Various embodiments of systems and methods for performing backup operation in In-memory database systems are described herein. The method includes receiving a request to create a backup of a data set from a main memory of the system. In response to the request, the data set is configured as read-only and a data structure having meta-data information identifying the blocks of data in the main memory that form the data set is invoked. A snapshot of the data structure is created and the data set is enabled for manipulation. Further, the method involves receiving a request to modify a block of data and copying the requested data block to a free memory block in the main memory. The data structure is updated by replacing the meta-data identifying the requested original data block with meta-data identifying the free memory block which holds a copy of the requested data block.

With recent developments in memory systems, available addressable volatile memory, e.g., operative memory or random access memory (RAM), per server has increased enabling the storage of large volumes of data by data processing systems such as the In-memory Appliance. The In-memory appliance keeps the bulk of its data in volatile memory for maximum performance, but still uses persistent storage (non-volatile memory) to provide a fallback in case of failure. During normal operation of the database, data is automatically saved from memory to disk at regular savepoints.
However, performing a backup of databases that are stored in main memory would require taking a full backup of the file system as well as the main memory over a span of certain time period. During this time, the system may not be used in parallel due to a drastic reduction in the system's performance. Further, working on the data being copied may result in inconsistent copy of data. In order to avoid this situation, typically, the work processes currently executed on the data being copied are interrupted partially or completely until the copy operation is completed. Alternative solutions include capturing all the data changes in a log and saving the log from main memory to persistent storage after each committed database transaction. The data can be recovered like any disk-based database, e.g., returned to its last consistent state by replaying the log since the last savepoint.


The object of the present invention is to provide a process for experimental determination of heavy live crude oil dynamic viscosities reliable at a constant temperature (from ambient temperature to 463 K) and pressures from 68.9 MPa to the atmospheric pressure, including the dynamic viscosity at the bubble point pressure and by below of this point, based on a simple, reliable and accurate apparatus. The apparatus used in the present invention is based on an electromagnetic concept, only using a mobile element (piston) through a fluid at a constant force. The time required for the piston to travel a fixed distance is related exactly to the dynamic viscosity of the fluid contained in a measuring chamber. When the fluid contained in the inner part of the measuring chamber is more viscous, the piston displacement will be slower.

