An intelligent light fixture facilitates the use of a ‘universal’ light bulb having a wattage rating. A lamp dimmer circuit disposed within the fixture is in electrical communication between the AC line and a socket. A bulb test circuit within the fixture is operative to determine the maximum wattage of the bulb. A controller, also within the fixture includes a wattage select input. The controller is operative to determine the maximum wattage of the bulb using the bulb test circuit, compare the maximum wattage to the wattage select input and, if the maximum wattage is greater than the wattage select input, control the dimmer circuit to ensure that the power delivered to the bulb does not exceed the wattage select input. The bulb test circuit may determine the maximum wattage of the bulb by measuring the resistance of the bulb's filament or alternatively, by temporarily impressing line voltage across the bulb and measuring the current drawn by the bulb's filament. Alternative embodiments provide a wattage dial disposed on an adapter unit or directly on the threaded base of a bulb.

As different types of residential lighting have evolved so, too, have different types of light bulbs. Apart from major differences such as incandescent versus fluorescent, different base styles have been introduced including, Edison, candelabra and prong-type connectors for halogen. See, for example, www.donsbulbs.com. In addition to these differences, power ratings vary substantially from a few watts to hundreds of watts.
The plethora of different bulb types makes shopping for bulbs problematic, in that one must make an inventory of each type and style required, while keeping track of the maximum usable power for a particular fixture.
Various adapters have been proposed to allow a lamp socket to accommodate more than one type of bulb. Some of these inventions date back more than a hundred years. As one example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,172,953, is directed to "adapters for enabling an electric lamp or the like to be operated at its rated or any desired voltage in a socket or receptacle between whose terminals some different voltage prevails." As shown in FIG. 1, the patent discloses a unitary structure having a base 10 for a screw-in socket, a receptacle 16 for a lamp having a bayonet-type base, and means such as a transformer for producing the desired voltage between the terminals or contacts of the receptacle.
As electrical solutions have given way to electronic implementations, transformers have been replaced in some cases with solid-state dimmers. An early version, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,517,259 (FIG. 2), describes a lamp socket containing electrical circuitry for variably brightening and dimming the electrical circuit current supplied to a lamp within the socket. The electronic circuitry is comprised of oppositely poled silicon-controlled rectifiers (SCRs) connected to Zener diodes and a phasing circuit having a plurality of capacitors and variable resistance in series across the SCRs. An object of the invention is to provide means of controlling the light intensity of incandescent lamps "without the use of bulky rheostats which dissipate power that is expensive and heat which creates a problem to remove."
In addition to being in convenient, use of the wrong bulb in a given socket may be dangerous. Many fixtures specify that only bulbs up to a particular wattage may be used, and that higher-wattage bulbs may result in a fire hazard. U.S. Pat. No. 7,234,973 solves this problem mechanically. FIG. 3 illustrates a modified light bulb base according to this patent where the contact at the bottom of the bulb base is specifically sized to be small, typically 3 millimeters (mm) in diameter. FIG. 4 illustrates a modified light bulb base where the contact at the bottom of the bulb base is 8 mm in diameter. FIG. 5 illustrates a modified light bulb base where the contact at the bottom of the bulb base is 13 mm in diameter.
Each bulb base 200 includes the standard sized threaded base 201, an insulative material 203 and a center contact 205a, 205b, or 205c specifically sized so as to operate with a specific type of luminare socket. As seen in FIGS. 3-5, the size of the contact 205a, 205b, or 205c will vary with the wattage of the bulb. Thus, a light bulb greater than 100 watts will feature a small contact 205c which has a diameter typically 3 mm in size. A bulb between 61 watts and 100 watts will use a slightly larger contact 205b with a diameter that is approximately 8 mm in size while a bulb 60 watts or less will use the largest contact 205a that is approximately 13 mm in diameter.
While the '973 patent addresses the compatibility issue, as admitted in the disclosure, "the invention involves modifying both the light bulb base as well as the luminare socket used with the base." Given the vast, installed infrastructure, particularly of Edison-style bulbs, the wholesale modification of bulbs and sockets would take considerable time, if successful. Accordingly, the need remains for universality without bulb modification, if possible.

Intelligent light fixture facilitating universal light bulb


Improved highly stable formulation for aqueous fuel emulsion compositions with a water continuous phase, having reduced NOx emissions. The fuel emulsion formulation includes diesel fuel, purified water, and an additive package that includes one or more surfactants, lubricity additive, cetane improver, anti-corrosion additive, and an alcohol or other suitable antifreeze, the emulsion having an average droplet size of less than 10 microns.

The present invention relates to reduced nitrogen oxide (NOx) emission fuel compositions, more particularly, to high stability fuel compositions for use in internal combustion engines.
Nitrogen oxides comprise a major irritant in smog and are believed to contribute to tropospheric ozone which is a known threat to health. Environmental considerations and government regulations have increased the need to reduce NOx production. One problem with using diesel-fueled engines is that the relatively high flame temperatures reached during combustion increase the tendency for the production of nitrogen oxides (NOx). These are formed from both the combination of nitrogen and oxygen in the combustion chamber and from the oxidation of organic nitrogen species in the fuel. Various methods for reducing NOx production include the use of catalytic converters, engine timing changes, exhaust recirculation, and the burning of "clean" fuels. These methods are generally too expensive and/or too complicated to be placed in widespread use. The rates at which NOx are formed is related to the flame temperature. It has been shown that a small reduction in flame temperature can result in a large reduction in the production of nitrogen oxides.
One approach to lowering the flame temperature is to inject water in the combustion zone, however; this requires costly and complicated changes in engine design. An alternate method of using water to reduce flame temperature is the use of aqueous fuels incorporating both water and fuel into an emulsion. Gravitational phase separation (during storage) and high temperature high pressure/shear flow rate phase separation (in a working engine) of these emulsions present the major hurdle preventing their commercial use.
Additional problems that may occur from long-term use of aqueous fuels include engine corrosion, engine wear, or precipitate deposition which may lead to engine problems and ultimately to engine inoperability. Problematic precipitate depositions include coalescing ionic species resulting in filter plugging and inorganic post combustion deposits resulting in turbo fouling. Another problem related to aqueous fuel compositions is that they often require substantial engine modifications, such as the addition of in-line homogenizers, thereby limiting their commercial utility.
The present invention addresses the problems associated with the use of aqueous fuel compositions by providing a stabile, inexpensive fuel emulsion with reduced NOx and particulate emissions.


A perforating gun that is usable with a well includes at least one perforating charge and a initiator. The initiator includes an explosive ballistic train to the perforating charge(s). The initiator is adapted to physically misalign components of the ballistic train to prevent inadvertent firing of the perforating charge(s) and physically realign the components to arm the ballistic train.

The present application generally relates to a downhole initiator, and more particularly, to an initiator for an oil or gas well environment, which contains a safety barrier to prevent inadvertent firing of the initiator.
Explosives typically are used in an oil or gas well for such purposes as perforating a well casing and forming perforation tunnels in a surrounding formation to enhance the productivity of the well. More specifically, a well tool called a perforating gun typically is run downhole in the well on a conveyance mechanism, such as a wireline, slickline, coiled tubing string, jointed tubing string, etc. When the perforating gun is in an appropriate position adjacent to the formation to be perforated, perforating charges (shaped charges, for example) of the perforating gun are fired to create perforating jets, which penetrate the casing and form the perforation tunnels in the formation.
A typical wireline-based perforating gun may include an initiator that is constructed to fire perforating charges of the gun after the initiator detects the appropriate command that is communicated downhole to the perforating gun from the surface of the well. The initiator may include an igniter, such as a semiconductor bridge (SCB), hot wire, exploding bridgewire (EBW) or TiB igniter, which is energized by the initiator after the initiator detects the command. When energized, the igniter sets off an explosive to begin a chain of explosive events that ultimately results in the initiation of a detonation wave on a detonating cord. The detonation wave causes the perforating charges (which are connected to the detonating cord) to fire.
Care typically is exercised for purposes of preventing inadvertent firing of the perforating charges. However, challenges remain in preventing an unintended triggering event, such as an electrostatic discharge (ESD) or a radio frequency (RF) signal, from causing inadvertent firing of the perforating charges.

Downhole initiator for an explosive end device


An improved in-building radio frequency communications system with automatic failover recovery comprising a primary external antenna and at least one ancillary external antenna, each antenna directed to a primary transmission tower and to at least one ancillary transmission tower, respectively, and a diversity site donor system capable of monitoring the strength and/or quality of the radio frequency signals received from the primary transmission tower and switching communications between the primary transmission tower and the ancillary transmission tower(s) based on the strength and/or quality of the radio frequency signals received from the primary transmission tower.

