A method is disclosed for preventing or treating the adverse physiological effects associated with cardiac disease by administering a purified proanthocyanidin composition to the person in an amount effective to prevent or reduce the adverse physiological effects.

The invention relates generally to a method and composition for preventing and/or treating adverse physiological effects associated with cardiac disease.
Heart disease is one of the most common forms of disease in many parts of the world. and is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity. Heart disease may be characterized as either chronic or acute. Chronic cardiac disease includes cardiomyopathies, congestive heart failure and conditions such as chronic pericardial disease. Cardiomyopathies are characterized hemodynamically into dilated, hypertrophic, restrictive and obliterative cardiomyopathy and can be of known or idiopathic etiology. Among the etiologies of dilated cardiomyopathy are pregnancy, drugs and toxins, such as alcohol, cocaine and chemotherapeutic agents and infectious and autoimmune processes. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is hereditary in more than 50% of cases and has a distinctive pattern of myocardial hypertrophy (thickening of muscle). Restrictive cardiomyopathies are usually the product of an infiltrative disease of the myocardium, such as amyloidosis, hemochromatosis or a glycogen storage disease, and may also be seen in certain diabetic patients. Obliterative cardiomyopathy can be caused by endomyocardial fibrosis and hypereosinophilis syndrome.
Congestive heart failure is characterized by the inability of the heart to deliver a supply of oxygenated blood sufficient to meet the metabolic needs of peripheral tissues at normal filling pressures and is a common complication of cardiomyopathies and is also a complication of other conditions such as diabetes mellitus, coronary artery disease, myocarditis, aortic stenosis, pericarditis, neoplastic pericardial effusion and numerous other conditions.
Acute cardiac diseases include acute pericarditis as well as complications of myocardial infarction and the ischemia resulting therefrom. One such complication is the injury resulting from the physiological effects resulting from reperfusion of the ischemic tissue. Ischemia is defined as a condition in which a tissue or organ does not receive a sufficient supply of blood, usually due to obstruction of the arterial blood supply. Ischemic reperfusion injury describes functional, metabolic, or structural changes in ischemic heart muscle thought to result from reperfusion of oxygenated blood to the ischemic areas. These changes can be fatal to muscle cells, and can include edema with explosive cell swelling and disintegration, sarcolemma disruption, fragmentation of mitochondria, contraction band necrosis, enzyme washout, and calcium overload. Other damage can include hemorrhage and ventricular arrhythmias.
Myocardial cellular injury associated with the reperfusion of ischemic myocardium has been attributed to many interrelated factors, including intracellular Ca2xe2x88x92 overloading, loss of sarcolemmal phospholipids and oxygen free radical generation (Bagchi et al., xe2x80x9cInterrelationship Between Cellular Calcium Homeostasis and Free Radical Generation in Mycocardial Reperfusion Injury, Chem. Biol. Int., 104:65-85 (1997)). In particular, such injury can occur when a person is provided with certain compounds, such as an artificial blood substitute. One possible mechanism of damage for ischemic reperfusion injury is via oxygen free radicals. Reactive oxygen species have been implicated in pathogenesis of diverse degenerative diseases including ischemic heart disease (Belch et al., xe2x80x9cOxygen Free Radicals and Congestive Heart Failure,xe2x80x9d Brit. Heart J., 65:245-248 (1991); Singal et al., xe2x80x9cRole of Free Radicals in Catecholamine-Induced Cardiomyopathy,xe2x80x9d Can. J. Physiol. Pharmacol., 60:1390-1397 (1982); Otani et al., xe2x80x9cEnhanced prostaglandin synthesis due to phospholipase breakdown in ischemic-reperfused myocardium. Control of its production by a phospholipase inhibitor or free radical scavengers., xe2x80x9d J. Mol. Cell Cardiol., 18:953-961 (1986); Steinbrecher et al., xe2x80x9cRole of Oxidatively Modified LDL in Atherosclerosis, Free Rad. Biol. Med., 9:155-168 (1990)). Evidence exists that oxidative stress resulting from increased production of free radicals associated with decreased amount of antioxidants in the myocardium plays a crucial role in ischemic heart disease, as well as atherosclerosis, congestive heart failure, cardiomyopathy, hypertrophy and arrhythmias (Das et al., xe2x80x9cProtection Against Free Radical Injury in the Heart and Cardiac Performance,xe2x80x9d Exercise and Oxygen Toxicity, (C. K. Sen, L. Packer, O. Hanninen, eds.) Elsevier Science, Amsterdam (1995). Epidemiological relationships also exist between oxidative stress and occurrence of cardiovascular diseases that include ischemic heart disease (Gey et al., xe2x80x9cInverse Correlation Between Plasma Vitamin E and Mortality From Ischemic Heart Disease in Cross-Cultural Epidemiology,xe2x80x9d Am. J. Clin. Nutr., 53:3265-3345 (1991)) and arteriosclerosis (Gey, xe2x80x9cOn the Antioxidant Hypothesis With Regard to Arteriosclerosis,xe2x80x9d Bibl. Nutr. Dieta., 37:53-91 (1986)). The anticipation of free radicals has been demonstrated by the beneficial effects of antioxidants and antioxidant enzymes (Otani et al., xe2x80x9cCardiac Performance During Reperfusion Improved by Pretreatment With Oxygen Free Radical Scavengers,xe2x80x9d J. Thoracic Cardiovasc. Surg., 91:290-295 (1986)) and free radical scavengers (Arroyo et al., xe2x80x9cIdentification of Free Radicals in Myocardial Ischemia/Reperfusion by Spin Trapping With Nitrone DMPO, FEBS Lett., 221:101 -104 (1987)). The role of oxygen free radicals in myocardial ischemic reperfusion injury is well documented. The presence of hydroxyl (OHxe2x80x94) and other reactive oxygen species has been demonstrated directly using ESR and High Pressure Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) techniques (Tosaki et al., xe2x80x9cComparisons of ESR and HPLC methods for the detection of hydroxyl radicals in ischemic/reperfused hearts. A relationship between the genesis of oxygen-free radicals and reperfusion-induced arrhythmias, Biochem. Pharmacol., 45:961-969 (1993)) and indirectly by identifying the formation of malonaldehyde (Cordis et al., xe2x80x9cDetection of Oxidative Stress in Heart by Estimating the Dinitrophenylhydrazine Derivative of Malonaldehyde,xe2x80x9d J. Mol. Cell. Cardiol., 27:1645-1653 (1995)) and 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (Cordis et al., xe2x80x9cDetection of Oxidative DNA Damage to Ischemic Reperfused Rat Hearts by 8-Hydroxydeoxyguanosine Formation,xe2x80x9d Mol. Cell. Cardiol., 30:1939-1944 (1998)) in the heart as well as in the coronary effluents.
Ischemic reperfusion injury is thought to be prevented by warm blood cardioplegic infusion prior to reperfusion. Additionally, pretreatment of hearts with antioxidants or antioxidant enzymes can ameliorate ischemic reperfusion injury, presumably by reducing the formation of detrimental free radicals (Das et al., xe2x80x9cEvaluation of Antioxidant Effectiveness in Ischemia Reperfusion Tissue Injury Methods,xe2x80x9d Methods Enzymol., 233: 601-610 (1994); Jayakumari et al., xe2x80x9cAntioxidant Status in Relation to Free Radical Production During Stable and Unstable Anginal Syndromes,xe2x80x9d Atherosclerosis, 94:183-190 (1992)). Nevertheless, the administration of traditional antioxidant compositions has not necessarily proved to be completely effective in the prevention or treatment of the adverse physiological effects associated with cardiac disease generally or ischemic reperfusion injury in particular. There thus remains a need for an effective method to prevent and/or treat ischemic reperfusion injury in persons who have or are at risk for ischemic reperfusion injury.
Proanthocyanidins comprise a group of polyphenolic bioflavonoids ubiquitously found in fruits and vegetables. They are the most common type of tannins found in fruits and vegetables, and are present in high amounts in the seeds and skins of grapes. Proanthocyanidins have been the subject of considerable interest because of their broad pharmacologic activity and therapeutic potential (Chen et al., xe2x80x9cAntioxidative Activity of Natural Flavonoids is Governed by Number and Location of Their Aromatic hydroxyl Groups, Chem. Phys. Lipids, 79:157-163 (1996)). The biological and medicinal properties of the proanthocyanidins have been extensively reviewed (Rice-Evans et al., xe2x80x9cStructure-Antioxidant Activity Relationships of Flavonoids and Phenolic Acids,xe2x80x9d Free Rad. Biol. Med., 20:933-956 (1996)). For example, the epidemiological evidence indicates that the consumption of red wine is beneficial in the prevention of coronary heart disease (Rimm et al., xe2x80x9cProspective Study of Alcohol Consumption and Risk of Coronary Disease in Men,xe2x80x9d Lancet, 338:464-86 (1991); St. Leger et al., xe2x80x9cFactors Associated With Cardiac Mortality in Developed Countries With Particular Reference to the Consumption of Wine,xe2x80x9d Lancet, 1:1017-1020 (1979)). This beneficial effect has been attributed to the antioxidants present in the polyphenol fraction of red wine (Hertog et al., xe2x80x9cAntioxidant Flavonols and Coronary Heart Disease Risk,xe2x80x9d Lancet, 349:699 (1997)), such as the proanthocyanidins present in grape seeds. Also, a Dutch epidemiological study showed that incidence of coronary heart disease in elderly males is inversely correlated with their intake of flavonoids (Hertog et al., xe2x80x9cDietary Antioxidant Flavonoids and Risk of Coronary Heart Disease: The Zutphen Elderly Study,xe2x80x9d Lancet, 342:1007-1011 (1993)), further supporting cardioprotective effects of polyphenolic compounds.
Proanthocyanidins and other polyphenolic bioflavonoids have demonstrated potential antioxidant and free radical scavenging ability, and have demonstrated a broad spectrum of biological, pharmacological and medicinal properties. Proanthocyanidins consist of polymers of the flavan-3-ol units (+)-catechin, (xe2x88x92)-epicatechin and (xe2x88x92)-epicatechin 3-O-gallate linked by C4-C8 or C4-C6 bonds. Some proanthocyanidins carry galloyl residues linked to the C-3 alcoholic function of the flavan-3-ol units.
Proanthocyanidins are present in a number of natural plant sources and are particulary plentiful in the tissue and seeds of various fruits. The skins and seeds of grapes (Vitis vinifera) are particulary rich sources of proanthocyanidins with red wine and grape juice having high contents of proanthocyanidins. (See U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,484,594 and 5,912,363 describing methods for extraction of purified proanthocyanidin compositions.) A purified proanthocyanidin composition derived from grape seeds according to such methods contains monomeric, dimeric, trimeric, tetrameric and higher oligomeric and polymeric proanthocyanidins, as well as tannin. According to U.S. Pat. No. 4,698,360 the bark of certain species of maritime pine has also proved to be a rich source of proanthocyanidins.
Proanthocyanidins are known to be potent free radical scavengers and metal chelators and reduce free radicals, a by-product of metabolism and block their propagation. The proanthocyanidins are also thought to protect cells from lipid peroxidation, resulting in the protection of target organs"" membranes. One example, is the protection of low density lipoproteins (LDL) from oxidation. While the oxidation of LDL has been identified as a contributing factor to atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease, the ability of proanthocyanidin compositions to prevent or treat specific adverse physiological effects of cardiac disease has not been demonstrated.
The present invention provides methods for preventing and treating the adverse physiological effects associated with cardiac disease by the administration of purified proanthocyanidin compositions. Specifically, the invention provides a method of preventing or treating adverse physiological effects associated with cardiac disease in a person at risk for such adverse physiological effects, the method comprising: identifying a person at risk for such adverse physiological effects; and administering a purified proanthocyanidin composition to the person in an amount effective to prevent or reduce the adverse physiological effects.
Cardiac disease susceptible to treatment according to the present method includes both chronic and acute cardiac disease. Chronic cardiac diseases, having physiological effects susceptible to treatment according to the invention include but are not limited to cardiomyopathies, congestive heart failure and conditions such as chronic pericardial disease. Acute cardiac diseases susceptible to treatment according to the present method include, but are not limited to, ischemia reperfusion injury resulting from myocardial infarction, administration of blood substitutes, circulatory collapse from hemorrhage and the like as well as conditions such as acute peritonitis and other acute cardiac conditions.
The present invention is based upon the discovery that administration of sufficient dosages of purified proanthocyanidin compositions to a human or mammalian subject alleviates adverse physiological effects associated with cardiac disease including decreased cardiac pressure, decreased aortic flow, decreased systolic aortic pressure, and enhancement of the proapoptotic factors, c-Jun and JNK 1 in the heart tissue. In particular, it is believed that the enhancement of the proapoptotic factors c-Jun and JNK-1 associated with apoptosis (programmed cell death) may be one mechanism by which various adverse physiological effects of cardiac disease are mediated. The decreased enhancement of these proapoptotic factors upon administration of the purified proanthocyanidin compositions of the invention may thus be the mechanism by which ischemia reperfusion injury and other cardiac diseases are prevented and treated by administration of purified proanthocyanidin compositions.
The compositions of the invention may be administered prophylactically or therapeutically in treatment of chronic cardiac disease conditions. Alternatively, they may be administered prophylactically in anticipation of a acute cardiac event such as in preparation for cardiac surgery such as angioplasty and the like or other surgery having potential hemodynamic effects upon the heart. Further, the purified proanthocyanidin compositions of the invention may be administered in response to acute cardiac events such as myocardial infarction and events resulting therefrom such as ischemia reperfusion of the heart muscle.
The present invention also provides a composition comprising purified proanthocyanidin composition and another compound, the introduction of which into a person""s body can lead to such injury, such as an artificial blood substitute. Artificial blood substitutes to which purified proanthocyanidin compositions of the invention may be usefully applied according to this aspect of the invention include perfluorocarbon emulsions available commercially as FLUOSOL(copyright) (Green Cross Corporation, Japan) and OXYGENT(copyright) (Alliance Pharmaceutical Corp., San Diego Calif.).
Also provided by the invention is use of a purified proanthocyanidin composition in preparation of a medicament for prevention or treatment of adverse physiological effects associated with cardiac disease.
Purified proanthocyanidin compositions of the invention may be isolated or derived from a variety of plant sources according to known methods or may be produced synthetically. Proanthocyanidins are found in the fruit and seeds of a wide variety of fruit plants including but not limited to strawberry, blueberry and grapes. Proanthocyanidins are also present in large quantities in maritime pine bark, oak wood, black and green tea and in cocoa powder. A preferred source for proanthocyanidins is grapes with grape skin and particularly grape seeds being preferred sources. Purified proanthocyanidin compositions may be obtained by practice of methods such as those described in Nasfi-Movaghar et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,912,363 the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. A particularly preferred purified proanthocyanidin composition available as a standardized water-ethanol extract from red grape seeds for use according to the invention is available as a grape seed proanthocyanidin extract (GSPE) known as ActiVin(copyright) available from InterHealth Nutraceuticals Inc., Concord, Calif. A compositional analysis of the ActiVin(copyright) grape seed proanthocyanidin extract shows a content comprising (by weight) 54% proanthocyanidin dimer, 13% proanthocyanidin trimer, 7% proanthocyanidin tetramer, and 6% monomer and other flavonoids. Because it is believed that the prophylactic and therapeutic activities of the purified proanthocyanidin compositions of the invention are primarily associated with the low molecular weight (DP2 to DP4) oligomeric content of the purified proanthocyanidin compositions preferred purified proanthocyanidin compositions comprise at least 50% and more preferably greater than 70% by weight DP2 to DP4 oligomeric proanthocyanidins.
While it is contemplated that daily dosages of the purified proanthocyanidin compositions of the invention can range up to 1000 mg/day and higher, it is recognized that the ability of the human body to absorb and retain large quantities of proanthocyanidins may be limited. Nevertheless, it may be desirable in cases of acute cardiac disease to administer dosages of 1000 mg/day and larger intravenously and otherwise by injection (intramuscularly) to maximize the immediate therapeutic or prophylactic effect of the proanthocyanidins. More conventionally, and particularly in cases of administration for prophylactic uses the invention contemplates administering dosages ranging from 50 to 200 mg/day for adult persons. According to one preferred method of the invention, the purified proanthocyanidin composition is administered twice daily orally soon after the person has eaten a meal.
Other features and advantages of the present invention should become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention, taken with the illustrative drawings, which illustrate the principles of the invention.

