The present invention relates to genetically modified enzymes obtained by rational design of the active site binding pocket of the prototypic enzyme 4-hydroxyphenylacetate 3-hydroxylase (4HPA3H) for hydroxylating a 4-hydroxyphenyl compound to yield a 3,4-dihydroxyphenyl compound and to biotechnological methods including in vivo and in vitro methods using said enzymes or catalytically active fragments thereof. Further provided is a method either using a suitable oxidase or hydroxylase further enabling the subsequent site specific methylation of the 3,4-dihydroxyphenyl compound in a coupled enzymatic reaction by providing a suitable O-methyltransferase. Finally, compositions obtainable by the aforementioned methods are disclosed.

3,4-dihydroxyphenyl compounds, e.g. caffeic acid, piceatannol, eriodictyol, 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid and esculetin are precious natural products having inter alia antioxidative properties, e.g., by scavenging harmful oxygen species. Further favorable characteristics including a variety of health benefits including anti-inflammatory or anti-cancer activities are attributed to said class of compounds. Said substances, however, only occur in very low concentrations in plants suitable for food products. This especially applies for eriodictyol or its glycosides eriocitrin and neoeriocitrin present in plants of the genus Citrus. Eriodictyol (cf. FIG. 1 and FIG. 13) is a well-known flavoring substance which is suitable to effectively reduce and mask the bitter impression or taste of a variety of bitter constituents. From the state of the art, this property of eriodictyol is known from EP 1 258 200 B1. Several flavonoids derived from eriodictyol are also of huge interest in the food and health industry, including hesperetin, hesperidin, neohesperidin, eriocitrin, neoeriocitrin and homoeriodictyol (cf. FIG. 13).
In contrast to the availability of eriodictyol from natural sources, the related substance naringenin (cf. FIG. 1 and FIG. 13) or its glycosides naringin and narirutin are available in sufficient amounts in various citrus species like for example grapefruit or bitter orange (Poncirus trifoliata). Therefore, naringenin and its related substances would basically to represent a suitable and cost-sensitive alternative starting material for obtaining eriodictyol.
Chemical oxidation, however, does not represent a suitable process for oxidizing a flavonoid ring without additionally oxidizing other positions in the ring system as side effect, whereas chemical oxidation will only yield mixtures of different oxidation products comprising eriodictyol, but not as the only product. Moreover, no single step chemical oxidation method for introducing an oxidation at a specific flavonoid ring position is currently known. Another problem is the further oxidation of the obtained products yielding chinon-like or higher molecular oxidation products of eriodictyol, respectively.
There is thus a persisting need for advancements in the field of enzymatic oxidation for use in biotechnology to yield eriodictyol similar to the natural process occurring during the canonical flavonoid biosynthetic pathway from naringenin to eriodictyol by hydroxylation, whereas this need always encompasses the wish to increase the yield and purity of the respective target compound.
Hydroxylations are a type of oxygen transfer reactions which functionalize organic molecules. The hydroxyl group is introduced by substitution of a hydrogen atom or—less commonly—of another functionality. Although these reactions are an essential part of the synthetic routes to a multiplicity of natural products, the selective introduction of a hydroxyl group into alkyl or, in particular, aryl moieties is one of the most challenging fields in synthesis. Hence, the number of methods for direct (aromatic) hydroxylation is still limited. In contrast to these chemosynthetic approaches, enzyme-mediated hydroxylation often proved to be more effective due to high regio- and/or stereoselectivity, and is increasingly favored while being more environmentally compatible (due to omission of reactive chemicals and the potential reduction in organic solvents). Indeed, biocatalytic oxidative transformations have been used for hydroxylation of structurally divergent compounds, including steroids, alkaloids, terpenoids or fatty acids. These enzymatic processes nearly exclusively rely on cytochrome P450-type enzymes, certainly because a multitude of these proteins has been produced recombinantly. In addition, many cytochrome enzymes are well characterized with respect to substrate scope, such as the enzyme from Bacillus megaterium and its variants.
A major problem associated with the establishment of suitable enzymatic procedures in this regard is the isolation or the stable expression of heterologous oxidases by means of molecular biology. Cytochrome P450 oxidases are ubiquitous enzymes occurring in all domains of life. Their function and most common reaction catalyzed by said enzymes is a monooxygenase reaction, e.g., the insertion of one atom of oxygen into the aliphatic position of an organic substrate while the other oxygen atom is reduced to water. Currently, it is notoriously difficult to express P450 oxidases in a heterologous way and to obtain a stable enzyme possessing its intrinsic enzymatic capabilities, still several suitable variants are already at hand, whereas the current research emphasis exclusively focused on the isolation and characterization of this class of enzymes and not the characterization thereof as regards there use in biotechnological methods defining, by means of metabolic engineering, a pathway and suitable host cells and substrates to utilize these P450 oxidases for complex in vivo and in vitro methods for yielding 3,4-dihydroxyphenol compounds in an industrial scale.
Alternatively, flavin-dependent monooxygenases are an interesting target for catalyzing hydroxylation reactions in biotechnology. These monooxygenases belong to a superfamily of enzymes that is involved in key metabolic processes in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, such as the biosynthesis of polyketides, cholesterol or antibiotics. The classification of flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) dependent monooxygenases is based on structural features as well as on the type of electron donor and oxygen transfer. The prototypic enzyme 4-hydroxyphenylacetate 3-hydroxylase (4HPA3H or HpaB, EC 184.108.40.206) catalyzes the reaction of 4-hydroxyphenylacetate with oxygen to 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetate. During the reaction water is formed by consumption of the cofactor FADH2 which is produced from FAD by an additional flavin reductase component (HpaC, E.C. 220.127.116.11). Because its highly specific reaction is not restricted to the natural substrate 4-hydroxyphenylacetate, 4HPA3H is an attractive biocatalyst for challenging oxidation of monophenols to σ-diphenols (catechols), but so far no specific rational design of said enzyme has been performed to make it a suitable tool for versatile biotechnological applications in the industrial scale requiring high standards with respect to the stability, specificity and conversion rate of an enzyme. Notably, 4HPA3H-mediated hydroxylation proceeds without side reactions leading to undesired by-products. However, despite its efficiency and reaction specificity, applicability of 4HPA3H in biotechnology is still limited because a toolbox of enzymes with extended substrate scope, i.e. including natural products other than simple monophenols (such as flavonoids or alkaloids), is not yet available.
EP 14187583.1 describes the insertion of mutations into the genome of bacterial P450 oxidases to provide a recombinant microorganism which is able to produced eriodictyol from the starting material naringenin, however, the rate of catalysis obtained for this specific substrate is very low for the disclosed method and the subsequent isolation of the resulting product is laborious.
US 2014/0363858 A1 discloses a biotechnological method for oxidizing naringenin to eriodictyol using a native wild-type enzyme, i.e. the two component non-P450 hydroxylase HpaBC from E. coli that catalyzes the hydroxylation of 4-hydroxyacetate (4HPA) into 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetate, the first step of the 4HPA degradation in E. coli. The large component HpaB of this two component enzyme represents a FADH2-utilizing monooxygenase, while the small component HpaC is an NAD(P)H-flavin oxidoreductase that acts as a coupling or cofactor recycling factor for supplying FADH2 to HpaB. As evident from FIG. 2C and as disclosed in paragraph [0093] of this US-application, the activity obtained towards naringenin was extremely low and the reaction rate for the conversion of naringenin to eriodictyol is extremely low and only proceeds incomplete (<10%), whereas the method as such is not suitable to generate eriodictyol in sufficient amounts and purities as required in the chemical, food and pharmaceutical industry for further use of the compound. No suggestions are made as to the possibility of genetically engineering the enzyme subunit HpaB responsible for the catalysis of the naringenin to eriodictyol reaction. Furthermore, US 2014/0363858 A1 discloses that the expensive cofactors NADH and FAD which are essential for the activity of the enzyme catalyzing the reaction from naringenin to eriodictyol have to be supplemented.
Consequently, there exists a long felt need for establishing biotechnological methods including both in vivo enzymatic methods using a whole-cell approach and in vitro enzymatic methods in a cell-free system, or a combination thereof, to catalyze the oxidation of different 4-hydroxyphenyl compounds and—in a coupled enzymatic reaction—also the further methylation of the resulting 3,4-dihydroxyphenyl compounds. Specifically, there is a need for genetically modified enzymes having an enhanced substrate spectrum and simultaneously high catalytic activity and region- and product specificity. Therefore, there is a need especially for suitable genetically engineered enzymes, which can be utilized in said reactions, which have to be designed by laborious rational design to yield enzymes, which can be stably and functionally produced, which provide high yields and strict region- and product specificity with respect to their substrates and which can be applied in vivo and in vitro systems, comprising a whole-cell approach and cell-free methods necessary for their broad applicability in an industrial scale. As regards enzymatic reaction, there is always the additional need to optimize the cost. Therefore, suitable cofactor recycling systems are demanded, fine-tuned concerning the specific reaction to be catalyzed and the enzyme used therefore, to achieve biotechnological methods which need less cofactor supplementation and are thus cost-saving.

