing the increased engine stresses and the possible injury to personnel, at least some known engines include a metallic casing shell to facilitate increasing a radial and an axial stiffness of the engine, and to facilitate reducing stresses near the engine casing penetration. However, casing shells are typically fabricated from a metallic material which results in an increased weight of the engine and therefore the airframe.

Composite fan containment case for turbine engines


A ceiling fan blade is provided. The ceiling fan blade is configured to be mounted on a rotating base, and includes a main body and a blade holder connected to the main body. The blade holder is configured to be mounted on the rotating base. The main body includes a windward part arranged adjacent to a side of the main body and a plurality of air guiding structures arranged adjacent to the windward part. Each of the air guiding structures and the side of the main body that is adjacent to the windward part is 0.2 to 0.4 times of a width of the main body.

Generally, a ceiling fan includes a plurality of ceiling fan blades, and the ceiling fan enables the ceiling fan blades to rotate by a driving force of a motor or blowing of wind. However, a resistance can be created when each of the rotating ceiling fan blades is in continuous contact with the air, regardless of a rotational speed thereof. Accordingly, the rotational speed of each of the rotating ceiling fan blades is reduced due to a large area of friction with the air.
Therefore, how to overcome the above-mentioned deficiency through an improvement in structural design has become one of the important issues to be solved in the related art.


Provided are tetrahydroisoquinoline derivatives, the preparation and use thereof. More specifically, provided are the tetrahydroisoquinoline derivatives or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt, ester, stereoisomer, tautomer, polymorph, solvate, isotopically labeled compound, metabolite or prodrug thereof. Further provided are a preparation process of the compound, the intermediates, a pharmaceutical composition comprising the compound and the use thereof in the treatment or prevention of a thromboembolic disorder.

Thromboembolic diseases such as stroke, myocardial infarction, deep venous thrombosis are clinically common causes of death. Anticoagulants are commonly used drugs in the clinical treatment of thromboembolic diseases. Normal coagulation is a balanced process under tight regulation, which requires maintaining the fluid state of the blood under normal physiological conditions, and having at the same time a mechanism for quick plug formation at the injured site to prevent life-endangering blood loss. Some of the current anticoagulants influence the normal coagulation process, and thus have side effects such as hemorrhage. The coagulation process can be divided into three interdependent pathways: the extrinsic, the intrinsic and the common pathway. Coagulation factor XIa is located near the start of the intrinsic coagulation pathway, and the initiation of the intrinsic coagulation pathway and the formation of coagulation factor XIa (activated by thrombin or XIIa) are very important for maintaining the integrity of the blood clot. However, coagulation factor XIa is not necessary for normal hemostasis. Studies have shown that increased levels of coagulation factor XI are associated with the male venous thrombosis and myocardial infarction, and increased risk of cerebrovascular disease and coronary artery disease. Therefore, it is considered that inhibition of XIa can effectively inhibit thrombosis without causing significant hemorrhage.
Some applications such as WO2013055984 disclose various inhibitors of coagulation factor XIa. WO2013056060 discloses BMS-962212, a coagulation factor XIa inhibitor. However, the known coagulation factor XIa inhibitors show shortages in in vivo metabolic stability, safety and other aspects. Therefore, there is an urgent need for a new coagulation factor XIa inhibitor with stronger inhibitory effect, better selectivity, metabolic stability, lower toxicity and less side effect.

Tetrahydroisoquinoline derivatives, preparation process and use thereof

Sichuan Kelun-Biotech Biopharmaceutical Co., Ltd.


A cooking system for automating cooking steps of a recipe on a stove comprising a stove including a plurality of cooking elements; power controller for controlling the operation of each one of the cooking elements; and computer system in communication with the power controller, said computer system including a processor, computer readable data storage, and a visual display unit. The processor causes the computer system to perform the steps of: for each automated step of said recipe, generates a control signal for actuating at least one of the cooking elements and sends said control signal to the power controller; and for each manual or user step of said recipe, generates data representing user readable instructions for performing the user step and displays said data on the visual display unit. The power controller is adapted to actuate the cooking elements in accordance with each control signal received from the computer system.