Compositions for preventing or treating adverse physiological effects associated with cardiac disease


An application white box device utilized in conjunction with an intelligent terminal is provided. The application white box device includes a controller, a memory, and a SIM unit. The controller provides support for management of the memory and call of the SIM unit. The memory provides a physical medium for storing data and an application of the intelligent terminal. The SIM unit provides support for encryption and security authentication of the data and the application access of the intelligent terminal.

With continuous development of Internet information technology, intelligent terminals are widely used in daily production and life. For example, general-purpose intelligent terminals are used in the technical field of Internet of Things. With the development of the Internet of Things technology, general-purpose intelligent terminals cannot meet specific use requirements. Therefore, an intelligent terminal is to be customized and developed for specific use requirements. Practically, a scale of customizing and developing one intelligent terminal, for example, customized and developed for specific use requirements of only one user or a few users, is relatively small, resulting in a high cost of customizing and developing the intelligent terminal, and thus restricting promotion and popularization of the Internet of Things technology.
In addition, a user may have different security requirements for the intelligent terminal in different application scenarios. Therefore, if one intelligent terminal cannot meet security requirements of the user in different application scenarios, the user may require different intelligent terminals. For example, in one scenario, security authentication is unnecessary and therefore an intelligent terminal A is used. In another scenario, security authentication is required when accessing data and an application of the intelligent terminal, and the intelligent terminal A is not provided with hardware related to security authentication. Therefore, only an intelligent terminal B provided with hardware related to security authentication can be selected. It can be seen that access security of the intelligent terminal restricts application of the intelligent terminal. An intelligent terminal without hardware related to security authentication has low security in accessing data and running an application.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Application white box device utilized in conjunction with intelligent terminal

Unigroup Guoxin Microelectronics Co., Ltd.


A plasma display panel includes a red phosphor layer, a green phosphor layer, and a blue phosphor layer. The thickness of the red phosphor layer comprises Y(V,P)O4:Eu and (Y,Gd)BO3:Eu coated on a barrier rib and is satisfied by the following condition: when Dr is (S−2L)/S, Dr≧0.64, S being a distance between barrier ribs at half the height of the barrier rib; and L being a side thickness at half the height of the barrier rib of the phosphor layer coated on the barrier rib.