Mutant 4-hydroxyphenylacetate 3-hydroxylases and uses thereof


A delivery mechanism for an implantable stent which provides a high mechanical advantage to the surgeon and convenient operation so as to facilitate smooth withdrawal of an outer catheter sheath following placement of the stent in the desired location within the patient's vessel. Preferred embodiments include a moving rail actuated by a V-shaped lever, a hydraulic actuator, a rack and pinion drive, and a power screw system. The delivery mechanism has a movable member that is attached to the outer catheter sheath so that actuating the mechanism results in an incremental movement of the moveable member, which in turn results in an incremental movement of the outer catheter sheath. Once the outer catheter sheath is retracted from the stent, the stent is deployed into the patient's vessel and the remaining parts of the mechanism, including an inner tube, an atraumatic tip, and a stabilizing element, are easily removed.

Various diseases of blood vessels or hollow organs cause a stenosis or complete occlusion of their lumen, which results in a decrease or complete loss of their functional attributes. Various implantable prosthetic devices for sustaining a blood vessel or hollow organ lumen typically have a tubular-shaped frame body which is introduced into the vessel or hollow organ and fixed in the necessary location to sustain the lumen.
A commonly used implant is a tubular-shaped wire frame known as a stent graft. In one type of stent graft, the wire frame is made of self-expanding nickel-titanium (nitinol) shape memory alloy which is laser cut and encapsulated within two layers of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE). The layers of ePTFE are processed such that the material forms a monolithic structure, fully enclosing the metallic stent where the cover is present. The encapsulation is intended to prevent restenosis of the vessel. The inner blood contacting lumen of the stent graft is impregnated with carbon. Typically, one or both ends of the stent graft is flared and free of encapsulation in order to facilitate anchoring within the vessel. The nitinol alloy is placed into the body during surgery at room temperature. As it increases to body temperature, it expands to its desired size. Balloon angioplasty may be done after implantation of the stent to set its final shape.
In order to introduce the stent into the body vessel, it is placed within a tubular sheath catheter. When the device is positioned at the desired location, it is released from the tubular sheath and permitted to expand radially against the wall of the vessel. When the outer sheath is removed, the physician must be careful to avoid migration of the stent away from the desired location. Typical prior art devices employ a simple ratchet mechanism in conjunction with the outer sheath and an inner lumen. The inner lumen is maintained stationary to fix the stent in position and the outer lumen is drawn away from the stent by means of the ratchet mechanism actuated by a spring loaded trigger. Each pull on the trigger causes the outer sheath to retract by an amount corresponding to the stroke of the trigger. An anchor to which the outer sheath is attached includes a tooth which engages with each tooth of the ratchet mechanism. This mechanism has drawbacks in that it is awkward to operate and difficult to maintain steady so that the stent graft does not migrate away from its desired position during sheath retraction.

Delivery mechanism for implantable stent


A method and system for controlling actuators in a mechanical reproducing piano or other instrument. In one implementation, a single finite state machine is provided to control all the actuators. The finite state machine may be or include a shift register or a toggle register, which increases the operating speed. When a note is to be played, the desired dynamic is mapped into a start vector and a stop vector. The actuator is turned on when the state of the finite state machine is equal to the start vector, and is turned off when the state of the finite state machine is equal to the stop vector. Furthermore, the period of the finite state machine is adjusted to be directly proportional to the supply voltage. This allows notes to be played at the desired dynamics even when the supply voltage fluctuates.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method for controlling mechanically-driven musical instruments, and in particular to a system and method for controlling the drive of solenoid actuators in a mechanically-driven piano or other instrument.
2. Background of the Technology
Beginning with the invention of pneumatically-driven reproducing pianos in the early twentieth century, systems and methods have been developed for recording music played by a human pianist and for reproducing that music on a piano. Many of these systems and methods have attempted to reproduce not only the temporal sequence of notes played by the pianist, but also their dynamics or the sharp contrasts and subtle shadings in loudness that help to make piano performances pleasing. The overall problem of reproducing dynamics can be divided into two distinct parts: recording the dynamics played by a pianist, and recreating these dynamics on a piano.
The problem of recording the dynamics played by a pianist is addressed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,307,648 to Wayne Stahnke, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference. However, there is an unmet need in the art for improved systems and methods for recreating the recorded dynamics.
In an application such as a mechanically-driven piano, recorded music is recreated, for example, using solenoids or other actuators. One solenoid or other actuator is provided for each key of the piano. Each solenoid or other actuator controls the movement of one piano key to recreate recorded music. The solenoids or other actuators may be operated at various speeds to recreate the dynamics of the recorded music.
The solenoids or other actuators are driven, for example, using switching-mode drivers. One switching-mode driver is provided for each solenoid or other actuator, and thus, each switching-mode driver controls one key of the piano. The switching-mode drivers are either fully "on" or fully "off." When a particular note is not to be played, the switching-mode driver for that note is off.
When a particular note is to be played, the switching-mode driver for that note alternates between the on and off states at a high rate, such as, for example, a rate above the limit of audibility. By controlling the proportion of time the switching-mode driver is turned on, the loudness of the note can be controlled. For example, if a loud note is desired, the switching-mode driver is turned on for a large proportion of the time. The solenoid or other actuator is operated at a relatively fast speed, and a relatively loud note is played. In contrast, if a soft note is desired, the switching-mode driver is turned off for a large proportion of the time. The solenoid or other actuator is operated at a relatively slow speed, and a relatively soft note is played.
In some systems, each switching-mode driver is controlled independently. However, other implementations control two or more switching-mode drivers in synchronism, which reduces the cost. Such a system is described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,022,301 to Wayne Stahnke, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Historically, analog circuitry has been used to generate the control signals for the switching-mode driver. However, the advent of high-speed digital circuitry makes it feasible to control the switching-mode drivers using purely digital circuitry. In one such digital system, a plurality of digital counters is used to control the switching-mode drivers. One digital counter is used to control each key.
However, this system suffers from several shortcomings. First, because one counter is used for each key, the system is complex and costly. Second, counters exhibit limited speed due to the fact that carry signals must be propagated from stage to stage. The limited operating speed of the counters limits the resolution of the switching-mode drivers. This results in a relatively limited number of distinct dynamic levels, thereby limiting the accuracy of the reproduction.
The solenoids or other actuators are driven from a supply voltage that is derived from local power mains. The voltage of the power mains, nominally 117 Volts Alternating Current at 60 Hertz in the United States, actually varies during the course of the day due to varying power demands on the local power distribution system. Local changes in load, such as a change caused by starting household appliances or playing many loud notes at once, can also affect the voltage of the power mains.
In order to obtain a fine musical result, the effect of fluctuations in supply voltage should be reduced or eliminated. Many prior art systems contain a power supply that regulates the supply voltage provided to the solenoids or other actuators. Regulating the supply voltage ensures that a constant voltage is provided to the solenoids or other actuators, and the effect of fluctuations is thereby reduced or eliminated. The power supply used in the prior art systems contains a regulator circuit that is capable of controlling the large currents that appear when many notes are played at once. However, the regulator circuit adds to the complexity and cost of the system.
There is an unmet need in the art for an improved system and method for controlling solenoids or other actuators while reducing complexity and cost. There is a further need to provide a system and method with increased resolution of the switching-mode drivers. There is an unmet need in the art to provide a system that compensates for fluctuations in the supply voltage while reducing complexity and cost. Other problems in music reproduction technology exist.

System and method for driving actuators in reproducing piano


An array substrate, a touch display panel and a touch display device are provided. In the array substrate, the number of inverters in a second buffer unit is smaller than the number of inverters in a first buffer unit, or a size of an inverter in the second buffer unit is smaller than a size of an inverter in the first buffer unit, or the number of inverters in the second buffer unit is smaller than the number of inverters in the first buffer unit and the size of the inverter in the second buffer unit is smaller than the size of the inverter in the first buffer unit.

With the development of display technology, people not only have higher and higher requirements for a function of a display panel, but also have higher and higher requirements for appearance of display panel. In order to better adapt to the overall changes in the environment and use requirements, an irregular display panel has conic into being.
As shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 1 is a schematic top view of a structure of a conventional irregular display panel. An edge of the irregular display panel in the same extension direction as that of scan lines has a notch 10. The notch 10 divides a display area of the irregular display panel into a regular display area A1 and notch display areas A2 located at two sides of the notch 10. However, in practice, it has been found that the brightness of the notch display area A2 is different from the brightness of the regular display area A1, resulting in poor brightness uniformity of the irregular display panel, which affects the display effect of the irregular display panel.

Array substrate, touch display panel and touch display device

XIAMEN TIANMA MICRO-ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.


An automotive tire pressure monitor with diversity antenna system employs a RF transmitter within each wheel/tire assembly and a vehicle mounted receiver with multiple receiving antennas. A first, primary antenna is located adjacent one vehicle window and a secondary antenna is located adjacent another vehicle window opposite the primary antenna. Both antennas are coupled to a receiver via a switch. The receiver feeds a processor, which is encoded to select the optimal antenna/receiver configuration based upon absolute signal strength (signal to noise), signal quality (completeness of encoded data) or signal reception rate. The signal received from the optimized antenna/receiver configuration is processed and transmitted to the host vehicle for system intervention and or display to an operator.