Wireless communication devices, such as cell phones and two-way radios, are becoming ever more popular. Such devices typically receive and transmit radio frequency (RF)signals from and to remote RF signal transmission towers, such as cell towers. While RF signals are capable of penetrating solid objects, the strength and quality of those signals degrade as more barriers are present between the transmission tower and the wireless communication device. Signal degradation is especially acute within structures, such as office buildings or factories, which offer multiple barriers between the transmission tower and the wireless communication device.
In-building radio frequency communications systems have been developed to improve performance of wireless communication devices within structures. These systems typically use a strategically located and directed antenna, which typically is located on the exterior of the structure (roof or side wall), providing a communications link with a RF signal transmission tower. The directed antenna is focused at a specific RF signal transmission tower (primary RF signal donor site) in an effort to maximize desired signal levels from the donor site to the in-building system. In addition, the directed antenna will minimize the level of non-desired and interference producing signals that arrive at angles, relative to the direction that the external antenna is focused, outside the horizontal beamwidth of the external antenna. The desired effect of the directed antenna is to isolate the in-building system from all RF signals other than those used at the primary donor site. They also use one or more low profile antennas located within the interior of the structure, strategically placed to provide coverage in areas where the RF signal levels and/or quality are not adequate to support reliable transmissions. The internal antennas are linked together by an infrastructure comprised of coaxial fiber optic and/or network cables and power splitters. The infrastructure is typically connected with the external antenna through a bi-directional amplifier (BDA), a device that increases the strength of the signal passing through it, either as the signal is received from the transmission tower to be transmitted to the wireless communication device (the signal downlink) or as the signal is received from the wireless communication device to be transmitted to the transmission tower (the signal uplink). In such a system, the RF signals are 1) received from the transmission tower by the external antenna and connected to the BDA; 2) amplified by the BDA; 3) distributed via the system infra-structure to the internal antennas, whose quantity and location inside the facility are appropriate to meet system requirements; and 4) radiated at a sufficient level to support reliable radio communications. The net effect is to allow the signals to pass between the transmission tower and the external antenna and between the wireless communication device and the internal antennas with relatively few intervening barriers. This minimization of intervening barriers, together with the signal amplification provided by the BDA greatly improves in-building performance of wireless communication devices.
In-building radio frequency communications systems are well known in the prior art, and may be implemented in any number of ways. See, e.g., Point-To-Multipoint Digital Radio Frequency Transport, U.S. Pat. No. 6,704,545 (Wala), issued Mar. 9, 2004; Communication System Comprising An Active-Antenna Repeater, U.S. Pat. No. 5,832,365 (Chen, et al.), issued Nov. 3, 1998; Method Of Locating A Mobile Station In A Mobile Telephone, U.S. Pat. No. 5,634,193 (Ghisler), issued May 27, 1997. However, while these systems are designed to handle the communications within a building, they all depend on reliable signals from the radio frequency transmission tower to support in-building transmissions. Thus, in-building signal enhancement tends to be susceptible to failure if there is an interruption or degradation of service at the external radio frequency transmission tower. This may result from a mechanical failure, a planned maintenance shutdown, environmental factors such as a lightning strike, or other causes, most of which are beyond the control or even awareness of the end use of the wireless communications device. In-building radio frequency communications systems known in the prior art are unable to recover from such interruptions and thus fail to provide the level of quality and reliability desired by end users.
One class of in-building frequency communications system known in the art does exemplify some failure recovery properties. Where an omni-directional antenna is used as the external antenna for an in-building system, by design the omni-directional antenna sends and receives RF signals equally in the horizontal plane, compared to a directional antenna, which will focus RF energy from approximately 15° to 100° of the horizontal plane. When an omni-directional antenna is used as the external antenna for an in-building system, there may be some degree of radio frequency transmission site diversity due to the inherent ability of the omni-directional antenna to transmit/receive RF signals equally in the horizontal plane. Under this scenario, signals from more than one radio frequency transmission tower may be connected into the in-building system and if signals from one radio frequency transmission tower fail, signals from a different radio frequency tower may be available to provide a level of coverage inside the facility. However, this configuration does not allow for specific redirection for precise control over alternative RF signal sources. The present invention, by placing such control with the system designer, is an improvement over in-building systems that have been designed to provide radio frequency transmission tower diversity through the use of an omni-directional external antenna.
The present invention is directed to an in-building radio frequency communications system with the capability to automatically transfer RF signals to the in-building system from multiple radio frequency transmission towers. As such, it offers improved RF signal access reliability over known systems.
It is an object of this invention to provide a fault tolerant in-building radio frequency communications system which minimizes disruptions due to failure of the RF signals from the primary radio frequency transmission tower.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a donor site diversity system which continuously detects the strength and quality of RF signals from a primary radio frequency transmission tower in order to automatically switch an in-building radio frequency communications system to an ancillary radio frequency transmission tower whenever the strength and quality of RF signals from a primary radio frequency transmission tower fall below an acceptable threshold. Other objects of this invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the description and claims which follow.

In-building radio frequency communications system with automatic failover recovery


A low temperature air separation process and apparatus for producing pressurized gaseous product in an air separation unit using a system of distillation columns which include cooling a compressed air stream in a heat exchange line to form a compressed cooled air stream, sending at least part of the compressed, cooled air stream to a column of the system, liquefying a process stream to form a first liquid product, storing at least part of the first liquid product in a storage tank, sending at least part of the above first liquid product from the storage tank to the air separation unit as one of the feeds, extracting at least one second liquid product stream from a column of the column system and pressurizing the at least one second liquid product stream, vaporizing the above pressurized second liquid product stream to form pressurized gaseous product in the heat exchange line and extracting a cold gas without warming it completely in the heat exchange line.

Air separation is a very power intensive technology, consuming thousands of kilowatts or several megawatts of electric power to produce large quantities of industrial gases for tonnage applications such as chemicals, refineries, steel mills, etc.
A typical liquid pumped process is illustrated in FIG. 1. In this type of process, atmospheric air is compressed by a Main Air Compressor (MAC) 1 to a pressure of about 6 bar absolute, it is then purified in an adsorber system 2 to remove impurities such as moisture and carbon dioxide that can freeze at cryogenic temperature to yield a purified feed air. A portion 3 of this purified feed air is then cooled to near its dew point in heat exchanger 30 and is introduced into a high pressure column 10 of a double column system in gaseous form for distillation. Nitrogen rich liquid 4 is extracted at the top of this high pressure column and a portion is sent to the top of the low pressure column 11 as a reflux stream. The oxygen-enriched liquid stream 5 at the bottom of the high pressure column is also sent to the low pressure column as feed. These liquids 4 and 5 are subcooled before expansion against cold gases in subcoolers not shown in the figure for the sake of simplicity. An oxygen liquid 6 is extracted from the bottom of the low pressure column 11, pressurized by pump to a required pressure then vaporized in the exchanger 30 to form the gaseous oxygen product 7. Another portion 8 of the purified feed air is further compressed in a Booster Air Compressor (BAC) 20 to high pressure for condensation in the exchanger 30 against the vaporizing oxygen enriched stream. Depending upon the pressure of the oxygen rich product, the boosted air pressure can be around 65 bar or sometimes over 80 bar. The condensed boosted air 9 is also sent to the column system as feed for the distillation, for example to the high pressure column. Part of the liquid air may be removed from the high pressure column and sent to the low pressure column following subcooling and expansion. It is also possible to extract nitrogen rich liquid from the top of the high pressure column then pump it to high pressure (stream 13) and vaporize it in the exchanger in the same way as with oxygen liquid. A small portion of the feed air (stream 14) is further compressed and expanded into the column 11 to provide the refrigeration of the unit. Optionally alternative or additional means of providing refrigeration may be used, such as Claude expanders or nitrogen expanders.
Waste nitrogen is removed from the top of the low pressure column and warms in exchanger 30. Argon is produced using a standard argon column whose top condenser is cooled with oxygen enriched liquid 5.
A typical 3,000 ton/day oxygen plant producing gaseous oxygen under pressure for industrial uses can consume typically about 50 MW. A network of oxygen plants for pipeline operation would require a power supply capable of providing several hundreds megawatts of electric power. In fact, the electric power is the main operating cost of an air separation plant since its raw material or feedstock is atmospheric air and is essentially free. Electric power is used to drive compressors for air or products compression. Therefore, power consumption or process efficiency is one of the most important factors in the design and operation of an air separation unit (ASU). Power rate, usually expressed in $/kWh, is not constant during the day but varies widely depending upon the peaks or off-peaks. It is well known that during the day the power rate is the highest when there is strong demand—or peak period—and the lowest during the low demand—or off-peak period. Utility companies tend to offer significant cost reduction if an industrial power user can cut back its power consumption during peaks. Therefore, the companies operating air separation units always have strong incentives to adjust the operating conditions of the plants to track the power demand so that to lower the utility cost. It is clear that a solution is needed to provide an economical answer to this variable power rate issue.
It is useful to note that the periods when the power peaks take place may be totally different from the product demand peaks, for example, a warm weather would generate a high power demand due to air conditioning equipment meanwhile the demand for products remains at normal level. In several locations, the peaks occur during the day time when the industrial output of manufacturing plants, the main users of industrial gases, is usually at the highest level and when combined with the high power usage of other activities would cause very high demand on the electric grid. This high power usage creates potential shortage and utility companies must allocate other sources of power supply causing temporary high power rate. Also, usually at night, the power demand is lower and the power is available abundantly such that the utility companies could lower the power rate to encourage usage and to keep the power generating plants operate efficiently at reduced load. The power rate at peaks can be twice or several times higher than the power rate for off-peaks. In this application, the term "peak" describes the period when power rate is high and the term "off-peak" means the period when power rate is low.
For industrial power users, power rates are usually negotiated and defined in advance in power contracts. In addition to the daily variation of power rates, sometimes there are provisions or allowances for interruptible power supply: during periods of high power demand on the power grid, the utility companies can reduce the supply to those users with a relatively short advance notice, in return, the overall power rate offered can be significantly below the normal power rate. This kind of arrangement provides additional incentives for users to adapt their consumption in line with the network management of the power suppliers. Therefore, significant cost reduction can be achieved only if the plant equipment can perform such flexibility. Based on the power cost structure as set forth by the power contracts, the users can define predetermined threshold or thresholds of power rate to trigger the mechanism of power reduction:                when power rate is above the predetermined threshold, the power usage is reduced to lower the cost.        when power rate is below the predetermined threshold, the power usage is increased to normal level or even higher if desired.
A simple approach to address the problem of variable power rate is to lower the plant's power consumption during peaks while maintaining the product output in order to satisfy the customer's need. However, the cryogenic process of air separation plants is not very flexible since it involves distillation columns and the product specifications require fairly high purities. Attempts to lower the plant output in a very short time or to increase the plant production quickly to meet product demand can have detrimental effects over plant stability and product integrity. Various patents have been written to suggest how to solve the difficulties associated with the variable product demand of a cryogenic plant.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,056,268 teaches the technique of storing oxygen and air under liquid form and vaporizing the liquids to produce gaseous products to satisfy the variable demand of the customer, such as at metallurgical plants. The liquid oxygen is vaporized when its demand is high. This vaporization is balanced by a condensation of liquid nitrogen via the main condenser of the double column air separation unit.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,529,425 teaches a similar technique to that of U.S. Pat. No. 3,056,268 to solve the problem of variable demand, but liquid nitrogen is used instead of liquid air.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,082,482 offers an alternative version of U.S. Pat. No. 3,056,268 by sending a constant flow of liquid oxygen into a container and withdrawing from it a variable flow of liquid oxygen to meet the requirement of variable demand of oxygen. Withdrawn liquid oxygen is vaporized in an exchanger by condensation of a corresponding flow of incoming air.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,084,081 teaches yet another method of U.S. Pat. No. 4,529,425 wherein another intermediate liquid, the oxygen enriched liquid, is used in addition to the traditional liquid oxygen and liquid nitrogen as the buffered products to address the variable demand. The use of enriched oxygen liquid allows stabilizing the argon column during the variable demand periods.
In still another approach to address the variable product demand, U.S. Pat. No. 5,666,823 teaches a technique to efficiently integrate the air separation unit with a high pressure combustion turbine. Air extracted from the combustion turbine during the periods of low product demand is fed to the air separation unit and a portion is expanded to produce liquid. When product demand is high, less air is extracted from the combustion turbine and the liquid produced earlier is fed back to the system to satisfy the higher demand. The refrigeration supplied by the liquid is compensated by not running the expander for lack of extracted air from the combustion turbine during the high product demand.
The above publications addressed the technical issues of the variable demand, especially the techniques used to maintain stability of the distillation columns during the time when the demand of the product varies widely. However, none of the above directly address the aspect of potential savings and economy when adapting the air separation plants to the power rate structure of peak and off-peak periods to obtain cost reduction. Industry practice also does not resolve the technical problems associated with the adjustment of the air separation units during periods of high power cost and with relatively unchanged product demand. In fact, these two aspects of the operation of air separation units are quite different by nature: one is governed by the customer's variable demand and the other is governed by variable power cost with relatively constant demand.
Therefore, there exists a need to come up with a configuration for air separation plants permitting a reduction of the power consumption during peaks, while maintaining a supply of products to satisfy customer's demand. To make up for this reduction of power, additional power consumption can be arranged to take place during off-peak periods, at a much lower power rate. Significant savings on power rate can therefore be achieved, since a portion of the products is being produced at a low power rate and supplied to the customers during periods of high power rate.

