The present invention discloses a testing structure and method for interface trap density of gate oxide, relating to the field of quality and reliability researches of MOS devices. The present invention makes the interface traps density tests for gate oxide layers of n-type and p-type MOS devices completed on a same testing structure, this does not only shorten the measurement period by half but also decrease the costs for testing instruments, because the present testing method is based on a simple current-voltage scanning test without using equipments such as pulse generator required in conventional method. The testing results obtained according to the present invention are featured with spectral peak, which facilitates the data analysis and computation.

With rapid development of semiconductor technology and substantial improvement of microelectronic chip integration level, the design and process for integrated circuit has entered a nano-scale era. The gate oxide, as a core of a MOS device, plays a pivotal role in the assessment of quality and reliability of the MOS devices. The generation of interface traps of the gate oxide layer decreases mobility of the device and degrades performance of the device. Therefore, it's necessary to monitor the interface traps of the gate oxide layer during the process flows. Commonly used testing structure for interface trap density of gate oxide measurement is an oxide capacitance structure or a MOSFET device, which is shown in FIG. 1a as a 2-terminal capacitor element structure including a gate and a substrate, and is shown in FIG. 1b as a 4-terminal MOSFET device structure including a source, a gate, a drain and a substrate, where Tox is the gate oxide thickness of the device. Conventional testing methods usually conduct measurements to gate oxide layer testing structures of n-type MOS device and p-type MOS device respectively, and a testing structure similar to that in FIG. 1a and FIG. 1b usually is a single gate oxide capacitor or a MOSFET device, therefore only measuring the densities of gate oxide interface trap on different testing structures can obtain both information on densities of interface traps for n-type MOS device and p-type MOS device involved in the CMOS integrated circuit technology. In addition, one existing CMOS process can provide multiple gate oxides with different thickness for design flexibility, which usually requires a considerable number of sample tests to obtain comprehensive information on quantity of gate oxide layer. This results in time-consuming measurement and low efficiency. Moreover, conventional testing methods require the use of instruments such as pulse generator, and hence result in high cost of test equipment.

Testing structure and method for interface trap density of gate oxide


The present invention provides specific methods of using and administering etanercept to improve cognitive function in a human, for both the treatment and prevention of cognitive impairment, or, alternatively, to enhance cognitive function including Alzheimer's Disease, Idiopathic Dementia, and Traumatic Brain Injury. The methods of the present invention include the perispinal administration of etanercept. For the purposes of this patent “perispinal” is to be considered as referring to “perispinal extrathecal;” therefore direct intrathecal administration is excluded. Perispinal administration leads to enhanced delivery of etanercept to the brain in a therapeutically effective amount, via the vertebral venous system and/or the cerebrospinal fluid. Delivery of etanercept to the brain utilizing the methods of the present invention includes the use of the vertebral venous system to deliver etanercept to the brain via retrograde venous flow. Physical maneuvers are used to enhance delivery of etanercept to the brain via this route.

All of the cytokine antagonists which are currently available have been developed for systemic administration. This is because all were developed to treat systemic illnesses, including rheumatoid arthritis, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, or Crohn's Disease.
The use of cytokine antagonists to treat neurological disorders is discussed in several previous patents of this inventor, including U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,015,557, 6,177,077, 6,419,944 B2, 6,537,549 and U.S. patent application 20030049256 of this inventor. These issued patents and patent applications are incorporated in their entirety herein.
The adverse biologic effects of excess TNF can be reduced by the use of biologic inhibitors of TNF. These inhibitors can be divided into two broad categories: monoclonal antibodies and their derivatives; and TNF binding biologics which are not antibody based. In the first category belong infliximab (Remicade®, Centocor), adalimumab (Humira®, Abbott), and CDP 870 (Celltech). All of these monoclonal antibody based anti-TNF biologics are clearly distinct from the TNF binding proteins of this invention, both functionally and biologically. For example, both adalimumab and infliximab have the ability to lyze cells directly, a property which is not shared by etanercept, and a property which is not advantageous for the present invention. In fact the ability to lyze cells is deleterious for CNS applications. The second category includes etanercept, pegylated soluble TNF receptor type 1 (Amgen) and onercept (Serono). The uses of etanercept, pegylated soluble TNF receptor type 1 and onercept for the purposes of this patent are therefore distinguished from those of both adalimumab and infliximab, and other monoclonal antibody-derived anti-TNF products in development, such as CDP 870.
The biologic TNF inhibitors which are the subject of this patent are the non-monoclonal antibody TNF biologics. The three products of this type which have advanced the furthest in development are etanercept, a fusion protein which contains two p75 soluble TNF receptors fused to an Fc fragment of an IgG1 immunoglobulin; and two distinct p55 receptor derivatives: pegylated soluble TNF receptor type 1 and onercept, also referred to as TNF-binding protein-1. Etanercept has a serum half life of approximately 4.8 days when administered to patients with rheumatoid arthritis on a chronic basis; onercept has a serum half-life which is considerably shorter, and it is usually administered at least three times weekly when used to treat systemic illnesses.
Perispinal administration of a TNF binding biologic when compared to systemic administration, carries with it one or more of the following advantages for the present invention:                1) greatly improved efficacy due to improved delivery of the therapeutic molecule to the brain via both the vertebral venous system (VVS) and the CSF.        2) greater efficacy due to the achievement of higher local concentration in the interspinous space, leading to improved delivery to the VVS and the CSF.        3) greater efficacy due to the ability of the administered therapeutic molecule to reach the brain without degradation caused by hepatic or systemic circulation;        4) more rapid onset of action;        5) longer duration of action; and        6) Potentially fewer side effects, due to lower required dosage.
Clinical experience utilizing perispinal administration of etanercept for treating lumbar and cervical radiculopathy and other forms of neuropathic pain caused by vertebral disc disease has demonstrated the dramatic efficacy, and the extraordinarily rapid onset of action produced by perispinal administration of etanercept for these disorders (see Tobinick references 14, 15, and 16). Etanercept, in part due to its molecular weight, has difficulty in crossing the blood-brain barrier when administered systemically. In this invention perispinal administration of etanercept provides a route of administration which allows etanercept to bypass the blood-brain barrier and/or blood-nerve barrier in therapeutic amounts for treating the neurological conditions of consideration herein when it is administered in therapeutic doses of 25 mg to 100 mg to the interspinous space, or in even lower dosage if delivered directly to the epidural space.
Specific inhibitors of TNF, only recently commercially available, now provide the possibility of therapeutic intervention in TNF mediated disorders. These agents have been developed to treat systemic illnesses, and therefore have been developed for systemic administration. Various biopharmaceutical companies have developed TNF antagonists to treat systemic illnesses: Immunex Corporation developed etanercept (Enbrel®) to treat rheumatoid arthritis and Serono is developing onercept, a recombinant TNF binding protein (r-TBP-1) for treating rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis/psoriatic arthritis.
Etanercept can also be designated as TNFR:Fc because it is a dimeric fusion protein consisting of two soluble TNF receptors fused to a Fc portion of an immunoglobulin molecule. This fusion protein functions in a manner quite distinct from a simple soluble TNF receptor. Soluble TNF receptors are normally present in the human body. But the use of these soluble TNF receptors as therapeutic agents for the treatment of the conditions of consideration in this patent is made impractical by their extremely short half-life and therefore their limited biologic activity. The present invention utilizing etanercept is therefore distinguished from an invention specifying the use of a soluble TNF receptor. It is incorrect and imprecise to describe etanercept as a soluble TNF receptor because this is an incorrect description of its complex structure and omits characteristics of etanercept which are absolutely essential to its biological functions, including the avidity of its binding to TNF. This is further underscored by the developmental history of etanercept. In its first iteration the precursor molecule to etanercept was produced with a single TNF receptor fused to an immunoglobulin fragment. The biologic activity of this molecule was poor. Therefore not only is etanercept distinguished from a soluble TNF receptor, it is also distinguished from a TNF-binding fusion protein which contains the recombinant DNA sequence of only a single soluble TNF receptor. The unique structure of etanercept, containing a dimer (two) soluble TNF receptors fused to an Fc portion of an immunoglobulin molecule, is necessary for the proper performance of the present invention. Since etanercept has the molecular structure of a fusion protein it is thus quite distinct from both onercept and pegylated soluble TNF receptor type 1.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method of delivering a TNF antagonist to the brain of a human by perispinal administration without direct intrathecal injection


An EEPROM NAND array has floating gate memory cells coupled in series, each having a control gate, a floating gate, a body region, and an insulating layer between the floating gate and the body region. A negative charge pump is coupled to the body region. In programming, the body region of the memory cell selected for programming is biased to a negative voltage by the negative charge pump while the control gate of the memory cell is biased to a predetermined positive voltage sufficient to induce Fowler-Nordheim tunneling from the body region into the floating gate. The present invention allows the programming voltage requirement at the control gate of a NAND EEPROM memory cell to be significantly reduced which allows for the peripheral voltage delivery circuitry in NAND EEPROM arrays to be designed for lower voltages than for conventional NAND EEPROM arrays.