In response to regulations implemented by the United States government, automotive manufacturers are starting to provide new vehicles with tire pressure monitor/monitoring (TPM) equipment. Initiated in the year 2000, Congress passed the Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability, and Documentation (TREAD) Act, which related to issues concerned with the operation of a vehicle with substantially under-inflated tires. Under-inflated tires can result in a tire separation/blowout, which adds to the potential for a loss of control of a vehicle. Additionally, under-inflated tires shorten tire life and increase fuel consumption.
Section 12 of the TREAD Act directed the Department of Transportation (DOT) to complete a rule requiring that new motor vehicles must include a warning system that indicates if tires are under-inflated. Ever further, in response to Section 12 of the TREAD Act, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) National Center for Statistics and Analysis (NCSA) conducted the Tire Pressure Special Study (TPSS), which was designed to assess to what extent passenger vehicle operators are aware of the recommend tire pressures for their vehicles, the frequency and the means they use to measure their tire pressure, and how significantly the actual measured tire pressure differs from the manufacturers recommend tire pressure.
As a result of the TPSS, NHTSA favored a direct system using monitors in each wheel to determine whether tires are properly inflated so as to alert drivers when tire pressure is low. In early 2002, NHTSA issued a regulation mandating the implementation of TPM systems in new vehicles beginning with the 2004 model year. Under that rule, TPMs had to warn motorists when tire pressure fell 25% or 30% below the vehicle manufacturer's recommended level. The new standard applies to passenger cars, trucks, multipurpose passenger vehicles, and buses with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000 pounds or less, except those vehicles with dual wheels on an axle.
TPMs have been implemented in two ways: using the vehicle's antilock brake sensors in an indirect approach, or, by installing TPM sensors inside the tires prior to inflation on the wheel rim in a direct approach. Although the cost of the direct approach is higher than that of the indirect approach, it is preferred due to its precision and reliability. In a conventional operating environment, the signals transmitted from sensors inside tires to a receiving antenna often exhibit poor reception characteristics due to an interaction of the signals with the vehicle body, road, nearby vehicles, other nearby objects, and the like. The poor reception characteristics of the antenna often result in the triggering of a failure mode for the microprocessor unit.
In most cases, the receiving antenna is typically a remote keyless entry (RKE) antenna that receives signals from all of the vehicle's tires, which is then subsequently passed to a microprocessor for information processing. The RKE antenna is traditionally chosen for TPM due to its frequency range and relatively low cost and easy installation characteristics. Because the RKE antenna is a single antenna that is typically installed on one of the side windows or back-windshield glass, the RKE antenna alone may not be sufficient for some situations to receive the tire pressure signals propagated through an electromagnetically harsh environment, which has, for some applications, effected the reception capability of the most distant tire pressure sensor relative the position of the RKE receiving antenna.
These and other features and advantages of this invention will become apparent upon reading the following specification, which, along with the drawings, describes preferred and alternative embodiments of the invention in detail.

Tire pressure monitor with diversity antenna system and method


Disclosed are aptamer/drug conjugate complexes and the use of such complexes, together with a trigger compound, to inducibly release a drug. Also disclosed are methods for establishing a drug reservoir in a subject using these complexes, whereby drug may be released as needed. One example of such a complex is an aptamer/insulin conjugate complex from which insulin may be released by an innocuous, orally administrable trigger, such as quinine.

In recent years there has been a dramatic increase in the number of therapeutic peptides and proteins that have been approved for use or are in advanced clinical trails (Walsh, Nat. Biotechnol. (2006), 24, 769-776; Kumar et al., Curr. Pharm. Biotechnol. (2006), 7, 261-276; Jarvis et al., Chem. Eng. News (2009), 87, 28-29). Methods for their delivery are still primarily based on injectable formulations, often with inconvenient dosing regimes (Walsh, Nat. Biotechnol. (2006), 24, 769-776). For example, an important barrier to the ideal management of diabetes is a complex regimen of injections for insulin delivery, combining constant background (basal) release of insulin and increased dosages (bolus) after meals.
Accordingly, there is a need to provide a more convenient, less intrusive method of administering such therapeutic agents to patients, for example in the form of a molecular reservoir from which the therapeutic agent may be released as needed.

THE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK


Techniques for generating simulations for evaluating a performance of a controller of an autonomous vehicle are described. A computing system may evaluate the performance of the controller to navigate the simulation and respond to actions of one or more objects (e.g., other vehicles, bicyclists, pedestrians, etc.) in a simulation. Actions of the objects in the simulation may be controlled by the computing system (e.g., by an artificial intelligence) and/or one or more users inputting object controls, such as via a user interface. The computing system may calculate performance metrics associated with the actions performed by the vehicle in the simulation as directed by the autonomous controller. The computing system may utilize the performance metrics to verify parameters of the autonomous controller (e.g., validate the autonomous controller) and/or to train the autonomous controller utilizing machine learning techniques to bias toward preferred actions.

Vehicles are increasingly supplementing or replacing manual functionality with automatic controls. Autonomous driving, however, requires robust computing systems capable of making split-second decisions to respond to myriad events and scenarios. Robustness of a computing system may be confirmed via physical tests, such as by driving the vehicle in multiple environments for extended periods of time and/or for numerous miles. However, physical testing has limits. For instance, performing physical tests among traffic and pedestrians may be unsafe. Moreover, it may be virtually impossible to exactly repeat physical tests, such as to evaluate different versions of operating software. Simulations may be used to evaluate operating software to confirm if the system behaves as expected (e.g., safely operates the vehicle to a destination).
The simulations may include objects that the vehicle may encounter in an environment. The number of objects, respective initialization variables, and behavior of the objects may be limited to a simulation programmer's experience and/or imagination. Due to this limitation, it may be difficult for the programmer to anticipate training simulations in which programmatic logic may not behave as intended. A limitation on the number of identified training simulations may limit an ability of the test system to determine logical flaws, or otherwise definitively make a statement about the efficacy of the operating software.


Disclosed is an ultrafiltration device for domestic water supply which removes microorganisms and organic contamination. The device includes a bundle of capillary ultrafiltration membranes fitted in a filter housing, whereby the capillary membranes are open at a first end and closed at another end and are at the first end held in a membrane holder, which closes off the space in between the capillary membranes and the filter housing.

Devices for cleaning of liquids, and more specifically for cleaning of drinking water and for removing of live micro-organisms from the drinking water are known in the art. The installations which are used for the purification of drinking water for an extensive area usually have a large size. Outdated techniques or obselete installations are often used and it is therefore not easy to obtain an adequate purification of drinking water. It is also possible that pathogenes or other sorts of contamination appear in water that was purified earlier. To prevent the appearance of health threatening pathogenes, chlorine is often added to the drinking water. This has the important disadvantage of a strong deterioration of the taste and smell of the water. Moreover, a number of micro-organisms, like Cryptosporidium and Giardia, are resistent to chlorine and remain live organisms in the chlorinated drinking water. Furthermore, it is a problem that in a lot of areas, especially in third world countries, no reliable drinking water supply is present at all.

Ultrafiltration device for domestic/drinking water purification


The invention provides minimally invasive microsurgical tools and methods to form an aqueous humor shunt or bypass for the treatment of glaucoma. The invention enables surgical creation of a tissue tract (7) within the tissues of the eye to directly connect a source of aqueous humor such as the anterior chamber (1), to an ocular vein (4). The tissue tract (7) from the vein (4) may be connected to any source of aqueous humor, including the anterior chamber (1), an aqueous collector channel, Schlemm's canal (2), or a drainage bleb. Since the aqueous humor passes directly into the venous system, the normal drainage process for aqueous humor is restored. Furthermore, the invention discloses devices and materials that can be implanted in the tissue tract to maintain the tissue space and fluid flow.