Cryogenic air separation process and apparatus

L'Air Liquide, Societe Anonyme a Directoire et Conseil de Surveillance pour l'Etude et l'Exploitation des Procedes Georges Claude


A light receiving circuit includes an inverting amplification circuit, a first light receiving element, a first circuit, and a charging circuit. The inverting amplification circuit includes an input terminal and an output terminal. The first light receiving element is connected between the input terminal and a reference potential terminal. The first circuit includes a first resistor, a second resistor, a third resistor and a capacitor. The first resistor second resistor connected through a connection point. The first resistor is connected between the input terminal and the connection point, and the second resistor connected between the output terminal and the connection point. The third resistor is connected between the connection point and connection node, and the capacitor is connected between the connection node and the reference potential terminal. The charging circuit connected between the power supply terminal and the connection node.

In recent years, in devices such as a light coupling element and a light data link, the light emitting efficiency of the light emitting element has improved, and transmission loss in the plastic fiber which forms the light transmission line has also decreased. For this reason, by using such a device, it is possible to perform a high capacity and low cost light data communication. In such a light data communication environment, a dynamic range of a light receiving circuit could be improved though it would still be necessary to maintain a stable operation in this wider operation range.
The strength of the light signal to be transmitted in these devices varies in a range from a very low level to a very high level due to variations in the transmission distance of a light transmission line, and thus expansion of a dynamic range of a light receiving circuit within these devices becomes a significant issue. For example, in a light receiving circuit that includes a light receiving element and a trans-impedance amplifier (TIA) at an input stage, a very weak signal can be received and accommodated by setting the gain of the trans-impedance amplifier to a high level. However, if the gain is set too high, a strong signal which may also be received by the light receiving element could cause the trans-impedance amplifier to be saturated, whereby a waveform of an output signal from the trans-impedance amplifier is distorted. For this reason, an incorrect output signal from the trans-impedance amplifier can be generated, and thus, the potential incoming signal strength has to be decreased in such a device.

Light receiving circuit and light coupling device


The present invention relates to regulation and control of cellular processes by SH3-domain binding proteins and peptides. In particular, the invention provides a consensus sequence of a peptide that shows high specificity and affinity for the first SH3 domain of cellular Crk. In specific examples, a number of peptides that contain the consensus are shown to bind c-Crk specifically. The molecular basis for this specificity is examined by crystallography.