NAND EEPROM based non-volatile flash memory architecture is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,568,420, filed Nov. 30, 1994, and entitled "Nonvolatile Semiconductor Memory Device"; and on pages 119-120 and 124-126 of Semiconductor Memories (ISBN number: 0-7803-1000-4), which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
One problem with the conventional NAND array memory device is described with reference to FIG. 1 which is a cross sectionl adiagram of a conventional floating gate memory cell 100 of a NAND array. The memory cell 100 is a floating gate transistor having a control gate 102 separated from a polycrystalline silicon floating gate 106 by an upper insulating layer 104, the floating gate 106 being separated from a substrate 110 by a lower insulating layer 108. The substrate 110 includes an n+source region 112, a p-doped body region 114, and an n+drain region 116 as in a conventional NMOS enhancement mode transistor.
In order to program the conventional floating gate memory cell 100, control gate 102 is biased at a relatively high voltage of approximately 20 volts while body region 114 is grounded. The high voltage on the control gate 102 induces electrons from body region 114 to tunnel through the lower insulation layer 108 and into floating gate 106 through a conventionally known process called Fowler-Nordheim tunneling. The floating gate 106 accumulates negative charge thereby increasing the threshold voltage of the memory cell 100. Erasing occurs by biasing the body region 114 at a high voltage of approximately 20 volts while the control gate 102 is grounded causing the electrons from floating gate 106 to tunnel through lower insulation layer 108 and into the body region 114.
This conventional memory cell structure and process require that the peripheral delivery circuitry such as decoders and charge pumps contain devices capable of processing and producing at least 20 volts. The design for circuits capable of processing and producing high voltages of, for example, 20 volts are more complex, require more space, and have more complex transistor technology than do circuits for lower voltage applications.
Therefore, what is desired is an improved structure and method for reducing the voltage requirements of the peripheral circuitry for delivery of voltages to the control gate and body region of a floating gate memory cell in a NAND array.


A method and circuit for detecting a fault in a power transformer having an conductive shield layer sandwiched between electrical insulating layers separating the conductive shield layer from a first conductor and a second conductor, the second conductor opposite the conductive shield layer from the first conductor, and including, sensing a voltage energizing the shield layer, comparing the sensed voltage to a threshold voltage value corresponding to a fault, and upon satisfaction of the comparison, providing a fault indication when the comparison indicates the presence of a fault.

Electromagnetic devices, such as transformers are used to generate voltages utilizing alternating currents. The construction of these types of electromagnetic devices typically includes a central core constructed from of a highly permeable material to provide a required magnetic path. The ability of iron or steel to carry magnetic flux is much greater than it is in air, this is known as the permeability of the core and influences the materials used for the core portion of a transformer.

Method and circuit for detecting an arc fault


An automotive starting clutch having an input, including a pressure plate and a back plate, and an output disk releasably clamped by the pressure plate for rotation with the input. A control diaphragm provides a control force to vary the clamping force of the pressure plate between zero and maximum values and includes radial fingers movable axially to vary the control force. The control force of the diaphragm is counterbalanced by a Belleville spring in proportion with actuating travel of the radial fingers. By adding a single Belleville spring to an otherwise conventional clutch, it is possible to reduce considerably the control force of a conventional starting friction clutch, allowing the use of inexpensive electronically controlled actuators.

The present invention relates to automotive starting clutch actuation, and, more particularly, it concerns a spring assisted actuating system by which the control forces necessary for clutch actuation are reduced by a counter balancing force which increases with clutch control travel.
The high performance engines need clutches capable of transmitting high torques, which in turn require a relatively high control force, i.e. pedal effort.

Spring assisted electronically actuated and controlled starting clutch system, and method for operating the same


A method and device for filtering an input signal containing wanted signal components and unwanted signal components, wherein the signal is modeled as a set of polynomials. Polynomials from the set are identified to model the unwanted signal components. These unwanted signal components are removed from the input signal by removing the polynomials identified as modeling the unwanted signal components from the set of polynomials to thereby leave in the input signal only the wanted signal components. According to an alternative, polynomials from the set are identified to model the wanted signal components, and the polynomials identified as modeling the wanted signal components are outputted as an estimate of the wanted signal components substantially free from the unwanted signal components. According to another aspect, a weighting factor indicative of signal strength is determined for each polynomial and these weighting factors are summed to provide an estimate of the strength of the input signal.

Characteristics of typical signals, disturbances, noise and interference including myoelectric (EMG) signals, cardiac (ECG) signals, movement-induced disturbances, background noise, and interference from the mains will be first reviewed.
Myoelectric (EMG) Signal
An EMG signal reflects the nervous activation of a muscle or a group of muscles, and presents the character of a band-limited noise in extra-muscular readings. The strength and spectral contents of an EMG signal are determined by the following parameters:                (1) the number of motor units (muscles) recruited;        (2) the repetition rate of motor unit activation;        (3) the distance between the source (fibers of the muscle(s)) and the electrode(s) used to sense the EMG signal;        (4) the width of the innervation zone;        (5) the propagation velocity of the activation potentials;        (6) the electrode configuration including, for example, the distance between electrode plates, the parallel or perpendicular alignment of the electrode plates with respect to the direction of the fibers of the muscle(s), etc.; and        (7) other parameters such as the length of the fibers of the muscle(s), the position of the electrode(s) with respect to both the innervation zone and the ends of the fibers of the muscle(s), etc.
For many muscles, except very short muscles, the above-mentioned parameters produce a spectrum whose amplitude increases from zero at zero frequency (Direct Current (DC)), presents a peak in the region of 40–100 Hz and, then, decreases gradually as the frequency increases.
Models that take into consideration the above listed parameters show that these parameters are multiplicative in the frequency domain, indicating that the time dependent signals are multiple convolutions of the phenomena associated with these parameters. The time representation of an EMG signal is thus very complex, and most attempts to process such a signal has consequently involved filtering of the EMG signal through certain frequency-filtering characteristics.
Electrocardiogram (ECG) Signal
An ECG signal is generated from electrical activity of the heart, which is rather coherent in space and time. Thus, an ECG signal has a deterministic character in the time domain except under certain pathological conditions such as fibrillation. In the frequency domain, maximum density of the spectral energy is found in the region around 10–15 Hz with the spectral energy density decreasing as the frequency increases.
Since contributions to the ECG signal are synchronized, the ECG signal has a much higher energy than an EMG signal. Moreover, significant ECG contributions are located in the frequency bandwidth where the density of energy of an EMG signal is maximal, whereby ECG is likely to disturb an EMG signal.
Movement Induced Disturbance
Movement of the electrodes cause variations in the electrode contact resistance and electrode contact capacitance, which modulate the (half-battery) voltage across the metal-tissue junction to cause a corresponding disturbance. This disturbance, often referred to as "varying baseline", has high-amplitude low-frequency spectral components since it is caused by a slow mechanical movement. The frequency characteristic of this disturbance is often lower in frequency than the frequency characteristic associated with the time window of the signal epoch and, thus, this disturbance manifests itself as a large offset DC component.
It is also observed that variations in the baseline are equivalent to variations in the spectral components above DC (zero frequency). Therefore, the large potential behind baseline variations (magnitude of the order of, for example, one volt) also makes the spectrum density of the variation significant.
Background Noise
In addition to the above-mentioned signal contributions, there is a noise component. This noise component has a rather unspecific character and originates from a number of different sources. It is often modelled as a random component with constant (or slowly varying) spectral density in the whole frequency bandwidth of interest.
Interference from the Mains
Interference from the mains has a well-defined signal shape with a fixed frequency. Unknown parameters of this interference are the phase and the amplitude, which may vary considerably.
Currently Used Filter Techniques to Separate Signal Contributions
In the following description, some of the problems associated with the separation of signal components such as EMG, ECG, baseline variations, and noise will be discussed. Drawbacks associated with currently used signal filtering methods will also be considered.
EMG Signal vs. Movement Induced Disturbance
Although rather separated in frequency, the high energy density of the movement induced disturbances becomes significant also in the frequency bandwidth where EMG signals have a maximum amplitude. Recursive filtering is often used to remove movement induced disturbances from EMG signals. However, recursive filtering presents the drawback of suffering from the long time it takes to forget the high energy input from a sudden baseline variation. For that reason, recursive filtering should be avoided.
EMG Signal vs. Background Noise
The spectra of EMG signal and background noise overlap and both have a character of random noise. Optimum (Wiener) filtering can be used, but a low-pass filter cutting off the high frequency portion of the noise can be sufficient since this will remove the major portion of the background noise.
EMG Signal vs. ECG Signal
As indicated in the foregoing description, EMG and ECG signals have partly overlapping power spectra. Strong ECG signals create significant spectral energy density at frequencies where energy peaks of the EMG signals appear. Efficient filtering to remove an ECG signal from an EMG signal or vice versa should use the deterministic character of the ECG signal in the time domain.
ECG Signal vs. Movement Induced Disturbance
ECG signals and movement induced disturbances have respective spectra with a considerable overlap and are difficult to separate in the frequency domain. The deterministic character of ECG in the time domain is often utilized, in particular for averaging QRS complexes. A drawback of such filtering is that it introduces in the output from the filter a delay having a duration as long as ten (10) seconds.
ECG Signal vs. Background Noise
Although ECG signals and background noise overlap in the low frequency region of the spectrum, the ECG signal is mostly dominating and, therefore, a low-pass filtering is normally sufficient to remove most of the background noise from an ECG recording.
Movement Induced Disturbance vs. Background Noise
Although this case is of interest in quality control of the signal, this issue will not be further elaborated in the present specification.
Interference from the Mains and Power Line Interference
A common technique for removing an interference from the mains and a power line interference is to process the disturbed signal through a notch filter which is quite sharp at the particular frequency of these interferences. This solution presents the drawback that a notch filter introduces large phase shifts in the remaining part of the signal. As mentioned hereinabove, the nature of these interferences is "a priori" well known, and their frequency is mostly constant. Only the start instant within the oscillation, the phase, and the amplitude are unknown and have to be calculated. This "a priori" knowledge implies that single periods or even portions of the interference oscillation can be used to perform the latter calculation.
From the above-described characteristics of the various signal contributions, the following acknowledgments can be made:                Filtering in the frequency domain requires very steep filters to extract the EMG signal and to suppress the ECG signal and the interference from the mains. Steep filters present the drawback of being associated with large phase shifts and ringing.        Since the baseline variations are large and slow, recursive filtering should be avoided since these filters have a memory of past events.        Filtering should occur over finite epoch lengths, and Infinite Impulse Response (IIR) filters should not be used.        Filters designed from a frequency-domain point of view present the drawbacks of having 1) slow convergence since the trigonometric series are not well suited to describe baseline variations, 2) remaining memory of earlier events due to their (often) recursive character, and 3) large phase shifts and ringing in proportion of their sharpness.
In view of the above, a new filtering technique is needed to efficiently isolate or remove one or many of the above discussed signal contributions from an input signal.