A plasma display panel (PDP) is a flat display device using a plasma phenomenon, which is also called a gas-discharge phenomenon since a discharge is generated in the panel when a potential greater than a certain level is applied to two electrodes separated from each other under a gas atmosphere in a non-vacuum state. Such gas-discharge phenomenon is applied to display an image in the plasma display panel.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of plasma display panel 1. As shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of barrier ribs 7 are disposed between front substrate 3 and back substrate 5 with a certain distance therebetween to form a discharge cell. In the cell space, red, green, and blue phosphors 9 are formed. On back substrate 5, address electrodes 11 to be applied with the address signal are formed. On front substrate 3, a pair of sustain electrodes (electrode X 13, electrode Y 15) is formed in one discharge cell in a perpendicular direction to that of the address electrodes. To the discharge space, a discharge gas such as Ne—Xe or He—Xe is injected. That is, three electrodes are mounted in the discharge space of the plasma display panel, which is coated with the red, the green, and the blue phosphors in a regular pattern. When a certain level of voltage is applied between these electrodes, plasma discharge occurs to generate ultraviolet rays, and thereby the phosphors are excited to emit the light.
Phosphor layer 9 is prepared by coating a phosphor paste on the surface of a discharge cell surrounded by front substrate 3, back substrate 5, and barrier rib 7. The phosphor paste is prepared by adding the phosphor to a binder and a solvent. When the side thickness of the phosphor contacting the barrier rib is too thick, a panel spot may occur in a slanting direction so that the luminance is decreased. However, attempts to control the side thickness of the phosphor layer in order to improve the optical characteristics of the plasma display panel have not yet been made.


A support device for a shaft extension of a motor, the motor including a flange facing and a shaft, the shaft not protruding outward beyond the flange facing. The support device includes a retainer and a bearing. The retainer includes a receiving chamber. The retainer is fastened to the flange facing of the motor. The bearing includes an inner hole. The bearing is received in the receiving chamber of the retainer. A shaft extension is coupled with the shaft of the motor through the inner hole of the bearing. The shaft extension is supported by the retainer and bearing.

1. Technical Field
The disclosure generally relates to motor structure and, particularly, to a support device for an extended motor shaft.
2. Description of Related Art
Referring to FIG. 5, a related-art motor 1 includes a shaft 2 and a flange facing 3. The shaft 2 of the motor, not protruding outward beyond the flange facing 31, cannot engage a load. Accordingly, a shaft extension 4 is coupled to the shaft 2 of the motor 1, protruding outward beyond the flange facing 3 of the motor 1, allowing engagement of a load. However, the center of the shaft extension 4 is not supported, thus generates noise and vibration when the motor 10 is operating. Furthermore, addition of the shaft extension 4 is difficult and often inaccurately aligned with the shaft 2.
What is needed, therefore, is a support device which can overcome the limitations described.


An optical system configured to visually inspect a target having a variable position with respect to the optical system is provided. The optical system includes a polarizer configured to convert an incident light reflected or diffused from the target into linearly polarized light; a light modulating element configured to modulate a polarization state of the linearly polarized light in response to control signals; and a lens group comprising at least one birefringent element, the birefringent element configured to refract or reflect the modulated linearly polarized light with a first polarization state under a first refraction index to enable inspection of the target at a first object position, and the birefringent element further configured to refract or reflect the modulated linearly polarized light with a second polarization state under a second refraction index to enable inspection of the target at a second object position.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention relates to inspection devices. More particularly, to an inspection device having the capability of inspecting a target having variable positions with respect to the inspection device.
2. Description of Related Art
Inspection devices including borescopes, videoscopes, fiberscopes, and endoscopes are non-destructive evaluation (NDE) tools widely used in industrial applications and medical applications. The inspection devices are often used to inspect inaccessible locations for damage or wear or to verify whether parts have been properly manufactured or assembled. The inspection devices may employ an external light source coupled to fiber optic bundles or a light source, such as LED, placed at the device's distal end to provide illumination of a target. When the target is illuminated, an image of the target is formed by a lens system on an image sensor, and the image is relayed to a display such as a video screen. In order to inspect a large range of field, the lens system in front of the image sensor with a fixed focal length needs to be designed to achieve a large depth of field (DOF). However, a larger DOF lens will result in a darker image due to smaller aperture stop used. Such darker images may result in inspection failures or difficulties. Typically, a set of a variety DOF tips with different lenses are used in inspection devices with some tips offering near field inspection and the other tips being used for mid to far field inspection. However, repeatedly changing the tips is time-consuming and may decrease the inspection efficiency and user convenience.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide an inspection device and method of operating the inspection device to address the above-mentioned problems.


This invention is a processing method for electrically isolating CMOS transistors. The method involves implanting a channel stop dopant into field regions between transistor active regions, self aligning relatively thick silicon dioxide over these field regions and providing thin oxide in the active regions that are self aligned to the field regions. The method does not require any shallow trench isolation (STI), and does not require Local Oxidation of Silicon (LOCOS), thereby resulting in little damage to the silicon.

High density complementary metal oxide silicon (CMOS) circuits require advanced isolation techniques. Local Oxidation of Silicon (LOCOS) has been used for several years for isolation. In this technique silicon dioxide is grown on the silicon field regions between devices, with silicon nitride preventing oxide growth on the silicon regions that will become device channels and junctions. LOCOS is not suitable for isolating very small submicron transistors, because the oxide growth will encroach laterally beneath the nitride masking layer for a distance that will substantially reduce small device dimensions.
More recently shallow trench isolation (STI) has become popular for submicron isolation. In this technique a shallow trench is etched in the silicon surrounding the active device, the trench is overfilled with silicon dioxide, and chemical mechanical polishing is used to planarize the surface to the original silicon surface. STI is not without problems: 1- The silicon etch can damage the silicon. 2- Source to drain leakage can develop along the sharp corner at the edge of the silicon. 3- The gate oxide breakdown voltage can be lowered along this sharp corner.


A honeycomb structure includes a tubular bonded honeycomb segment assembly having a plurality of honeycomb segments and a bonding layer which bonds side surfaces of the plurality of honeycomb segments to each other; and a pair of electrode members disposed on a side surface of the bonded honeycomb segment assembly, a volume resistivity of each of the honeycomb segments is from 1 to 200 Ωcm, at least a part of the bonding layer is made of a bonding material having a conductivity, a volume resistivity of the bonding layer is from 2 to 2000 Ωcm, and each of the pair of electrode members is formed into a band-like shape extending in an extending direction of the cells of the bonded honeycomb segment assembly, and one electrode member is disposed on a side opposite to the other electrode member via a center of the bonded honeycomb segment assembly.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a honeycomb structure. More particularly, it relates to a honeycomb structure which can be used as a catalyst carrier and also functions as a heater when a voltage is applied thereto and further, which has excellent heat shock resisting properties.
2. Description of Related Art
Heretofore, a product in which a catalyst is loaded onto a honeycomb structure made of cordierite has been used for a treatment of harmful substances in an exhaust gas discharged from a car engine. Furthermore, a honeycomb structure formed from a sintered silicon carbide body has been used for purification of the exhaust gas.
When the exhaust gas is treated by the catalyst loaded onto the honeycomb structure, it is necessary to raise a temperature of the catalyst to a predetermined temperature. However, the catalyst temperature is low at start of the engine, which has caused a problem that the exhaust gas is not sufficiently purified.
Consequently, there has been investigated a catalyst converter including a catalyst carrier to be heated by energization and electrodes, and the catalyst carrier is formed from a plurality of segments arranged in a direction perpendicular to a straight line connecting centers of each electrode to each other (e.g., see Patent Document 1). In the catalyst converter, volume resistivities of the plurality of segments are varied, respectively, whereby an amount of heat to be generated by the energization is approximate to a uniform amount.
Furthermore, there has been suggested a honeycomb structure body including a plurality of sintered conductive segment portions each having a honeycomb structure, and a sintered bonding material portion which bonds the sintered conductive segment portions to one another (e.g., see Patent Document 2).    [Patent Document 1] JP-A-2012-188958    [Patent Document 2] JP-A-2011-98866


A method for synchronizing a plurality of processors within a computer system is provided. The computer system includes a plurality of processors that are each communicatively coupled to a respective network wherein each network is independent of each other network. The method includes receiving a plurality of input signals at a first rate from at least one source, transmitting the input signals to a reference object, and transforming the input signal to a known temporal reference. The apparatus is configured to receive a plurality of input signals at a first rate from at least one source, transmit the input signals to a reference object, and transform the input signal to a known temporal reference.

This invention relates generally to electrical switchgear and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for protecting, monitoring, and controlling the electrical switchgear.
In an industrial power distribution system, power generated by a power generation company may be supplied to an industrial or commercial facility wherein the power is distributed around the industrial or commercial facility to various equipment such as, for example, motors, welding machinery, computers, heaters, lighting, and other electrical equipment. At least some known power distribution systems include switchgear which facilitates dividing the power into branch circuits which supply power to various portions of the industrial facility. Circuit breakers are provided in each branch circuit to facilitate protecting equipment within the branch circuit. Additionally, circuit breakers in each branch circuit can facilitate minimizing equipment failures since specific loads may be energized or de-energized without affecting other loads, thus creating increased efficiencies, and reduced operating and manufacturing costs. Similar switchgear may also be used within an electric utility transmission system and a plurality of distribution substations, although the switching operations used may be more complex.
Switchgear typically includes multiple devices other than the power distribution system components to provide protection, monitoring, and control of the power distribution system components. For example, at least some known power distribution systems include a monitor device to monitor a performance of the power distribution system, a control device to control an operation of the power distribution system, and a protection device to initiate a protective response when the protection device is activated.