Protein-protein interaction is one of the mechanisms of signal transduction processes. One such process involves non-receptor type protein-tyrosine kinases (PTKs) of the Src family, which signal in normal and transformed cells. In recent years, much of the attention has been concentrated on certain specific regions of PTKs, in particular three structural domains, termed SH2 (SH stands for Src homology), SH3, and PH (pleckstrin homology). In addition to the Src family of proteins, these domains are present in a wide variety of proteins implicated in signal transduction processes.
Src Homology 2 and 3 (SH2 and SH3) domains are globular protein modules present in a large variety of functionally distinct proteins (Koch et al., 1991, Science 252: 668; Musacchio et al., 1992, FEBS Lett. 307: 55; Mayer et al., 1993, Trends Cell Biol. 3: 8). They mediate binding events that control the activity and localization of many proteins involved in the transmission of signals from the cell surface to the nucleus. SH2 domains bind to phosphorylated tyrosine residues (Matsuda et al., 1991, Mol. Cell. Biol. 11: 1607; Waksman et al., 1992, Nature 358: 646; Cantley et al., 1991, Cell 64: 281). The specificity of these phosphorylation-dependent interactions is determined by sequences adjacent to the phosphorylated tyrosines and has been extensively analyzed (Songyang et al., 1993, Cell 72: 767; Songyang et al., 1994, Mol. Cell. Biol. 14: 2777; Lee et al., 1994, Structure 2: 423; Birge et al., 1993, Science 262: 1522 (and references therein). In contrast to the abundant data on SH2 domain specificity, the binding specificity of SH3 domains is less well understood.
The presence of SH3 domains in proteins of lower eucaryotes such as S. cervisiae is indicative of the functional importance of SH3 domains throughout evolution. Despite significant sequence diversity, structural comparisons of many SH3 domains show similar folds (Musacchio et al., 1992, Nature 359: 851). The first SH3 binding protein was isolated through its ability to bind to the AblSH3 domain and the sequence responsible for this interaction was localized to a ten amino acid proline-rich fragment (Cicchetti et al., 1992, Science 257: 803; Ren et al., 1993, Science 259: 1157). It has been suggested that proline-rich SH3-binding motifs have a structure similar to that of a polyproline II helix (Lim et al., 1994, Structural Biol. 1: 221). In such a helix each turn consists of three amino acids. Amino acids that are three positions apart are therefore oriented coplanar in space. Ultrastructural analysis of the interaction of a high affinity, proline-rich binding peptide with the PI3Kp85-a-SH3 domain demonstrated that two coplanar proline residues form contacts with two grooves on the surface of the SH3 domain (Yu et al., 1994, Cell 76: 933). These grooves contain highly conserved aromatic amino acids and are spaced approximately at a distance of one turn of a polyproline II helix.
The Crk proteins belong to a family of proteins that consist almost entirely of SH2 and SH3 domains, with little intervening sequence. This family presently includes v-Crk (Mayer et al., 1988, Nature 332: 272), two forms of c-Crk proteins, c-Crk-I and c-Crk-II (Reichman et al., 1992, Cell Growth Diff. 3: 451; Matsuda et al., 1992, Mol. Cell Biol. 12: 3482), CRKL (ten Hoeve et al., 1993, Oncogene 8: 2469), Grb2/ASH (Matuoka et al., 1992, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 89: 9015; Lowenstein et al., 1992, Cell 70: 431; Suen et al.,1993 Mol. Cell. Biol. 13: 5500) and its homologs Sem5 (Clark et al., 1992, Nature 356: 340) and Drk (Olivier et al., 1993, Cell 73: 179; Simon et al., 1993, Cell 73: 169), Grb3-3 (Fath et al., 1994, Science 264: 971), and Nck (Lehmann et al., 1990 Nucl. Acids Res. 18: 1048). Expression of v-Crk or elevated expression of c-Crk-I leads to cell transformation and increased cellular phosphotyrosine levels (Mats, 16, 18, 28, 29), but the biological role of c-Crk proteins is currently unknown. Since these proteins lack apparent catalytic domains, their function probably lies in their ability to bind specific proteins via their SH2 and SH3 domains. Proteins that interact with the CrkSH2 domain via phosphorylated tyrosine residues have been first identified in cells transformed by v-Crk or v-Src (4, 29, 30). The CrkSH2 domain was shown to preferentially bind phosphotyrosyl-peptides that contain a pTyr-X-X-Pro motif (7 ,30). Such a high affinity binding motif is generated upon phosphorylation of c-Crk-II by c-Abl in the spacer region between the two CrkSH3 domains. Binding of the CrkSH2 to this phosphotyrosine residue may regulate c-Crk functions (31).
Src homology 3 (SH3) domains are present on many functionally diverse proteins that are involved in the response of cells to external stimuli (Musacchio et al., 1994, Mol. Cell Biol. 14:5495; Kuriyan and Cowburn, 1993, Curr. Op. Struct. Biol. 3:828-37). The ability of the SH3 domains to bind to short, specific, linear, proline-rich sequences (Cicchetti et al., 1992, Science 257:803) within their binding partners has important functional consequences. SH3 domains may control the cellular localization of their binding partners (Bar-Sagi et al., 1993, Cell 74:83-91); Rotin et al., 1994, EMBO J. 13:4440), determine the substrate specificity of enzymes (Feller et al., 1994, EMBO J. 13:2341-2351) or modulate the catalytic activity of SH3-containing (Liu et al., 1993, Mol. Cell Biol. 13:5225; Mayer and Baltimore, 1994, Mol. Cell Biol. 14:2883), as well as SH3-binding proteins (Gout et al., 1993, Cell 75:25; Pleiman et al., 1994, Science 263:1609). Despite the abundance of SH3 domains within signalling proteins and their potential biological importance, only a few systems are known where SH3 domains play a direct role in physiological or pathological processes. These include genetic systems that demonstrated the crucial role of complex formation between the adaptor protein, Grb2 and the Guanine-nucleotide exchange factor, Son of Sevenless (SOS) (Olivier et al., 1993, Cell 73:179), and two human diseases that involve loss of function mutations of SH3 domains Rawlings et al., 1993, Science 261:358) or their binding sequences (Cheng et al., 1994, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 91:8152).
Identification of two proline-rich motifs in the SH3 binding proteins, 3BP1 and 3BP2 was first achieved by expression library screening with the AblSH3 domain (Cicchetti et al., supra). Mutagenesis of the 3BP-1 sequence pointed to the proline residues at positions 2, 5 and 10 that are crucial in the binding to the AblSH3 domain (Ren et al., 1993, Science 259:1157). Proline-rich motifs were subsequently identified in known SH3 targets (Seedorf et al., 1994, J. Biol. Chem. 269:16009; Ren et al., 1994, Genes Dev. 8:783; Tanaka et al., 1994, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 91:3443), and found to bind to several SH3 domains with variable affinities (Liu et al., 1993, supra; Gout et al., 1993, supra; Chardin et al., 1993, Science 260:1338). Only one highly selective interaction, the binding of a proline-rich sequence in p47.sup.phox to the C-terminal p.sub.67.sup.l phox SH3 domain has been reported (Finan et al., 1994, J. Biol. Chem. 269:13752). More recently, new SH3 binding sequences that are not necessarily found in known proteins have been delineated by screening of combinatorial peptide (Yu et al., 1994, Cell 76:933) and phage display libraries (Cheadle et al., 1994, J. Biol. Chem. 269:24034; Sparks et al., 1994, J. Biol. Chem. 269:23853) and provide valuable information about affinity and specificity requirements for SH3 domains.
Structural and mutational analyses of SH3 domain-peptide complexes from Sem-5, p85.alpha., Abl and Fyn (Lim and Richards, 1994, Nature Structural Biology 1:221; Booker et al., 1993, Cell 73:813; Musacchio et al., 1994, Nature Structural Biology 1:546; Yu et al., 1994, supra) revealed molecular details of interactions between SH3 domains and proline-rich sequences. The SH3 domain core is composed of two perpendicular, antiparallel, 3-stranded .beta.-pleated sheets. The hydrophobic surface contains shallow grooves formed by highly conserved aromatic amino acids which contact the proline-rich peptides. This area interacts with two coplanar proline residues from the SH3 binding motif, which forms a polyproline type II helix (Williamson, 1994, Biochem. J. 297:245-260). A second set of coplanar amino acids in positions next to the two proline residues contacts the hydrophobic surface as well as the highly variable RT and n-Src loops that emerge from the core. Despite the contacts of these four amino acids, the affinities of SH3 domains to their ligands are in the micromolar range (Yu et al., 1994, supra).
The general features of SH3 structure and the interaction with proline-rich peptides are now understood (Kudyan & Cowburn, 1993, Curr. Op. Struct. Biol., 3:828-837, Saraste & Musacchio, 1994, Nature Struct. Biol., 1:835-837). The structures of a number of uncomplexed SH3 domains have been determined and have established a highly conserved fold consisting of two anti-parallel .beta. sheets packed against each other (reviewed in (Kudyan & Cowburn, 1993, Curr. Op. Struct. Biol., 3:828-837)). The discovery that SH3 domains bind to sequences that contain multiple prolines with characteristic PXXP motifs (Cicchetti et al., 1992, Science, 257, 803-806, Ren et al., 1993, Science, 259:1157-1161) was followed by the proposal that the SH3 surface could recognize a polyproline type II helix (Lim & Richards, 1994, Nature Struct. Biol. 1:221-225) and by the determination of the three-dimensional structures of peptide complexes of the p85 SH3 domain by NMR (Yu et al., 1994, Cell, 76:933-945) and the Abl and Fyn SH3 domains by X-ray crystallography, Musacchio et al., 1994, Nature Struct. Biol., 1:546-551). These first structures of SH3 complexes revealed that a conserved set of residues on the SH3 surface provide hydrophobic interactions with sidechains presented by the polyproline type II helix.
In each of these structures, the peptide bound in the same orientation ("plus" orientation). Four papers have recently appeared describing the interaction of proline-rich peptides with the Src SH3 domain (Feng et al., 1994, Science, 266:1241-1247) and with SH3 domains of mammalian Grb2 (Goudreau et al., 1994, Nature Struct. Biol., 1:898-907, Terasawa et al., 1994, Nature Struct. Biol, 1:891-897) and its C. elegans homolog Sem-5 (Lim et al., 1994, Nature, 372:375-379). The structures of Src SH3 domain bound to two peptides obtained by selection from a combinatorial library revealed that while one peptide bound in the "plus" orientation, the other bound in the opposite direction ("minus" orientation). The three structures of Grb2/Sem-5 SH3 domains show that the Sos peptides bind in the "minus" orientation. The ability of different prolin-rich peptides to bind in opposite orientations to the same binding sites on the SH3 surface can be understood in terms of the symmetry of the polyproline helix and the specific electrostatic and hydrophobic packing interactions observed in these complexes, and analyses of these structures have led to the enunciation of general rules for prolin-rich peptides binding to SH3 domains (Feng et al., 1994, Science, 266:1241-1247, Lim et al., 1994, Nature, 372:375-379).
In these recent structures of the Src (Feng et al., 1994, Science, 266:1241-1247, Lim et al.) and Grb2/Sem5 (Goudreau et al., 1994, Nature Struct. Biol., 1:898-907, Terasawa et al., 1994, Nature Struct. Biol, 1:891-897, Lim et al., 1994, Nature, 372:375-379) peptide complexes, the orientation of the peptide is determined primarily by electrostatic interactions between arginine residues In the peptide and acidic residues that are localized at one end of the peptide binding surface of the SH3 domains. Many SH3 domains have acidic residues in this region. For example, most SH3 domains have a glutamate or aspartate residue corresponding to Glu 172 in Sew-5 that is observed to hydrogen bond to the arginine residue in the Sos peptide (Lim et al., 1994, Nature, 372:375-379). Likewise, the central interactions via PXXP motifs involve highly conserved hydrophobic residues in the SH3 domains. Consequently, the basis for sequence discrimination between prolin-rich peptides and particular SH3 domains requires further elaboration.
The citation of any reference herein is not an admission that such reference is available as prior art to the instant invention.