Glaucoma is a disease condition of the eye in which increased intraocular pressure (IOP) is created by dysfunction in the drainage mechanism for the aqueous humor. Aqueous humor is produced within the eye in the ciliary body and flows within the anterior region of the eye. The aqueous humor normally flows through a network of tissues at the interior angle of the anterior chamber, named the trabecular meshwork and subsequently into a circular drainage space named Schlemm's canal. The aqueous humor continues its drainage path into collector channels and finally into aqueous veins to enter the venous system.
Typically in open angle glaucoma, the pathway for aqueous humor becomes narrowed or occluded, increasing IOP and resulting in gradual nerve damage and loss of vision. Such conditions are usually treated by topical drugs in the form of eye drops, but may result in surgical treatment if drug treatment becomes ineffective or if patient compliance is an issue. Traditional glaucoma surgery, such as trabeculotomy or trabeculectomy, involves dissection of the eye and the forming of new holes through the trabecular meshwork portion of the drainage pathway. The fluid is channeled to a reservoir formed under the conjunctiva known as a bleb. While blebs are effective in removing the aqueous humor, bleb complications present the highest incidence of post-surgical complications due to irritation and infection.
A new class of surgical procedures aims to approach treatment of the ocular drainage system from the scleral tissues without penetrating the interior chamber of the eye. These procedures are termed "non-penetrating" surgery and involve careful surgical dissection of the scleral tissues to access the tissues involved with ocular drainage. Deep sclerectomy is a form of this type of procedure in which a portion of intrascleral tissue is removed nearly to Descemet's membrane to allow significant aqueous flow from the anterior chamber to a bleb. Viscocanalostomy is another non-penetrating procedure, which increases the flow of aqueous humor form the anterior chamber into a surgically created intrascleral lake. Although non-penetrating procedures present fewer direct complications than traditional surgeries, most of the procedures still require the surgical dissection of ocular tissues and a high level of surgical skill.
Various approaches and devices for glaucoma surgery involving the rerouting of aqueous humor have been described in the art. One approach involves the shunting of aqueous humor through a tube in the anterior chamber into a reservoir implanted on the surface of the eye. See Mendez U.S. Pat. No. 4,428,746, White U.S. Pat. No. 4,554,918, Molteno U.S. Pat. No. 4,750,901, Ahmed U.S. Pat. No. 5,071,408, U.S. Pat. No. 5,411,473, U.S. Pat. No. 5,616,118, U.S. Pat. No. 5,681,275, U.S. Pat. No. 5,785,674, U.S. Pat. No. 6,261,256, Baerveldt, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,178,604, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,397,300, 5,558,629, 6,050,970, Speckman U.S. Pat. No. 5,338,291, Memmen U.S. Pat. No. 5,370,607, Jacob U.S. Pat. No. 5,882,327, Odrich U.S. Pat. No. 6,41,666. A similar approach is to shunt the aqueous humor through a tube placed in the anterior chamber into a bleb on the surface of the eye. See Worst U.S. Pat. No. 5,180,362, Suson U.S. Pat. No. 6,508,779, Wilcox WO 02/32343.
Another approach described in the art is the shunting of aqueous humor from the anterior chamber to the tear film of the eye. See Ungerleider U.S. Pat. No. 4,936,825; U.S. Pat. No. 5,372,577; Wandel U.S. Pat. No. 5,807,302; Brown U.S. Pat. No. 6,595,945.
Another approach described in the art is placing a shunt for aqueous humor through the trabecular meshwork to connect the anterior chamber and Schlemm's canal. See Lynch et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,450,984, Hill U.S. Pat. No. 6,533,768, WO 01/78656, and Gharib et al. U.S. 2002 0165478.

Apparatus and method for surgical bypass of aqueous humor


A protective pad worn under the trousers, hooked to the trousers or belt, for protecting skaters from spinal injury when falling. The pad has a substantially rigid central flat panel curved at the bottom to conform to the human form and a hook at the top for clipping to the trousers. A foamed synthetic resin member covers the front of the central panel and a high density foamed synthetic resin member covers the rear. The central panel and foamed members are encased in a fabric sheath. The hook protrudes through the fabric sheath. The central panel and front and rear foamed members are perforated by ventilation holes. A gel filled cushion provides additional shock absorbency.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to protective guards, and more particularly to protective guards worn over the coccyx. The novel guard comprises a cushioned solid panel which clips to the belt or trousers of the user.
2. Description of the Related Art
Certain sports activities, such as ice skating, roller skating, and similar endeavors, are such that there is a significant chance that the legs of the player will slide out from under his or her body. A frequent consequence is that the player falls and lands on the coccyx. This occurrence can result in serious injury, since the coccyx is the base of the spine.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,127,610, issued to Richard Provasoli on Jul. 7, 1992, shows a spine protector. Provasoli's device is generally cruciform, comprising a bent, flat vertical member from which flat, curved wings project at the right and left center to complete the cruciform configuration. The device is formed from cellular polyvinyl chloride and is covered with dense foam. A fabric sheath encloses the cruciform member and foam cover. Provasoli's device bears hook and loop material for attachment to a paragliding harness with which it is intended to be used.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,633,572, issued to Victor Milstein on Apr. 7, 1953, shows a guard bearing clips for hooking to trousers. U.S. Pat. No. 4,945,571, issued to Nathaniel Calvert on Aug. 7, 1990, shows the inclusion of liquid cushions in protective apparel.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,297,293, issued to Douglas M. Obujen on Mar. 29, 1994, 5,551,082, issued to David H. Stewart et al. on Sep. 3, 1996, 5,649,328, issued to Eugence C. Martin on Jul. 22, 1997, and 5,619,747, issued to Carole Boisclair et al. on Apr. 15, 1997, all generally illustrate approaches to protecting the body from impacts. Boisclair et al. shows holes formed in a protective device.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the present invention which provides an improved design for protection of the coccyx.


A system and method is provided to monitor a tanker truck. The system includes a plurality of sensors, each of the plurality of sensors configured to detect an event. The system also includes a monitoring unit electrically coupled with the plurality of sensors to detect the event. The monitoring unit includes a processing unit, a time module, and a memory, and is operable to time stamp data about the sensed event with information from the time module and store the detected and time stamped event in the memory. The system further includes a handheld data terminal configured to communicate with the monitoring unit. The handheld data terminal is operable to retrieve and display the stored event, and includes a processing unit, a memory, a user interface, a time module, and a display.

Modern transportation of liquids generally expends a significant amount of time and money. Though some liquids, such as water, sewage, etc., are generally transported by a pipeline, other liquids are often too delicate or too dangerous to transport by pipeline and are typically transported by tanker truck. In particular, liquid fuels are expensive, hazardous, and prone to handling error and theft, and therefore transport by tanker trucks is common for motor transportation of liquid fuels to retail outlets. In particular, liquid fuels are typically transported by tanker trucks under the recommended practices specified by the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). These organizations have standards that define how liquid fuels are to be loaded, unloaded and transported within the United States. These standards have typically become common practices in most regions of the world.
The API Recommended Practice 1004 defines the use of an overfill system on conventional DOT-406 and MC-306 tanker trucks. During fuel loading, the primary means to shut off the flow of fuel is typically through a metering system at a gantry controller that measures the amount of fuel being loaded. Once a specified amount has been loaded, the gantry controller typically shuts off fuel pumps. Conventional overfill systems, however, are secondary emergency shut off systems. Conventional overfill systems generally include one or more overfill sensors mounted inside the tank, and often include one overfill sensor for each compartment of the tank. Conventional overfill systems typically communicate a permissive signal to the gantry controller to indicate that the gantry controller may load the tanker truck. When an overfill sensor becomes wet, conventional overfill systems typically prohibit the permissive signal to prevent further fuel loading, often stopping the loading process midway. Thus, conventional overfill systems generally have the primary purpose to prevent a fuel spill should the metering system fail.
These conventional overfill systems are generally electronic devices coupled to electronic sensors that are designed detect an overfill condition. Conventional overfill systems often operate in harsh and varied environments, and generally experience extreme temperatures, jostling, rocking, stretching, swaying, bumps, noxious vapors, and electrical disturbances. In particular, conventional overfill systems are typically susceptible to vibration and environmental corrosion, as well as rough handling by operators. As such, conventional overfill systems are often prone to failure. For example, sensors and wires may experience wear and intermittently send signals that may erroneously indicate a fault, or overfill condition. Similarly, sensors and wires may experience wear and intermittently fail to send signals that indicate a fault, or overfill condition. These intermittent problems may prevent loading of the tanker truck. After being denied the ability to load, operators typically return to a maintenance bay to determine the cause of the problem, but these intermittent problems are often hard to reproduce. Thus, these problems are often either ignored (possibly leading to dangerous overfills, spills, improper loading, and/or improper unloading) or addressed through potentially unnecessary and costly repair or replacement (including repair or replacement of the sensors, wires, and/or monitoring system, or even replacement of a compartment or the entire tank). As such, conventional overfill systems are typically unable to quickly and easily allow technicians to diagnose problems that occur intermittently as they are often unable to track those problems and/or reproduce those problems in a timely and efficient manner.
Furthermore, operator error is often another source of loading problems. Operators may commit a number of errors resulting in overfill and/or loading rejections from the gantry controller. Moreover, operators often commit a number of errors that result in potentially hazardous conditions, including attempting to enter an amount of fluid in excess of a compartment's capacity, connecting a filling line to an inlet for the wrong compartment than intended, and/or attempting to load a compartment that has remaining fluid from a previous load. Other typical operator errors include failing to connect the tanker truck to ground before filling, failing to establish a vapor connection between the compartment being filled and the supply tank supplying the liquid to the compartment, failing to set brakes of the tanker truck, and/or failing to engage one or more safety interlocks of the tanker truck. Conventional overfill systems are typically unable to monitor these conditions and prevent loading problems that typically occur due to operator error.
Additionally, tanker trucks are often prone to theft. As the cost of fuel rises, theft of fuel from tanker trucks generally increases. To steal the fuel, operators typically drain the bottom piping of the tanker truck that leads from the inlet to a compartment. However, this theft is often difficult to detect, as the operators typically make an unauthorized stop at some remote location and drain the fuel from the piping for personal use or black market sale. Up to about forty gallons may be drained from the bottom piping without affecting the liquid level of the compartments of the tanker truck. Conventional overfill systems are also typically unable to monitor either the tanker truck piping or the tanker truck location to detect theft of the fuel.
Moreover, errors often occur when unloading the tanker truck. One error common includes delivering a load to the wrong location, which results in non-payment by the intended recipient as well as non-payment by the unintended recipient. Another error includes unintentionally mixing fluids in tanks, which results in additional expenditures associated with pumping out that mixed fluid and proper disposal. Conventional overfill systems are unable to monitor the unloading of the tanker truck to determine errors that may occur.
Consequently, there is a continuing need to overcome these deficiencies.