Reliable and accurate data of crude oil viscosity at different temperature and pressure conditions is required in the petroleum industry to calculate the fluids flow in the reservoir, for the design of production facilities and transportation pipelines on the surface. But all above, crude oil viscosity is essential to estimate crude oil recovery in a reservoir, either from natural depletion process (primary production) or from the recovery techniques such as water or gas injection processes (secondary or enhanced production method) (Barrufet, M. A. and Dexheimer, D., Use of an automatic data quality control algorithm for crude oil viscosity data, Fluid Phase Equilibria, 2004, 219, 113-121).
Live crude oil (fluid sample in a single phase extracted from the bottom of the well) largely depends on temperature, pressure, oil density, gas density, gas solubility, molecular structure sizes (asphaltenes and paraffins), and the composition of the hydrocarbon mixture (Barrufet and Dexheimer, 2004). Measuring fluids viscosity in a single-phase at high temperatures and high pressures is one of the most difficult activities in the petroleum industry, particularly due to the complexity of crude oil mixtures, and to the limitations of the appliances used to measure (Dexheimer, D., Jackson, C., Barrufet, M. A., A modification of Pedersen's model for saturated crude oil viscosities using standard black oil PVT data, Fluid Phase Equilibria, 2001, 183-184, 247-257).
There are few apparatuses designed and developed techniques to measure crude oil viscosity at reservoir temperature and pressure conditions. The most common techniques are: (1) a falling ball viscometer and (2) a capillary tube viscometer (Pedersen, K. S., Fredenslund, Aa., Thomassen, P., Properties of oils and natural gases, 1989, Gulf Publishing Company, Houston, Tex., 63-66). The first ones have a limitation in accuracy of viscosity and in the operation range of pressure and temperature conditions, besides they tend to an accumulation and deposition of matter, especially when using crude oils precipitating asphaltenes or paraffins. Besides, these viscometers have the disadvantage of not determine dynamic viscosity (or absolute), but they determine kinematic viscosity and require of the density value of fluid at the same measuring conditions in order to calculate dynamic viscosity. The second ones are difficult to use with different fluids due to cleaning problems, and a more prolonged time is required to reach the state of stabilization when fluids are changed; furthermore, this apparatus is extremely sensitive, especially at high pressures and it requires an accurate calibration of the differential pressure transducer, which is frequently a source of error (U.S. Pat. No. 4,660,413).
U.S. Pat. No. 4,890,482 refers to a method and apparatus to measure fluid viscosity. The apparatus described under this patent is related to a transitory flow capillary viscometer that measures viscosity of a highly viscous fluid. The operation principle consists on filling the capillary tube with the test fluid inducing a change in the pressure through the inlet and outlet of the capillary tube causing the fluid to flow. The resulting decrease in the pressure drop is a function of time, which is monitored to provide an indicative measure of fluid viscosity flowing through the capillary tube.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,660,413 refers to an apparatus and a method to determine the viscosity and density of a fluid by means of ascendant circulation of the fluid through a tube, which has a cup in the inner part, with a constant flow rate suspending the cup at equilibrium position. Then, a mass is added to the cup and a new flow rate of the fluid suspending the cup at equilibrium position is determined. Density and viscosity of the fluid are determined as a function of the two values of the fluid flow rate, and the apparatus characteristics.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,348,732 relates to a method and apparatus to determine fluids viscosity, as well as the oil density at dynamic conditions, such as the fluid was displaced through the pipeline.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,209,755 refers to an apparatus to measure fluids viscosity, such as lubricating oil, fuel oil, molasses, bitumen and substances with similar characteristics. This apparatus can also be applied to obtain an indication of the suspensions and emulsions consistency.
A viscometer of a capillary tube is described in literature to measure heavy oil viscosity and light hydrocarbon mixtures, at temperatures from ambient temperature to 450 K, and at pressures ranging from 0.1 MPa to 34 MPa (Barrufet, M. A., and Setiadarma, A., Experimental viscosities of heavy oil mixtures up to 450 K and high pressures using a mercury capillary viscometer, Journal of Petroleum Science & Engineering, 2003, 40, 17-26); the operation principle of the apparatus used in measurements consists on measuring the differential pressure of the laminar flow of a single-phase fluid along the capillary coils, and to convert it to viscosity by means of the Hagen-Poiseuille equation.
Another apparatus commonly used is the rotating viscometer measuring absolute viscosity by measuring the torque of a sample, and converting it to an absolute-viscosity value. However, the main limitation of this device is the pressure that can be reached in the system (Barrufet and Setiadarma, 2003). Rotational and vibrational viscometers, which can be an alternative to measure crude oil viscosity, are difficult to use at high temperatures and pressures (U.S. Pat. No. 4,890,482).
Despite counting on these apparatuses, most measurements carried out through these viscometers are not direct, that is, they do not measure dynamic viscosity directly, but they measure kinematic viscosity and require the density value, at the same temperature and pressure conditions, to calculate absolute viscosity (Barrufet and Setiadarma, 2003). In addition, a large amount of volume of the sample is required for the measuring test. Therefore an adequate process and an apparatus are required to determine highly viscous fluids viscosity at different temperature and pressure conditions.