Peptides specific for the first Crk-SH3 domain


A method and system controls a mobile device by tracking the movement of a finger. A finger mode in which the mobile device is controlled by tracking a movement of a finger is activated. The finger is detected and the movement of the detected finger is tracked via a camera. And when the tracked movement of the detected finger corresponds to a preset motion, a function corresponding to the preset motion pattern is performed. A number of application programs can be controlled respectively by tracking the movement of fingers, via one of a number of input means.

Mobile devices such as mobile communication terminals are equipped with a variety of functions and accordingly provide combined operations. Examples of the functions are a voice call, text message transmission/reception, digital broadcast reception, audio file playback, and such. In order to control and execute the functions, the mobile devices are equipped with input devices. The input devices may be implemented with various types of devices, such as button keypads, touch screens, touch pads, ball joysticks, optical joysticks, wheel keys, trackballs, and such. Most mobile devices tend to employ full touch screens as input devices that provide user convenience.
Conventional touch screens only allow for the user's direct touches to perform corresponding functions. This user's touch motion blocks a portion of the touch screen, so the user cannot touch a correct point, which causes the mobile device to malfunction. Therefore, new input devices need to be developed.
Mobile devices can perform multi-tasking by simultaneously executing a number of applications. Although mobile devices execute many applications, they cannot display the executed applications on one screen. This is because the screen size is limited. Therefore, in order to execute applications, a mobile device must switch between corresponding screens. For example, when an alarm event occurs in the mobile device while the device is reproducing a broadcast, it requires the user to switch the broadcast screen to the alarm screen and then touch the screen to release the alarm. Since conventional mobile devices control a number of executed applications via only one input device (e.g., a touch screen), it makes the user feel inconvenienced.

Method and system for controlling mobile device by tracking the finger


The present invention relates to compositions comprising a colloidal dispersion and an Agent of Interest (“AOI”), wherein the colloidal dispersion comprises deformable colloidal particles and wherein the AOI is not associated with the deformable colloidal particles. The present invention also provides kits and transdermal drug release devices comprising the compositions of the present invention, and the use of these compositions in medicine, skin care and cosmetics.

Colloidal dispersions containing colloidal particles comprising a non-ionic surfactant and a phospholipid which are free of any AOI are known from WO 2010/140061. WO 2010/140061 describes the use of such drug-free ("empty") colloidal dispersions for the treatment of deep tissue pain, specifically pain associated with osteoarthritis. In WO 2011/022707, drug-free colloidal dispersions are used for treating atopic eczema, dishydrotic hand eczema, plaque type psoriasis, seborrheic eczema and acne vulgaris.
Colloidal particles have also been used to deliver AOIs through the skin. For example, WO 2015/014965 discloses colloidal dispersions that contain colloidal particles comprising a non-ionic surfactant and a phospholipid, wherein the colloidal dispersions comprise an AOI. WO 2015/014965 describes the use of these colloidal dispersions for the topical administration of a therapeutic, metabolic or structural AOI that is "tethered" to the lipid and/or the surfactant component of the colloidal particle. For example, colloidal dispersions comprising anti-oxidants or vitamins are used for enhancing the skin's ability to repair, and colloidal dispersions comprising vitamin D may be used to supplement sun cream in order to prevent vitamin D deficiency.
In some instances, such as in WO 2013/171131, an active agent is applied directly to the skin and a drug-free colloidal dispersion is applied over the active agent to simply "push" it through the skin.
None of these documents disclose or teach a single composition comprising a colloidal dispersion and an AOI, wherein the colloidal dispersion comprises deformable colloidal particles and wherein the AOI is not associated with the deformable colloidal particles.
Citation of any reference in this section of the application is not an admission that the reference is prior art to the invention. The above noted publications are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
Providing an AOI inside a colloidal particle such as a vesicle can prevent the active agent from contacting the appropriate receptors within the body, and thus reduce the efficacy of the composition. Bonding an active agent to an external surface of a colloidal particle can result in the active agent penetrating past the desired target tissues of the subject when applied topically. Applying an AOI directly to the skin, followed by a drug-free colloidal dispersion, means that there is little or no dose control of the application of the AOI. An indeterminate amount of AOI is applied to the skin followed by an indeterminate amount of colloidal dispersion. It is impossible for the user to be certain about how much AOI is being delivered through the skin. In addition, the application of an AOI directly to the skin means that it is applied at a high concentration and is more likely to cause adverse skin reactions. Furthermore, having to individually apply two or more compositions is particularly time consuming for the user as each composition may take up to 10 minutes to dry.


An apparatus, for measuring a yarn tension, capable of preventing a filament breakage or loop from being generated while eliminating the necessity of adjustment and keeping a desired precision of measurement. The apparatus is constructed by an unit 1 for an application of a vibration to a yarn being moved, an unit 2 for measuring an apparent transverse wave propagation velocity of the yarn, and a unit 3 for calculating a true transverse wave propagation velocity based on the yarn speed and the calculated apparent transverse wave propagation velocity of the yarn. A control of a winding of the yarn in accordance with a propagation velocity of the transverse wave is also disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a method and an apparatus for detecting yarn tension and a method for winding a yarn.
2. Description of Related Art
As is well known, in a winding process of a synthetic fiber yarn, a desired value of yarn tension is varied in accordance with winding conditions, such as a thickness of the yarn, a feed speed of the yarn, and a kind of the yarn etc.
When the winding tension is excessively high, a so-called bulging phenomenon is generated, wherein a completed yarn package is subjected to a bulging at its side portions, which is likely to be subjected to rubbing during the transportation of the package in a container, which, during a subsequent package treating process, makes it difficult to take out the yarn smoothly. Furthermore, a so-called saddling phenomenon is generated, wherein the package is, at its central part of the periphery, depressed, which makes the yarn quality different between the central portion and end portion at the outer periphery of the package, which cause these parts to be dyed differently at a later stage. Furthermore, the excessively high tension causes an inner stress in the package to be increased, so that a so-called spiraling may be generated, where a portion of a yarn layer is displaced over the remaining portion due to a local relaxation of the yarn tension, resulting in worsening the unwinding performance of the package. Furthermore, a bobbin as a core of the package is subjected to an increased degree of a deformation, which make it difficult for the completed (full) package be easily detached from the corresponding spindle of the winding machine.
Contrary to this, an excessively small tension causes the movement of the yarn to be unstable, so that filaments constructing the yarn are apt to be separated or looped at a guide for guiding the movement of the yarn, which may cause the quality of the yarn to be reduced. Furthermore, the density of the package may be reduced, which makes it difficult for the package to keep a desired shape, so that the shape of the package is deformed during the execution of the winding process or during transportation of the package to the following treating process, which makes the package unusable. Furthermore, a constraint on the yarn during the execution of winding is not sufficiently strong, so that a so-called yarn shift phenomenon may be generated, by which a part of the yarn in an intermediate layer of a package is displaced toward the center of the package, which makes it difficult for the yarn part to be unwound.
In order to prevent above mentioned problems from occurring, it was heretofore been usual to execute a test winding process where a number of test windings are done by changing yarn taking up speed to determine a suitable taking up speed, i.e., a suitable yarn tension to obtain a desired shape of a completed package.
However, the thus determined yarn taking up speed can not permanently maintain the desired winding condition due to the fact that a yarn tension during the winding is made different from the desired yarn tension due to inevitable changes in winding condition such as a change in a room temperature, a small variation in a viscosity of a polymer material, a change in a process temperature and an abrasion of any yarn guiding member.
In view of the above, it is necessary, during the execution of the winding process, that monitoring of any change in a winding condition is done and that, based on the result of the monitoring, process control, such as modification of a winding condition or spinning condition or an operating condition of the winding system and a determination of a degree of a quality of the completed package, must be done.
Heretofore, two methods have been known for executing process control in a yarn winding process. The one is based on a measurement of a shape as well as a winding density of the completed package. The other is based on a continuous or periodical measurement of a yarn tension during the execution of the winding.
The first method where the yarn shape as well as winding density are measured is defective in a delayed detection of the fact that the winding is not suitable due to the fact that the detection of an undesired shape or winding density is possible only after the package formation is completed. The first method is also disadvantageous in that a temporally generated defect is "hidden" in the completed package, i.e., can not be found by merely inspecting an outer appearance of the completed package. Thus, it may be possible that a package including a hidden defect may be used at a following process such as a knitting. Furthermore, an abnormally increased tension, which may occur very rapidly, may inevitably cause the finished package to be completely damaged.
In the second idea based on a continuous or periodical detection of the yarn tension during an execution of a winding condition, a method has also been practiced, where the yarn tension is monitored continuously and a positive control of the taking up speed is done so that it is controlled predetermined constant value.
In order to detect the yarn tension, a so-called three point type tension measuring device having spaced fixed yarn guides 61 and 62, a movable guide 63 arranged between the guides 61 and 62 and a displacement sensor (strain gauge) 64 for detecting a movement (deflection), as shown in FIG. 27 has heretofore been usually used.
In this type of a tension measurement device, a detecting signal does not detect an absolute value of the yarn tension. Thus, a calibration of the detected value is essential. It is ideal that such a calibration is done with respect to a yarn subjected to a movement at a speed corresponding a speed of a yarn during a winding such as a value larger than 3,000 m/min. However, from the practical view point, it is difficult to execute a calibration while the yarn is moved under such a high speed condition. Thus, generally, yarn tension is measured in a stationary yarn while being weighted in a range corresponding to a measuring range of tension. Then, a calibration is done in such a way that the measured value corresponds to the weight value.
However, it is quite often that the tension detecting device providing precise detected value during a stable state provides a different detected value when the yarn is moving. It is considered that such a difference of a measured value is generated by a small difference in various factors having different degree of influence to the measured value, such as a coefficient of friction of a guide due to a difference of a surface condition, a shape, a detecting position, and a thickness of the yarn, In other words, even if a tension measuring device of the same operating principle is used, the measured tension value may be different due to the difference in it precision, i.e., there is no compatibility between the measuring devices. Furthermore, the measured value is also influenced by a abrasion of a yarn guide caused by an aging.
In view of the above, in the prior art three point tension detector, there is lacking a compatibility in the detected (displayed) value. In other words, the optimum tension value determined at an actual winding test is a value intrinsic to the particular measurement system. Thus, the optimum tension value for a different detector is unknown. In other words, there is inevitable difference in the optimum tension value between the tension measuring devices. On the other hand, from the practical view point, a use of a plurality of tension measuring devices is inevitable in a factory for obtaining a high precision control of the winding state across the whole factory for a prolonged time. Thus, in view of the variation in detected valued between the devices and a change in the detected value due to aging, a precise evaluation of a defect can be done only when the defect is of a large degree. Thus, it is impossible that a package having a smaller defect is prevented from being fed to a subsequent process.
Furthermore, in the prior art method for controlling a yarn tension, if the detected values of the tensions of yarns are the same, values of real tension of the yarns being subjected to a winding may not be the same. Thus, the finished packages can no, be controlled to the same shape irrespective of a fact that the detected tension is the same.
In another prior art, a tension detecting device of a contact type of so-called FTS type is known, where a movable guide is arranged in a yarn path, so that a movement (deformation) of the movable guide is detected when the yarn during a traverse movement is made to contact the guide, so that a signal of the movement of the guide as an indicative of on a yarn tension is detected by a strain gauge.
This type of device for measurement of the yarn tension is advantageous over the three point type in FIG. 27 in having a smaller resistance force at the guide. However, a speed of a yarn higher than 3,000 m/min may also cause filament breakage or loop to be generated due to a change in the quality of the same yarn.
Furthermore, in both of the three point type and the FTS type, an adjustment is required periodically. In these sensors, the measured value of the movement of a movable guide is a value which is transformed into a value of the tension. Thus, a large difference between the yarn speed during the adjustment of the scale and the yarn speed during the measurement causes the error to increase. Furthermore, individual differences are also large.
In view of the above, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 59-88654 discloses a method where a yarn is subjected to vibration by means of an ultrasonic wave and a change in the condition of the vibration is detected by a detector, so that a yarn tension is known. In this method, a deviation of a vibration from a resonance point, which is determined by a yarn tension, is measured. Furthermore, by searching for a resonant frequency, a resonance point is found, which allows the yarn tension to be detected.
However, the above method for detecting a yarn tension by using a deviation of the vibration of the yarn by the ultrasonic wave is defective in that a large amount of deviation causes a change to be reduced in an amplitude due to the lack in a proportional relationship between the deviation and the amplitude, which makes it difficult to measure a yarn tension. Furthermore, during measurement of the change in the amplitude, the detected value varies in accordance with various conditions, such as contact condition between the ultrasonic detector and the yarn and a change in sensitivity of the ultrasonic detector, which necessitates a calibration at each of the detecting locations.
Furthermore, there exists a plurality of resonance frequencies, that are a first, second, . . . , n-th order of resonance frequencies, in the method for detecting a resonant point by seeking the resonance frequency, it is difficult to decide the order of the resonance merely from the amplitude of the frequency, which makes it difficult to determine the tension.