Recipes for preparing meals were traditionally handed down from parents to children. This process has lead to old family recipes being handed down through many generations. Children once delighted in spending time with their parents being taught techniques for preparing culinary delights. However, the fast pace of modern life has limited the amount of time that the average person has to spend with his or her children and, consequently, cooking appears to have taken a back seat to more important things in life such as social networking and video games. Regrettably, this has lead to a generation of culinarily challenged people. For today's youngsters, even the simple process of boiling an egg may represent an insurmountable challenge that is better left to the experts.
Notwithstanding the above comments, there has recently been a resurgence in the popularity of cooking which has been driven by cooking television programs, such as Iron Chef™ and Master Chef™, for example. These programs have been given cult status and have rekindled a passion for good food in the hearts and minds of young people. Certainly, many restaurants have benefited from this resurgence in food appreciation. However, it has created a dilemma for the culinarily challenged. They have the desire to cook but no ability to do so.
Average Joe may be able to successfully obtain the correct ingredients for a particular recipe from his or her local supermarket, for example. However, following the each cooking step with the correct timing and cooking temperature may prove difficult.
It is generally desirable to overcome or ameliorate one or more of the above mentioned difficulties, or at least provide a useful alternative.


A circulating-type hot-water supply device (1) is provided with a heat exchanger abnormality determining unit (62), which inhibits execution of a suitable temperature maintaining operation when the suitable temperature maintaining operation continued for a predetermined time or more and stops a circulating pump (25), and when a temperature rise range of a detected temperature of a heat exchanger outlet temperature sensor (2) after stopping the circulating pump (25) becomes equal to or more than a temperature rise threshold value determined according to a selected state of burner blocks (3a),(3b) in a combusted state immediately before stopping the circulating pump (25), determines that a heat exchanger is in an abnormal state.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a circulating-type hot-water supply device including a function of maintaining a hot water inside a hot water supply pathway to a suitable temperature, by circulating the hot water inside the hot water supply pathway via a heat exchanger during stopping supply of hot water.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, in a hot-water supply device which heats water supplied to a water supply path by a heat exchanger heated by a burner, and which supplies hot water to a hot water supply path, a circulating-type hot-water supply device equipped with a communicating path which communicates a vicinity of a downstream end of the hot water supply path and the water supply path, and a circulating pump which circulates water inside a circulating circuit formed from the water supply path, the hot water supply path, and the communicating path via a heat exchanger (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-263403).
In the circulating-type hot-water supply device mentioned above, the circulating pump is actuated full-time. Further, by heating the water running through the heat exchanger by arbitrarily combusting the burner even during stopping of the supply of hot water, the hot water inside the circulating circuit is maintained to a suitable temperature, and the hot water of the suitable temperature is immediately ejected when a hot water faucet is opened.
In a region with a high hardness of tap water, precipitates (scale) tends to adhere to an inner surface of an endothermic tube in the endothermic tube of the heat exchanger, from CaCo3 or MgCo3 contained in water. When the precipitates adhere as is explained above, a temperature of the heat exchanger rises from degradation of a heat exchange efficiency of the heat exchanger, and deterioration of the heat exchanger may occur originating from the temperature rise.
Therefore, in the circulating-type hot-water supply device mentioned above, when the hot water faucet is closed and the burner is combusting, a flow control valve is closed and the circulation of the hot water inside the circulating circuit is stopped (the burner is extinguished by this stopping), and determines that the heat exchanger is in an abnormal state from adhesion of the precipitates, when a temperature rise range of the hot water in the vicinity of an outlet of the heat exchanger from the time the valve is closed becomes equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold value.
In the circulating-type hot-water supply device mentioned above, the circulating pump is actuated full-time. Therefore, even when the circulation of the hot water inside the circulating circuit is stopped by the flow control valve, the circulating pump is continuing its operation. In this case, there is an inconvenience that the circulating pump runs idle, so that a load of the circulating pump becomes excessive and the circulating pump overheats, so that the circulating pump deteriorates.
The present invention has been made in view of such background, and aims at providing a circulating-type hot-water supply device capable of preventing overheat of a circulating pump, and which could determine that the heat exchanger is in an abnormal state from adhesion of precipitates.

Circulating-type hot-water supply device


Embodiments of this application provide a data sending method, a data receiving method, and a device. In the data sending method, a receive end device performs a DRX operation at a low frequency based on a DRX parameter; and receives, in a time indicated by the DRX parameter, first indication information sent by a transmit end device, where the first indication information is used to instruct the receive end device to prepare to receive data at a high frequency. In this process, the receive end device performs the DRX operation only at the low frequency, and starts beam tracking only after receiving the first indication information that instructs the receive end device to receive the data at the high frequency, to avoid unnecessary beam tracking and save power of the receive end device.