Method and system for external clock to obtain multiple synchronized redundant computers


A system adapted for removable placement in a security enclosure fitted into the wall of a refrigerated container for respiring perishables, and for monitoring and controlling, continuously and dynamically, over a programmed, desired time, the concentration of oxygen, and the concentration of dioxide, in such a container atmosphere where the concentrations of these gases vary over time as the perishables respire, includes devices for sensing, separately, the concentrations of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the container atmosphere, devices for establishing setpoints or desired values of oxygen and carbon dioxide atmospheric concentration within the container, and for changing those setpoints, over time, depending on the nature of the perishable and other variables, and for maintaining the atmospheric concentrations of oxygen and carbon dioxide at desired setpoints for desired programmed times by admitting outside air into the container, as a source of oxygen, and by scrubbing to remove carbon dioxide, as necessary.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to systems and methods for controlling the oxygen concentration, and the carbon dioxide concentration, and for monitoring the temperature, in shipping and storage containers for fresh fruits and vegetables and other perishables.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Methods and apparatus using gas atmospheres to preserve the quality of refrigerated perishable fruits and vegetables are known, but have not been widely used. Some systems try to make transport containers sufficiently gastight to allow respiration of perishables to lower the oxygen level, in the containers or to maintain an injected gas atmosphere in the containers. In such systems, the respiration rate of the perishables is used to lower or maintain a desired oxygen level. Carbon dioxide concentration in such containers has been passively reduced using hydrated lime. Undesirable gases, such as ethylene, were removed by reaction with other substances to form new, harmless substances. Other systems used nitrogen in large quantities to flush excess oxygen and carbon dioxide from containers for perishable fruits and vegetables.
These systems failed to detect instantaneous concentrations of gases such as oxygen and carbon dioxide, and failed to take account of, and correct for fortuitous events such as unpredictably high or low respiration rates in perishables, transportation or storage equipment that was less gastight than desired, or poor circulation of the atmosphere surrounding the perishables.
Some systems and methods sought to maintain desired levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide in shipping containers, but these systems required elaborate, costly modifications to the container at the time of its manufacture. Such systems required specialized piping and methods for replenishing the gaseous atmosphere within the containers. Such systems obtained replenishing gases by vaporizing onboard, stored gases, or utilized sieves, membranes or other means to separate oxygen from air.
Some of these systems used removable controllers. However, because of the required piping, or because of the resulting need for enlarged electrical storage means in the containers, such systems were costly. These systems did not permit exposure of the gas concentration-sensing equipment directly to the atmospheres within the containers of the perishables. Rather, the systems required means for pumping gaseous atmospheres in the containers through piping to the controller. Such controllers also suffered from exposure to heat in the electrical control cabinet of the container. These systems were vulnerable to failures from any or all of their disadvantages.
All of the prior art systems, regardless of performance, required high capital costs, and imposed substantial penalties on the storage and transportation systems by increasing their weight, their size, and their energy consumption.

Monitor-control systems and methods for monitoring and controlling atmospheres in containers for respiring perishables


A computer program product, apparatus and method for providing a performance neutral heartbeat in a computer communication system, the computer program product including a tangible storage medium readable by a processing circuit and storing instructions for execution by the processing circuit for performing a method including maintaining a send flag, maintaining a receive flag, determining that a heartbeat timer has activated, checking a state of the send flag to determine if packets have been sent since a prior heartbeat timer activation and checking a state of the receive flag to determine if packets have been received since a prior heartbeat timer activation.

1. Field of Invention
The present disclosure relates generally to multi-tasking multiprocessor systems, and in particular, to a performance neutral heartbeat for a multi-tasking multiprocessor environment.
2. Description of Background
In many mainframe computers, multiple processors are joined into a single unit, sharing the same name and data sets. Such multi-tasking, multi-processor systems represent an instance of a computer system running on one or more physical computers. These multiple mainframes may act as a single mainframe. Such systems can be broken down into LPARs, or logical partitions, each running a different operating system.
InfiniBand (IB), which is a form of System Area Network (SAN), defines a multicast facility that allows a Channel Adapter (CA) to send a packet to a single address and have it delivered to multiple ports. Each multicast group is assigned a unique address, and end-nodes that wish to participate in a multicast group do so via a 'Join' process initiated by the candidate participant with the Subnet Manager. The InfiniBand architecture is described in the InfiniBand standard, which is available at http://www.infinibandta.org and also hereby incorporated by reference.
Currently, many computer communications systems attempt to ensure that any particular connection is still viable. Ensuring for viability can typically be performed at any layer, from hardware through upper level software. A common software approach involves sending heartbeat messages and ensuring that a response is received across the link. In one approach, one end point takes on the role of master, generating the heartbeat messages and checking for responses. The slave end simply receives a heartbeat message responds by sending a heartbeat response message. In another approach, both end points take on both the master and slave roles, generating heartbeat messages, checking for heartbeat responses, and responding to received heartbeat messages by sending a heartbeat response message. One problem that arises from either of these approaches occurs when the traffic level is high. During high traffic times, the heartbeat messages themselves add to the overall congestion on the link.

Performance neutral heartbeat for a multi-tasking multi-processor environment

International Business Machines Corporation


A circuit arrangement for multiple use of a transformer core, comprising a winding with center tap on the primary side and two separate windings on the secondary side, has a controlled switch in each feed line for the two primary windings which is preferably clocked with high frequency. A rectifier is connected to the first secondary winding in particular for forming a switching power supply, which is thus supplied with energy. An FET transistor is coupled to the second secondary winding, in particular for forming a driving pulse transmission, preferably via two Z-diodes with anti-serial connection, which transistor is thus supplied with driving pulses. The magnetic circuit for the transformer is actuated via switches which change polarities on the primary side of the transformer. The switch-on pulse duty factor for the switches is selected to be higher than 50%.

The invention is based on a circuit arrangement for multiple use of a transformer core of the generic type defined in the Preamble to claim 1.
From the DE 36 16 097 A1, a circuit arrangement is known for actuating one or several power field effect transistors in the switching mode with potential separation through a transformer. The transformer has two secondary windings. The first secondary winding is connected to the control electrode of a first driving transistor connected to positive voltage, and the second secondary winding is connected to a second driving transistor connected to negative voltage or ground potential. The two driving transistors are connected to the gate of the power field effect transistor. The primary winding of the transformer can be admitted with currents flowing in opposite direction, depending on whether the power field effect transistor must be switched on or switched off.
This known circuit arrangement has a transformer, to be sure, which has a primary side winding with center tap and two separate windings on the secondary side, wherein a controlled switch in the form of a transistor is provided in each feed line for the two primary windings. However, it only functions as driving circuit for switching a power field effect transistor on and off.
The invention at hand strives for and achieves a multiple use of an existing transformer by supplying a consumer with energy as well as transmitting drive pulses. This is not the case for the known circuit arrangement.
In contrast, the inventive circuit arrangement for multiple use of a transformer core has the advantage of saving a second inductive element. This results in space and cost savings and thus reduces the necessary total expenditure.
According to the invention, this is generally achieved in that a rectifier is connected to a first secondary winding, in particular for forming a switching power supply which is supplied with energy, and that an FET transistor is connected to a second secondary winding, in particular for forming a drive pulse transmission, which is thus supplied with drive pulses, and that the magnetic circuit for the transformer is actuated from the primary side by different poles.
For a particularly useful embodiment of the invention, the pulse duty factor for switching on the controlled switches is selected to be higher than 50% in the feed lines for the primary windings. It is advantageous if the pulse duty factor for switching on is around 80%.
According to an advantageous modification of the invention, which leads in particular to small structural shapes for the components and thus results in a space saving, the clocking is with high frequency, for example with a frequency of several 100 kHz. In this case, it makes sense if respectively one of the controlled switches in the feed lines to the two primary windings is clocked in a suitable manner.
In accordance with a preferred and advantageous embodiment of the invention, the FET transistor is linked to the second secondary winding via the in-series connection of two Z-diodes with connected cathodes.
If the gate source capacity of the FET transistor is too small, a capacitor can be connected in an advantageous modification of the invention between the gate and the source terminal of the FET transistor.
As a result of the advantageous embodiment of the invention, the FET transistor that is connected to the second secondary winding can be electrically floating.
The inventive circuit arrangement is provided for a particularly advantageous use when generating an independent, stabilized supply voltage and to actuate an electrically floating FET transistor, in particular a MOSFET transistor.
In another useful application, the inventive circuit arrangement is used for control devices for high-pressure gas discharge lamps, in particular in motor vehicle headlamps.

Circuit arrangement for multiple use of a transformer core


Techniques are disclosed for regulating a flow of requests from a client device to a server. The techniques include the step of receiving, from an application program executing on the client device, a request to perform an operation on the server. The client device determines a current budget value based upon an initial budget value, where the current budget value is reduced by a particular cost each time the server processes a request generated by the application program. The client device then determines a time-adjusted budget value based upon a sum of the current budget value and a regeneration value. Finally, the client device sends to the server the request to perform the operation only when the time-adjusted budget value exceeds a threshold value.