Signal filtering using orthogonal polynomials and removal of edge effects


An adjustable miter box for use with a miter saw having a blade includes a base having a top, a front face, a rear face, a first side and a second side, a generally vertically oriented pivot post located adjacent the rear face and being disposed in an offset location closer to the first side than to the second side, a saw guide including a vertical throughbore for matingly engaging the pivot post and defining a slot for slidingly and clampingly accommodating the blade of the miter saw, angular locking devices on the base for releasably fixing the angular position of the saw guide relative to the base, and workpiece support apparatus secured to the base for supporting and securing a workpiece to be cut by the saw while the saw is slidably engaged in the slot.

The present invention relates to miter boxes for use with hand saws, and specifically to a miter box which is angularly adjustable relative to a vertical pivot axis located offset on the miter box base.
Conventional miter boxes designed for use with hand saws are either nonadjustable or angularly adjustable. The nonadjustable type is most commonly made of wood or plastic and includes a trough-like body with several angled, open-topped slots cut in the walls of the trough. These slots are used for guiding the blade of a saw for making miter cuts in pieces of wood placed on the bottom of the trough. A significant disadvantage of conventional miter boxes is that the available angles of cuts to be made in the workpiece are limited by the number and position of the slots.
Another disadvantage of conventional miter boxes relates to the structure of the miter saw blade itself. In order to prevent binding of the saw, the cross-section of the blade is slightly thinner in the body of the blade than at the cutting edge. Since the slots of the miter box must be wide enough to slidingly accommodate the cutting edge, there is significant play between the body of the blade and the edges of the slot. This play often allows the saw blade to move uncontrollably in the slot and interferes with the accuracy of the cuts. In addition, the width of the slots increases through use, to the extent that the slots eventually become too wide to ensure accurate cuts, and require the disposal of the miter box.
In response to these disadvantages, the adjustable miter box was developed. Adjustable miter boxes include an elongate metallic base with a generally centrally located pivotable saw guide, and a vertically projecting miter back extending laterally from either side of the saw guide. The saw guide is pivotable about a vertical pivot axis and includes both vertical and angular adjustments. A conventional backsaw is inserted into a vertical slot in the saw guide for reciprocal horizontal sliding action. A clamping device in the saw guide engages the saw body near the cutting edge to minimize lateral play while cutting.
In one commonly available adjustable miter saw, the angular adjustment includes a generally horizontally extending semicircular flange having a plurality of notches in its peripheral edge. To lock the angular position of the semicircular flange, an elongate, vertically extending fixed edge is provided which is coplanar with the workpiece guide and is positioned to engage the notches in the semicircular flange.
Although the adjustable miter box has greater durability and allows less saw play than the nonadjustable miter box, it has significant disadvantages of its own. One such disadvantage is the lack of adequate workpiece support provided by the relatively short length of the workpiece guide.
Another disadvantage of adjustable miter boxes is that the engagement between the notched semicircular angular adjustment flange and the fixed edge allows for lateral angular play of the saw guide, resulting in inaccurate cuts. Also, the saw blade clamping device does not accommodate the significantly thicker spine of conventional backsaws used in such miter boxes. This allows for additional unwanted play of the blade in the saw guide, further decreasing cutting accuracy.
Accordingly, a first object of the present invention is to provide a hand saw-type miter box which minimizes the play of the saw blade in the saw guide.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a hand saw-type miter box which secures the angular adjustment of the saw guide, thus promoting accurate cuts.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide an adjustable miter box which includes additional support formations for supporting the workpiece during cutting, yet is also short enough to fit in a conventional miter box case or tool box.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an adjustable miter box which is designed so that the saw may be operated from either side of the miter back.

Adjustable miter box with offset cutting location


The present invention relates to a vacuum insulation material including an inner bag and to a method for manufacturing same. The method for manufacturing the vacuum insulation material includes: a step of manufacturing a core material; a step of compressing and packing the entire surface of the core material using an inner bag made of a breathable film material; a step of disposing a getter on the upper portion of the inner bag; and a step of vacuum-packing a covering material on the upper portion of the inner bag. The inner bag is made of polypropylene (PP), polyester (PET), and/or polyethylene. Since the inner bag is manufactured using a breathable film having fine holes, the method for manufacturing the vacuum insulation material may have improved efficiency, and the vacuum insulation material may be improved in terms of the long-term durability and vacuum insulation properties thereof.

A vacuum insulation panel (hereinafter, vacuum insulation material) is manufactured by decompressing an encapsulant, which is comprised of a composite plastic laminate film exhibiting excellent gas barrier capabilities and receives an open cell hard plastic foam or an inorganic material as a core material therein, followed by heat sealing laminated gas barrier films along an edge thereof.
Generally, as air or moisture passes through a cover material or carbon dioxides or organic gas is generated therein, the vacuum insulation material undergoes gradual reduction in the degree of vacuum over time, thereby causing increase in thermal conductivity and thus making it difficult to maintain a high degree of insulation.
To solve such a basic problem, a vacuum insulation material in the art includes a core material, which is prepared by mixing a glass board generally prepared through a wet process, an organic binder and glass fibers.
Among these materials, glass wool provided to the vacuum insulation material provides excellent initial thermal capabilities, and thus is widely applied to electronic appliances, such as refrigerators, for reduction in power consumption.
However, when producing an 8 mm thick vacuum insulation material using such a glass wool material, it is necessary for the glass wool material to have a thickness of at least 80 mm or more.
As such, since it is difficult to insert such a thick glass wool material into a cover material in fabrication of the vacuum insulation material and handling of the glass wool material is also difficult, the glass wool material is thinly compressed before insertion into the cover material.
In a first compression method, glass wool is heated to a glass transition temperature and then compressed. In this case, since it is necessary to heat the glass wool to a temperature of 500° C. or more, this method requires a separate drying oven to maintain high temperature and excessively high equipment costs.
In a second compression method, a binder is used to promote coupling between fibers upon compression. In this case, although compression can be carried out efficiently, the vacuum insulation material can suffer from deterioration in thermal capabilities due to the binder.
As such, both methods in the art have problems in that the first method causes deformation of the glass wool and the second method does not permit reuse of the glass wool due to the use of the binder.
Moreover, in these methods, when the glass wool, that is, the core material, is inserted into the cover material, the fibers of the glass wool are brought into contact with film layers inside the cover material and thus cause damage to the cover material, thereby having undesirable effects on performance of the vacuum insulation material.

Vacuum insulation material including an inner bag, and method for manufacturing same


A method for playing videos, applied to an electronic system, is provided. A video is played through a player application program, and a playing status stored in an embedded control random access memory of a keyboard controller of the electronic system is set to a first status when the video is played. Then, all light signals of the electronic system are turned off by the keyboard controller according to the first status.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for playing videos, and more particularly to a user-friendly method for playing videos.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electronic devices that are capable of playing multimedia like a video, such as a desktop computer, a mobile multimedia device disclosed in Taiwan Patent Publication No. 201006160 (Application No. 097127436) or a display device with playback functionality disclosed in Taiwan Patent Publication No. 201112237 (Application No. 098131530), are main streams in recent years. However, when an electronic device plays a video, such as a movie, light signals of the electronic device may affects user's visual effect when watching the video on the electronic device, thereby causing user's inconvenience in watching the video.

Method and electronic system for playing videos


The present invention provides a novel process for the preparation of rilpivirine. The present invention also provides a novel process for the preparation of rilpivirine hydrochloride. The present invention further provides a rilpivirine hydrochloride monohydrate, process for its preparation and pharmaceutical compositions comprising it.