A linerless closure for use on an associated container includes a unitary, one-piece closure body having a top wall portion, and an annular skirt portion depending from the top wall portion. The closure includes an annular, outer seal element which depends from the top wall portion for sealing engagement with a generally outwardly facing surface of the associated container. The closure includes an inner, plug seal element depending from the top wall portion for sealing engagement with a generally inwardly facing surface of the container. Notably, the closure includes a discontinuous pressure block in the form of a plurality of circumferentially spaced, seal reinforcement elements on the inside surface of the skirt portion, adjacent the top wall portion. The reinforcement elements are engageable by the outer seal element to limit outward deflection of the outer seal element, to enhance sealing cooperation with the associated container.

Plastic closures formed from polymeric materials have found widespread use on containers, such as for beverages or the like. While some closures of this nature may include a separate sealing liner component, many closures of this type can advantageously be formed as "linerless" closures, that is, without a separate sealing liner element. In such linerless constructions, one or more features of the closure cooperate with an associated container to provide the desired sealing performance for the closure and container package.
Experience has shown that sealing performance of such closures can be adversely affected attendant to handling of the closure and container packages, such as by impact or the like. The present invention is directed to an improved linerless closure having sealing features which facilitate enhanced sealing performance, while at the same time making efficient use of the polymeric material from which such closures are formed.


A power supply apparatus and method of regulating is provided. A clock generator circuit is configured for generating a clock signal at a predetermined frequency. An amplifier circuit is coupled with the clock generator circuit. The amplifier circuit includes a gain circuit coupled with the clock generator circuit. The amplifier circuit is configured to receive the clock signal at a switching element of the gain circuit. A controller circuit is configured for receiving a modulated error signal of the amplifier circuit and is configured for generating a pulse width modulated signal for controlling a duty cycle of the switching circuit. The switching circuit is configured for receiving the modulated error signal. The error signal is modulated using the clock signal to vary a gain value of the gain circuit according to the predetermined frequency. An output circuit is coupled with the switching circuit and is configured for generating a regulated voltage signal. The controller circuit uses the modulated error signal to substantially reduce harmonic distribution in a switching frequency of the switching circuit. Harmonic distribution in the switching circuit can be reduce by 10.0 db or greater.

Every electrical device that connects with a power supply main is required not to pollute or transmit high frequency noise onto the main. The amount of electrical emission allowed by electrical devices is heavily regulated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Conventional power supply designs have migrated to using higher operating frequencies since the higher operating frequencies allow a reduction in size of power supply components and allow a reduction is cost. The disadvantage of operating at higher frequencies is the increased production of high harmonics or electromagnetic interference (EMI).
Conventional methods of reducing EMI has been aimed at reducing a switching frequency of a switching circuit below standard EMI bandwidth limits of 150 Khz as set by the FCC. This approach has the disadvantage of increasing the size of magnetic components in a power supply. Other methods of reducing EMI have simply been to add additional filter components to reduce unwanted frequency harmonics. This second approach has the disadvantage of adding to the weigh, size and cost of power supplies. Another approach to reducing large spikes of harmonics or EMI is the use of a snubber. The snubber although effective in reducing EMI, compromises efficiency of a power converter. In yet another approach, EMI is reduced by using jitter that takes discrete harmonic spectrum and spreads the EMI over a continuous frequency range. Conventional systems use jitter by injecting noise into a gate drive or controller of the converter. Injecting noise into the gate drive of the converter has the disadvantage of distorting the output voltage signal. Further, injecting noise directly into a gate drive only applies jitter to the rising and falling edges of the converter switching signal. By injecting jitter directly into the gate drive circuit, conventional power converters inhibit the efficiency of feedback loop and other features including zero voltage switching and sampling of the switching signal.
A schematic diagram of a prior art regulated power supply 10 is shown in FIG. 1. The power supply 10 includes a converter circuit comprising a switch 14, a controller or gate drive 16 and a feedback circuit 18. The switch 14 is coupled with an output circuit comprising a rectifying diode D1 and an output capacitor C2. The power supply 10 includes a capacitor C1 and an inductor L1 coupled across an input voltage Vin. The gate drive 16 comprises a pulse width modulator (PWM) module that is coupled with a gate of the switch 14. The power supply 10 includes a voltage regulating circuit comprising the feedback circuit 18 and the gate drive 16. The gate drive 16 uses the PWM module to alter a duty cycle of the switch 14 depending on the feedback provided by the feedback circuit 18. The gate drive 16 accordingly adjusts the duty cycle of the switch 14 to compensate for any variances in an output voltage Vout. The power supply 10 limits EMI in the switch 14 by injecting jitter using a jitter mechanism within the gate drive 16. This jitter approach is plagued with the many disadvantages discuss above.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a regulated power supply with a jitter method and apparatus that is effective in substantially reducing EMI emission without the disadvantages of conventional systems.

Closed loop negative feedback system with low frequency modulated gain


A device tests at least one quality parameter of a fluid in fluid apparatuses, e.g., working cylinders (10), hydraulic accumulators, valves, filter housings, pressure tubes, which at least temporarily accommodate a given fluid volume in at least one fluid chamber (12, 14). The fluid volume is stored in a storage unit (16) with the aid of a control mechanism (16) after being discharged from the fluid apparatus in order to be redirected from there into a measuring element (22, 24) to verify the respective quality parameter of the fluid. The inventive device makes it possible to specifically obtain a statement about the operability of the respective fluid apparatus within a very short period of time.

Subsequently published DE 102 47 353 discloses a process for reducing the flow dependence of measuring instruments for determination of impurities as indication of the quality of a fluid, especially solid impurities such as particles in fluids. A particle count sensor operates in particular on the basis of the light blocking principle, and is mounted in a measuring cell of the measuring device. The measuring device has a specifiable input cross-section for the flow of fluid. The sensor generates a light beam cross-sectional area over which the flow of fluid is conducted for detection of an impurity. Particle count sensors operating on the light blocking principle determine the relative proportion of the light beam cross-sectional area (perpendicular to the optical axis) covered by projection of a pollutant particle in this plane.
DE 198 60 169 A1 discloses a process for qualitative determination of small amounts of water in multicomponent systems in the liquid state of aggregation, oil in particular. The process is characterized by repetition of the following process steps several times:                incomplete extraction of moisture from the multicomponent system by a carrier gas;        quantitative determination of the amount of moisture extracted by measurement of the relative humidity in the carrier gas, the carrier gas volume, and the temperature; and        conversion to the amount of moisture of the multicomponent system after determination of the mass of the multicomponent system and the saturation vapor density in the carrier gas.
The disclosed process and device permit measuring the absolute saturation concentration of moisture in fluids such as hydraulic oil. The parameter determination in question in turn permits formulation of a statement regarding the quality of the oil.
DE 101 52 777 A1 discloses a device for determination of the quality of a medium, a lubricant and/or cutting oil in particular, having several sensors generating an electric output signal as a function of the respective sensor-specific input quantity. One sensor is a temperature sensor generating an output signal which is a function in essence exclusively of the temperature of the medium and is essentially independent of the quality of the medium. At least one other sensor generates an output signal as a function both of the quality of the medium (fluid) and of the temperature of the medium. These sensors are mounted on a common substrate immersible in the fluid, so that the measuring device is mounted in a very small structural space.
The disclosed measuring devices and processes indicated in the foregoing make available a very good set of instruments for determination of quality parameters for fluids, including media in the form of a gas and/or paste. Those measuring devices may also be supplemented by chemical analysis processes, for example, in order to arrive at determinations regarding free radicals in a hydraulic oil, temperature, viscosity, pH value, electric conductivity, etc. Such devices entail a prolonged measurement or determination period depending on the measuring process employed, along with the associated measurement device and depending on the quality parameters of the fluid to be determined. Out of consideration of reasons of process accuracy, length of the measurement period, and validity of the test result, it has been found to be advisable to use such quality measurement processes directly on test stands where the operation of fluid devices such as hydraulic assemblies, valves, filter housings, flexible pressure tubing, etc., may be tested. Use of the operating fluid is necessary, on location, to verify the quality of the fluid used by the measuring device, if possible simultaneously with testing of the assembly. In this way, determination is made of the suitability of the fluid device for subsequent operation, in turn, to obtain a broader indication of the quality of the preceding production steps with respect to the fluid device (assembly) which has been or is to be tested.