The proliferation of client computing devices—such as smart phones and tablets—has drastically changed the manner in which software applications are designed and executed. Some software applications—such as games—are designed to run independently on the client computing device and require little or no interaction with a server. Other software applications—such as photo sharing applications—rely on accessing server computing devices that are designed to interact with the software applications. Notably, implementing and managing such server computer devices can be complicated and expensive, and often exceeds the resources that are available to the developers. To address this problem, "cloud computing" services were created, which provide scalable computing resources that remove the necessity for a developer to implement his or her own server computing devices.
Despite helping to cure some of the problems set forth above, cloud computing environments can, in some cases, create bottlenecks and degrade overall performance on both the client and server ends. This notion especially applies in cloud computing environments that include a vast number of client computing devices (e.g., one hundred million) that rely on a relatively small number of server computing devices (e.g., ten thousand). Consider, for example, a popular software application that executes on each of the client computing devices and is configured to rely on offloading work to the server computing devices. Notably, if the software application is poorly-written, and causes, for example, a large number of extraneous requests to be inefficiently issued to the server computing devices, then the server computing devices can become overloaded and cause performance degradations across the board.
One approach used to mitigate this problem involves implementing software on the server computing devices that causes them to ignore or defer the extraneous requests that are issued by the client computing devices. However, this approach still does not prevent the client computing devices from issuing the extraneous requests, and, as a result, both the client computing devices and the server computing devices continue to wastefully consume resources. Moreover, such extraneous requests can cause crowding and prevent the server computing devices from appropriately serving other software applications that are properly functioning. Consequently, users who do not have the poorly-written software application installed on their client computing devices—but have other well-written software applications installed on their client computing devices that also access the cloud computing services—can be negatively impacted.

Distributed control over client-side requests for server resources


A system and method are provided for improving the operational performance of a moving cement mixer vehicle with a rotatable mixing drum by automatically stopping the rotation of the mixing drum at select moments. The system may include a sensor adapted to deliver a signal indicative of an operational parameter, such as steering angle of the vehicle, and a processing unit adapted to receive the signal from the sensor and deliver a control signal based on the signal for stopping rotation of the mixing drum.

Cement mixer trucks are used to transport loads of mixed, non-hardened cement. These trucks typically have a rotatable mixing drum for storing the cement mixture and a hydraulic system and mixing drum controller for controlling the rotation of the drum. The agitation caused by rotating the mixing drum prevents the cement mixture from setting up and hardening. Therefore, the mixing drum is typically rotating both when the truck is moving and when the truck is stopped.
As a result of the mixing drum rotating, the position of the cement mixture in the drum is generally shifted in the direction of rotation, both laterally and upward along the inside of the drum. This shift of the cement load results in a shift of the center of gravity of the truck, which makes one side of the vehicle heavier that the other side. The uneven loading of the vehicle can have a detrimental effect on vehicle performance. For example, when the vehicle is moving, the offset of the center of gravity increases the rollover risk of the vehicle in the direction of the heavier side. Lateral (side) acceleration creates a force at the center of gravity, "pushing" the truck horizontally. The friction between the tires and the road opposes that force. If the lateral force is high enough, one side of the truck may begin to lift off the ground potentially causing the vehicle to roll over. Thus, the height and lateral offset of the center of gravity affect roll stability.
In addition, uneven distribution of weight across the wheels of the vehicle can adversely impact performance of the vehicle in other ways, such as braking and traction control. For example, in an antilock braking system (ABS), an evenly distributed load allows each wheel to more optimally brake. Furthermore, with automatic traction control (ATC) systems, uneven loading may cause a drive wheel to slip.

Arrangement for improving the operational performance of cement mixing truck


Provided are a laminated glass which has a reduced occurrence of voids and accumulation of liquid crystal, and a production method for the laminated glass. Also provided is a laminated glass which can prevent deterioration of a sealing material. This laminated glass 1 comprises a first glass plate 33A, a first intermediate film 31A, a liquid crystal film 10, a second intermediate film 31B, and a second glass plate, which are layered and disposed in this order, wherein the first glass plate 33A and the second glass plate 33B have a larger outer shape than that of the liquid crystal film 10, and a spacer 32 is provided in at least a portion of a region which is interposed between the first glass plate 33A and the second glass plate 33B and in which the liquid crystal film 10 is not disposed.

In the related art, there are suggested light control members capable of being used in an electronic blind that is adhered to, for example, a window and controls transmission of external light (Patent Document 1, Patent Document 2). One of the light control members uses liquid crystal. With regard to a liquid crystal film as the light control member that uses liquid crystal, a liquid crystal material is sandwiched by transparent plate materials including a transparent electrode to produce a liquid crystal cell, and the liquid crystal cell is sandwiched by linear polarization plates to produce the liquid crystal film. The liquid crystal film causes an electric field applied between transparent electrodes to vary so as to cause an alignment of liquid crystal to vary, thereby controlling a transmission amount of the external light.
In addition, it has been proposed to produce laminated glass by further sandwiching the liquid crystal film with glass (Patent Document 3). However, in the related art, laminated glass sandwiching the liquid crystal film is not actually produced. Accordingly, laminated glass sandwiching the liquid crystal film may not be correctly produced in the case of simply applying the same method as in the interlayer interposed laminated glass of the related art. As a case where the laminated glass sandwiching the liquid crystal film cannot be correctly produced, there is a phenomenon (hereinafter, referred to as "accumulation of liquid crystal") in which a large amount of liquid crystal is partially accumulated in the liquid crystal film. In addition, voids may occur at a part of the laminated glass in some cases. When the accumulation of liquid crystal or voids exist, the laminated glass is discarded as a defective product, and thus an improvement is desired.
In addition, the liquid crystal film has a configuration in which the liquid crystal layer is sealed by a sealing material, but there is a concern that the sealing material is irradiated with solar light depending on a use environment and the sealing material may deteriorate. When the sealing material deteriorates, there is a concern that liquid crystal in the liquid crystal layer may be leaked, and thus a countermeasure thereof is desired.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. H03-47392
Patent Document 2: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. H08-184273
Patent Document 3: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. 2016-164617

Laminated glass and production method for laminated glass


This invention is related to an apparatus for microdermoabrasion by means of a jet of a mixture of air and reducing crystals, and the associated handle. The apparatus is used in cosmetic surgery and/or dermatology and utilizes microdermoabrasion wherein a jet of reducing crystals is applied to human tissue. The jet of reducing crystals is, in particular, a jet of corundum crystals (Al.sub.2 O.sub.3).

The known apparatuses for microdermabrasion have three remarkable disadvantages:
The European patent application EP-A-0 324 448 (L.I.C.A. of Rosso & C. Snc) and the European patent application EP-A-O 318 042 (Molinari et al.) concern two apparatuses for the micro-abrasion of human epidermis. These devices do not solve either the aforesaid particular hygienic problems or those concerning the obstruction of the circuits. Furthermore, with regard to the handle described in EP-A-0 318 042 (Molinari et al.), it must be specified that it is very expensive for its structure and material. Also apparatuses using monobloc handles made of a glassy material (in particular tempered Pyrex.TM. have been developed. In this case the handles do not show particular problems concerning obstruction or sterilization, but, because of the particular material they are made of, they are rapidly worn out, thus becoming thinner, so that they could even hurt the patients. All three apparatuses require the pouring out of the crystals, both in the loading and in the unloading phase. Therefore there could be a dispersion of crystals in the environment. If these crystals were used crystals mixed with particles of abraded tissue, there would be a dispersion of potentially infecting material. Furthermore U.S. Pat. No. 3,878,962 (Holbrook et al.) illustrates an improved bottle which can be used for collecting the body fluids of patients in hospital operating rooms. In this bottle the cartridge is closed by means of a quick lock. However, nowhere in U.S. Pat. No. 3,878,962 is it specified that the cartridge filled with unused liquid can be utilized in the following treatment to contain the used liquid.

Apparatus for microdermabrasion by means of a jet of mixture of air/reducing substances and relating handle


Systems and methods for improving generation of vacuum for a vehicle are disclosed. In one example, an air conditioning compressor bypass valve is selectively activated to improve generation of vacuum by an engine. The systems and methods may reduce the possibility of compressor clutch degradation.