Rilpivirine, chemically 4-[[4-[[4-(2-cyanoethenyl)-2,6-dimethylphenyl]amino]pyrimidinyl]amino]benzonitrile and has the structural formula:

Rilpivirine (TMC278) is an investigational new drug, developed by Tibotec, for the treatment of HIV infection. It is a second-generation non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) with higher potency, longer half-life and reduced side-effect profile compared with older NNRTIs.
Polymorphism is defined as "the ability of a substance to exist as two or more crystalline phases that have different arrangement and/or conformations of the molecules in the crystal Lattice. Thus, in the strict sense, polymorphs are different crystalline structures of the same pure substance in which the molecules have different arrangements and/or different configurations of the molecules". Different polymorphs may differ in their physical properties such as melting point, solubility, X-ray diffraction patterns, etc. Although those differences disappear once the compound is dissolved, they can appreciably influence pharmaceutically relevant properties of the solid form, such as handling properties, dissolution rate and stability. Such properties can significantly influence the processing, shelf life, and commercial acceptance of a polymorph. It is therefore important to investigate all solid forms of a drug, including all polymorphic forms, and to determine the stability, dissolution and flow properties of each polymorphic form. Polymorphic forms of a compound can be distinguished in the laboratory by analytical methods such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Infrared spectrometry (IR).
Solvent medium and mode of crystallization play very important role in obtaining one polymorphic Form over the other.
Rilpivirine and its salts can exist in different polymorphic Forms, which may differ from each other in terms of stability, physical properties, spectral data and methods of preparation.
Rilpivirine and its hydrochloride salt were disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,125,879.
Process for the preparation of rilpivirine was disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,399,856 ('856 patent). According to the '856 patent, rilpivirine can be prepared by reacting the (E)-3-(4-amino-3,5-dimethylphenyl)acrylonitrile hydrochloride of formula II with 4-(4-chloropyrimidin-2-ylamino)benzonitrile of formula III-a in the presence of potassium carbonate and acetonitrile under reflux for 69 hours. The synthetic procedure is illustrated in scheme I, below:

Process for the preparation of rilpivirine was disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,705,148 ('148 patent). According to the '148 patent, rilpivirine can be prepared by reacting the 4-[[4-[[4-bromo-2,6-dimethylphenyl]amino]-2-pyrimidinyl]amino]benzonitrile with acrylonitrile in the presence of palladium acetate, N,N-diethylethanamine and tris(2-methylphenyl)phosphine in acetonitrile.
According to the '148 patent, rilpivirine can be prepared by reacting the compound of formula IV with 4-(4-chloropyrimidin-2-ylamino)benzonitrile formula III-a in the presence of hydrochloric acid and n-propanol to obtain a compound of formula VII, and then the compound was treated with acetonitrile and potassium carbonate under reflux for 69 hours. The synthetic procedure is illustrated in scheme II, below:

U.S. Pat. No. 7,563,922 disclosed a process for the preparation of (E)-3-(4-amino-3,5-dimethylphenyl)acrylonitrile hydrochloride. According to the patent, (E)-3-(4-amino-3,5-dimethylphenyl)acrylonitrile hydrochloride can be prepared by reacting the 4-iodo-2,6-dimethyl-benzenamine in N,N-dimethylacetamide with acrylonitrile in the presence of sodium acetate and toluene, and then the solid thus obtained was reacted with hydrochloric acid in 2-propanol in the presence of ethanol and diisopropyl ether.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,956,063 described a polymorphic Form A, Form B, Form C and Form D of rilpivirine hydrochloride.
An unpublished application, IN 1415/CHE/2011 assigned to Hetero Research Foundation discloses a process for the preparation of rilpivirine. According to the application, rilpivirine can be prepared by reacting the 4-(4-chloropyrimidin-2-ylamino)benzonitrile with (E)-3-(4-amino-3,5-dimethylphenyl)acrylonitrile hydrochloride in the presence of p-toluene sulfonic acid monohydrate and 1,4-dioxane.
It has been found that the rilpivirine produced according to the prior art procedures results in low yields. According to the present invention rilpivirine can be obtained in higher yields than the prior art processes.
We have found that a novel process for the preparation of rilpivirine. The process of the invention ensures that rilpivirine is obtained at faster rate with higher yields.
We have also found that a novel process for the preparation of rilpivirine hydrochloride.
The processes of present invention are simple, eco-friendly, inexpensive, reproducible, robust and is well suited on an industrial scale.
We have also found that a rilpivirine hydrochloride monohydrate.
Thus, one object of the present invention is to provide a novel process for the preparation of rilpivirine.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel process for the preparation of rilpivirine hydrochloride.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a rilpivirine hydrochloride monohydrate, process for its preparation and pharmaceutical compositions comprising it.


Some embodiments provide a method of providing distributed storage services to a host computer from a network interface card (NIC) of the host computer. At the NIC, the method accesses a set of one or more external storages operating outside of the host computer through a shared port of the NIC that is not only used to access the set of external storages but also for forwarding packets not related to an external storage. In some embodiments, the method accesses the external storage set by using a network fabric storage driver that employs a network fabric storage protocol to access the external storage set. The method presents the external storage as a local storage of the host computer to a set of programs executing on the host computer. In some embodiments, the method presents the local storage by using a storage emulation layer on the NIC to create a local storage construct that presents the set of external storages as a local storage of the host computer.

In recent years, there has been an increase in the use of hardware offload units to assist functions performed by programs executing on host computers. Examples of such hardware offload units include FGPAs, GPUs, smart NICs, etc. Such hardware offload units have improved performance and efficiency requirements of the host computers by offloading some of the operations that are typically performed by the host computer CPU to the hardware offload unit.

Using machine executing on a NIC to access a third party storage not supported by a NIC or host


A new and distinct Schlumbergera truncata plant named ‘PKMSC01’ particularly characterized by large upright to vertical flowers; flowers which have petals which are red-purple (RHS 68A) and a white throat (RHS NN155D); large quantity of flowers per plant; slow growth habit and freely branching habit; and ovoid to lanceolatoid buds, which are yellow-green (RHS 145D) in color.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Schlumbergera plant, botanically known as Schlumbergera truncate (Haworth) Moran., commonly known as Christmas Cactus, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name 'PKMSC01'.
Schlumbergera (formerly Zygocacatus) of the Cactaceae family, consists of 6 known species which are epiphytic cacti and native to Brazil. Common names for Schlumbergera plants include: Crab Cactus for the cultivar's claw-like phylloclade margin, Thanksgiving Cactus for cultivars which bloom in November, and Christmas Cactus for cultivars which bloom in December.
The new Schlumbergera 'PKMSC01' is a product of a controlled breeding program conducted by the inventor, Christian Hald Madsen, in Søhus, Denmark. The objective of the breeding program was to develop a new Schlumbergera cultivar with an upright and compact plant habit and flowers with a unique color combination.
The new Schlumbergera 'PKMSC01' originated from a cross made by the inventor, Christian Hald Madsen, in 2002 in Søhus, Denmark, between two unnamed, unpatented proprietary Schlumbergera truncate (Haworth) Moran. cultivars. The new Schlumbergera 'PKMSC01' was discovered and selected by the inventor as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross in a controlled environment in 2006 in Søhus, Denmark. The inventor selected the new Schlumbergera 'PKMSC01' based on its compact, freely branching habit and unique flower color.
Asexual reproduction of the new Schlumbergera 'PKMSC01' by phylloclade cuttings, followed by trial production batches, was first performed in April of 2007 in Søhus, Denmark, and has demonstrated that the combination of characteristics as herein disclosed for the new cultivar are firmly fixed and retained through successive generations of asexual reproduction. The new cultivar reproduces true to type.


To provide a roller scraper capable of having a long service life. A roller scraper that removes attached substances on a surface of a roller, the roller scraper including a scraper main body that is supported on a floor portion and a scraping claw that is disposed in such a manner as to project in a width direction of the scraper main body. The scraping claw is placed against the roller in such a manner as to be in contact with the surface of the roller, and an opening is formed in the scraper main body.

In a high-temperature continuous heat-treatment furnace that includes an in-furnace hearth roller provided for the purpose of passing steel sheets, such as, for example, a continuous siliconizing furnace that is used for manufacturing high silicon steel strips, there is a problem in that, as a result of the bottom surface of a steel strip and the hearth roller coming into contact with each other, oxide scales of the steel strip are attached and accumulated onto a surface of the hearth roller, or refractories in the furnace that falls off or scatters, products in the furnace, and the like are attached and accumulated onto the surface of the hearth roller, and these accumulated substances cause formation of pressing flaws in the steel strip that is heated to a high temperature.
Accordingly, it may be considered to attach a scraper to the hearth roller, the scraper being configured to scrape off such attached substances from the surface of the roller. However, the temperature in a furnace, such as a continuous siliconizing furnace, is very high, and thus, it is extremely difficult to install mechanical means that presses the scraper against the surface of the roller in the furnace in terms of heat resistance and durability.
To address such a problem, Patent Literature 1 discloses a scraper that includes a scraper main body provided with a scraping claw, which comes into contact with a surface of a roller, and that scrapes off attached substances on the surface of the roller along with rotation of the roller.