In a 5th generation mobile communications (5G) network, data is transmitted at a high frequency. A high frequency signal has a relatively large propagation loss. Therefore, in the 5G network, beamforming (beamforming) is used during data transmission to improve signal quality. Specifically, a transmit end device and a receive end device perform beam tracking (beam tracking), so that the transmit end device finds a transmit beam with best signal quality, and the receive end finds a receive beam with best signal quality.
During high frequency signal transmission, a discontinuous reception (Discontinuous Reception) mechanism is introduced in 5G to avoid power consumption caused by continually monitoring a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) by the receive end device. In this mechanism, the receive end device first performs the beam tracking to find the receive beam with best signal quality. Then, the receive end device monitors, in an on-duration period, the PDCCH by using the found beam, and does not monitor the PDCCH at another moment. If the receive end device receives, in the on-duration period, downlink data that is sent by the transmit end device by using a high frequency signal, the receive end device maintains an active (active) state for a period of time. After the period of time, if no downlink data is received subsequently, the receive end device re-enters a sleep (inactive) state.
In the DRX mechanism, the receive end device needs to first search for an optimal receive beam, namely, the receive beam with best signal quality. However, when there is a relatively large quantity of beams, beam tracking consumes a relatively long time, and consequently, the receive end device consumes a relatively large amount of power.

Data sending method, data receiving method, and device


A medication cart has a base formed of a pair of molded plates interconnected by rails. The plates have molded grooves and holes for receiving structural elements of the cart. Molded hollow plastic end panels have horizontal ribs that support drawers. The end panels are seated in grooves in the base plates. A top cap covers the top of the cart. Locking bars which can be made to automatically open are provided to secure the drawers in the cart.

This invention relates to a medication cart.
A medication cart is normally used with a system for administering medication to patients in a general or acute hospital or long term care facility. The cart has casters, permitting it to be pushed by a nurse from room to room. The cart has many drawers, most being dedicated to a patient and carrying a label with a patient's name. The drawers contain medicine and instructions for the administration of the medicines.
The nurse pushes the cart from room to room and, at each stop, gives the patient the required doses of medication. The cart is locked mechanically or electrically when it is unattended. The top-of-the-line cart in use at the present time requires a great many fabrication steps during which considerable care must be exercised to be sure that, among other things, guide rails are precisely aligned so that drawers will slide without binding. The cart has a castered base and a stainless steel cart frame mounted on the base. The vacuum-molded guide rail sheets are assembled in the stainless steel structure. The stainless steel is heavy and hence the cart, overall, is heavy. In transit the cart may be subjected to stress which tends to rack the cart, thus misaligning the drawers and locking system. When that occurs, the cart may have to be returned to the manufacturer in order to square up the cart.
When the raw stainless steel frames are received, they must go through lengthy quality control processes including numerous finishing processes and measurement processes.
The bottom plate installation is a time-consuming process requiring multiple holes to be drilled and riveted. The cart has locking doors that retain the drawers in a closed condition and the installation of lock sleeves and other parts relating to the operation of the locks is a time-consuming process. When the doors are unlocked, they have to be manually opened to gain access to the drawers.
The current method of vacuum-forming the guide rail sheets lends itself to inconsistencies in production making it difficult to hold tight tolerances for good quality control The fabrication of the vacuum-formed ribbed sheets requires trimming the parts and attaching them to extrusions or rails, and that process requires a significant amount of time. After fabrication, the guide rails must be installed in the cart. Vertical and horizontal alignment of these guide rails is essential to the cart's functioning properly. The process requires skilled labor and considerable time, even with experienced labor. The foregoing are but a few of the problems attending the fabrication of a very good cart design.


Natural suppressor (NS) cells secrete a soluble protein suppressor factor (SF) which suppresses the mixed lymphocyte response. NS cells as described herein are null, i.e., have the phenotype IL-2R.sup.+, CD3.sup.-, CD4.sup.-, CD8.sup.-, TCR.alpha..beta..sup.-, Ig.sup.-, MAC-1.sup.-, or are double negative suppressors (DNS); i.e., have the phenotype IL-2R.sup.+, CD3.sup.+, CD4.sup.-, CD8.sup.-, TCR.alpha..beta..sup.+. Both NS and SF are useful in vivo to confer immunotolerance with respect to allogeneic transplants, and to effect immunosuppression. They also enhance engraftment of transplanted cells. A population of cells can be provided using density gradient separation techniques which is enriched in progenitor cells as identified by the presence of CD34 surface markers.