Method and apparatus for detecting yarn tension and method for winding yarn


There is provided a sample analysis element capable of uniting a propagating surface plasmon resonance with a localized surface plasmon resonance while increasing the surface density of the hot spots. The sample analysis element is provided with a plurality of metal nanobody lines. Each of the metal nanobody lines includes a plurality of metal nanobodies arranged in a line on a dielectric surface at a first pitch smaller than a wavelength of incident light, and the plurality of metal nanobody lines is arranged in parallel to each other at a second pitch larger than the first pitch.

There is known a sample analysis element using localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR). Such a sample analysis element is provided with, for example, metal nanobodies distributed on a dielectric surface, namely a metal nanostructure. The metal nanostructure is formed to be sufficiently smaller than the wavelength of excitation light, for example. When the metal nanoparticles are irradiated with the excitation light, all electrical dipoles are aligned, and thus an enhanced electrical field is induced. As a result, near-field light is generated on the surface of the metal nanostructure. So-called hot spots are formed.
In Yizhuo Chu et al., "Experimental study of the interaction between localized and propagating surface plasmons," OPTICS LETTERS, U.S., Feb. 1, 2009, Vol. 34, No. 3, pp. 244-246, the metal nanostructure is arranged at a predetermined pitch forming a grid pattern. If the dimension of the pitch is set to a specific numerical value, a propagating surface plasmon resonance (PSPR) is caused based on an evanescent wave. The propagating surface plasmon resonance unites with the localized surface plasmon resonance. A so-called hybrid mode is established. In such a manner as described above, the localized surface plasmon resonance is enhanced by the propagating surface plasmon resonance, and thus, the near-field light is enhanced on the surface of the metal nanostructure.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Sample analysis element and detection device


A surgical access assembly is disclosed, including a resiliently compressible access port defining a longitudinal axis and having proximal and distal ends. At least one lumen extends from the proximal end to the distal end of the access port and is substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis. The surgical access assembly includes a resiliently compressible adapter having proximal and distal ends, an opening at the proximal end, and a passage for receipt of the access port. The adapter has a diameter at its distal end different from the diameter of the distal end of the access port. The adapter has at least one opening in its distal end to allow an object to exit the at least one lumen. The surgical access assembly may also include a sleeve positionable through an opening in tissue.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to an access assembly for use in minimally invasive surgical procedures, such as endoscopic or laparoscopic-type procedures, and more particularly to an access assembly with a surgical access port with an adapter.
2. Background of Related Art
Today, many surgical procedures are performed through small incisions in the skin, as compared to the larger incisions typically required in traditional procedures, in an effort to reduce both trauma to the patient and recovery time. Generally, such procedures are referred to as endoscopic, unless performed on the patient's abdomen, in which case the procedure is referred to as laparoscopic. Throughout the present disclosure, the term minimally invasive should be understood to encompass both endoscopic and laparoscopic procedures. During a typical minimally invasive procedure, surgical objects, such as surgical access ports (e.g., trocar and/or cannula assemblies), endoscopes, or other instruments, are inserted into the patient's body through the incision in tissue. Prior to the introduction of the surgical object into the patient's body, insufflation gases may be used to enlarge the area surrounding the target surgical site to create a larger, more accessible work area. Accordingly, the maintenance of a substantially fluid-tight seal is desirable so as to minimize the escape of insufflation gases and the deflation or collapse of the enlarged surgical site.
To this end, various access members are used during the course of minimally invasive procedures and are widely known in the art. A continuing need exists for an access member of a universal size that can be inserted into a variety of tissue incision sites and maintain the conditions of the insufflated surgical site. It is desirable to accommodate a variety of tissue incisions and body surface conditions, and adapt to changing conditions at the surgery site.


A unified threat management system is provided with a uniform relational rules model. The unified relational rules model provides for the sub-setting of rules and the ability to derive a result based partially from previous security measurements. The sharing of a security check from one security implementation to another using an object-oriented methodology is facilitated. Security policy is divided into specific security features that result in a security hierarchy. The security features may be considered to be listed sequentially, from bottom to top, and form a relationship with one another. These relationships are used to build a current security measure upon a previous security measure and may be used as a pre-cursor when marshalling data content to be validated.

In this day and age, due to the proliferation of computer software viruses, including spyware and other malicious types of code, Information Technology (IT) security has become far more complex than preventing just e-mail spam. With the recent and frequent outbreaks of phishing, pharming and spyware attacks, the setting up of various forms of network system defenses is becoming mandatory. These defenses include anti-virus software, anti-spam software, firewalls (both software and hardware), defenses against Denial-of-Service (DOS) attacks, anti-phishing technology, etc. As new types of threats are identified, new defenses are created and implemented. These include implementing products available from Symantec Corporation of Cupertino, Calif.
Historically, for each threat there was a corresponding defense. Over the years, however, this has led to a "jumble" of separate programs or appliances that are necessarily deployed on a system. Having multiple defense systems leads to complexity and redundancy as there is an overlap of security features.
Initially, firewalls were provided to defend a network against hackers. As viruses became more prevalent, an Anti Virus Gateway was provided to scan for viruses, then web content filtering, and then spam filtering. As a result, multiple devices that were costly to administer and consumed valuable rack space began appearing in IT administrators' data centers.
Enterprise firewalls became more robust due to the hardware on which the application is installed and, thus, it was easy to add "off box" functions right into the firewall. Firewalls became "Firewall Appliances." IT administrators would rather administer a Firewall Appliance that integrates Anti Virus, Content Filtering, Intrusion Detection and Spam Filtering, than administer multiple systems that perform these functions.
Unified Threat Management (UTM) is the name given to this trend in the firewall appliance security market. A UTM appliance consolidates a wide variety of gateway security functions into one box in contrast to the traditional solution of having different security functions on dedicated appliances. A UTM appliance not only guards against intrusion but performs content filtering, spam filtering, intrusion detection and anti virus duties.
UTM appliances have several benefits including operating multiple defenses through a single administrative interface without the burden of running multiple servers. In addition, only one vendor need be dealt with if adjustments, such as upgrading, are needed. A UTM appliance may offer a lower cost of ownership than traditional solutions.
There are, however, disadvantages to the approaches taken in the development and implementation of known UTM appliances.