Device for testing at least one quality parameter of a fluid


A deflector which enables to have a sufficient degree of freedom of designing and also to detect accurately a displacement angle of a movable plate can be provided. In order to accomplish this, the deflector includes a mirror, a base frame, a pair of torsion bars which pivotably support the mirror with respect to the base frame, a drive coil which is provided on the mirror, two permanent magnets which generate a magnetic flux which acts in the drive coil, two capacitive sensors which output an angle of oscillation of the mirror as electrical characteristics, a connecting portion which electrically connects on the mirror a first end out of two ends of the drive coil and one end of electric terminals of the two capacitive sensors, and a first wire which is drawn from the connecting portion up to the torsion bars via the base frame.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a deflector and in particular to a deflector in which an electromagnetic force is used.
2. Description of the Related Art
A structure disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. Hei 7-218857 for example, is hitherto known for detecting a displacement angle of a mirror of a deflector. FIG. 14 denotes a structure disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. Hei 7-218857. In this structure, a capacitance type displacement-angle detection method is used. Electrodes 16A and 17A are provided on a rear surface of a mirror 12 at positions symmetrical with respect to an axis 11. Electrodes 16B and 17B which form pairs with the electrodes 16A and 17A are provided on a side of a glass substrate 14. Thus, condensers C1 and C2 are formed. A displacement angle of the mirror 12 is detected based on a difference in capacitance of the two condensers C1 and C2 due to an angular displacement of the mirror 12.
However, in the structure disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. Hei 7-218857, the electrodes 16A and 17A on one side of the electrostatic capacitance which detect an angle of the mirror 12, are on the mirror 12 which is a movable plate. Accordingly, for detecting the electrostatic capacitance, it is necessary to draw wires connected to the electrodes 16A and 17A outside a deflector via a torsion bar which supports the movable plate. For this, it is necessary to form a wiring on the torsion bar. As a result of this, a degree of freedom of designing the deflector is declined.


‘Manhattan Lights’ is a new variety of Lupinus hybrid that exhibits numerous and large-shaped burgundy and yellow-colored flowers.

The present invention comprises a new and distinct cultivar of Lupinus hybrid known by the varietal name 'Manhattan Lights'. The new variety was developed in Great Britain. The new variety is a result of cross breeding Russell Hybrid Lupinus Seedling #WCL 013/96 (female parent) (unpatented) and an unknown Lupinus male parent (unpatented). The purpose of the breeding program was to develop a cultivar that exhibited improved color, habit, and bloom form from other Lupinus varieties known to the breeder. The new variety is similar in growth habit to its female parent, but differs in flower color. The new variety differs from Lupinus hybrid 'The Governor' in flower color, closeness of flowers on spike, and growth habit. The new variety was first asexually reproduced by basal cuttings/tissue culture in Great Britain. The new variety has been trial and field tested and has been found to retain its distinctive characteristics and remain true to type through successive asexual propagations. Characteristics that distinguish the new variety from others known to the breeder include:                • Clear and intense flower color;        • Flower form — the individual bells are packed closely on the flower spike;        • Large individual bells; and        • Vigorous growth habit.
The new variety was grown in open soil with additional organic fertilizer applied. The new variety initiates and develops roots in 21 days at 15° C. A finished and flowering plant is produced in 36 weeks in a 21 cm container. The new variety exhibits sparse, but thick roots, that exhibit some branching.


A magnetooptical disk includes a thermal diffusion layer to suppress thermal transmission between adjacent information tracks. The information tracks are formed within the magnetooptical disk along respective land portions or groove portions having a difference in grade. During recording and erasing of the magnetooptical disk, the land portions and groove portions may be changed with identical power levels. The thermal diffusion layer diffuses heat generated by irradiation of a laser beam. A protective layer is formed over the thermal diffusion layer and a recording layer which records various bits of information is formed over the protective layer.

The present invention relates to the field of magnetooptical recording systems and media. More particularly, the present invention relates to magnetooptical systems using magnetooptical disks on which data is recorded in both land portions and groove portions.
Generally, overwritable magnetooptical disks use a phase variable film or photomagnetic film as a recording layer. A laser beam is then focused to a spot on the magnetooptical disk and information is recorded and/or played back with the laser beam.
A recording method for this type of magnetooptical disk has achieved a higher density by recording information in both land and groove portions of the disk while shortening a wavelength of an incident laser beam. This type of recording method is generally referred to as a land and groove recording method.
In the land and groove recording method, recording density in a direction of track width is much higher compared to conventional magnetooptical disks which allow either land only, or groove only, recording.
Consequently, in the land and groove recording method, information that has been recorded in adjacent land or groove portions may inadvertently be erased when recording or erasing information. This is known as "cross erase."
One factor which contributes to cross erase is thermal conductivity. Accordingly, to reduce thermal conductivity between adjacent tracks, an optical disk may be provided with an increased difference in grade between land portions and groove portions. Thermal conductivity may also be reduced between adjacent tracks by creating a deeper groove in order to increase a thermal distance between adjacent grooves.
Nevertheless, conventional magnetooptical disks still have a problem in that an increased degree of complexity is required to control recording and playback power due to the increased difference in grade between the land portions and the groove portions.
FIGS. 7A (prior art) and 7B (prior art) are respective cross-sectional views of a conventional magnetooptical disk 98. FIG. 7A particularly illustrates recording of information in a land portion while FIG. 7B particularly illustrates recording of information in a groove portion. A deep grade difference is formed between land portion 90A (a convex portion) and groove portion 90B (a concave portion). As illustrated, reference numeral 91 represents a magnetic layer, reference numerals 95 and 96 represent protective layers, and reference numeral 97 represents a glass base.
Normally, each layer of the magnetooptical disk is formed through a film forming method such as sputtering, thereby resulting in a different film thickness in each layer of land portion 90A and groove portion 90B. This phenomenon is known as shadowing, wherein film thickness tb of recording layer 91B in groove portion 90B becomes less than film thickness ta of recording layer 91A on land portion 90A (e.g., approximately 60% of recording layer 91A) during film formation. In other words, groove portion 90B is in the shadow of land portion 90A.
As a result of shadowing, the recording and erasing powers are different in land portion 90A and groove portion 90B due to this difference in film thickness, i.e. ta>tb.
For example, recording is executed with a lower recording power PB in groove portion 90B (having a thinner film thickness), whereas a higher recording power PA (PA>PB) is required for recording in land portion 90A (having a greater film thickness).
In this case, at least two types of recording and erasing powers are required for communicating with each respective land portion and groove portion, thereby resulting in a more complicated configuration and more complex control for the device, as well as an associated increase in cost.
As illustrated in FIG. 7B, when erasing or recording information in groove portion 90B, recording layer 91A is not easily heated because film thickness ta of recording layer 91A is thicker than film thickness tb of recording layer 91B. Recording layer 91A has a greater thermal mass thereby reducing a potential for unintended erasure of information.
On the other hand, as illustrated in FIG. 7A (prior art), when erasing or recording information in land portion 90A, recording layer 91B is easily heated because film thickness tb of recording layer 91B is tin in comparison with film thickness ta of recording layer 91A. Recording layer 91B therefore has a smaller thermal mass which occasionally allows information in recording layer 91B to be erased due to heat from adjacent recording layer 91A. In this case, the use of a deep groove as a cross-erase prevention measure is ineffective.

Magnetooptical disk having a thermal diffusion layer to suppress thermal transmission between adjacent information tracks


A modular heat exchanger includes unitary finned tubular core elements which can be assembled into a multi-module heat exchanger without any brazed, soldered or welded connections. The heat exchanger may be constructed to be fully disassemblable or, in another embodiment, larger subassemblies of modules welded together may be used to provide units which are partly disassemblable to effect easy field replacement. The modules are preferably made from extruded aluminum blocks into which the heat exchanging fins are cut and into the ends of which flow accumulating passages may be bored. The modules are clamped together with tie rods and the sealed joints are positioned to be automatically compressed into sealing engagement upon tightening the tie rods.

The present invention pertains to heat exchangers for flowing fluids and, more particularly to a modular heat exchanger in which each of the core modules is formed from a unitary block of a heat exchange material.
Conventional heat exchanger construction of the type particularly adapted for automotive use utilizes heat exchanging core elements which include a series of generally parallel tubular conduits extending between and attached at their opposite ends to inlet and outlet headers. The tubular conduits are typically provided with heat conducting and dissipating fins which may be either of a flat plate or serpentine construction and which are soldered or brazed to the tubular conduits. The conduits, in turn, are also typically soldered or brazed to the headers or to similar fluid accumulating tanks. The rigid soldered or brazed joints have always constituted a common source of heat exchanger failure and, when the heat exchangers are used in automotive applications, repairs usually require removal of the entire radiator and resultant downtime for the automotive equipment. Thus, there has long been a need for a modular heat exchanger which can be repaired easily and quickly and, most preferably, without taking the equipment out of service. Furthermore, there has long been a need and desire for a heat exchanger having unitary core elements and one in which brazed or soldered connections can be minimized and, preferably, eliminated completely.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,222,764 discloses various related methods for making unitary finned tubular conduits, suitable for use in heat exchangers, from billets of aluminum or other ductile metals. An aluminum billet with a central through bore is provided with a series of cut grooves on opposite surfaces extending in the direction of the through bore. The billet is then rolled transversely and longitudinally to flatten the ridges forming the grooves and to close the bore. The reduction in thickness of the billet is extreme (to about 1/40 the original billet thickness) and the finned walls originally defining the walls of the cut slots are mechanically peeled back to form a series of parallel upstanding fins. The bore is also reopened to form a unitary finned conduit. Various alternate embodiments of finned tubes are shown, but there is no disclosure of any structure or method for incorporating the same into a modular heat exchanger.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,692,105 also describes a unitary heat exchanger core in which an elongate tubular aluminum member has a series of parallel fins formed thereon by peeling back surface layers in stepwise fashion and turning the peeled layers upwardly to extend perpendicularly from the tubular member. This patent also discloses bending a long section of such a unitary finned tube in a serpentine pattern to form a heat exchanger unit. The construction, however, is not modular.
My own U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,979,560 and 5,042,572 disclose modular heat exchangers of the type having easily replaceable modules and which are suitable for automotive or mobile equipment applications. However, the modules disclosed in these patents are of conventional tube and fin construction or of a corrugated sheet metal construction which require substantial amounts of welding, brazing or soldering to assemble the various components.