The present invention is new due to consist on a process to measure dynamic viscosity of bottom-hole monophasic samples at a constant temperature and different pressures, as well as determine their thermodynamic behavior (p,μ)T from the reservoir pressure (μo viscosity by above the bubble point pressure, pb) to the atmospheric pressure (μod dead crude oil viscosity), including dynamic viscosities at the bubble point pressure (μob) and by below of this pressure (μb); also is possible to determine the phases behavior L-V (saturation curve) of such fluids of reservoir. Unlike to the different methods described before, this method describes the dynamic viscosity directly of reservoir fluids at high temperature (up to 463 K) and high pressure (68.9 MPa) conditions at a wide range of viscosity (up to 10000 cP) and a 20-50 mL sample volume is required; essentially, the invention consists on a process to measure dynamic viscosity of heavy live crude oil by means of an apparatus containing a sensor based on a simple and novel technology: at a constant electromagnetic force. This apparatus uses a piston, calibrated in a determined range of viscosities, which is immersed in the crude oil to be analyzed. The piston displacement is resisted by viscous drag of the fluid, a characteristic used to obtain an accurate measurement of absolute viscosity. Time required by the piston to travel at a fixed distance is related to fluid dynamic viscosity confined in a measuring chamber. Therefore as the fluid in the measuring chamber is to be more viscous, the piston displacement will be slower.

Measuring process of dynamic viscosity of heavy live crude from the reservoir pressure up to atmospheric pressure, including bubble point pressure, based on an electromagnetic viscometer


Embodiments of the present invention address deficiencies of the art in respect to software configuration management and provide a method, system and apparatus for producing audited builds based on separate class dependency records. In one embodiment, a software configuration management tool can be provided which can include build-audit logic programmed to produce separate configuration records for each target object in a build. Each configuration record can include a direct dependency reference for a corresponding target object. Moreover, each configuration record can include version information for a corresponding target object. Finally, the software configuration management tool can include a versioned object base storing different versions of source files and derived objects built from the source files.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of computer aided software engineering and more particularly to build-auditing in a software configuration management tool.
Description of the Related Art
When building computer software, change happens often. Due to the oft-occurring changes in the software development process, software developers have gravitated towards the use of software configuration management tools. Software configuration management refers to the set of activities that are designed to control change by identifying the work product in a software development cycle which is most likely to change, establishing relationships among the identified work product, defining mechanisms for managing different versions of the identified work product, controlling changes that are imposed upon the work product, and auditing and reporting the changes.
A software configuration management system can provide its users both with the ability to record every detail of components used in a software build, and also with the ability to completely recreate the build environment. This requires the software configuration management system to generate a completely accurate software bill-of-materials for a software build. Additionally, the software configuration management system must be able to free the user from the need to manually maintain and declare most build dependencies in order to improve build accuracy and development productivity.
To meet the foregoing characteristics of a software configuration management system, conventional software configuration management systems often perform file-system level auditing. File-system level auditing allows the software configuration management system to capture and record a complete set of configuration information for every software build. File-system level auditing heretofore represents the only known way of supporting complete rebuildability and maintainability. The resulting configuration records can answer critical questions such as, "Has the corrected version of the source code of a particular module been incorporated into the new release?", "What has changed in between releases?" and, "Which version of the compiler built the source code for a particular module?".
The build-auditing feature of at least one conventional software configuration management system provides build avoidance during a build of a software product. Build-avoidance refers to the ability to avoid a complete build of a software product where individual modules do not require re-compilation and where the objects of a prior build can be re-used in subsequent build operations. Build-avoidance generally operates by tracking the results of earlier builds through the observation of file-reads. Through observing file-reads, it can be determined whether the results of an earlier build can be reused. In doing this, the build-audit process can account both for changes in source dependencies and also in prior updates to targets in a build referred to as build dependencies.
Build-avoidance technologies at their core account for traditional compilers for third generation languages. In a traditional setting, individual source code modules can be compiled to produce corresponding compiled objects which in turn can be linked and built into a target application. Generally, traditional compiler-linker-builders do not perform dependency checking during the build phase. At best, configuration files for a module can be consulted to ensure that a dependency has been declared albeit the ultimate presence of the dependency cannot be assured. Thus, the build-audit process of software configuration management tools can perform dependency checking on behalf of the compiler-linker-builder.
Unlike traditional third-generation languages, modern programming languages such as the Java programming language provide a traditional compilation process to produce an interpretable target. In the Java programming environment, dependency checking occurs as a matter of course during the build phase. Hence, the dependency checking functionality of an audit-build feature at best can be viewed as redundant and at worst can conflict with the operation of the Java compiler. To wit, the audit-build feature of a conventional software configuration management tool often will rebuild targets which are current and could be safely reused. This, in turn, can result in the inefficient building of Java components.