System and method for unified threat management with a relational rules methodology


A zero voltage, zero current switching boost converter is provided. The boost converter includes an input coupled to an input inductor, a main switch coupled to the input inductor that conducts currents through the input inductor to store energy in said input inductor, and a resonant circuit coupled to the main switch for conducting currents from the input to an output of the boost converter which includes a first series circuit of a first auxiliary switch and a second auxiliary switch coupled to the main switch, a second series circuit of a first output capacitor and a second output capacitor in parallel with the first series circuit, and a resonant inductor interposed between the first series circuit and the second series circuit that forms a first discharge loop and a second discharge loop to make the main switch turn on and off under a substantial zero voltage, wherein both the first auxiliary switch and the second auxiliary switch are turned on and off under a substantial zero current circumstance.

The present invention is in general related to a zero voltage, zero current switching boost converter which utilizes electronic switches to accomplish voltage boost operation.
FIG. 1 illustrates a single-phase boost converter. In FIG. 1, when the main switch Sm turns on, the direct current (DC) power outputted from the full-wave rectifier will start to accumulate electric energy on the boost choke L. The main diode Dm is turned off at this moment. When the main switch Sm turns off, the current will drop off instantaneously and the current transition rate (di/dt) of the boost choke L becomes negative. An inverse electromotive force of a magnitude of L(di/dt) is induced across the boost choke L. Thereby the main capacitor will be charged to achieve the function of voltage boost. Theoretically, the main switch Sm will rapidly and periodically turn on and off so that the electric energy stored in the boost choke L is able to discharge to the main capacitor at any time. In this manner, the main capacitor can maintain a constant voltage.
However, the boost converter of FIG. 1 is disadvantageous over the situation that when the main switch Sm is switching its state, the main switch Sm and the main diode Dm will incur a serious switching loss due to a reverse recovery current introduced by the main diode Dm.
FIG. 2 is an improved boost converter which is designed for obviating the foregoing disadvantages encountered by the prior art boost converter of FIG. 1. The circuit configuration of FIG. 2 principally locates a branch circuit across the circuit nodes of the main switch Sm and also locates another branch circuit across the main diode Dm. The auxiliary inductor La and the auxiliary switch Sa on the branch circuit can be applied to eliminate the reverse recovery current of the main diode Dm and preload electric energy onto the auxiliary inductor La. Then the main switch Sm can be turned on under a zero voltage circumstances so that the energy stored in the auxiliary inductor La can be discharged through the diode D2 to the output capacitor when the auxiliary switch Sa is turned off. Therefore the deficiency of high switching loss arising from the main diode of the boost converter of FIG. 1 can be eliminated. However, in FIG. 2, the switching loss arising from the auxiliary switch Sa is still existed, and further the problems of electromagnetic interference (EMI) and radio frequency interference (RFI) still have not been addressed.
An object of the present invention is the provision of a boost converter which enables the electronic switches thereof to switch their on/off states under a zero voltage/zero current circumstances, to avoid switching loss and reduce electromagnetic interference and radio frequency interference. In addition, the switch element of the boost converter can be of a miniaturized size and the overall performance can be enhanced.
To achieve the foregoing objectives, a zero voltage, zero current switching boost converter is proposed and comprises a boost section for receiving a first direct current (DC) power and outputting a boosted second direct current power, a resonant circuit comprising a first discharge loop including a first auxiliary switch and a second discharge loop including a second auxiliary switch for permitting the first direct current power to discharge alternately through the first discharge loop and the second discharge loop to a load to generate the second direct current power, and wherein the main switch is turned on and off under a zero voltage circumstances and both the first auxiliary switch and the second auxiliary switch are turned on and off under a zero current circumstances.
According to the zero voltage, zero current switching boost converter as described hereinbefore, the boost section further comprises a boost choke, and the load comprises a first output capacitor and a second output capacitor.
The first discharge loop further comprises a resonant inductor, the second output capacitor and a second main diode. The second discharge loop further comprises a first main diode, the first output capacitor and the resonant inductor.
Remarkably, both the first auxiliary switch and the second auxiliary switch comprise a unidirectional switch. A preferable implementation for the unidirectional switch is an insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) with a relatively low collector-emitter reverse-biased voltage with gate opened (VCEO). An alternative for implementing the unidirectional switch is a silicon controlled rectifier (SCR) or an insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) with a relatively high collector-emitter reverse-biased voltage with gate opened (VCEO). If both the first auxiliary switch and the second auxiliary switch are implemented by an insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) with a relatively low collector-emitter reverse-biased voltage with gate opened (VCEO), a first auxiliary diode and a second auxiliary diode are required to respectively connect with the first auxiliary switch and the second auxiliary switch.

Boost converter with zero voltage main switch and zero current auxiliary switches


An apparatus for controlling the operation of a portable terminal having a removable case is provided. The apparatus includes a plurality of display units, each of the plurality of display units disposed in at least one of a front surface and a rear surface of the portable terminal, a detecting unit for detecting that at least one of the front or rear surfaces of the portable terminal is proximate to a corresponding cover of the removable case and a controller for activating a display unit disposed in one of the front and rear surfaces of the portable terminal when proximity of a corresponding cover of the removable case to said one of the front and rear surface is not detected. Accordingly, a user's ability to shift between screens is more easily performed and may be performed without a separate key input.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable terminal. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus for controlling the operation of a portable terminal including a plurality of display units.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, the term "portable terminal" refers to a communication apparatus that a user can carry to wirelessly communicate with another user. Such portable terminals are extensively used among individuals. Also, such terminals are recently being provided with the ability to perform various kinds of useful functions in accordance with the Digital Convergence era. For example, with such a portable terminal, the user may perform Audio On Demand (AOD) and Video On Demand (VOD) services, may have visual communication with another user, or may download games to play. Also of interest is the user's ability to obtain high quality content (e.g. high quality moving pictures or online games) through a High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) service. With these newer functions and capabilities, it is desirable that the size of a display unit of a portable terminal be made larger. However, a portable terminal is limited in size due to its portability. One option for maintaining the terminal's overall size while increasing the size of the display is to develop the portable terminal toward excluding the key input unit therefrom (e.g. an i-phone produced by Apple company) or minimizing the number of keys in the key input unit thereof. However, such a portable terminal causes a wide variety of inconveniences for the user to input characters thereto. In order to address such inconveniences, the user may be provided with a portable terminal including two displays (dual display). The dual display portable terminal is a two-sided portable terminal including first and second surfaces thereof. The first surface has a display unit of a large size which is suitable for the multimedia environment and a minimized key input unit. The second surface has a display unit of a small size, which is suitable for normal communication, and a plurality of keys. Although there is an advantage in that such dual-display portable terminal can be more conveniently used in the multimedia environment, the dual-display portable terminal consumes more power, thereby shortening the usable time of the portable terminal. Therefore, in order to improve the continuous use of the portable terminal, a removable case having a battery mounted therein is required. The removable case has an advantage in increasing the usable time of the portable terminal. On the other hand, the removable case has a disadvantage in that it is difficult to achieve screen-shift between two display units. Particularly, the removable case has a structure to cover an exterior of each display unit so as to protect each display unit of the dual-display portable terminal. Therefore, a significant effort is required to open/close the removable case whenever the user uses the portable terminal. Even if the removable case is absent, the user has to achieve screen-shift between two display units, depending on the user's necessity, by using a screen shift key. Therefore, with respect to portable terminals having a plurality of display units, there is a need for providing a portable terminal which can easily achieve screen shift without a separate key input.

Apparatus for controlling operation in wireless terminal with removable case


The invention relates to an energy storage device including at least one block having n energy storage units, where n≥2; a charge and discharge management circuit electrically linked to the n storage units and making it possible to alternately connect all of the energy storage units of one and the same block to one another; and the block having a defined block voltage between the low potential of the first energy storage unit and the high potential of the nth energy storage unit. The charge and discharge management circuit includes: first means for triggering the toggling from a parallel mode to a series mode and second means for triggering the toggling from the series mode to the parallel mode.