Vacuum may be used in a vehicle as a motive force for adjusting a position of actuators, assisting adjustment of an actuator, and/or as a way of transferring gases from one location to another location. For example, vacuum may assist a driver applying a vehicle's brake pedal or purging fuel vapors from a fuel vapor storage canister to an engine. One way to generate vacuum is to operate an engine throttled. At lower engine loads, the engine's throttle may be partially closed to reduce engine torque. Vacuum may be generated within the engine's air intake system at a location downstream of the throttle. Thus, the engine may be a cost effective way of producing vacuum. However, smaller displacement engines tend to operate at higher intake manifold pressure as compared to larger displacement engines. Additionally, when an engine is operated at higher altitudes, it may be more difficult for the engine to produce vacuum since air pressure at higher altitudes is reduced as compared to air pressure at sea level. Consequently, an engine may operate less throttled at higher altitudes to produce a same amount of torque as at a lower altitude. Therefore, it may be more difficult to produce vacuum via the engine at higher altitudes.
One way of generating additional vacuum at higher altitudes is to reduce a load applied to the engine when the engine is operated at higher altitudes. However, it may not be possible or desirable to reduce a load applied to an engine every time vacuum is requested without degrading operation of the device providing load to the engine. As a result, the engine may produce lower vacuum than is desired, or vehicle passengers may become aggravated by degraded performance of subsystems that are unloaded from the engine for extended periods to improve vacuum generation.
The inventors herein have recognized the above-mentioned disadvantages and have developed a method for generating vacuum, comprising: operating an air conditioning compressor bypass valve to reduce air conditioner compressor work in response to a request to reduce air conditioner compressor load for less than a predetermined amount of time.
By opening an air conditioning compressor bypass valve in response to a request for vacuum, it may be possible to provide the technical result of producing vacuum for vehicle systems in a way that is less noticeable to vehicle occupants. In particular, an air conditioning compressor bypass valve may be opened for short time periods (e.g., less than five seconds) to unload the air conditioning compressor from the engine. Thus, the air conditioning compressor may be unloaded from the engine for short periods of time so that vacuum in a vacuum reservoir may be replenished. Additionally, opening the air conditioning compressor bypass clutch allows an air conditioning compressor clutch to remain closed so that there may be less possibility of air conditioning clutch degradation.
The compressor bypass valve may be opened asynchronously with respect to instantaneous compressor piston position. For example, the compressor bypass valve may be opened when a piston of the air conditioning compressor is at any position in its cycle. However, in other examples, the compressor bypass valve (or valves) may be opened and closed in synchronism with piston position and thus continuously vary the "trapped" vapor to be compressed. For example, the compressor bypass valve may be opened during each compression stroke of the compressor piston ten degrees before top-dead-center (TDC) compression stroke. If the air conditioning compressor includes multiple pistons, the compressor bypass valve may be opened and closed synchronous with the different pistons. The compressor bypass valve opening and closing may be synchronous controlled to vary the air conditioning compressor between full compression and no (or low) compression.
The present description may provide several advantages. Namely, the approach may improve vacuum generation for a vehicle. Additionally, the approach may reduce the possibility of air conditioning clutch degradation. Further, the approach may reduce vehicle passenger discomfort by reducing air conditioning compressor load on an engine for short intervals during which a reduction in air conditioning system output may be less noticeable.
The above advantages and other advantages, and features of the present description will be readily apparent from the following Detailed Description when taken alone or in connection with the accompanying drawings.
It should be understood that the summary above is provided to introduce in simplified form a selection of concepts that are further described in the detailed description. It is not meant to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, the scope of which is defined uniquely by the claims that follow the detailed description. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any disadvantages noted above or in any part of this disclosure.

System and method for generating vacuum for a vehicle


A method for generating relatively realistic virtual eyes for a character in a virtual environment, such as a video game, chat room, and virtual world. Different types of visual effects and textures are layered to create relatively realistic virtual eyes for a character in the virtual environment. These layered visual effects include a sclera texture that is generated to cover the opening surrounded by the virtual eyelids for the character. Layered over the sclera texture is a transparent texture that also covers these openings and includes opaque virtual irises that are arranged in a position that is based on a direction that the character is looking. Additionally, a relatively light spot or additive “glint” texture is layered in a position on top of the virtual iris for the transparent texture that is based at least in part on a summation of light sources that are illuminating the character in a scene of the virtual environment.

As many devoted computer gamers may be aware, the overall interactive entertainment of a computer game may be greatly enhanced with the presence of realistic visual effects. However, creating a robust and flexible visual effects application that is also computationally efficient is a considerable challenge. Such visual effects applications may be difficult to design, challenging to code, and even more difficult to debug. Creating the visual effects application to operate realistically in real-time may be even more difficult.
Today, there are a number of off-the-shelf visual effects applications that are available, liberating many game developers, and other dynamic three-dimensional virtual environment program developers, from the chore of programming this component, themselves. However, the integration of a visual effects application with a game model that describes the virtual environment and its characters often remains complex. An improper integration of the visual effects application with the game model may be visible to the computer gamer by the less than "life-like" appearance of a character, as well as other non-realistic visualizations, reactions, and delays. For example, research directed towards examining human ability to spot non-life-like approximation of a face found that the eyes, and specifically proper glint and shadowing of the eyes, are crucial to presenting believable virtual characters and drawing an emotional response from a player to a virtual character. Such visual artifacts tend to diminish the overall enjoyment in a virtual environment. Therefore, it is with respect to these considerations and others that the present invention has been made.

Generating eyes for a character in a virtual environment


A mobile communication terminal and a method for warning a user of a low-voltage state of the terminal. The method includes the steps of pre-storing a low-voltage alarm message in a memory, checking a voltage level of a battery in a call connection mode, and if the voltage level of the battery is lower than a predetermined voltage, reading the low-voltage alarm message from the memory and transmitting the read low-voltage alarm message to a called terminal communicating with the mobile communication terminal. A caller mobile communication terminal can thus inform a called mobile communication terminal that the breaking of a call connection state was caused by a low-voltage state of a battery of the caller terminal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mobile communication terminal, and more particularly to a mobile communication terminal for indicating a low-voltage state of its own battery and a method for warning a user of the low-voltage state of the mobile communication terminal.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 is a flow chart illustrating a method for warning a user of a low-voltage state of a conventional mobile communication terminal. Referring to FIG. 1, a mobile communication terminal checks a power-supply voltage of a battery at step 100, and determines at step 101 whether the battery is reduced to a power-supply cut-off voltage level. If it is determined at step 101 that the battery is not reduced to a power-supply cut-off voltage level, the mobile communication terminal determines at step 102 whether the battery is reduced to a low-voltage state. If a low-voltage state is found, a user of the mobile communication terminal cannot establish a call connection state with a called party, though the user can perform simple operations such as a phone number search on the mobile communication terminal. However, if the battery is reduced to a power-supply cut-off voltage level, the user cannot search for a desired phone number on his or her mobile communication terminal. If it is determined at step 102 that the mobile communication terminal is in a low-voltage state, it is determined at step 103 whether the mobile communication terminal is communicating with a terminal of a called party. Different display intervals of an alarm message are set up depending on the determination result at step 103. If the mobile communication terminal is communicating a called party, a warning timer is driven in a call connection state at step 104, and an information screen indicating the low-voltage state of the battery is displayed on a display of the mobile communication terminal while a speaker outputs an alarm sound at step 105. Then, if the battery reaches a power-supply cut-off voltage, the mobile communication terminal is powered off. However, if the mobile communication terminal is not communicating with a called party, a warning timer is driven in a wait mode at step 106, and an information screen indicating the low-voltage state of the battery is displayed on a display of the mobile communication terminal while a speaker outputs an alarm sound at step 107. A conventional mobile communication terminal consumes ten times more power in the call connection mode than in the wait mode, and therefore in a call connection mode it uses a warning timer to warn of a short time remaining in operation. The mobile communication terminal is then compulsorily powered off after the lapse of a predetermined time.
If the battery is reduced to a power-supply cut-off voltage level at step 101, the mobile communication terminal determines whether a power-supply cut-off flag is set up at step 108. The power-supply cut-off flag indicates that a voltage level of the mobile communication terminal has reached a power-supply cut-off voltage level. If it is determined at step 108 that the power-supply cut-off flag is set, a timer for powering off the mobile communication terminal is driven. Therefore, the mobile communication terminal stops communicating with the called party after the lapse of a predetermined time at step 109, and is then powered off at step 110. However, if the voltage supplied to the mobile communication terminal is determined to be the power-supply cut-off voltage level at step 101, and the power-supply cut-off flag is determined to not be set at step 108, then the power-supply cut-off flag is set at step 111, and a timer for powering off the mobile communication terminal is driven at step 112.
In this way, the conventional mobile communication terminal drives a timer for a predetermined time after sensing a low-voltage state of the battery, and outputs an alarm sound indicating the low-voltage state at predetermined intervals. The mobile communication terminal is then powered off after the lapse of the predetermined time.
Conventional mobile communication terminals enable a user, i.e. caller, to recognize an alarm sound signaling a low-voltage state, but are unable to allow a called party to recognize the alarm sound signaling a low-voltage state. The called party is then unable to recognize the reason for the call termination; specifically, the called party cannot recognize whether the caller intentionally powered off the mobile communication terminal or whether the battery in the caller's mobile communication terminal is consumed. This remains the case even if the called party receives information indicating a power-off state of the caller's mobile communication terminal. As a result, the called party may continuously attempt to establish a call connection state with the caller. Further, if the caller does not carry a spare battery, he or she cannot inform the called party of this situation.

Mobile communication terminal and method for warning a user of a low-voltage state of the same


System and method for processing heartbeat messages. A first network device receives heartbeat response messages from two or more of a plurality of network devices. Each heartbeat response message respectively corresponds to one network device of the plurality of network devices. The first network device processes the received heartbeat response messages in kernel space and determines, for each of the plurality of heartbeat response messages, an index value identifying the network device that sent the respective heartbeat response message. The first network device updates heartbeat response message fields in a health check data structure in kernel space based on the generated index values and subsequently processes, in a user space, information received from at least one of the heartbeat response message fields of the health check data structure to obtain health status associated with one or more of the plurality of network devices.