Systems and methods are disclosed that authenticate devices or users, and enable playback of secured streaming content through a media player. In one embodiment, the invention is a system for receiving secure content over an unmanaged network, including a security application configured operate on a user device with access to a network, where the security application is configured to receive a request for playlist data from the media player, send a playlist request to a content server, receive playlist data from the content server, send playlist data to a media player, receive a security access request from the media player, send a security access request to a security server, receive security access data from the security server; and send security access data to a media player.

Traditionally, content has been distributed on managed networks where the bandwidth is guaranteed and robust. Managed networks are networks under management by at least one operator, often a user or processor that can determine if a request for content should be granted. Managed networks can define access and use of the network, such as setting bandwidth usage for certain authorized users. Managed networks give operators a stable platform to manage their network of content distribution across devices, such as televisions and computers. Recently, there has been a significant increase in the number of mobile devices that are able to provide video playback, such as laptops, mobile phones, smart phones, net books and tablets. Content is typically provided to such mobile devices on unmanaged networks whose bandwidth can fluctuate and be sporadic. Unmanaged networks are networks not under direct management by an operator, such as a 3G network, broadband Internet networks or WiFi hot spots where any user can access the network. These unmanaged networks allow users greater access to content over a network from virtually any location. As the networks are unmanaged, the distribution of content over these networks presents unique challenges in security and access to content.
Distribution of video content on unmanaged networks, known as "Over-the-Top" (OTT) distribution, has become popular. Many solutions have been introduced for distributing this content over these unmanaged networks. For example, several. protocols allow for adaptive bitrate streaming that adjusts the video bitrate to available resources such as bandwidth and processing power, enabling an immediate yet uninterrupted viewing experience. One such protocol is specified by Apple in the HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) protocol. This protocol, which Apple has integrated into its QuickTime player, uses the concept of slicing the video into chunks in order to deliver the content to the device while retaining the ability to switch to alternate bitrate versions of the content. This allows the ability to adapt to fluctuating bandwidth, which can be problematic on an unmanaged network. The HLS protocol takes into account encryption of the chunks. The chunks can be encrypted using AES-CBC-128. The key is served from the HTTP server and can be retrieved over HTTPS.
However, security for OTT content often lacks certain features that are typically found in Conditional. Access (CA) or Digital. Rights Management (DRM) systems, such as user/device authentication, device provisioning, output control signaling and content rating/parental control. In two way content protection systems, the client can provide information back to the head-end that can aid in clone detection or identification of other attacks. Yet, in devices with limited hardware (HW) security, attacks such as jail-breaking or rooting may jeopardize the overall security of the device and the content streamed to it. Jail-breaking or rooting are processes that allow devices running a certain operating system to gain full access to previously "locked" features of an operating system, removing the limitations imposed by the device manufacturers, the network operator, or the developer.
Therefore, the flexibility of unmanaged networks presents its own set of issues. The ability for mobile devices to access content over a network from virtually any location greatly increases the number devices that will request such content, many of which requests may be from unauthorized users or devices. Unmanaged networks also make it more difficult to develop data on users or devices, as well as presenting challenges in authenticating and tracking users and devices accessing content from different access points.

Device authentication for secure key retrieval for streaming media players


An infant-restraining protective seat includes a shoulder-belt adjusting device (6) provided on a seat back. The shoulder-belt adjusting device (6) includes a belt guide (101) for guiding shoulder belts (5a) in such a manner that the position of the shoulder belts can be adjusted up or down, supporting means (102) for supporting the belt guide (101), a vertically extending screw shaft (103) for moving the supporting means (102) up and down, an operating knob (104) turnably attached to the left side wall (33) of the seat back (3), and a torque link (105) which connects the operating knob (104) and the screw shaft (103) while producing a right-angle change in direction, and which transmits the rotational torque of the operating knob (104) to the screw shaft (103). The lower end of the screw shaft (103) is supported so as to be capable of rotating in a state in which the shaft is supported in the thrust direction by means of a lower bracket ( 37).

This invention relates to an infant-restraining protective seat of the type placed upon and secured to a seat in a vehicle such as an automobile or airplane and adapted to restrain and protect a seated infant by a seat belt device for infants. More particularly, the invention relates to a shoulder-belt adjusting device for adjusting the shoulder belts of the seat belt device for infants.
In a vehicle such as an automobile or airplane, restraining protective seats for infants have been used in order to maintain the seated posture of an infant during travel and protect the infant from shock at the time of acceleration and deceleration. An infant restraining and protective seat of this kind has a reclinable seat main body reclinably attached to a base member and adapted to seat an infant, and an infant seat belt device for restraining the seated infant. The infant seat belt device has an infant seat belt, a chest-contact pad attached to the end of the infant seat belt, a tongue provided on the end of the chest-contact pad, and a buckle, provided on the seat main body, capable of holding the tongue in such a manner that the tongue can be freely engaged with and disengaged from the buckle. In a state in which the tongue is engaged with and locked by the buckle, the infant is restrained by the infant seat belt and chest-contact pad.
Since the height of the shoulders of a seated infant differs depending upon the build of the infant, the conventional infant-restraining protective seat of this type is equipped with a shoulder-belt adjusting device which, in dependence upon the build of the seated infant, adjusts the up-and-down position of the infant shoulder belts engaging the shoulders of the infant.
The conventional shoulder-belt adjusting device in common use includes a suitable number of adjusting holes, which are provided in the seat back in the longitudinal direction, through which the shoulder belts are passed. The positions of the shoulder belts are adjusted up or down by passing the shoulder belts through those adjusting holes corresponding to the build of the infant.
However, in the up-and-down adjustment of the shoulder belts by the longitudinally provided suitable number of adjusting holes, the adjustment is performed in individual steps, and therefore the shoulder belts cannot be adjusted accurately in conformity with the build of the infant.
Accordingly, a shoulder-belt adjusting device in which the positions of the shoulder belts up and down can be adjusted steplessly has been developed. The shoulder-belt adjusting device includes a belt guide for guiding the shoulder belts up and down, a screw shaft rotatably disposed on the back side of the seat back along the longitudinal direction for moving the belt guide up and down, and an operating knob disposed on the upper end of the seat back on its back side for applying a rotational torque to the screw shaft. By turning the operating knob to move the belt guide up or down, the positions of the shoulder belts can be steplessly adjusted up or down.
However, in this shoulder-belt adjusting device, the amount of projection of the infant-restraining protective seat 1 to the rear is large since the operating knob is disposed on the upper end of the seat back on the back side thereof. In particular, when the protective seat is used, the seat back assumes a reclining attitude tilted to the rear and therefore the amount of rearward projection of the upper end of the seat back is enlarged.
Thus, when the infant-restraining protective seat having this large amount of rearward projection is secured to the vehicle seat, the protective seat is situated at a considerably forward portion of the vehicle seat. As a consequence, the seated infant is too close to the parts of the vehicle in front of the vehicle seat. Moreover, owing to the fact that the protective seat is disposed on the forward part of the vehicle seat, there are cases in which the protective seat cannot be secured to the vehicle seat stably and reliably.


A pull-out guide fitting for a drawer includes a drawer-side pull-out rail and a furniture carcass-side support rail, and possibly a middle rail disposed between the pull-out rail and the support rail. The support rail is mounted by support structure or coupling members on a support bracket that in turn is mounted on a carcass side panel. At the rear of the support bracket is a hook under which the support rail is insertable. The support rail is held in the inserted position by a locking lever that is supported on or in the support rail. The locking lever is acted upon by a spring to pivot to a locked position abutting against a detent edge of the support bracket.

The invention relates to a pull-out guide assembly or fitting for a drawer, and including one drawer-side pull-out rail and one furniture wall or carcass-side support rail to be employed on either side of the drawer, and preferably in each case one middle rail disposed between the pull-out rail and the support rail. The support rail is supported with the aid of coupling members on a support bracket or brackets which in turn is mounted on a respective furniture or carcass side panel. Rear ends of the support brackets have hooks under which the support rails are insertable. The support rails are held in an inserted position by locking levers that are pivotably supported on the support rails and that abut against detect edges of the support brackets.
Generally it is standard practice, when manufacturing an article of furniture, to fasten the support rails of the pull-out guide fittings to furniture carcass side panels and to fasten the pull-out rails to the drawer. In many cases, however, it is desirable for the rails of the pull-out guide fitting to be incapable of being separated while in use, so that it is impossible to separate the rails for assembly. Furthermore, it is desirable for the furniture parts, in particular the side panels, to be easy to stack and package. A precondition for this is that there are no projecting, or only slightly projecting, parts assembled on the side panels of the article of furniture.
AT-PS 379 497 discloses a pull-out guide fitting for a drawer in which the support rail is fastened on a support bracket which is fastened to the side panel of the article of furniture. As a result, the entire pull-out guide fitting on each side of the drawer, including pull-out rail, running carriage and support rail, may be assembled on the drawer and is attached or anchored, on insertion of the drawer into the carcass of the article of furniture, on the respective support bracket. A drawback of such known pull-out guide fitting is that inexact manufacture may lead to excessive play between the support rails and the support brackets, which may affect the fit and smooth running or movement of the drawer. Furthermore, there are no means which prevent the drawer from being lifted off from the support brackets.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,423,914 discloses a pull-out guide fitting, in which the pull-out rails are anchored on respective support brackets of the drawer. Longitudinal displacement of the pull-out rails is prevented by locking levers. The complete pull-out guide fitting cannot however be preassembled on the drawer prior to assembly of the article of furniture.