"Immunotolerance" and "immunosuppression" are general terms to describe the compatibility of materials which would be normally expected to result in an immune response. When tissues or cells are transplanted into an allogeneic host, absent these or immunosuppressive conditions, the host immune system will mount an immune response to the foreign antigens (host-versus-graft disease), and, more seriously, the immunocompetent cells in the transplant may respond to the antigens contained in the host (graft-versus-host disease). Other unwanted immune responses include allergic reactions and autoimmune diseases. Under all of the foregoing conditions, it is desirable that the immune response be suppressed.
It has been known for years that neonatal mammals are capable of acquiring persistent immunotolerance with respect to allogeneic immunocompetent cells or to other antigenic substances administered within a few days after birth. For example, mice injected with allogeneic substances bearing the histocompatibility antigens are able later to accept skin grafts from donors of the previously injected genotype. More recently, it has been shown that this immunosuppressive property of neonates is simulated by adults subjected to total lymphoid irradiation (TLI), i.e., high dosages of radiation sustainable when nonlymphoid tissues are protected. Such radiation has been used in the treatment, for example, of Hodgkin's disease. Adult subjects who have been subjected to TLI are also capable of acquiring persistent immunotolerance to antigens administered within a few days of the completion of TLI.
The detailed mechanism by which neonates and TLI-treated subjects are capable of acquiring an immunotolerance with respect to antigens and cells administered within these windows is not understood. Both clonal deletion and active suppression paradigms have been proposed. The picture is further complicated by the presence of at least two types of suppressor cells in neonatal spleens. One type is represented by macrophage precursors, which suppress in vitro the antibody response to sheep red-blood cells. This activity is inhibited by indomethacin, and the cells are thus presumed to be prostaglandin dependent. The other type is represented by lymphocytes which inhibit the mixed leukocyte response (MLR). These cells are apparently prostaglandin independent. One group of cells in this class, "null" cells, lack the surface markers characteristic of T cells, B cells, or macrophages, and have morphologies similar to natural killer cells in that they are large granular lymphocytes which lack antigen specificity and which carry out their effective function without antigenic stimulation. The surface phenotype of these cells is Ig.sup.-, CD4.sup.-, CD8.sup.31 , CD3.sup.-, MAC-1-, TCR.alpha..beta..sup.-. This population of null suppressor cells has been designated, for purposes of symmetry with natural killer (NK) cells, natural suppressor (NS) cells (Oseroff, A., et al., J Immunol (1984) 132:101).
In addition to the null phenotypes, natural suppressor cells that contain the surface phenotype Ig.sup.-, CD4.sup.-, CD8.sup.-, CD3.sup.+, MAC-1.sup.-, TCR.alpha..beta..sup.+ have been recovered from the spleens of adult mice subjected to TLI. These "double negative" suppressors (DNS) can be propagated in vitro under proper conditions indefinitely (Hertel-Wulff, B., et al., J Immunol (1984) 133:2791-2796, incorporated herein by reference). These "DNS" cells can also be cloned from cells obtained from neonatal spleen, normal adult spleen and bone marrow. (The null cells described above have also been cloned from adult TLI spleen and from normal thymus.)
It has now been found that cloned DNS or null cells are capable, when administered in vivo, of suppressing graft-versus-host disease initiated by simultaneously administered immunocompetent cells. In addition, the propagated DNS and null cells secrete into supernatant media a soluble factor which is capable of suppressing the immune response as shown by the ability to suppress alloreactivity in the commonly used in vitro test (the mixed leukocyte reaction (MLR) mentioned above) and in vivo in suppressing the acute immune response referred to as graft-versus-host disease as well as encouraging engraftment of transplanted tissue.
Additional publications of the applicants subsequent to the filing of the parent application herein further describe the cells and secreted factor. The status of the suppressor activity of the NS cells in general was reviewed by Strober, S., Ann Rev Immunol (1984) 2:219; a further description of the cloned suppressor cell lines is provided by Schwadron, R. B., et al., J Exp Med (1985) 162:297, and by Schwadron, R. B., et al., Transplantation (1989), p. 107. Hertel-Wulff, B., et al., J Exp Med (1987) 16:1168, describe the rearrangement and expression of T-cell receptor genes in the cloned NS cell lines. The verification of the surface phenotype of the cloned DNS cell lines as IL-2R.sup.+, CD3.sup.+, CD4.sup.-, CD8.sup.- and TCR.alpha..beta..sup.+ was described by Strober, S., et al., J Immunol (1989) 143:1118. The DNS cells are thus distinguished from the null NS cells which expresses neither T nor B cell markers (CD3.sup.-, TCR.alpha..beta..sup.-, Ig.sup.-). However, both types (null and DNS) express the surface receptor for IL-2 (IL-2R). The null cells are thus CD3.sup.-, Ig.sup.-, TCR.alpha..beta..sup.-, MAC-1.sup.-, and IL-2R.sup.+. A further description of the soluble factor was provided by Hertel-Wulff, B., et al., J Immunol (1988) 140:2633. A more recent paper by Palathumpat, V. et al., J Immunol (1992) 148:373-380 further describes separations of the double negative suppressor cells from bone marrow of murine subjects.
The ability to suppress the capacity of immunocompetent donor cells to effect graft-versus-host disease is of particular significance in view of the growing technology permitting successful allografts and organ transplants. Transfers of healthy tissues into recipients in need of them seems at present limited in the main by lack of immunotolerance with respect to the recipient. Thus, if the problem of graft-versus-host disease could be solved, the dangers associated with bone marrow transplants would be considerably reduced. In the case of whole organ transplants, rejection of the organ would be reduced.
In addition, encouraging engraftment of transplanted cells is of importance. It is well known that administration of allogeneic tissue in the form of bone marrow to either neonates or adults subjected to TLI during the "window" period will convert the recipient to a chimera, which will recognize as "self" both its own antigens and those of the alloantigen administered at this time. The formation of a chimera shows that engraftment has occurred. The chimeric character of the host is also such that subsequently introduced immunocompetent cells will not attack host tissue. These chimeras are thus not only specifically receptive to the simultaneously administered donor bone marrow, but also to other donor tissue. The chimeric recipient, therefore, will in the future be able to tolerate transplanted tissue from the original donor.
In effecting engraftment, cells enriched in the cell surface marker CD34 are known to be helpful, since this marker appears to characterize "stem" or "progenitor" cells. These cells are progenitors of the multiplicity of differentiated cells that are found in the blood, including monocytes, macrophage, lymphocytes, red blood cells and so forth. Thus, the capacity of transplanted cells to engraft will be dependent on the enrichment of the transplanted cells in cells which bear the CD34 marker.
The recipient normal adult host must, of course, be prevented from succumbing to an acute immune response effected by the originally administered bone marrow cells. The DNS and null NS cells are capable of muting the immediate immune response and any other antidonor response sufficiently to permit the generation of characteristics of the chimera. Both fresh and cloned DNS and null cells are also capable of preventing the in vivo graft versus host immune response. The secreted factor is capable of inhibiting the immune response of donor against host, and host against donor cells in vitro, and in vivo.
Both null and DNS cells and the factors secreted by them are therefore useful in providing immediate blocking of either the graft immune response against mammalian hosts or host response to the donor by coadministration of the cells or factors along with foreign substances or tissues to which such immediate tolerance is desired. In addition, and in particular, these cells and/or factors permit the hosts to become tolerant of both present and future grafts where the donor tissue is derived from the same genotype donor as tissue coadministered with the cells or factor.