Audited builds based upon separate class dependency records

International Business Machines Corporation


This invention presents a VTOL aircraft with two or more Flying-Wings (FWs), where each FW is equipped with multiple Transverse-Radial propellers capable of producing lift force and thrust force on the stationary or non-stationary aircraft. The aircraft is capable of exchanging payloads horizontally as well as vertically with a stationary or a moving object. In particular, this invention illustrates how this aircraft can “walk” on the building wall to adjust and anchor its position in order to rescue people from a high-rise-building window horizontally.

The global population is increasing rapidly and more people are concentrated in big cities around the world. This causes the rapid increase in the construction of high rise buildings of more than 10 stories high. It has become difficult, if not impossible, to rescue people marooned in these buildings. The principal objective of this invention is to solve this problem by inventing a VTOL flying-craft called VTOL/FWA, hereinafter referred to variously as FW, Flying Wing, or Flying Wing Aircraft, that is specially designed to perform rescue missions horizontally through the high rise building windows.
Various VTOL capable aircraft are now in service. Some have suggested in the prior art. However, none of these crafts can load/unload their payloads horizontally, while hovering nor can these prior art "walk" on building walls to align them to exact window openings. These are the many capabilities of the VTOL/FWA of this patent application.

Flying-wing and VTOL flying-wing aircraft


A spring driven belt reeling mechanism for safety belts (17) in motor vehicles has a belt reel (11) which is rotationally fixedly connected to a first thread reel (12), having a helical guide groove (15). A flexible thread (13) is wound onto the guide groove (15) and extends to a second thread reel (14) with a helical guide groove (18). The two thread reels (12, 14) taper in opposite axial directions. The second thread reel (14) is acted on by a spiral spring (16) in the direction of rotation such that the safety belt (17) is wound onto the belt reel (11). The spiral spring (16) is arranged in its own spring housing (49) in such a way that it is rotationally fixedly mounted radially outwardly at the spring housing (49) and radially inwardly at a spring core bearing (30).

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a spring driven reeling mechanism for safety belts, and also to a method of installing a spring driven reeling mechanism for safety belts.
2. Description of Related Art
Known spring driven belt reeling mechanisms of this kind (DE-OS 42 25 073, DE-OS 42 41 730, DE-OS 44 09 009, DE-OS 44 43 729) have the advantage that the belt draw-out force is kept constant or can also be reduced in dependence on the drawn-out length in a desired manner.
In this way the wearing comfort for the vehicle occupants is substantially increased, because the pull-out force in the worn state is substantially reduced. When, however, the belt is to be rolled up again after it has been taken off, the pull-in force increases in a desired manner so that a reliable draw-in of the safety belt is ensured.

Spring driven reeling mechanism for safety belts


A shooting rest includes first and second poles each having a length, and a gun rest assembly for holding the first and second poles in selected angular relationships and at selected locations along the lengths thereof. The gun rest assembly includes a swivel connecting a first rest component mounted to the first pole for reciprocal movement along the length thereof, and a second rest component mounted to the second pole for reciprocal movement along the length thereof. A first clamp assembly is carried by the first rest component and a second clamp assembly is carried by the second rest component. The first and second clamp assemblies are configured for independently locking and releasing the respective first and second rest components relative to the respective first and second poles.