Computer graphics systems and methods for all-frequency relighting are described. In one described embodiment, all-frequency relighting is achieved by representing low frequencies of lighting with spherical harmonics and approximating the residual high-frequency energy with point lights. In another embodiment low-frequencies are rendered with precomputed radiance transfer (PRT) techniques while the higher-frequencies are rendered with on-the-fly techniques.

All-frequency lighting generates rich visual effects that cannot be produced with current real-time relighting techniques, which are limited to very hard lights (point lighting) or very smooth lights (spherical harmonics).
Many realistic natural environments, such as detailed photographs of building interiors, contain features of all spatial frequencies, and scenes lit by such environments are enriched with subtle details in shadows and highlights. However, these effects are significantly blurred with soft harmonic lighting and become too harsh to be realistic with point lighting.
Currently the predominant technique in the art for interactive all-frequency relighting, non-linear approximation in a wavelet lighting basis (NLAWLB), is not practical because of the enormous precomputation costs and storage requirements. Therefore, what is needed is a method for all-frequency relighting that does not suffer the precomputation costs nor require the storage requirements of NLAWLB.

Systems and methods for all-frequency relighting using spherical harmonics and point light distributions


A battery connector (1) comprises a dielectric housing (2) and a first conductive contact (4). The dielectric housing (2) comprises a cylindrical receiving cavity, a base (20), holding means (24) formed toward an upper section of the receiving cavity for engaging with the top face of the accommodated battery (5) to prevent the battery (5) from coming off, and a pair of spring strengtheners (22) extending upwardly from said base (20) for abutting a bottom face of the accommodated battery (5). The first conductive contact (4) comprises a first retaining section (40) secured in said dielectric housing (2) at a peripheral area of said base (20), a spring arm (42) inclining upwardly from said retaining section (40). The spring arm (42) extends between said pair of spring strengtheners (22), and the distal end of said spring arm (42) is free.

1. Field of the invention
The present invention is generally related to the art of battery connector, and especially, to a button cell battery connector which includes reinforcing members for strengthening the retention of the battery in the battery connector.
2. Description of Related Art
A button cell battery is usually used in an electrical apparatus, for example a computer, provided as an auxiliary power source. This battery comprises a cathode on a lower face and an anode on an upper face and a peripheral face.
A battery connector is usually provided on a mother board to mount the battery therein to establish an electrical connection between the battery and the mother board. An example of battery connector can be seen in U.S. patent application publication No. 2007/0281540 A1 published on Dec. 6, 2007.
The battery connector comprises a dielectric housing defining a receiving cavity for retaining the battery therein, anode and cathode contacts respectively secured on the dielectric housing and electrically connected with the mother board. The anode contact is disposed on a side wall of the receiving cavity and can elastically move along a lateral direction while the cathode contact is disposed on a bottom of the receiving cavity and can elastically move along the vertical direction. The button cell battery is usually small, and in order to meet a low profile feature of the electrical apparatus using battery, the battery connector can't be made too high. The space in the connector is narrow, which makes the spring section of the contact often short and can't give enough force to hold a mounted battery in certain position.
Hence, an improved battery connector is required to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art.

Battery connector with reinforcing members


An asphalt roof shingle sealing device comprised of a single flat non-perforated blank sheet of metal or rigid plastic, preferably aluminum or copper and having a width, length and thickness selected to substantially span the beneath the width and length of a shingle to be repaired having at least one hole, tear or puncture therein and includes a cutting edge for cutting through adhesive between shingles to be repaired and securing elements for securing the blank sheet in place beneath the shingle to be repaired thereby preventing any water passing through the hole or puncture in the shingle, or allowing any water passing through the hole or puncture to be collected by the blank sheet and drained onto a shingle below the repaired shingle.

Asphalt roof shingles currently represent 80% of the residential roof market in the United States today. They vary in style, colors, and sizes and will continue to do so. They have a limited lifespan and are designed to be replaced multiple times during the life of the structure or home they are protecting. They are easily damaged by falling branches, hail, and often by homeowners, painters, satellite dish installers, chimney workers, and even roofers. Sometimes, the damage, in the form of holes, tears or punctures, are intentionally done by these contractors while installing equipment such as communication antennas and satellite dishes, solar panels or ladder brackets and roof safety equipment such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,549,793 and in our copending U.S. application Ser. No. 14/866,413. Other examples of such ladder brackets and safety equipment are disclosed in U.S. Patent application No. 2004/0135037 A1, U.S. Patent Application No. 2007/0278037 A1 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,896,719 and 8,549,793. The installation of these devices often requires the installer to drill or puncture holes through the asphalt shingles to drive anchors into the rafters or wood sheathing beneath the shingle layers in order to secure the ladder brackets or safety equipment to the roof. These anchors may include large common nails or screws. After the roofing job is completed and the ladder brackets and safety equipment are removed, any holes, tears, or punctures must be repaired to prevent water leaks through the shingles and into the interior of the building. Regardless of how the shingles are damaged, current methods of repairing such holes, tears, or punctures simply include coating and/or filling the holes or punctures with conventional roofing cement or sealant. Although such methods have proven to be satisfactory in the short term, they are costly, time consuming, messy, unattractive and distracting from the original beauty of the shingle. If done improperly the entire hole, tear or puncture may not be completely filled and sealed and the leak will continue. And even when done properly, these methods generally fail within 7 years due to exposure to sunlight and the cyclic hot and cold temperatures which crack or dislodge this type of repair. This becomes a repeating nuisance, leak and expense for the homeowner who might have 30 years of life remaining for their shingles. If the damage is too extensive, the shingles may need to be replaced entirely, which may lead into other problems such as matching the shingles with currently available shingles or finding an available experienced repair person. Such methods require other tools such as an injecting/caulking gun and tube of sealant, or a spatula for spreading the cement or sealant from a pale of cement.
As a solution to this problem, the present invention provides an asphalt shingle sealing device that eliminates any of the drawbacks of the current repairing methods discussed supra. The present invention relates generally to an asphalt roof shingle sealing device comprised of a single flat blank sheet of metal or rigid plastic. The present invention, as described hereinafter, includes a simple, non-messy, quick and easy-to-use asphalt shingle sealing device that eliminates the need to inject or coat roofing cement or sealant into the holes, tears or punctures as employed in the current methods.


Various techniques are described for improving the performance of a multiple node system by allocating, in two or more nodes of the system, partitions of a shared cache. A mapping is established between the data items managed by the system, and the various partitions of the shared cache. When a node requires a data item, the node first determines which partition of the shared cache corresponds to the required data item. If the data item does not currently reside in the corresponding partition, the data item is loaded into the corresponding partition even if the partition does not reside on the same node that requires the data item. The node then reads the data item from the corresponding partition of the shared cache.

In general, a cache is a place for temporarily storing a thing so that the thing can be accessed more quickly and/or efficiently than is possible where the thing is normally stored. Within the context of computer systems, a cache is usually memory used for temporarily storing data so that the data can be accessed more quickly and/or efficiently than is possible in the memory in which the data normally resides. Thus, volatile memory is typically used to cache data that resides on non-volatile memory, such as magnetic disks. Similarly, fast volatile memory is typically used to cache data that resides in slower volatile memory. It is common for computer systems to use multiple levels of cache, where each level of cache is typically smaller and faster than the preceding level.
In systems that include multiple processing nodes, a centralized cache of volatile memory can be used by all of the nodes to cache data items that reside on non-volatile memory. Such centralized shared cache systems typically suffer from two problems. First, a centralized shared cache system can be a scalability bottleneck due to the fact that communication is required between each module of shared memory and every processing node in the system. Thus, the more nodes, the greater the expense of increasing memory, and the more memory, the greater the expense of adding more nodes.
Second, a centralized shared cache constitutes a single point of failure for all nodes in a shared everything system. Since the centralized shared cache serves to cache data for all nodes, cached data for every node may be lost by the failure of the single centralized cache. Because of the potential catastrophic effect of such a failure, the centralized shared cache is usually a specialized computer that is also possibly duplexed.

Maintaining a shared cache that has partitions allocated among multiple nodes and a data-to-partition mapping


Method and system for providing volume manufacturing of customizable items including receiving a data package including a plurality of manufacturing parameters, each of the plurality of manufacturing parameters associated with a unique item, verifying the received data package, and implementing a manufacturing process associated with the received data package is provided.