The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University


An electronic device has circuitry mounted within an electronic device housing. The electronic device housing may have housing walls such as metal sidewalls. Openings are formed in an electronic device housing wall to accommodate buttons. A button may have a switch with a switch housing mounted to the housing wall. A movable button member that extends from the switch housing may protrude through a housing opening. Switch terminals are coupled to signal lines on structures such as flexible printed circuits. The switch terminals may be formed from portions of elongated switch leads supported by support structure that are mounted to the housing wall or may be formed on an inner surface of the switch housing. Support structures may be molded into engagement with features on a housing wall or may be mounted to a housing wall using a fastener such as a screw.

This relates generally to electronic devices and, more particularly, to switches mounted within electronic device housings.
Electronic devices include electrical components such as buttons. Buttons contain electrical switches. Metal traces on printed circuits are sometimes used to form electrical connections with the electrical switches. For example, an electrical switch in a button such as a cellular telephone ringer button may be coupled to control circuits using traces on a flexible printed circuit. To couple the metal traces to the electrical switch, the flexible printed circuit may be placed between the electrical switch and a housing sidewall. To route the flexible printed circuit to the control circuits, the flexible printed circuit is bent.
The bend in the flexible printed circuit may be characterized by a bend radius. If the bend radius is too large, space may be wasted. If the bend radius is too small, the traces on the flexible printed circuit may fail due to cracking.
It would therefore be desirable to be able to provide electronic devices with improved arrangements for mounting electronic switches for buttons.