Shooting is the act of firing firearms, such as rifles, shotguns, and handguns. Shooting can take place in an indoor shooting range, an outdoor shooting range, in the field for hunting, and in warfare. To assist with aiming, skilled artisans have developed a variety of shooting rests used by marksmen to rest and stabilize their firearms for improving accuracy, especially long-range accuracy. Of particular significance is the bipod, which is a form of shooting rest commonly used with rifles and machine guns to provide a forward rest and to reduce motion. Some bipods are attached directly to the firearm, while others are a separate, stand-alone, two-legged support having a rest upon which a firearm is to be rested for shooting. As for the latter, such stand-alone bipods are positioned on the ground or other terrain and the marksman rests his firearm on the bipod rest to reduce fatigue and to increase stability and accuracy in shooting. Unfortunately, attempts to produce a bipod that is easily adjustable for holding the legs in selected angular relationships and at selected locations along the lengths of the legs for providing a shooting with the ability to shoot from standing, kneeling, and sitting positions, and for accommodate uneven terrain, have resulted in both complex and rudimentary bipod structures with results that are not entirely satisfactory.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A high-performance valve for the application in dot or line form of hot or cold fluid product is electromagnetically actuable and comprises a statonary piston member and a movable valve piston which bears against a valve scat to close the valve opening under the force of a biasing spring supported against the stationary piston member. The product is first fed into an annular chamber around a portion of the piston member and then flows through flow openings formed by recesses in the piston member. The recesses are arranged eccentrically and open to the outside periphery of the piston member and extend as far as the end thereof which is towards the valve piston. The valve piston is in the form of a sleeve member with a bottom portion which is towards the valve seat. The wall of the sleeve member has slots which extend inwardly therethrough and which terminate in an outward direction in the region of the bottom portion of the sleeve member where they communicate with a further annular chamber in the region of the valve seat. From the recesses in the stationary piston member the product to be applied then flows through the slots into the further annular chamber, to be discharged from the valve through an applicator nozzle.

One form of high-performance valve for applying cold or hot fluid product in dot or line form, involves electromagnetic actuation and comprises a piston which is disposed in a solenoid and which is in two parts. One of the parts of the piston is a piston member which is stationary in operation while the other part of the piston is a valve piston which bears against a valve seat under the effect of a biasing force and which is braced against the stationary piston and which in the closed condition of the valve closes off a valve opening. The valve has feed devices for the feed of the fluid product to be applied, and through-flow openings for the fluid product are provided in the region of the piston. The fluid product to be applied may be for example dye, ink, oil, adhesives, thermoplastic fluids, fusion adhesives and the like. A valve of that design configuration is to be found for example in DE 38 474 Al.
In that valve, the fluid product is supplied through a central passage which is disposed in the stationary piston and which opens into a central distribution chamber. The through-flow openings which are provided in the region of the valve piston are of such a configuration that they are formed on the one hand by a concentric bore which extends over a part of the longitudinal extent of the valve piston and which communicates with a recess, through a discharge flow bore, at the lower end of the concentric bore. That configuration involves repeated transverse deflections of the fluid flowing through the passage, and that prevents a smooth flow of fluid from taking place through the valve.
The valve piston in the above-discussed valve is relatively long and is guided separately above the valve seat. The valve piston is also of relatively large mass and is moved only by about a quarter in the coil body or former of the solenoid unit. The design configuration of the valve piston means that the cyclic performance of the valve is limited, on the one hand as a result of the large mass of the valve piston which has to be accelerated and decelerated again in each cycle of operation of the valve, and on the other hand because of the flow of fluid which acts on the piston and which is only very poorly distributed around the piston. Another disadvantage of that valve is that it can suffer from overheating, in particular when required to operate at high levels of cyclic performance. If the temperature of the valve exceeds a certain limit, that will give rise to problems and operational deficiencies.


A coated substrate comprising a coating layer with inorganic oxide and pores, the coating layer demonstrates improved anti-soiling properties. The coated substrate may for example be used in solar modules. Further a coating formulation and use of the coating formulation are disclosed.

Anti-reflective (AR) coatings are coatings deposited on substrates, which require high transmission of light such as cover glasses for solar modules and green house glass, and said coatings are able to reduce the reflectivity of said substrates. Performance of solar modules tend to decrease over time amongst other reasons also due to soiling of the surface where light is transmitted through. In areas with high soiling rates, it was found that build-up of sand and dust particles provides a substantial contribution to the decreased performance.


By means of an image drawing program stored in a storage medium readable by an image processing system, the corresponding image processing system and the corresponding image drawing method, shadows are drawn for a plurality of characters, without imposing a large load on the processor, by referencing a shadow created in advance, and using the shadow for other characters to draw numerous humanoid shadows for display on one screen.

The present invention relates to an image processing program, and an image processing system using this program, and in particular relates to a game program which enables reduction of the processing load for shadow texturing in a game system, which is one mode of such an image processing system.
In a game system which is one mode of an image processing system, model-type shadows (hereafter simply called "humanoid shadows") of humans, animals, fantasy creatures, robots, and similar are displayed, accompanying characters displayed on a display screen (representing objects which perform fighting in an action game) and moving in accordance with character movements.
Drawing of such humanoid shadows is achieved by performing calculations and creating shadow texture for each frame, based on the character model and on the motion thereof, and then applying this to a polygon constituting the surface. At this time, calculations and creation must be performed for the number of characters to be displayed on one screen.
Hence the greater the number of characters to be displayed in one screen of an action game or similar, the greater is the load on the drawing processor which performs drawing processing.
Thus in drawing character shadows, as the number of characters displayed within one screen increases, the load of character motion calculations and shadow model drawing increases, and occurrence of incomplete processing increase.
One conceivable method for dealing with this problem is to simplify the form of the shadow to be drawn, employing for example approximate shadows. When drawing with approximate shadows, a shadow texture is not generated, so that there is no load resulting from shadow texture generation.
However, if approximate shadows are used uniformly, then approximate shadows are drawn as shadows for drawings when characters have fallen down and in similar cases, imparting a sense of unnaturalness to the game player.
As a method of forming shadows in a game system, the technology disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2002-190032 is known. The invention disclosed in this patent reference has the characteristic that shadows formed by a character itself are generated and displayed in realtime when projecting shadows of the character onto other portions.
Further, the invention disclosed in this Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2002-190032 makes no mention of a solution to the problem, described above, in which the greater the number of characters displayed on one screen, the greater is the load on the drawing processor to perform drawing.