A computer network is a collection of interconnected computing devices that can exchange data and share resources. In a packet-based network, such as the Internet, the computing devices communicate data by dividing the data into small blocks called packets, which are individually routed across the network from a source device to a destination device. The destination device extracts the data from the packets and assembles the data into its original form.
Certain devices, referred to as routers, maintain routing information that describes available routes through the network. Each route defines a path between two locations on the network. Upon receiving an incoming packet, the router examines information within the packet and forwards the packet in accordance with the routing information. In order to maintain an accurate representation of a network, routers may maintain control-plane peering sessions through which they exchange routing or link state information that reflects the current topology of the network.
Periodic packets may be used to confirm liveliness. For example, periodic packets may be used to confirm connectivity and to indicate operational status of an application and/or device. Periodic packets may sometimes be referred to as "periodic messages," "keep-alives," "keep-alive packets," "keep-alive messages," "hellos," "hello packets," "hello messages," "heartbeats," "heartbeat packets," or "heartbeat messages."
As one example, routers typically send periodic packets to each other via the peering sessions to confirm connectivity and to indicate operational status of each device. The routers may use the periodic packets for network liveliness detection (e.g., to detect connectivity status with each other). For example, a router may send periodic packets to a peer router every 50 milliseconds (ms) to indicate that the router is still operational. likewise, the router may detect reception of corresponding periodic packets from the peer router within the same period of time (e.g., 50 ms). When a periodic packet is not received in the allotted time frame, the router determines that a network event has occurred, such as failure of the peer router or failure of a link or node connecting the two routers. Consequently, the router may update various routing information to redirect network traffic and may issue a number of routing protocol update messages to neighboring routers indicating a topology change.
As another example, applications executing within a network environment frequently utilize heartbeat messaging schemes to monitor operational status of other applications within the network. For example, applications executing on network devices within a network environment may send periodic packets to each other to confirm connectivity and to indicate operational status of each device. For example, a first application executing on one network device may send periodic packets to a peer application executing on another network device every 50 milliseconds Ins to indicate that the first application is still operational. Likewise, the application may detect reception of corresponding periodic packets from the peer application within the same period of time (e.g., 50 ms). When a threshold number of periodic packets have not been received in the allotted time frame, the application may determine that a session failure event has occurred, such as failure of the network device on which the peer application is executing or failure of a link or node connecting the two network devices or failure of the application itself. In response to the failure, the network device on which the peer application is executing may take certain actions, such as redirecting communications to a different peer application.
As another example, routers may exchange periodic packets by establishing a session provided by a protocol, such as the bidirectional forwarding detection (RFD) protocol. In accordance with the RFD protocol, a first router periodically sends BFD packets at a negotiated transmission time interval and detects a session failure event when the router does not receive a BFD packet from a second router within session detection time interval. For instance, a router may negotiate to receive BFD packets every 50 ms from a peer router and may independently utilize a detection multiplier of three (3) times that interval, i.e., 150 ms in this example, for detecting failure. If the receiving router does not receive a BFD packet from the peer router within the 150 ms session detection time interval, the receiving router detects a connectivity failure with respect to the second router. Consequently, the receiving router may update its routing information to route traffic around the second router.

Offloading heartbeat responses message processing to a kernel of a network device


A tilt switch has an electrical terminal on its top end and an electrical terminal on its bottom end. It comprises a conductive can with an opening on the top end side serving as the electrical terminal on the bottom end and a conductive cap covering the opening of the conductive can serving as the electrical terminal on the top end. An insulator member attached to the conductive can surrounding the side of the conductive cap insulating the conductive cap from said conductive can. Inside the conductive can is at least one rollable conductive member. The rollable conductive member is not in electrical contact with the conductive cap when resting on the bottom inside said conductive can. A system, which includes electrical circuits that employ the tilt switch, is responsive to the orientation of the tilt switch.

Tilt switches have numerous applications, including for example, orientation sensing, motion sensing, and acceleration sensing. There is a large number of existing tilt switch designs. Selected examples of tilt switch design may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,513,183 to Hill, U.S. Pat. No. 4,628,160 to Canevari, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,136,127, and 5,209,343 to Romano, et al. A tilt switch includes a number of mechanical components. Representative methods for manufacturing these mechanical components include casting, molding, machining, stamping and sheet metal stamping, extruding, or a combination thereof. Machining is among the costly manufacturing methods and machined mechanical components typically have relatively high manufacturing cost. Sheet metal stamping is among the inexpensive manufacturing methods and stamped sheet metal mechanical components typically have relatively low manufacturing cost. Tilt switches according to many of the selected example designs above may be relatively costly because of they employ high manufacturing cost mechanical components. An object of the present invention is to provide selected example embodiments that employ low manufacturing cost mechanical components. Another object of the present invention is to provide selected example embodiments that have geometry of and electrical terminals that are compatible with selected batteries, for example, a button cell.


The present invention provides a compound of the formula

Positron emission tomography (PET) is a non-invasive diagnostic technique of rapidly growing importance in the field of oncology. Since molecular events associated with cancer are directly observed using this method, custom tracers allow more specific identification of malignancies than simple anatomy-based imaging. An additional advantage of PET is an order of magnitude greater sensitivity than the single photon computerized tomography method used with gamma emitters (e.g. 99 mTc labeled probes).
The ideal tracer probe for imaging cancer would have the following characteristics: 1) it would accumulate specifically in targeted cells, 2) it would clear rapidly from blood and surrounding tissues not associated with the tumor, 3) the attachment of the radionuclide would not substantially diminish the affinity of the tracer molecule for its target, 4) the radionuclide would not be easily dissociated from the tracer molecule in vivo, 5) given the short half-life of positron emitting isotopes, the protocol for introducing the radionuclide into the probe should be as quick and efficient as possible.
The most commonly used isotope for PET is 18F, which is produced by proton bombardment of 18OH2 and has a comparatively long half life of 110 minutes. In the majority of clinical PET scans, the tracer probe is 2-18F-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) ("Positron Emission Tomography with [18F]-FDG in Oncology." J. N. Talbot, Y. Petegnief, K. Kerrou, F. Montravers, D. Grahek, N. Younsi, Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A 2003, 504, 129), which is recognized by cells as glucose and taken up, but can not be utilized. FDG thus accumulates in the cells and a metabolic image of the tumor is obtained.
There are however a number of disadvantages to the use of FDG. First, it gives no direct indication of the neoplastic character of the lesion. Second, well-differentiated and slow-growing tumors are often not detected. Third, although it is highly useful for the management of certain cancers (e.g. lung, melanoma), it is less effective for others, e.g. those of the brain, where background glucose uptake is also rapid.
A potential answer to these issues can be found in the labeling of ligands which are specifically recognized by particular cancer cells. Since these can be cell-surface receptor proteins or even macromolecules (e.g. antibodies, diabodies, minibodies), there is substantially more leeway for the attachment of the label, and indeed macrocyclic 64Cu and 68Ga complexes have been developed in this context which would be much too large for the labeling of glucose ("Targeting Peptides and Positron Emission Tomography." H. Lundqvist, V. Tolmachev, Biopolymers 2002, 66, 381). An advantage of using metal-macrocycle chelation is that the synthetic work required (i.e. attachment of the label to the molecular probe) can be done before the arrival of the radionuclide, which is simply complexed by the chelator-tracer conjugate and is ready for use. Unfortunately, 64Cu and 68Ga are far less readily available than 18F, which limits their widespread application in both research and therapy.
The practical scope for recognition and binding of anions is considerably narrower than that for metal cations ("Anion Recognition and Sensing: The State of the Art and Future Perspectives." P. D. Beer, P. A. Gale, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2001, 40, 486). One reason for this is because concentrations of negative potential are more accessible and manageable on the molecular scale than concentrations of positive potential. Thus while examples of electron wells abound in the form of easily manipulable heteroatom arrays, localized electron deficits involve Lewis acidic sites which are less conveniently integrated into receptor design than the common nonmetals, and are generally incompatible with the only other vectorial noncovalent interaction relevant to anions, i.e., hydrogen bonding.
Aromatic rings are intuitively sources of electron density, and much work has been done on their interaction with cations. However, heterocyclic and perfluorinated rings show a minimum in electrostatic potential at their centroids, thereby making a favorable interaction between such rings and anions possible. Using high level quantum mechanical modeling (MP2/6-31G*), we found an interaction on the order of 10 kcal mol-1 for s-triazine complexes with fluoride and chloride as the representative anions ("Anion-Aromatic Bonding: A Case for Anion Recognition by π-Acidic Rings." M. Mascal, A. Armstrong, M. D. Bartberger, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2002, 124, 6274). The optimized triazine centroid . . . anion distances for fluoride and chloride were about 2.6 and 3.2 Å, respectively.
Since present techniques for labeling peptides with 18F are laborious and not yet of clinical value, the best case scenario would be a system which achieved customized imaging using cell-line specific peptides, and incorporated an 18F− complexing agent to disinvolve chemical transformations from the labeling process. Surprisingly, the present invention meets this and other needs.

Fluoride carrier for positron emission tomography

Abstract: wherein R1 is an ammonium bridge. The compounds of the present invention can be linked to a biological molecule that targets a specific type of cell. The compounds of the present invention can trap isotopic fluorine so that when the biological molecule accumulates in the desired type of cell, the isotopic fluorine is imaged by positron emission tomography (PET).

The Regents of the University of California


A hydraulic system includes a charge pump which supplies fluid to variable displacement main pump, a fluid reservoir and valve unit. The valve unit includes a hollow housing having a first end communicated with the reservoir and a second end communicated with the charge pump and the main pump. A housing valve land member is located between the first and second ends. A valve member is movably mounted in the housing. The valve member has a valve disk attached to first and second valve stems which project from opposite sides of the valve disk. The valve disk has a central position wherein the valve disk is received by the ring. The valve stems are slidably supported by stem support members at opposite ends of the housing. A hollow sleeve projects from an end of the valve unit. A spring is mounted in the sleeve and is engagable with an end of one of the valve stems and is biased to urge the valve member away from the sleeve.