A method for fabricating a semiconductor device includes forming a sacrificial layer over a substrate, forming a contact hole in the sacrificial layer, forming a pillar to fill the contact hole. The pillar laterally extends up to a surface of the sacrificial layer and then the sacrificial layer is removed. The method further includes forming a gate dielectric layer over an exposed sidewall of the pillar, and forming a gate electrode over the gate dielectric layer. The gate electrode surrounds the sidewall of the pillar.

The disclosed embodiments relate to a method for fabricating a semiconductor device, and more particularly, to a method for fabricating a vertical channel transistor.
As dynamic random access memory (DRAM) devices are becoming highly integrated, a feature size is getting smaller and doping concentration to a substrate is gradually increasing. Such a high integration of the device inevitably leads to a junction leakage, a short channel effect, etc., and thus a typical planar transistor is not suitable for a highly integrated device. Further, a channel length and width are limited and electron mobility decreases due to an increase in channel doping concentration, therefore, it is difficult to ensure channel current sufficiently. To overcome the limitation of the typical planar transistor, a vertical channel transistor has been proposed.
FIG. 1 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a typical vertical channel transistor.
Referring to FIG. 1, the typical vertical channel transistor includes a pillar having a body pillar 12 and a head pillar 13 which are obtained by etching a silicon substrate 11, a gate dielectric layer 14 formed over a surface of the body pillar 12, and a surround type gate electrode 15 formed over the gate dielectric layer 14 and surrounding an outer wall of the body pillar 12. A hard mask layer 16 is formed over the head pillar 13, and a capping layer 17 is formed on sidewalls of the head pillar 13 and the hard mask layer 16.
In the typical vertical channel transistor of FIG. 1, the body pillar 12 surrounded by the gate electrode 15 serves as a channel so that the channel is vertically formed. However, in the fabrication of the typical vertical channel transistor, there is difficulty in forming patterns, particularly forming a channel which is most important in a transistor. It is also estimated that there is difficulty in performing a lateral etch for forming a pillar to be used as a vertical channel transistor.
The body pillar 12 is typically formed by a lateral etching such as an isotropic dry etching. Hence, a width of the body pillar 12 may not be easily adjusted, leading to the formation of a pillar with a non-uniform linewidth. Further, if the width of the body pillar 12 is small, the pillar may collapse. Since the pillar is formed through etching process in the typical vertical channel transistor, it is difficult to perform a pillar forming process, thus reducing reliability of the vertical channel transistor.