Image processing program and image processing system using same


An inductance part is provided which includes: a coil which is formed by bending a metal plate into a coil shape; a magnetic body in which the coil is buried; and a short ring which faces the coil.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an inductance part which is provided with a short ring, and an electronic apparatus therewith.
2. Description of the Related Art
A CPU which is mounted in an electronic apparatus such as a notebook personal computer is generally operated, using a switching-type power supply circuit such as an AC/DC converter. This power supply circuit is configured by combining an inductance part such as a choke coil, a switching device, and the like.
In recent years, an LSI such as a CPU has been processing data at higher speed, and an LSI itself has been increasingly integrated. This has also raised demands for heightening the frequency of the above described power supply circuit and increasing its electric current. Therefore, an inductance part which is mounted on the power supply circuit has also been required to supply a large quantity of electric current from several to dozens of amperes within a high-frequency range. In addition, an electronic apparatus has recently become smaller and thinner, thus demanding that an inductance part be made smaller and with a thinner profile.
As described above, if a power supply circuit is operated at a high frequency and at a large quantity of electric current, a magnetic flux leaks from an inductance part when an electric current is passed through the power supply circuit. This leakage magnetic flux may cause a peripheral circuit or apparatus, such as a CPU, to generate a high-frequency noise. As a result, operation of the circuit or apparatus may be adversely affected. This presents a demand that such a magnetic flux which leaks from an inductance part be reduced as much as possible.
Accordingly, as a conventional inductance part, for example, a coiled-wire part for a power source is disclosed, as shown in FIG. 15, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-82623 specification. In the coiled-wire part for a power source shown in FIG. 15, a drum core 101 is attached to a terminal stand 104. Around the drum core 101, a coiled wire 102 is wound, and a pot core 103 covers the drum core 101. In the drum core 101, an opening portion is formed which is used to pull out the coiled wire 102. A gutter is formed in the terminal stand 104, and in this gutter, a conductor 105 is placed which is shaped like a coiled wire or a loop.
In recent years, however, there has been a great demand for making the size of such a part smaller, its frequency higher, and the volume of its electric current greater. To meet this demand, the above described coiled-wire part for a power source needs to be operated at a high frequency and at a large quantity of electric current. In that case, a leakage magnetic flux cannot be sufficiently kept from increasing. This disadvantage becomes conspicuous, especially, in a thin and low inductance part whose thickness h does not balance with a setting area S (e.g., h/(S1/2)≦½). A leakage magnetic flux increases in its thickness direction, thereby having a bad influence on apparatus around it.
Aiming at reducing such a leakage magnetic flux, the conductor 105 which is shaped like a coiled wire or a loop is disposed in the gutter. However, the pot core 103 is opened, and thus, a magnetic flux leaks out in the opened part. In addition, the coil is formed by the coiled wire 102. Therefore, if the coiled-wire part is used within a high-frequency range, it is impossible to operate at a large quantity of electric current while keeping a sufficient inductance value and a low direct-current resistance value.

Inductance part and electronic apparatus therewith

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


An improved device for carrying and retaining animal scent that has a specially designed sleeve having an absorbent pad for absorbing a liquid scent that attracts prey wherein the absorbent pad has a plurality of apertures to facilitate the aeration of the scent and additionally the sleeve has a slit such that a resilient self attaching band can be placed therein so that the sleeve may be attached to objects and yet the resilient band can be removed so that the cover can be properly washed.

This invention relates to a hunting device. More specifically, this invention relates to a hunting device for carrying and retaining animal scent that attracts prey.
Hunters of deer and other game animals frequently will rely on some type of animal lure to assist them in tracking and sighting game. Usually, the lure a hunter employs is a scented substance, the odor of which is an animal attractant. Other scented substances likewise are used to mask the natural odors associated with the hunter that would otherwise warn the animal of the hunter's presence thereby hindering the hunter's ability to attract the animal.
Many of the commercially available scented substances are provided in liquid form and applied directly to the clothes or boots of the hunter. The scent, however, ordinarily wears off relatively quickly because of the type of fabrics commonly used for hunting apparel. This tendency is exacerbated by rain and other weather conditions the hunter frequently encounters during an outdoor extrusion, as well as by the hunter brushing against trees limbs and shrubs as the hunter moves through a wooded area in pursuit of prey.
Various types of devices have attempted to solve the stated problems. For example, devices have been designed that involve an elongated flexible metal band that is able to attach itself by being struck against an object and wrapping itself around that object. In combination with this band a cover is placed over the top of the band that has an absorbent material that will absorb scented liquid so that the band may be placed around a tree or around a wrist and emit the scent. Though effective dispensing scent into the environment for a short period of time, problems with this device still remain. For example, there is a problem in the art in properly releasing the scent from the cover into the atmosphere such that a strong odor will occur thus attracting prey towards the band.
Another problem in the art is that the cover upon use, permanently has the liquid scent thereon. Consequently, many hunters are unwilling to keep the band and store it because the scent remains after the hunting is complete.
An additional problem is present in storing the devices when more than one device is used having different scents, confusion can occur over which device carries which scent. When hunting seasons are months apart this can at times be difficult.
Another problem in the art is that removal of current devices from limbs can be difficult. Currently one must pry the device off of an object and during extremely cold whether when the fingers of a hunter become numb removal becomes very difficult.
Consequently, there is a need in the art for an improved device for carrying and retaining animal scent that not only provides better aeration properties than previous scent dispensers but also is able to be washed or cleaned effectively so it may be reused several times. Additionally there is a need in the art to identify the type of scent a device is carrying and to provide for a means of easy removal of the device from an object.
Therefore, the principal object of the present invention is to provide an improved device for carrying and retaining animal scent that minimizes the restriction of aeration of the scent.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a device for carrying and retaining animal scent that may be easily washed to facilitate reuse.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an identification means on a scented hunting device to identify the type of scent contained by the device.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a means for easy removal of a scent device from an object.
These and other objects, features, or advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the specification and claims.