The present invention relates to a double acting valve unit for a hydraulic system.
A known production tractor hydraulic system includes a charge pump which supplies hydraulic fluid to a variable displacement piston pump and to a clean oil reservoir. It would be desirable to maintain at least a certain desired minimum charge pressure at the inlet to the piston pump, and to allow the free flow of oil from the clean oil reservoir to the piston pump during conditions when the piston pump requires a high volume of oil, such as when the piston pump is supplying oil to a single acting cylinders or a hitch cylinder during hitch operation.
Previously, this has required two separate valve devices, such as a conventional check valve with a parallel bypass orifice. A simpler, more compact valve unit is desired.


There is provided a process for the preparation of substituted .beta.-ketoanilide compounds having the structural formula I ##STR1## The substituted .beta.-ketoanilide compounds are useful for the control of insect pests.

Substituted .beta.-ketoanilide compounds which are useful for the control of insect pests are described in a related U.S. patent application. The related application discloses that substituted .beta.-ketoanilide compounds may be prepared by reacting a substituted aniline with a lactone such as dimethylketene .beta.-lactone dimer. However, dimethylketene .beta.-lactone dimer is not entirely satisfactory because it is a persistent lachrymator.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,072,724 discloses that certain .beta.-ketoamide compounds may be prepared by reacting a nitrogen containing compound with a tetraalkyl-1,3-cyclobutanedione. However, that patent specifically discloses that aromatic amines such as aniline do not react with tetraalkyl-1,3-cyclobutanediones to form .beta.-ketoamides. In addition, Haske, et al in the Journal of Organic Chemistry, 26, pp. 4340-4344 (1961) disclose that it is difficult to prepare 2,2,4-trimethyl-3-oxovaler-anilide from aniline and tetramethyl-1,3-cyclobutanedione.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a new and efficient process for the preparation of substituted .beta.-ketoanilide compounds which avoids the use of dimethylketene .beta.-lactone dimer and overcomes the difficulties described in the art associated with the use of tetraalkyl-1,3-cyclobutanediones.

Process for the preparation of substituted .beta.-ketoanilide compounds


An ultrasonic system has an ultrasonic stack excited by a power supply. The ultrasonic stack has a plurality of components, including an ultrasonic converter, a booster and an ultrasonic horn. A method of controlling the ultrasonic system with the power supply includes upon replacing any of the components of the ultrasonic stack with a replacement component, inputting an amplitude parameter of the replacement component into the power supply, determining with the power supply an amplitude of an AC excitation signal at which to excite the ultrasonic converter based on amplitude parameters of the components including the amplitude parameter of each replacement component. The power supply then sets the amplitude of the AC excitation signal at this determined amplitude.

This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Certain ultrasonic systems have an ultrasonic stack excited by an ultrasonic power supply, which is often also used to control the ultrasonic system. Examples of such ultrasonic systems include ultrasonic welders such as those used to weld together metal parts, those used to weld together plastic parts, and those used to seal ends of metal or plastic tubes (which are essentially the same as those used to weld together metal or plastic parts). They also include ultrasonic systems that cut, stake, swage and mark parts.
An ultrasonic stack includes an ultrasonic converter and any passive ultrasonic component acoustically coupled to the ultrasonic converter, typically a booster and an ultrasonic horn. It should be understood that ultrasonic converters are also known as ultrasonic transducers. It should also be understood that passive ultrasonic components are also known as acoustic ultrasonic components. It should also be understood that the ultrasonic converter is electrically excited by an ultrasonic power supply and the passive ultrasonic components are mechanically excited. It should be understood that an ultrasonic stack could have only an ultrasonic converter.
When driven by the ultrasonic converter at a particular mechanical excitation amplitude, the passive ultrasonic components each have a mechanical gain that (if not a gain of one) changes the mechanical excitation amplitude from an input end to an output end of the component. That is, the output amplitude at the output end of each component is the input amplitude at the input end multiplied by the mechanical gain of that component. The product of all the mechanical gains of the passive ultrasonic components multiplied by the mechanical excitation amplitude of the ultrasonic converter yields the overall mechanical excitation of the ultrasonic stack, and is typically the output amplitude at the output end of the ultrasonic horn.
Ultrasonic converters use piezoelectric materials to make ultrasonic excitations. The mechanical amplitude of the mechanical excitations is dictated by the mechanical gain of the ultrasonic converter and the piezo coupling coefficient (Kz) of the piezoelectric material at a given amplitude of an AC excitation signal (voltage or current amplitude) at which the ultrasonic power supply excites the ultrasonic converter. This amplitude is an amplitude of the AC voltage or current AC excitation depending on whether the power supply excites the ultrasonic converter with a constant voltage and varies current to vary the amplitude of excitation or with constant current and varies voltage to vary the amplitude of excitation. The value of d33 can vary somewhat from sample to sample for a given piezoelectric material due to manufacturing variances, therefore the mechanical amplitude of excitation can vary somewhat from ultrasonic converter to ultrasonic converter for a given ultrasonic converter design using an AC excitation signal having the same amplitude.
In the prior art, measuring the amplitude of the mechanical excitation of the ultrasonic stack at a given AC excitation current or voltage is typically performed with the entire ultrasonic stack either in situ with a linear gauge or at manufacture with a laser vibrometer. Then the AC excitation current or voltage is varied to get the desired amplitude of mechanical excitation of the ultrasonic stack.
It is also common practice in ultrasonics to have certified ultrasonic stacks where the amplitude of the mechanical excitation of an ultrasonic stack relative to the amplitude of AC current or voltage excitation is measured at manufacture. The components of the certified ultrasonic stack are then never separated.
Electronic storage has been previously used on an ultrasonic stack to merely identify an ultrasonic stack for such things as manufacturer, product name, model number, serial number, and resonant frequency. As an example, Herrmann Ultraschall has introduced an RFID on their stack that solely identifies the ultrasonic stack.
Oftentimes it is desired to swap various components of the ultrasonic stack. With the prior art, the new ultrasonic stack combination could have its amplitude of excitation measured in situ with a linear gauge. However, oftentimes it is not practical to measure this amplitude in situ. Again with the prior art, if various components of the ultrasonic stack are swapped, one does not know with precision what the actual mechanical to electrical ratio is of the entire ultrasonic stack with the new components to be able to fine tune the ultrasonic power supply to get the desired amplitude of mechanical excitation of the ultrasonic stack.
Also, because the value of d33 can decrease over time in an ultrasonic converter, if the amplitude of excitation of the ultrasonic stack cannot be measured in situ, the true amplitude at the end of the ultrasonic stack is not known in the prior art after a period of use.
Ultrasonic stacks and their components have limited life. In the prior art, their service lives have typically not been tracked and predicted. Therefore, a user typically doesn't know when to replace components and warranty has not been based on service life, but based on date of sale. Further, ultrasonic converters are subject to failure if exposed to too high a temperature. In the prior art, the temperature of the ultrasonic converter has typically not been tracked and if the ultrasonic converter fails it was not known whether the failure was due to over-temperature.
In the prior art serial numbers, part numbers, product names and nominal values such as the nominal gain of a passive ultrasonic component have been recorded with the components of an ultrasonic stack, but operational information about the components has not been tracked resident on the components themselves or stored and linked to the components themselves. As used herein, operational information means information that quantifies operational characteristics of the component or defines the operation of the component in the ultrasonic system, as discussed in more detail below.
In the prior art, incidences of cracked ultrasonic stack components or loose joints between the components were typically either not recorded at all, or were recorded only with the power supply. Cracked components that were not thrown away could thus be mistakenly returned to service.
In the prior art, ultrasonic process recipes are stored in ultrasonic power supplies for a given ultrasonic stack and ultrasonic process. However, if the ultrasonic stack is moved to another power supply, the ultrasonic process recipe does not move with the ultrasonic stack and needs to be entered into the other power supply.
FIG. 1 shows a model of a typical prior art ultrasonic system 100 having an ultrasonic stack 102 and ultrasonic power supply 104. It should be understood that ultrasonic system 100 can be any type of ultrasonic system that has an ultrasonic stack excited by an ultrasonic power supply. Typical components of ultrasonic stack 102 include an ultrasonic converter 106, a booster 108 and an ultrasonic horn 110. It should be appreciated that not every ultrasonic stack 102 includes booster 108. It should be further appreciated that not every ultrasonic stack 102 includes ultrasonic horn 110. Ultrasonic horn 110 will often have one or more ultrasonic horn tip (not shown). Booster 108 and ultrasonic horn 110 are ultrasonically connected (directly or via another component) to ultrasonic converter 106. In the example of FIG. 1, booster 108 is mounted to ultrasonic converter 106 ultrasonically connecting booster 108 to ultrasonic converter 106, and ultrasonic horn 110 is mounted to booster 108 ultrasonically connecting ultrasonic horn 110 to booster 108, and thus ultrasonically connecting ultrasonic horn 110 to ultrasonic converter 106 via booster 108.
Power supply 104 is controlled by a controller 114 that includes memory 116. It should be understood that controller 114 can be included in power supply 104 or separate from power supply 104.
Ultrasonic system 100 will often include an anvil 122 on which a work piece to be processed will be supported and contacted by ultrasonic horn tip 112 when it is being processed. For example, if two metal or plastic parts 124 are being welded together, they are supported on anvil 122 and pressed together by the ultrasonic horn tip during the weld process as actuator 120 moves ultrasonic stack 102 relative to the two parts 124 where the horn tip also ultrasonically vibrates against one of the parts to ultrasonically weld the two parts 124 together. Actuator 120 is controlled by a controller 126 which may be a separate controller from controller 114 of ultrasonic power supply 104 or controller 114 of ultrasonic power supply 104 may control actuator 120.

Smart ultrasonic stack and method of controlling ultrasonic system having a smart ultrasonic stack