Method for fabricating vertical channel transistor in a semiconductor device


An image forming apparatus, including:                an electrostatic latent image bearing member;        an electrostatic latent image forming unit configured to form an electrostatic latent image on the electrostatic latent image bearing member; and        a developing unit containing a toner and configured to develop the electrostatic latent image with the toner to thereby form a visible image,        wherein the developing unit is a contact type one-component developing unit which includes a toner bearing member being in contact with the electrostatic latent image bearing member,        wherein a contact pressure between the electrostatic latent image bearing member and the toner bearing member is 2.0×104 N/m2 to 7.5×104 N/m2,        wherein the toner contains a binder resin and a releasing agent, and        wherein an extracted amount of the releasing agent extracted with hexane from the toner is 10 mg/g to 25 mg/g.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, an image forming method, and a process cartridge.
2. Description of the Related Art
Researches and developments of electrophotography have been conducted with various inventive ideas and technical approaches. In electrophotography, an electrostatic latent image is formed by charging and exposing a surface of an electrostatic latent image bearing member. The electrostatic latent image is developed with a color toner to form a toner image. Then, the toner image is transferred onto a recording medium such as transfer paper, and fixed by, for example, a heat roller to thereby form an image. The toner remaining on the electrostatic latent image bearing member without being transferred is removed by, for example, a cleaning blade.
In recent years, color image forming apparatus using electrophotography have broadly been employed, and digitized images are easily available. Thus, it is desired to make an image to be printed at higher definition. Based on a study on higher resolution and gradation of an image, a spherical toner was developed in order to faithfully reproduce an electrostatic latent image. Also, the spherical toner has been researched to be further spheroidized and small-sized. Toners produced by the pulverizing methods have limitations in the above properties, i.e., sphericity and size. Therefore, so-called polymerized toners produced by a suspension polymerization method, an emulsion polymerization method or a dispersion polymerization method, which are capable of being spheroidized and small-sized, have been employed.
However, in the case of the polymerized toner, deterioration of cleanability due to its sphericity has been problematic.
In the electrophotographic image forming apparatus, a method has been widely used in which a toner image formed on an electrostatic latent image bearing member serving as an image bearing member is transferred onto a recording medium, followed by applying heat and pressure at a fixing step to thereby fix the toner image on the recording medium.
During fixing, the recording medium may be wound around a fixing roller, which is problematic. This problem has been solved by adding a releasing agent into a toner.
Although a large amount of the releasing agent present on a toner surface permits fixability to be improved, it has been problematic in that an electrostatic latent image bearing member may be contaminated due to migration of the releasing agent and an external additive to the electrostatic latent image bearing member.
That is, in the case of the spherical toner, a residual toner remaining on the electrostatic latent image bearing member is difficult to be removed. Additionally, when an unnecessarily large amount of the releasing agent is present on the toner surface, it has been problematic in that the residual toner remaining on the electrostatic latent image bearing member may easily cause image loss.
In recent years, a contact type one-component development has been employed in order to respond to a demand for small-sizing. In the contact type one-component developing system, a surface of an electrostatic latent image bearing member is in contact with a surface of a toner bearing member in a developing apparatus, and the toner bearing member rotates faster than the electrostatic latent image bearing member, which causes strong rubbing stress.
The toner is allowed to rub against the electrostatic latent image bearing member by the action of the rubbing stress. Therefore, the toner is strongly adhered to the electrostatic latent image bearing member, which deteriorates cleanability. Additionally, the electrostatic latent image bearing member is finely scratched, and then toner components are adhered to the scratched portions, which causes contamination of the electrostatic latent image bearing member. These are problematic.
As for a fixing system, there has been proposed to employ an oilless fixing system to thereby prevent high temperature offset due to a releasing agent and ensure releasability from paper. However, this proposition is problematic in that the releasing agent causes contamination of the electrostatic latent image bearing member.
To solve the above problems, there has been proposed to specify an amount of a releasing agent present on a toner surface to thereby reduce contamination of an electrostatic latent image bearing member (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2011-133518). However, in this proposition, a relatively large amount of the releasing agent is present on the toner surface, and the relationship between the electrostatic latent image bearing member and a toner bearing member is not taken into account. Therefore, when used in the contact type one-component developing, the proposition is unsatisfactory to prevent contamination of the electrostatic latent image bearing member.
There has been proposed to specify a property of a binder resin contained in a toner, and pressure between an electrostatic latent image bearing member and a toner bearing member to thereby reduce contamination of the electrostatic latent image bearing member (see JP-A No. 2002-214835). Also, there has been proposed to specify the type of a releasing agent used in a toner, and pressure between an electrostatic latent image bearing member and a toner bearing member to thereby reduce contamination of the electrostatic latent image bearing member (see JP-A No. 2003-035968).
However, in the above propositions, the amount of the releasing agent present on the toner surface, which is a cause of contamination of the electrostatic latent image bearing member, is not controlled, and measures are not taken to improve image quality. Therefore, this proposition is problematic in that the contamination of the electrostatic latent image bearing member is insufficiently prevented and high quality image cannot be obtained.
There has been proposed to specify the amount of a releasing agent present on a toner surface to thereby prevent the releasing agent from adhering to an electrostatic latent image bearing member (see JP-A No. 2003-207925). However, in the contact type one-component developing, the adhesion occurs greatly depending on contact pressure (developing pressure) between the electrostatic latent image bearing member and a toner bearing member. Therefore, this proposition is problematic in that the contamination of the electrostatic latent image bearing member is insufficiently prevented and high quality image cannot be obtained.

Image forming apparatus, image forming method and process cartridge


Sending and relaying of information includes: a direct receiver receives messages from a server over a broadcast communications medium, each message having associated targeter data attributes; the direct receiver selects messages from the server for storage in a message store of the first receiver device based on the targeter data attributes associated with each message from the server; the direct receiver connects with an indirect receiver over the non-broadcast communications medium; the direct receiver receives a message request from the indirect receiver for messages in the message store of the direct receiver over a non-broadcast communications medium; and in response to the message request, the direct receiver sends messages in the message store of the direct receiver to the indirect receiver over the non-broadcast communications medium. The direct receiver receives data from the server, and the indirect receiver receives data via another receiver.

Many approaches exist for targeting information sent over a network, including "push" and "pull" targeting. In push targeting, the sender identifies the recipient(s) of the message based on the address or label inserted into the message. In pull targeting, the receiving device determines which sent messages to deliver.
However, in these approaches, the receiver of the messages is assumed to have access to a communications medium over which the messages are delivered. When a receiver is not within the coverage area of the communications medium, delivery to the receiver is delayed until the receiver moves within the delivery area. When a receiver does not have the hardware and/or software capabilities for receiving messages over the communications medium, the receiver cannot receive the messages. This may be true even when the receiver is within the coverage area of the communications medium and/or has the capabilities for connecting over other types of communications media.