Traditional methods of dental mold making are well known, such as those described in Graber, Orthodontics: Principle and Practice, Second Edition, Saunders, Philadelphia, 1969, pp. 401 415. Typically, these methods involve forming an impression of the patient's dentition using a suitable impression material, such as alginate or polyvinylsiloxane (PVS). Impressions of the upper jaw typically include the teeth, the palate and gingival tissue surrounding the teeth on the facial and lingual surfaces. Impressions of the lower jaw typically include the teeth and gingival tissue surrounding the teeth on the facial and lingual surfaces. Plaster is then poured into the impression to form a relief of the dental features. The relief is a permanent, three-dimensional mold of the dentition and oral tissues.
Improved methods of mold making include rapid prototyping. Rapid prototyping is a technology which has developed in the last decade. Through the use of modern solid modeling CAD packages, combined with laser systems and new materials, solid parts may now be generated directly from a computer model. Examples of this technology include stereolithography (SLA), laminate object manufacturing (LOM), and fused deposition modeling (FDM), to name a few.
Stereolithography is a method that employs an ultraviolet laser to cure a thin layer of liquid plastic into a solid. The process operates by taking a thin layer of the light-sensitive liquid plastic and passing the laser beam over the points where the part is solid. Once a pass is completed, another layer of the liquid is added to the existing part, and the process repeats until the full part height is achieved. SLA parts are extremely accurate, and tend to have excellent surface finishes. A variety of SLA materials are available for different purposes, including waxes, plastics, and flexible elastomers.
Laminate object manufacturing builds a part by taking individual sheets of paper that have a layer of glue on one side and building up successive sections of a part. As each layer is laid down, a laser beam passes over the edges of the part, detailing the part and separating the part from the excess material. In addition, the laser beam creates a grid throughout the excess material. After the final sheet is laid down, the part may be separated from the excess material by removing cubes of the grid in a systematic fashion. LOM parts are accurate, and very easy to sand and paint. LOM parts also have different strengths in different directions due to the paper layers.
Fused deposition modeling is a process that most closely resembles a miniature glue gun. In fused deposition modeling, a heat softening and curing plastic is melted in a small nozzle which puts down a very fine bead wherever the solid part is supposed to be. FDM parts have a rougher surface finish than an SLA part, but typically are stronger and more durable. In all cases, parts created by rapid prototyping methods are generated relatively quickly and are accurate to a few thousandths of an inch.
Producing a dental mold with rapid prototyping methods requires the use of a computerized model or digital data set representing the dental geometry and tooth configuration. The model is used to guide the mold making process to produce a replica or relief of the computerized model. The resulting relief is a three-dimensional mold of the dentition. This method of making dental molds is particularly applicable to situations in which multiple molds are needed to be produced. In this case, one computerized model may be used to make a number of molds in an automated fashion. In addition, this method is applicable to situations in which a mold of a tooth arrangement which differs from the patient's current tooth arrangement is needed to be produced or molds of multiple tooth arrangements which differ from each other and the patient need to be produced. In either case, the computerized model of the patient's teeth may be manipulated to portray each new tooth arrangement and a mold may be produced to reflect each successive arrangement. This may be repeated any number of times to derive a number of molds with differing tooth arrangements. Such techniques may speed production time and reduce costs by eliminating the need for repeated casting and artistic resetting of teeth in traditional mold manufacturing.
Series of dental molds, such as those described above, may be used in the generation of elastic repositioning appliances for a new type of orthodontic treatment being developed by Align Technology, Inc., Santa Clara, Calif., assignee of the present application. Such appliances are generated by thermoforming a thin sheet of elastic material over a mold of a desired tooth arrangement to form a shell. The shell of the desired tooth arrangement generally conforms to a patient's teeth but is slightly out of alignment with the initial tooth configuration. Placement of the elastic positioner over the teeth applies controlled forces in specific locations to gradually move the teeth into the desired configuration. Repetition of this process with successive appliances comprising new configurations eventually moves the teeth through a series of intermediate configurations to a final desired configuration. A full description of an exemplary elastic polymeric positioning appliance is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,975,893, and in published PCT application WO 98/58596 which designates the United States and which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention. Both documents are incorporated by reference for all purposes.
To carry out such orthodontic treatment, a series of computer models or digital data sets will be generated, stored and utilized to fabricate a series of representative dental molds. Typically, only the digital information related to the tooth arrangement will be stored due to cost and space limitations. However, to form a properly fitting elastic repositioning appliance or other dental appliance, it will at times be necessary to include in the mold a patient's oral soft tissue, such as a palate, facial gingival tissue and/or lingual gingiva tissue. This may be the case when adding accessories to a basic elastic repositioning shell, such as palatal bars, lingual flanges, lingual pads, buccal shields, buccinator bows or wire shields, a full description of which is described in U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/199,649 filed Apr. 25, 2000, and the full disclosure is hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes. These accessories may contact or interact with portions of the soft tissue requiring a mold of such tissues to properly position the accessory in or on the appliance. In addition, this may be the case when producing traditional orthodontic retainers and positioners. Traditional appliances may be used as part of an orthodontic treatment plan utilizing elastic repositioning appliances, particularly in the final stages of treatment. During such stages, for example, any residual intrusion of the teeth due to the presence of elastic appliances may be corrected with the use of a traditional retainer. Such retainers typically comprise a polymeric replica of the palate or portions of the gingiva which support metal wires which wrap around the perimeter of the teeth.
Existing fabrication systems are generally run manually by generating a report of cases and providing it into the fabrication software. Such fabrication systems had several disadvantages. First, each mold was not uniquely identifiable. Second, the molds were created with problems of holes, free-floating island structures, and unstable peninsula structures. Third, the molds were too tall and used more resin than required. Fourth, the molds were not packed efficiently on a tray. Fifth, laser marks were sometimes not sharp.
Thus, a need exists to promptly process treated three-dimensional ("3D") jaw and teeth data to create, in an automated manner, 3D mold data for manufacturing. Also created would be a 3D cutting path for automated cutting of aligners and 3D placement data for automated laser marking of aligners. These are to be achieved while minimizing resin used to build a mold, minimizing time to build a tray of molds, maximizing automation by reducing manual cutting of aligner, manual laser marking and errors.
In view of the foregoing, it would be desirable to have methods and systems to provide an automated or semi-automated manufacturing or fabrication process for high volume and high scale customized items such as dental aligners.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and system for providing automated high scale fabrication of custom items


A data reader constrains a human body region of an examinee in a readout position upon inflation of balloon members. The data reader can safely and reliably constrains the human body region, which is not uniform in outer profile, with a simple structure, and read biological data from the constrained human body region. The data reader is capable of reading biological data from the constrained human body region even when the examinee is not cooperative.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data reader for reading biological data from a human body region, and more particularly to a data reader which is capable of constraining a human body region from which biological data is to be read.
2. Description of the Related Art
Data readers for reading biological data such as fingerprint image data and eyeprint image data from examinees are presently available for use in processes of recognizing the examinees. According to a data reader for scanning and reading a fingerprint image, for example, an examinee's finger is placed in the readout position of an optical scanner, and then the optical scanner is operated to scan the finger to read a fingerprint image there from.
Japanese Utility-model Laid-open No. 123061/1985 discloses a device having a guide disposed around a position where an examinee's finger is to be placed.
If the examinee whose fingerprints are to be imaged is a criminal suspect or a child, then the examinee may occasionally be not cooperative enough to have its fingerprints imaged. Unless the examinee is willing to cooperate, it is difficult to place its fingers in the readout position of the data reader within a given time. A data reader disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 198786/1998, for example, has an arch-shaped resilient member for constraining a finger in a readout position. With the disclosed data reader, it is difficult to place a finger of a noncooperative examinee safely and reliably in the readout position within a given time.

Data reader for reading biological data from constrained human body region


Back plane and mid-plane assemblies and related systems and methods are described. In one embodiment, a system comprises an enclosure and a plane assembly mounted within the enclosure and configured to connect with multiple pluggable devices. The plane assembly comprises a first plane portion having multiple connectors; and at least a second plane portion having multiple connectors, with the second plane portion being offset from the first plane portion.

Back planes and mid-planes are structures that are mounted on or in an enclosure inside of which multiple modular, pluggable, board-supported devices reside. Back planes and mid-planes can comprise Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) that serve as an electrical and mechanical connection for the modular pluggable devices. One example of a modular pluggable device is a blade, such as a server blade, storage blade or a network blade.
A blade can comprise a comprehensive computing system that can include a processor, memory, network connections, and associated electronics—all mounted on a single motherboard or blade. Blades can be installed in a rack-mountable enclosure that houses multiple blades that share common resources such as cabling, power supplies, and cooling fans.
One of the problems with modular devices, such as those mentioned above, pertains to maintaining adequate airflow through the enclosure in which the blades reside so that the blades do not overheat. Specifically, blades can be mounted closely together in their enclosure in a parallel, side-by-side fashion, and can extend from the front of the enclosure towards the back of the enclosure to a connection point at a connector on either a mid-plane or back plane. Because the blades are mounted closely together and because the mid- or back plane usually extends perpendicularly to the desired direction of airflow, maintaining adequate airflow can be a challenge.
In the past, attempts have been made to improve airflow through such enclosures by reducing the height of the back or mid-plane, or by cutting holes in the back or mid-plane. By reducing the available surface area of the back or mid-plane, the routing space that is available for routing electrical connections to and between the modular devices is reduced. This, in turn, can drive the cost of the back or mid-planes higher because the back or mid-plane may require more layers in order to adequately route the electrical connections to and between the modular devices. In addition, because of the reduced routing space, higher-density connectors may be needed in order to accommodate a higher density of pins within a given area on the back or mid-plane.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, LP.