An electronic device in a wireless communication system and a wireless communication method, including plural cells including current cells and at least one neighbouring cell. The electronic device includes: a transceiver; a first trigger circuit configured to enable the transceiver to conduct a first measurement report, to assist in starting a relay process for enabling the electronic device to communicate with a current cell via a relay user equipment; a second trigger circuit configured to enable the transceiver to conduct a second measurement report, to assist in starting a handover process for enabling the electronic device to be switched from the current cdl to the neighbouring cell; and one or more processing circuits configured to control the first and second trigger circuits, to enable the transceiver to conduct the first measurement report before conducting the second measurement report.

This section provides background information relating to the present disclosure, which is not necessarily prior art.
When a User Equipment (UE) moves from a service cell to a neighbor cell, the UE will start a handover process. When performing the handover, the UE disconnects a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection with a source cell, and establishes an RRC connection with a target cell.
In the traditional handover process, the following problems may exist for example. Firstly, when the UE moves and traverses a cell with a high speed, a Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio (SINR) at an edge of the cell will decreases quickly, resulting in a low link quality even a link failure, and frequency cell handover will cause a great signaling overhead. Secondly, in a case of actual cell deployment, a boundary of the cell is not ideal hexagon, the SINR may fluctuate greatly when the UE performs the handover, therefore it is difficult to select a target cell when performing the handover, and the handover process is to be configured reasonably to avoid a ping-pang effect. Thirdly, when the UE moves from inside to outside of a coverage, communication between a remote UE and an evolved Node B (eNodeB) is handed over from the previous RRC connection to switching of a relay UE via a PC5 interface, resulting in a service interruption during this process.
Therefore, for at least one of the above problems, it is necessary to provide a new wireless communication technical solution, to solve a problem of quality of service of the UE at the edge of the cell, thereby improving continuity and effectiveness of the handover, performing the handover effectively, and reducing a signaling burden for the network.

Electronic device in wireless communication system and wireless communication method


A positioning device (500) for positioning workpieces along translations and through angular rotations about two or more axes of rotation. In particular, the positioning devices (500) can be employed in method for aligning an optical fiber (510) with an optical beam such that the axis of the optical fiber (510) is aligned coincident to the axis of the optical beam and the endface (508) of the optical fiber (510) is deployed at the global maximum along the axis of the optical beam. The positioning devices are for use laser-to-fiber set-ups, laser-to-spatial filter set-ups, fiber-to-fiber set-ups and the like.

The present invention relates to positioning devices for positioning workpieces in general. In particular, the present invention relates to positioning devices for positioning workpieces along translations and through angular rotations about two or more axes of rotation. The present invention also relates to methods and devices for coupling or launching an optical beam into an optical fiber or spatial filter in general. In particular, the present invention relates to devices for aligning an optical fiber with a laser beam in a laser-to-fiber set-up and an optical fiber with an optical beam issued by an optical fiber in a fiber-to-fiber set-up.
There is a trend to miniaturization in many fields of science and technology which require workpieces to be positioned and aligned to a few microns and many times to sub-microns. Such fields include optics, microscopy, semiconductor technology, micro-machining, the life sciences and others.
Recently, a number of sub-micron flexure devices have been developed to provide translation of workpieces and angular or rotational motion of workpieces. These devices enable motion through the deformation of one or more flexure elements, thereby overcoming the problems of friction and backlash and enabling high spatial resolution.
Flexure devices enabling displacement in two or three coordinate include, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,585,866 to Ensinger, U.S. Pat. No. 4,382,709 to Brown, U.S. Pat. No. 4,499,778 to Westhaver et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,691,586 to van Leijenhorst, and the like. However, these devices suffer from the disadvantage that they do not provide independent displacement along different axes since their flexure hinges are not rigid and their deformations are not restricted to one axis.
Turning now to the field of fiber optics, it is well known that the coupling or launching of an optical beam into an optical fiber is problematic because of the small diameter, typically around 1 microns, of the optical fiber's core. It is also well known that two positional requirements determine the coupling efficiency between an optical beam and an optical fiber. First, that the axis of the optical fiber is aligned coincident to the axis of the optical beam. And second, that the endface of the optical fiber is deployed at the global maximum along the axis of the optical beam. In the case of coupling an optical beam issued by a laser, an objective lens is employed for focussing the laser beam to a spot with a diameter as close as possible to that of the optical fiber's core.
Several devices have attempted to achieve a high coupling efficiency in a laser-to-fiber set-up or a fiber-to-fiber set-up. Such devices are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,208,888 to Steinblatt et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,451,115 to Nicia et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,445,753, US SIR H551 to Chaoui et al., and others. Generally speaking, these devices suffer from the disadvantage that the axis of the optical fiber is aligned coincident to the axis of an objective lens during the alignment procedure and not to the axis of the optical beam. This causes a drop in coupling efficiency in most cases because the axis of the optical beam is typically slightly off center from the axis of the objective lens.
There is therefore a need for positioning devices for positioning workpieces along translations and through angular rotations about two or more axes of rotation. In particular, the positioning devices can be employed for in a method for aligning an optical fiber with an optical beam such that the axis of the optical fiber is aligned coincident to the axis of the optical beam and the endface of the optical fiber is deployed at the global maximum along the axis of the optical beam. The positioning devices can be adapted for use in laser-to-fiber set-ups, laser-to-spatial filter set-ups, fiber-to-fiber set-ups and the like.

Positioning devices and a method and positioning device for aligning an optical fiber with an optical beam

Ramot University Authority for Applied Research & Industrial Development Ltd.


Disclosed are triaryl cationic compounds that exhibit broad spectrum antibiotic and antifungal activity, pharmaceutical compositions containing the compounds, and methods of treating bacterial and fungal infections using the compounds. The compounds were initially isolated by screening a 25,000-member bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) library of environmental (eDNA) from soil. At least one clone produced a dark brown melanin-like compound that was found to have antibiotic activity. The compounds were isolated and synthesized de novo. From within the positive clone, a single open reading frame that shares extensive sequence similarity with members of the 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate family of enzymes was found to be necessary and sufficient to confer the production of at least one of the subject compounds on E. coli.

Cultured microorganisms produce an extraordinary array of structurally diverse and useful organic compounds. Molecular diversity measurements of microbial communities show that cultured microflora represent only a small fraction of the microbial diversity present in any natural environment. Currently unculturable microorganisms undoubtedly produce potentially valuable compounds and general methods to access these compounds are needed. An approach to study the natural products produced by uncultured microorganisms by introducing large fragments of DNA extracted directly from environmental samples (eDNA) into E. coli is described in co-pending parent application Ser. No. 09/558,712, filed Apr. 26, 2000. Heterologous expression of eDNA in an easily cultured host will provide access to the genomes of many uncultured microorganisms while bypassing the need to culture these organisms.
Natural products have traditionally been a rich source of small organic compounds that have found multiple uses in our daily lives. From the earliest known dyes and intoxicants to the most recent anti-neoplastic agents, natural products have been used by all human societies. The large collection of organic compounds that have been characterized from microbial sources is now known to have arisen from only a small sample of the earth's microbial diversity. Nucleic acids-based studies suggest that only a tiny fraction of any natural microbial community is cultured using standard microbiological methods. Uncultured bacteria have now been identified in a number of different environments including marine (1), gut (2, 3), hot springs (4), and soil (5, 6, 7). Uncultured microorganisms, therefore, represent one of the largest remaining unstudied pools of biodiversity. However, because these organisms are resistant to culturing, the natural products they produce remain inaccessible.
Using cloning and heterologous expression of large fragments of microbial DNA extracted directly from environmental samples (environmental DNA, eDNA) provides a means to access this previously untapped biodiversity. This approach has been termed "cloning the metagenome" to refer to accessing the collective genomes of the organisms in an environment (8). With the advent of bacterial cloning vectors such as the bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC), a vector that faithfully replicates very large fragments of DNA (9), it is now possible to clone and express in easily cultured hosts eDNA that codes for natural products produced by uncultured microorganisms. In short, direct cloning of eDNA provides a means to access the biosynthetic capacity of the genomes of heretofor uncultured microorganisms.
A metagenomics approach was first used to study the uncultured microflora present in soil samples. As with all other natural environments studied to date, the diversity of uncultured microorganisms in soil far exceeds that of cultured microorganisms. DNA-DNA reassociation kinetics and light microscopy analysis of soil samples indicate that cultured microorganisms represent less than 1% of the actual microbial diversity that exists in soil (10, 11). Analyzing small subunit rRNA gene sequences cloned from PCR-amplified soil DNA indicates that the uncultured microbial diversity in soil is much larger and more diverse than previously believed (5, 6, 7, 12). In addition to known examples of Archaea, Bacteria and Eukarya, analysis of small subunit rRNA gene sequences from soil microflora has consistently identified many sequences from previously uncharacterized microbial taxa. A recent analysis showed that nearly one third of the major divisions of phyla within the domain Bacteria are known only as environmental rRNA sequences (containing no cultivated members) and many of the well known divisions contain a wide diversity of as-yet-uncultivated members (13). Although there appears to be no easy way to culture this large collection of unstudied microorganisms, it is possible to isolate large fragments of microbial DNA directly from soil samples in high yields (>1 μg of DNA/gram of soil) (14, 15). The molecular diversity data from soil, together with the ease with which large eDNA can be harvested from soil samples, makes soil an ideal candidate for this new approach to the discovery of natural products.
Described herein are triaryl cationic antibiotics that are produced at elevated levels by a member of this library, pharmaceutical compositions containing the antibiotics, and methods of treating microbial infection using the pharmaceutical composition. The triaryl antibioutics were initially generated using a 25,000-member BAC library of eDNA extracted from soil (15; co-pending and co-owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/558,712, filed Apr. 26, 2000), and subsequently synthesized de novo.