Techniques for sending and relaying information over broadcast and non-broadcast communications media


Method and system for optimizing DMA request processing is provided. The system includes a HBA that uses a dynamic DMA maximum write burst count sizing to optimize processing of write and read requests, wherein the HBA includes a DMA optimizer module that selects a certain write burst size to adjust performance when read and write DMA requests are being utilized. The DMA optimizer module can toggle between write and read request priority based on a maximum write request burst size. A shorter maximum write burst size provides more opportunity to issue read requests and a larger maximum burst size provides a better write request performance. The method includes, evaluating a read request throughput rate; evaluating a write request throughput rate; evaluating a read request utilization rate; evaluating a write request utilization rate; and adjusting a maximum write burst size.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to computing systems, and more particularly to optimizing direct memory access ("DMA") channel performance.
2. Background of the Invention
Storage area networks ("SANs") are commonly used where plural memory storage devices are made available to various host computing systems. Data in a SAN is typically moved from plural host systems (that include computer systems, servers etc.) to the storage system through various controllers/adapters.
Host systems typically include several functional components. These components may include a central processing unit (CPU), main memory, input/output ("I/O") devices, and streaming storage devices (for example, tape drives). In conventional systems, the main memory is coupled to the CPU via a system bus or a local memory bus. The main memory is used to provide the CPU access to data and/or program information that is stored in main memory at execution time. Typically, the main memory is composed of random access memory (RAM) circuits. A computer system with the CPU and main memory is often referred to as a host system.
Host systems often communicate with storage systems via a host bus adapter ("HBA", may also be referred to as a "controller" and/or "adapter") using an interface, for example, the "PCI" bus interface. PCI stands for Peripheral Component Interconnect, a local bus standard that was developed by Intel Corporation®. The PCI standard is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
PCI-Express is another Input/Output ("I/O") bus standard (incorporated herein by reference in its entirety) that is compatible with existing PCI cards using the PCI bus. PCI-Express uses discrete logical layers to process inbound and outbound information. The logical layers are a Transaction Layer, a Data Link Layer ("DLL") and a Physical Layer ("PHY"). PCI-Express uses separate links to transmit and receive information.
PCI-Express uses a packet-based protocol to exchange information between Transaction layers. Transactions are carried out using Requests and Completions.
The Transaction Layer assembles and disassembles Transaction Layer Packets ("TLPs"). TLPs are used to communicate transactions, such as read and write and other type of events.
Various other standard interfaces are also used to move data from host systems to storage devices. Fibre channel is one such standard. Fibre channel (incorporated herein by reference in its entirety) is an American National Standard Institute (ANSI) set of standards, which provides a serial transmission protocol for storage and network protocols such as HIPPI, SCSI, IP, ATM and others.
DMA modules are used by HBAs to perform data transfers between memory locations, or between memory locations and an input/output port. DMA units provide address and bus control signals to and from a device for a read and/or write cycle.
A DMA read request is a request from a DMA module (or channel) to an arbitration module to transfer data from a host system to a storage device. A DMA write request is a request from a DMA module to an arbitration module to transfer data from the storage device to a host system.
Specific channels are implemented in a DMA unit to allow storage devices to transfer data directly to and from memory storage devices. A channel can be activated by a DMA request signal (DREQ) from a storage device or a host system. The DMA unit receives the DREQ, provides a DMA acknowledged signal (DACK), and transfers the data over the channel to or from the storage device.
HBAs typically use multiple DMA channels and have an arbitration module that arbitrates access to a PCI-Express link. This allows an HBA to arbitrate and switch contexts (between channels) by actively processing command, status and data. Multiple channels are serviced in periodic bursts.
Typically, DMA write requests may be processed by writing data using multiple PCI-Express write request packets. A new DMA request (read or write) can only be processed if a previous DMA read and/or DMA write request has been processed. DMA read requests (with no data) are issued to generate Read Transfer requests, which transfers data from the host to a storage device. Write requests from the storage device to a host system are generated using the same side of the PCI-Express interface. The same transmit link (in the PCI-Express interface) is shared for write transfers and read requests.
The time to service a write request can be longer compared to servicing the read request because write request packets (TLPs) also transfer payload data. Also, delay in issuing read request packets can stall data transfer from a host to a storage device.
Therefore, there is a need for a method and system to optimize DMA read and write request processing that allows both read and write data transfers to be conducted efficiently.

Method and system for DMA optimization in host bus adapters