The storage elements may be for example capacitors, supercapacitors, batteries or microbatteries.
Microbatteries are defined as being completely solid electrochemical generators formed by an active stack of thin layers that form the (positive and negative) electrodes separated by an electrolyte. The management circuit provides the functions of charging and discharging the microbatteries, respectively so as to store the available energy and to deliver it for one or more applications under consideration.
The rise of the IoT ("Internet of Things") and WSN ("wireless sensor networks") has been accompanied by an increased requirement for autonomous microsystems that, to this end, incorporate energy recovery and storage components. In this context, the interface between the recovery portion and storage of the energy is of great importance. Specifically, in the case of autonomous microsystems, and in particular those implementing ambient energy recovery (indoor/outdoor solar, thermal, vibratory or even electromagnetic), this often involves energy sources that are highly heterogeneous in terms of electrical specifications. For example, the available power and the voltage vary considerably depending on the type of source. Moreover, energy storage systems also have electrical specifications that vary depending on the components that are used. The interface between said two portions is often formed of an assembly that includes an energy management circuit whose role is to transfer the recovered energy to storage points, and transmit the stored energy to application points with maximum efficiency.
Table 1 below lists a certain number of sources and their specific features.
TABLE 1ConversionSourceprincipleTypical voltageTypical powerSolarPhotovoltaic0.5 V per cellUp to 15 mW/cellmicropanelMechanicalPiezoelectric10 VACTens of mVdeviceOpen circuitMechanicalMagnetic deviceA few voltsAverage rangeRFRectenna<1 VHundreds of μW(antenna +to a few mWrectification andfiltering)ThermalThermoelectric0.2 mV/K per cellHundreds of μWgeneratorto a few mW
There are two possible approaches for energy management:                a first approach involves a management circuit dedicated to a single energy source, which has an optimal configuration for an input under consideration that has only very few variations;        a second approach involves a configurable management circuit, able to be used for several (or all) energy sources, which may be adapted depending on the available inputs.
Dedicated Management Circuits:
Document U.S. Pat. No. 8,664,920 B2 (2014) describes a dedicated energy management circuit for a photovoltaic (PV) energy source. The architecture of the circuit takes into account the specifications of the given source and the possible range of variation, thereby making it possible to have an optimized efficiency of the transfer of the recovered energy to the storage units. This approach has the drawback of not being very versatile in that the efficiency drops significantly if the specifications of the energy source are modified, for example from a PV recovery to a vibratory recovery (change, inter alia, from a few hundred mV to a few volts). Therefore, several dedicated management circuits are necessary to be able to efficiently recover several types of energy, or then use configurable management circuits.
Configurable Circuits:
Document U.S. Pat. No. 7,268,517 B2 (2007) describes an architecture of a configurable energy management circuit that has the following elements:                a matrix system of batteries;        charge/discharge control microswitches;        a control unit (energy input and SOC for "state of charge") for the batteries.
In this case, the management circuit makes it possible to be able to recover energy from various sources (solar, electromagnetic, mechanical, acoustic, etc.) and to exhibit versatility in comparison with dedicated systems. However, several drawbacks characterize the described circuit, notably the energy supply to the control and configuration portion, thereby limiting the overall efficiency of the proposed system.
In the case of configurable circuits, the prior art close to the present patent application has described, in the article entitled "Switch array system for thin film lithium microbatteries", published in the Journal of Power Sources 136 (2004) 401-407, a matrix system for charging and discharging microbatteries implementing a microswitch system. The drawback of this solution (in comparison with the solution of the present invention) is the use of an external control system whose role is to allow the user to control the (series/parallel) connections of the various microbatteries depending on the input and the output. This part requires an electric power supply in order to operate, either from an external source or through a portion of the energy stored by the system, thus reducing the overall energy efficiency of the assembly, and above all that requires at least one of the storage elements to have a voltage high enough to operate (≥3.3 V).
"Heat pump" solutions, based on switched capacitors such as the reference MAX684 from Maxim, have also already been proposed.
FIG. 1a illustrates the operation of the charge pump circuit: the capacitor Cx is first of all charged from the input IN and then placed in series with the input IN and connected to the output. There is then around twice the input voltage IN at the output OUT. The operation may be open-loop: there is high-frequency toggling between the series and parallel modes. The reference MAX684 makes it possible for example to set the frequency between 50 kHz and 2 MHz.
The operation may also be closed-loop, as illustrated in FIG. 1b: the output voltage is regulated to a setpoint voltage via automatic adjustment of the switching frequency (output current that increases with frequency).
It is noted in these two cases that the driving is not linked to the state of charge of the storage element Cx. At each switching operation, it is considered that the transfer time for the energy is virtually zero with regard to the period of the series/parallel toggling operations. This is normal, since it is considered that the source placed at input is not really limited in terms of current with regard to the charge to be injected into the storage element, and that the storage element is capacitive and that it is not itself really limited in terms of current. Lastly, the storage element Cx is not a high-value storage element, and is not intended to provide for the autonomy of the system. Specifically, the requirement to switch at more than 50 kHz means that the storage capacitor Cx provides an autonomy of just 20 μs at most, which is relatively far from the storage requirements of an autonomous device, for example for energy recovery, for which at least a second, or even an hour or a day is targeted.
In the context of the present invention, it is sought notably to develop storage elements greater than 10 μAh, ideally greater than 100 or 1000 μAh, thereby requiring their state to be controlled, especially if they are recharged with a relatively high-impedance source (>10Ω) as may be encountered in energy recovery.
It is then possible to contemplate two toggling conditions:                a first one that does not authorize the placement in series unless the storage elements are correctly recharged to the desired voltage and        a second one that does not authorize the change to parallel mode unless the storage elements have discharged to a second desired voltage.
It should be noted that this involves the voltage of the storage elements, and not the voltage of the source or the output voltage. If it is proposed to regulate the current or the input impedance using several switching blocks, this is performed while respecting at least the two above conditions.
In contrast to charge pumps on the market, which aim essentially to supply an output voltage with consideration to the virtually infinite input power, the Applicant has sought a solution;                that is able to integrate a limited-power source that will take a certain time to recharge the storage element, the storage element being able to serve notably as an energy buffer between a moderate-power and potentially intermittent input source, and power requirements at output that may be different and with far higher peaks;        and the aim of which is to allow storage elements to be recharged while dispensing with an external charge manager.

Electrical energy storage device capable of being recharged under a first voltage and of recovering its energy under a second voltage

COMMISSARIAT A L'ENERGIE ATOMIQUE ET AUX ENERGIES ALTERNATIVES


Methods and systems for incentivizing the delivery of data contents among peer nodes in a decentralized data delivery network are disclosed. The network comprises peer-to-peer (P2P) connections implemented on top of a content delivery network (CDN) having CDN servers that provide data resources to network nodes. Such a hybrid network comprises viewer peer nodes, edge cacher peer nodes, tracker servers, and a payment service module. A micropayment pool is created on a blockchain by the payment service module. A cacher peer node downloads a data resource from a CDN server, and shares portions of the data resource with viewer peer nodes in the hybrid network. In return, the cacher peer node receives from the payment service module, off-chain transactions that encode cumulative payment amounts from the micropayment pool to the cacher peer node. A last off-line transaction is submitted to the blockchain to claim a total payment amount.

The statements in this section may serve as a background to help understand the invention and its application and uses, but may not constitute prior art.
Internet video accounts for over three-quarters of all internet traffic today, and will increase further to 82% by 2022, according to Cisco's February 2019 Visual Networking Index (Cisco VNI™) Global IP Traffic Forecast for 2017-2022. The same report predicts that from 2017 to 2022, global Internet video traffic will grow four-fold, live Internet video will grow 15-fold, Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality traffic will grow 12-fold, and Internet gaming traffic will grow 9-fold. In the U.S., millennials between the ages of 18 and 34 are driving the growth of video streaming through the use of services like YOUTUBE, NETFLIX, HULU, and HBO. Streaming video among this group has jumped 256% from an average of 1.6 hours per week to 5.7 hours per week according to a SSRS Media and Technology survey, and mobile devices are leading the charge in video consumption.
Content Delivery Networks (CDNs), which are systems of distributed servers that minimize delay in delivering data to users by reducing the geographical distance between servers and users, are predicted by Cisco to carry 72% of Internet traffic by 2022, and they play an important role in distributing web content and streaming video data, by providing a backbone infrastructure to deliver data streams to end users. A major limitation of today's CDN networks is the so-called "last-mile" delivery problem, where a "last-mile" link between a limited number of Point-of-Presence (POPs) data centers and end users presents a bottleneck in the data streaming and delivery pipeline and often leads to less optimal user experience, including link failures, noticeable delays, choppy streams, poor picture quality, and frequent re-buffering. Another major concern is the CDN bandwidth cost, which can easily reach tens of millions of dollars per year for popular sites. These issues become more prominent with the coming era of high resolution digital media, for example 4K, 8K, and 360° VR streaming, and upcoming technologies such as light field streaming. For example, bandwidth requirements of today's mainstream 720p/HD streams jump by orders of magnitude for the newer systems.
To overcome such bandwidth limitations, decentralized peer-to-peer data streaming and delivery platforms have been developed based on self-organizing and self-configuring mesh networks. End users share redundant or unused computing, bandwidth, and storage resources, although distributed storage can make locating a requested file difficult. In addition, motivating and incentivizing users to actively share available resources require a secure and minimally delayed award system or payment method that is compatible with the decentralized nature of the peer-to-peer network, where it is also important to economically handle frequent, minuscule payments for small, individual data chunks transmitted to or received from peer nodes.
Therefore, in view of the aforementioned difficulties, there is an unsolved need to provide a low-latency, high-throughput, and micropayment-incentivized decentralized data streaming and delivery system.
It is against this background that various embodiments of the present invention were developed.

Methods and systems for blockchain incentivized data streaming and delivery over a decentralized network