Triaryl cation antibiotics from environmental DNA


An automated tissue sampling device is disclosed which permits its needles to be cocked either simultaneously or sequentially and can be cocked with only one hand. The cocking mechanism is arranged so as to virtually eliminate the possibility that the needles will be cocked in the wrong sequence. The physician can readily confirm, either visually or tactilely, whether the device is uncocked, half cocked, or fully cocked. The disclosed tissue sampling device also comprises two different trigger buttons, one adjacent the front end of the device and the other at the rear, and manipulating either of the two trigger buttons will actuate the device.

Since the late 1960's, the preferred biopsy needle configuration for retrieving core tissue samples for biopsy purposes has been the so-called "Tru-Cut"-type needle assembly. This biopsy needle assembly, which is the subject of U.S. Pat. No. 3,477,423 to Griffith et al., comprises two elements, a hollow tubular cannula and a solid stylet slidably disposed within the cannula. The stylet has a sharpened forward end and a tissue receiving recess located just rearward of the forward end. The cannula has a sharpened forward edge. To retrieve a tissue specimen using the "Tru-Cut"-type biopsy needle assembly, the stylet and cannula are introduced into the patient and advanced to a point just short of the target tissue. The stylet is then manually advanced into the target tissue, and tissue prolapses into the tissue receiving recess adjacent to the forward end of the stylet. The cannula is then manually advanced, shearing off the tissue within the tissue receiving recess of the stylet and capturing the specimen. The stylet and cannula are then withdrawn together, and the tissue sample removed for analysis.
Despite its numerous advantages over then prior art biopsy needles, the "Tru-Cut"-type needle was somewhat difficult to use. Since manual advancement of the stylet occurred relatively slowly, the target tissue was sometimes pushed aside, rather than prolapsing into the tissue-receiving recess of the stylet, such that the resulting tissue specimen was not of the target tissue. Further, in the course of the physician's manually advancing the cannula, there was a tendency for the stylet to be withdrawn from the target tissue, resulting in a poor tissue specimen or even no specimen at all. These problems were addressed beginning in the early 1980's with automated, spring-actuated driving units which would be coupled to a "Tru-Cut"-type needle assembly. When the driving unit was fired, the stylet would be released, and a spring would drive the stylet forward a predetermined distance. When the stylet reached the forward extent of its travel, the cannula would instantly be released, and a spring associated with the cannula would drive it forward over the stylet, shearing off the tissue specimen and capturing it within the forward end of the cannula. This device is disclosed in PCT Application Serial No. SE83/00112.
This device, though a great improvement over a manually operated "Tru-Cut" needle, was somewhat inconvenient to operate in that a separate cocking tool had to be used to pry back slides within the driving unit to which the respective needles were coupled. This inconvenience was addressed by a device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,699,154 to Lindgren et al., which included an integral cocking slide. Actuation of the slide would simultaneously draw both needles to their cocked positions.
While both of the automated devices disclosed in PCT Application Serial No. SE83/00112 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,699,154 represented significant advances over the manually operated "Tru-Cut" needle, they were nonetheless inconvenient in certain respects. In the case of both instruments it was necessary to remove the needle assembly from the driving unit before the tissue specimen could be retrieved from the tissue receiving notch at the far end of the stylet. This problem was addressed by a device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,944,308, which had a cocking mechanism which retracted the needles sequentially, rather than simultaneously. In this manner, the cannula could be retracted without retracting the stylet, thereby affording access to the tissue receiving recess and the stylet. The cocking mechanism in the aforesaid U.S. Pat. No. 4,944,308 comprised a rotatable sleeve on the outside of the housing. Rotating the sleeve a first time cocked the cannula, and rotating the sleeve a second time cocked the stylet.
Another device which permitted independent cocking of the cannula and stylet was disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,958,625, wherein the needles were cocked by slides mounted to the housing. Operating the cannula slide without operating the stylet slide would retract the cannula with respect to the stylet, thereby exposing the tissue receiving notch.
While addressing some of the inconveniences of earlier automated biopsy devices, the devices disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,944,308 and 4,958,625 had their own disadvantages. Cocking the respective needles independently required two separate actions on the part of the physician, one for each needle. In addition, the device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,944,308 required two hands to cock the device, one hand to grasp the instrument and the other hand to rotate the sleeve. Further, the device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,958,625 comprised two slides, and it was not intuitive to the physician which slide should be cocked first. Thus the possibility existed that, in an effort to recover the tissue specimen from the tissue receiving notch, the stylet slide would be cocked first, such that the tissue sample was not exposed.
Thus, there is a need for an automated biopsy device which provides for the cannula to be cocked independently of the stylet to permit a tissue specimen to be recovered from the tissue receiving recess of the stylet, wherein the cocking order is intuitive to the physician so as to minimize the possibility that the needles are cocked in the wrong sequence.
There is a further need for an automated biopsy device which provides the advantage of being able to cock both needles simultaneously with a single action, while still permitting a tissue specimen to be recovered from the tissue receiving recess of the stylet without having to dismount the needle from the driving unit.
There is a further need for an automated biopsy device which provides the advantage of being able to cock both needles simultaneously with a single action and which permits one-handed cocking.
Another inconvenience associated with prior art automated biopsy devices concerns the location of the trigger element by which the instrument is fired. All of the aforementioned devices except one had the trigger located on the rear of the housing, a location well-suited for procedures in which the instrument would be held substantially upright. However, depending upon the style of the individual physician and the nature of the procedure being performed, there are instances in which a trigger on the side of the housing, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,958,625, is more convenient. Neither trigger location, however, is optimal for all procedures and for all physicians.
Thus there is a need for an automated biopsy device which permits the device to be actuated from either the front or the back of the housing, depending upon the style of the individual physician and the procedure being performed.


Provided is a portable terminal capable of efficiently storing untransmitted print object data as print data in a non-volatile storage unit, and restarting printing by the print object data. Included are a storage unit, a remaining battery capacity detection unit, a print data construction unit that constructs the print data in each [print unit size] from a data start position of the print object data and transmits the print data to an image forming device, and a data storage processing unit that performs a data storage process in which the print object data is stored in the storage unit in each [storage unit size] toward the data start position from a data end position of the print object data when a remaining battery capacity is smaller than or equal to a preset reference value during transmission of the print data by the print data construction unit.

The present disclosure relates to a portable terminal and method capable of operating an image forming device.
Recently, a technology is known in which print data is constructed from print object data such as document data in a portable terminal that is driven by a battery as a power supply, such as a smartphone or a notebook personal computer, and the constructed print data is transmitted to an image forming device such as a printer, a copy machine, or an MFP (Multifunction Peripheral/Printer/Product) via a wired network or a wireless network, and printed. Various print object data are used, and in the case of print object data exclusively prepared for printing, such as an Internet payment screen or a coupon screen, when the printing is finished, the print object data is not required. Therefore, in general, the print object data is stored in a volatile area and when the printing is finished, the print object data is eliminated. Accordingly, while the print object data stored in the volatile area is transmitted as print data, when a battery runs out, the original print object data for constructing the print data is lost. To deal with the problem, a technology is proposed in which when reduction in a remaining battery capacity on the portable terminal side is detected during the printing, the print object data is stored in a non-volatile area and a printing operation is restarted after power recovery.


A system for releasably engaging equipment to the rear of a snow plow blade comprises a receiving location on a rear side of a snow plow blade, the receiving location comprising first and second ramp structures that define inclined ramps, and a retaining structure disposed between and above the ramp structures. The retaining structure is shaped and dimensioned such that, when the piece of equipment is in the receiving location, the retaining structure releasably engages a cross member structure of the equipment to suspend the piece of equipment above the ground via the cross member structure.

Snow-clearing vehicles are commonly used in areas that accumulate snow on a regular basis to clear snow and ice from roads and walkways. A common form of snow-clearing vehicle is a pickup truck equipped with a hydraulically raisable snow plow mounted to a hitch frame on the front of a truck for pushing and thereby clearing a path in the snow when the truck is driven forward with the plow in the lowered position. Snow plows are typically straight or V-shaped. Alternatively, snow plows are comprised of two halves or blades adjacent to one another, configurable so that the truck operator can configure the plow blades align to form a straight snow plow, or to angle relative to one another to form a V-shaped orientation.
Often, snow plow vehicle operators will use the truck bed to carry a commercial salter, which typically occupies the bulk of the available space in the truck bed. Other equipment, such as hand-operated drop salters and snow blowers, are often also required to remove snow from areas less accessible by snow plow trucks. As there is little room in the truck bed, this equipment is typically transported in a separate vehicle or trailer hitched to the truck, and further, impose difficulty to the snow plow vehicle operator as the weight of the equipment makes loading and unloading the equipment a time-consuming and physically arduous task. Some have attempted to carry snow blowers on snow-plow mountable platforms which are accessible for loading when the plow is lowered. The snow blower is placed on the platform and is kept from coming off of the platform by a ratchet strap placed around and against the rear of the snow blower. In these cases, the platform occupies much of the space around the snow plow making it harder for the truck operator to access equipment mounted on the platform. The size of such platforms also slows down the unloading process as the truck operator must first clear the boundaries of the platform before steering and driving the snow blower in the desired direction. Further, these platforms add significant weight and bulk to the truck, increasing the cost to drive and operate the vehicle as well as the complexity of maneuvering the vehicle plow. Snow blowers mounted on these platforms are also susceptible to damage from bouncing and/or shifting on the platform as the snow plow truck is driven over bumps, around corners, or generally over rough terrain.


A parallel precoder circuit executes an EXOR operation on an n-row parallel input, and outputs an n-row parallel output, where 2≦n. Outputs of EXOR circuits each of which having a largest column number from among EXOR circuits disposed in first to (n−1)th rows become first-row to (n−1)th-row parallel outputs, respectively. A output of an nth-row delay circuit becomes an nth-row parallel output.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a parallel precoder circuit that executes an exclusive OR (EXOR) operation on a parallel input, and outputs a parallel output.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, an optical duobinary modulation system and a differential phase shift keying (DPSK) system are calling attention as techniques of increasing a relay distance and increasing a transmission speed, in an optical communication system.
The optical duobinary system narrows a spectrum of a signal by applying a duobinary signal, and can decrease degradation of the signal due to wavelength dispersion. Because a carrier frequency component of the signal decreases, degradation of the signal due to inductive Brillouin scattering can be also decreased.
The duobinary system is classified as partial response (1, 1) in communication engineering, and a transmission and reception system includes a precoder, an encoder, and a decoder. The precoder calculates an EXOR of an input signal and a one-bit delay feedback signal obtained by delaying an output signal of the precoder by one bit, and outputs the calculated result. The encoder adds the output signal of the precoder and the one-bit delay feedback signal obtained by delaying the output signal of the precoder by one bit, and outputs the calculated result. The decoder carries out modulo 2 calculations using the output of the encoder. The precoder circuit is also used as a differential coder that converts the information of "1" and "0" to be communicated into a phase difference between two symbols that are continuously transmitted, in a differential phase shift modulation system.
In the optical duobinary system, a low pass filter achieves the function of the encoder, and a photodetector achieves the function of the decoder in many cases. In other words, individual analog parts and optical elements achieve the functions of the encoder and the decoder in many cases. On the other hand, a logical circuit is usually used for the precoder.
A transmission speed F (hertz) in the optical communication is an ultra-high speed of 10 Gbps and 40 Gbps. Therefore, when a serial precoder circuit that processes a signal as one-bit serial data according to this transmission speed is used, the EXOR circuit to be used is required to operate at an ultra-high speed.
When the transmission speed F becomes an ultra-high speed, a clock unit time per one bit becomes short. Therefore, timing adjustment of a circuit that achieves a one-bit delay becomes difficult.
To solve these problems, a conventional transmission and reception system using a duobinary system converts a serial input signal into a parallel input signal, and a parallel precoder circuit processes the parallel input signal. With this arrangement, the required ultra-high operation speed of the circuit that achieves the function of the precoder can be decreased.
Conventional techniques of a parallel precoder circuit are described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H11-122205 and Japanese Patent Publication No. 3474794. The conventional parallel precoder circuit described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H11-122205 operates as follows. To parallelize a signal into n (2≦n, where n is an integer) bit signals, the parallel precoder circuit first inputs the signal to the precoder to a separating circuit, serial-parallel converts the data, or directly uses a parallel signal from a pre-stage circuit such as a framer and develops the signal into an n-bit parallel signal sk(i) (1≦i≦n, where i is an integer), and connects the sk(i) to one of inputs of n two-input EXOR circuits. Next, the parallel precoder circuit connects an output tk(i) of a kth (1≦k≦n−1, where k is an integer) EXOR circuit to the other input of a (k+1)th EXOR circuit, thereby connecting the EXOR circuits in cascade. The parallel precoder circuit delays the output of the nth EXOR circuit by one clock at the operation speed F/n (hertz), and connects this output to the other input of the first EXOR circuit. Finally, a multiplexing circuit parallel-serial converts the outputs of the n EXOR circuits, and outputs the converted data. The parallel precoder circuit that develops the data in parallel operates equivalently to a serial precoder circuit that includes a set of two-input EXOR circuits and a one-clock delay circuit.
According to the conventional parallel precoder circuit described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 3474794, EXOR circuits are connected in cascade like the parallel precoder circuit described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H11-122205. The parallel precoder circuit inputs branched parallel input signals to multiple-input EXOR circuits, and inputs the outputs of these circuits to a differential encoding circuit The differential encoding circuit has EXOR circuits and a one-clock delay unit. Outputs of the EXOR circuits are input to the one-clock delay unit, and an output of the one-clock delay circuit is input to one EXOR circuit by feedback. An output of the differential encoding circuit is branched, and is also connected to one input of the first EXOR. A time-division multiplexing unit multiplexes the output of the EXOR circuits connected in cascade and the output of the differential encoding circuit, and outputs the multiplexed result. The parallel precoder circuit in this configuration also achieves the equivalent operation of the serial precoder circuit.
However, according to the conventional parallel precoder circuit described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H11-122205, the path in which a signal is once input to the one-clock delay circuit and passed through all the n EXOR circuits and is input again to the one-clock delay circuit by feedback becomes a maximum delay path that determines an upper limit operation speed of the circuit. In other words, the signal needs to be propagated to the EXOR circuits directly connected at n stages within the one-clock unit time n/F (second) at the operation speed F/n. Therefore, although the input signal is developed into n bits in parallel, a delay time permitted to one EXOR circuit is 1/n. Therefore, individual EXOR circuits must operate at F (hertz), and the effect of the parallelization cannot be obtained sufficiently.
In general, to decrease the number of combined circuits within the maximum delay path (in this case, EXOR circuits), a pipeline method of inserting a flip-flop circuit into between the combined circuits can be used. However, according to the parallel precoder circuit described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H11-122205, the maximum delay path is a feedback loop in which a signal is once input to the one-clock delay circuit and passed through all the n EXOR circuits and is input again to the one-clock delay circuit by feedback. Therefore, the pipeline method cannot be used in this case.
According to the conventional parallel precoder circuit described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 3474794, the operation speed of the EXOR circuits is relaxed to F/n (hertz), by decreasing the number of stages of the EXOR circuits included in the feedback part to one stage. However, EXOR circuits proportional to the n EXOR circuits connected in cascade remain in order to generate the output of the parallel precoder circuit. When the pipeline system is applied to match the timing of the parallel output signals from the EXOR circuits connected in cascade, flip-flops of the square of n become necessary, which results in a too large circuit scale.
Separately from the conventional parallel precoder circuits described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H11-122205 and Japanese Patent Publication No. 3474794, there is also a circuit configuration that generates output signals of the parallel precoder circuit from input signals developed in parallel, without using the outputs of EXOR circuits at lower digits within the parallel signals. According to this circuit configuration, the number of stages of the EXOR circuits in the maximum delay path can be decreased. However, according to this circuit configuration, the number of gates of the EXOR circuits, the number of FAN OUTs that branch signal lines, and a wiring length become large. Consequently, the circuit size becomes large in proportion to the square of n.


Methods, systems, and computer storage media for providing a set of common flat files in a composite image that can be mounted as a container (i.e., composite container) to support isolation and interoperation of computing resources. Container management is provided for a container management system based on a composite image file system engine that executes composite operations to support resource isolation and operating system (OS) virtualization functionality. In particular, a container engine interface supports creating, mounting, and providing access to and from composite images or composite containers. In operation, a plurality of files for generating a composite image are accessed. The composite image for the plurality of files is generated. The composite image includes a set of common flat files. The composite image is communicated to cause mounting of the composite image, where mounting the composite image is based on a metadata file from the set of common flat files.

Users often rely on computing resources such as applications and services to perform various computing tasks. Distributed computing environments can support building, deploying, and managing applications and services. Users and enterprises are moving away from traditional computing environments to run their applications and services on distributed computing environments. Distributed computing environments implement operating system (OS) level virtualization (e.g., container management systems) to support multiple isolated computing instances in distributed computing environments.
By way of example, a container management system (or platform) with a container engine (e.g., DOCKER) may support developing and delivering software in packages called containers. Containers are created from images that specify their precise contents. Containers, in particular, can be supported (e.g., managed, created, mounted, and accessed) using a container management system that includes several components that are integrated and communicate to provide container functionality. Conventional container management systems primarily support container images with traditional container image layouts. For example, a traditional container image layout can include directory tree structures on disk that introduce inefficiencies in container management operations. As distributed computing environments increasingly support applications and services, it is important to provide operations for efficient creation and management of container resources to improve computing operations, in particular, computing operations for resource isolation functionality in distributed computing environments

Container management system with a composite engine interface