Hunting device for carrying and retaining animal scent


Cyclic amides of Formula (I) which are useful as fungicides wherein: A is O; S; N; NR.sup.5 ;or CR.sup.14--, G is C or N; W is O or S; X is OR.sup.1, S(O).sub.m R.sup.1 or halogen; R.sup.1, R.sup.2, and R.sup.5 are independently, in part, C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkyl; Y is, in part, --O--; --S(O).sub.n --,--CHR.sup.6 O--; or --CHR.sup.6 O--N.dbd.C(R.sup.7)--; Z is, in part, optionally substituted cycloalkyl, phenyl, pyridinyl, pyrimidinyl, or naphthyl; and R.sup.3, R.sup.4, R.sup.6, R.sup.7, R.sup.14, m, and n are defined in the disclosure, are disclosed. ##STR1##

This invention relates to cyclic amides substituted at the .alpha.-position with various aryl groups, their agriculturally suitable salts and compositions, and methods of their use as general or selective fungicides.
EP-A-398,692 disclosed amides of Formula i as fungicides for crop protection. Compounds of Formula i are: ##STR2##
wherein
R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 are each hydrogen, lower alkyl, or lower cycloalkyl. PA0 W is ##STR4## PA0 A is O; S; N; NR.sup.5 ; or CR.sup.14 ; PA0 G is C or N; provided that when G is N, A is N or CR.sup.14 and the floating double bond is attached to A; PA0 W is O or S; PA0 X is OR.sup.1 ; S(O).sub.m R.sup.1 ; or halogen; PA0 R.sup.1, R.sup.2, and R.sup.5 are independently H; C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkyl; C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 haloalkyl; C.sub.2 -C.sub.6 alkenyl; C.sub.2 -C.sub.6 haloalkenyl; C.sub.2 -C.sub.6 haloalkynyl; C.sub.3 -C.sub.6 cycloalkyl; C.sub.2 -C.sub.4 alkylcarbonyl, C.sub.2 -C.sub.4 alkoxycarbonyl; or benzoyl optionally substituted with R.sup.13 ; PA0 R.sup.3 and R.sup.4 are each independently H; halogen; cyano; nitro; C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 haloalkyl; C.sub.2 -C.sub.6 alkenyl; C.sub.2 -C.sub.6 haloalkenyl; C.sub.2 -C.sub.6 alkynyl; C.sub.2 -C.sub.6 haloalkynyl; C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkoxy; C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 haloalkoxy; C.sub.2 -C.sub.6 alkenyloxy; or C.sub.2 -C.sub.6 alkynyloxy; PA0 Y is --O--; S(O).sub.n --; --CHR.sup.6 CHR.sup.6 --; --CR .sup.6 .dbd.CR.sup.6 --; --CHR.sup.6 O--; --OCHR.sup.6 --; --CHR.sup.6 S(O).sub.n --; --S(O).sub.n CHR.sup.6 --; --CHR.sup.6 ON.dbd.C(R.sup.7)--; --(R.sup.7)C.dbd.N--OCH(R.sup.6)--; --C(R.sup.7).dbd.N--O--; --O--N.dbd.C(R.sup.7)--; --CHR.sup.6 OC(.alpha.O)N(R.sup.15)--; or a direct bond; and the directionality of the Y linkage is defined such that the moiety depicted on the left side of the linkage is bonded to the phenyl ring and the moiety on the right side of the linkage is bonded to Z; PA0 R.sup.6 is independently H or C.sub.1 -C.sub.3 alkyl; PA0 R.sub.7 is H; C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkyl; C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 haloalkyl; C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkoxy; C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 haloalkoxy; C.sub.2 -C.sub.6 alkenyl; C.sub.2 -C.sub.6 haloalkenyl; C.sub.2 -C.sub.6 alkynyl; C.sub.2 -C.sub.6 haloalkynyl; C.sub.3 -C.sub.6 cycloalkyl; C.sub.2 -C.sub.4 alkylcarbonyl; C.sub.2 -C.sub.4 alkoxycarbonyl; cyano; or morpholinyl; PA0 Z is C.sub.1 -C.sub.10 alkyl, C.sub.2 -C.sub.10 alkenyl, or C.sub.2 -C.sub.10 alkynyl each optionally substituted with R.sup.8 ; or Z is C.sub.3 -C.sub.8 cycloalkyl or phenyl each optionally substituted with on of R.sup.9, R.sup.10, or both R.sup.9 and R.sup.10 ; or Z is a 3 to 14-membered nonaromatic heterocyclic ring system selected from the group monocyclic ring, fused bicyclic ring and fused tricyclic ring, or Z is a 5 to 14-membered aromatic heterocyclic ring system selected from the group monocyclic ring, fused bicyclic ring and fused tricyclic ring, each nonaromatic or aromatic ring system containing 1 to 6 heteroatoms independently selected from the group 1-4 nitrogen, 1-2 oxygen, and 1-2 sulfur, each nonaromatic or aromatic ring system optionally substituted with on of R.sup.9, R.sup.10, or both R.sup.9 and R.sup.10 ; or PA0 R.sup.7 and Z are taken together to form CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2, CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2, CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 OCH.sub.2 CH.sub.2, each CH.sub.2 group optionally substituted with 1-2 halogen; or PA0 Y and Z are taken together to form ##STR7## R.sup.3, Y and Z are taken together with the phenyl ring to form a naphthalene ring substituted on either ring with a floating R.sup.4 ; provided that when R.sup.3, Y, and Z are taken together with the phenyl ring to form a napthylene ring substituted by R.sup.4, and A is S, W is O, X is SCH.sub.3 and R.sup.2 is CH.sub.3 ; then R.sup.4 is other than H; PA0 J is --CH.sub.2 --; --CH.sub.2 CH .sub.2 --; --OCH.sub.2 ; --CH.sub.2 O--; --SCH.sub.2 --; --CH.sub.2 S--; --N(R.sup.16)CH.sub.2 --; or --CH.sub.2 N(R.sup.16)--; each CH.sub.2 group optionally substituted with 1 to 2 CH.sub.3 ; PA0 R.sup.8 is 1-6 halogen; C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkoxy; C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 haloalkoxy; C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkylthio; C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 haloalkylthio; C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkylsulfinyl; C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkylsulfonyl; C.sub.3 -C.sub.6 alkylthio; C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 cycloalkyl; C.sub.3 -C.sub.6 alkenyloxy; CO.sub.2 (C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkyl); NH(C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkyl); N(C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkyl).sub.2 ; cyano; or nitro; or R.sup.8 is phenyl, phenoxy, pyridinyl, pyridinyloxy, thienyl, furanyl, pyrimidinyl, or pyrimidinyloxy each optionally substituted with one of R.sup.11, R.sup.12, or both R.sup.11 and R.sup.12 ; PA0 R.sup.9 is 1-2 halogen; C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkyl; C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 haloalkyl; C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkoxy; C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 haloalkoxy; C.sub.2 -C.sub.6 alkenyl; C.sub.2 -C.sub.6 haloalkenyl; C.sub.2 -C.sub.6 alkynyl; C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkylthio; C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 haloalkylthio; C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkylsulfinyl; C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkylsulfonyl; C.sub.3 -C.sub.6 cycloalkyl; C.sub.3 -C.sub.6 alkenyloxy; C).sub.2 (C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkyl); NH(C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkyl); N(C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkyl).sub.2 ; --C(R.sup.18).dbd.NOR.sup.17 ; cyano; or nitro; or R.sup.9 is phenyl, benzyl, benzoyl, phenoxy, pyridinyl, pyridinyloxy, thienyl, thienyloxy, furanyl, pyrimidinyl, or pyrimidinyloxy each optionally substituted with on of R.sup.11, R.sup.12, or both R.sup.11 and R.sup.12 ; PA0 R.sup.10 is halogen; C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 alkyl; C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 haloalkyl; C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 alkoxy; nitro; or cyano; or PA0 R.sup.9 and R.sup.10, when attached to adjacent atoms, are taken together as --)CH.sub.2 O-- or --OCH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 O--; each CH.sub.2 group optionally substituted with 1-2 halogen; PA0 R.sup.11 and R.sup.12 are each independently halogen; C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 alkyl; C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 haloalkyl; C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 alkoxy; C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 haloalkoxy; nitro; or cyano; PA0 R.sub.13 is halogen; C.sub.1 -C.sub.3 alkyl; C.sub.1 -C.sub.3 haloalkyl; C.sub.1 -C.sub.3 alkoxy; C.sub.1 -C.sub.3 haloalkoxy; nitro; or cyano; PA0 R.sup.14 is H; halogen; C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkyl; C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 haloalkyl; C.sub.2 -C.sub.6 alkenyl; C.sub.2 -C.sub.6 haloalkenyl; C.sub.2 -C.sub.6 alkynyl; C.sub.2 -C.sub.6 haloalkynyl; or C.sub.3 -C.sub.6 cycloalkyl; PA0 R.sup.15, R.sup.16, R.sup.17, and R.sup.18 are each independently H; C.sub.1 -C.sub.3 alkyl; or phenyl optionally substituted with halogen, C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 alkyl, C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 haloalkyl, C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 alkoxy, C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 haloalkoxy, nitro or cyano; PA0 m, n, and q are each independently 0, 1 or 2; and PA0 P and r are each independently 0 or 1. PA0 W is O; PA0 R.sup.1 is C.sub.1 -C.sub.3 alkyl or C.sub.1 -C.sub.3 haloalkyl; PA0 R.sup.2 is H; C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkyl; C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 haloalkyl; or C.sub.3 -C.sub.6 cycloalkyl; PA0 R.sup.3 and R.sup.4 are each independently H; halogen; cyano; nitro; C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkyl; C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 haloalkyl; C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkoxy; or C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 haloalkoxy; PA0 Y is --O--; --CH .dbd.CH --; --CH.sub.2 O--; --OCH.sub.2 --; --CH.sub.2 S(O).sub.n --; --CH.sub.2 O--N.dbd.C(R.sup.7)--; --C(R.sup.7).dbd.N--O--; --CH.sub.2 OC(O)NH--; or a direct bond; PA0 R.sup.7 is H; C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkyl; C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 haloalkyl; C.sub.2 -C.sub.6 alkenyl; C.sub.2 -C.sub.6 alkynyl; or cyano; PA0 Z is C.sub.1 -C.sub.10 alkyl optionally substituted with R.sup.8 ; or C.sub.3 -C.sub.8 alkynyl; or cyano; PA0 Z is C.sub.1 -C.sub.10 alkyl optionally substituted with R.sup.8 ; or C.sub.3 -C.sub.8 cycloalkyl or phenyl, each optionally substituted with one of R.sup.9, R.sup.10, or bother R.sup.9 and R.sup.10 ;or Z is ##STR8## each group is optionally substituted with on R.sub.9, R.sub.10, or both R.sup.9 and R.sup.10 ; or PA0 R.sup.3, Y, and Z are taken together with the phenyl ring to form a naphthalene ring substituted on either ring with a floating R.sup.4 ; or PA0 Y and Z are taken together to form ##STR9## R.sup.8 is 1-6 halogen; C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkoxy; C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 haloalkoxy; or R.sup.8 is phenyl, phenoxy, pyridinyl, pyridinyloxy, pyrimidinyl, or pyrimidinyloxy each optionally substituted with one of R.sup.11, R.sup.12, or both R.sup.11 and R.sup.12 ; PA0 R.sup.9 is 1-2 halogen; C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkyl C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 haloalkyl; C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkoxy; C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 haloalkoxy; C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkylthio; cyano; CO.sub.2 (C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkyl; NH(C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkyl; or N(C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkyl).sub.2 ; or R.sup.9 is C.sub.3 -C.sub.6 cycloalkyl, phenyl, phenoxy, pyridinyl, pyridinyloxy, pyrimidinyl, or pyrimidinyloxy each optionally substituted with one of R.sup.11, R.sup.12, or both R.sup.11 and R.sup.12, and PA0 R.sup.19 is H; C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkyl; C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 haloalkyl; or phenyl optionally substituted with halogen, C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 alkyl; C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 haloalkyl, C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 alkoxy, C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 haloalkoxy, nitro or cyano. PA0 Z is phenyl or Z-1 to Z-21, each optionally substituted with one of R.sup.9, R.sup.10, or both R.sup.9 and R.sup.10 ; or PA0 Y and Z are taken together to form ##STR10## J is --CH.sub.2 -- or --CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 --; p is 0; and PA0 r is 1. PA0 A is O; N; NR.sup.5 ; or CR.sup.14 ; PA0 X is OR.sup.1 ; PA0 R.sup.1 is C.sub.1 -C.sub.3 alkyl; PA0 R.sup.2 is H or C.sub.1 -C.sub.2 alkyl; PA0 R.sup.3 and R.sup.4 are each H; PA0 Y is --O--; --CH.dbd.CH--; --CH.sub.2 O--; --OCH.sub.2 --; --CH.sub.2 O--N.dbd.C(R.sup.7)--; or --CH.sub.2 OC(.dbd.O)NH--; PA0 R.sup.7 is H; C.sub.1 -C.sub.3 alkyl; or C.sub.1 -C.sub.3 haloalkyl; and PA0 Z is phenyl, pyridinyl, pyrimidinyl, or thienyl, each optionally substituted with one of R.sup.9, R.sup.10, or both R.sup.9 and R.sup.10. PA0 A is O or NR.sup.5 ; PA0 G is C; PA0 Y is --O--; --CH.sub.2 O--;--OCH.sub.2 ; or --CH.sub.2 O--N.dbd.C(R.sup.7)--; and PA0 R.sup.7 is H; C.sub.1 -C.sub.2 alkyl; or C.sub.1 -C.sub.2 haloalkyl. PA0 A is N OR CR.sup.14 ; PA0 G is N; PA0 Y is --O--; --CH.sub.2 O--; or --CH.sub.2O--N.dbd.C(R.sup.7)--; and PA0 R.sup.7 is H; C.sub.1 -C.sub.2 alkyl; or C.sub.1 -C.sub.2 haloalkyl. PA0 R.sup.1 is methyl; PA0 R.sup.2 is methyl; and PA0 Z is phenyl optionally substituted with on of R.sup.9, R.sup.10, or both R.sup.9 and R.sup.10. PA0 R.sup.1 is methyl; PA0 R.sup.2 is methyl; and PA0 Z is phenyl optionally substituted with one of R.sup.9, R.sup.10, or both R.sup.9 and R.sup.10.
All the compounds disclose din EP-A-398,692 have an aryl moiety bonded to an acyclic alkoxyiminoacetamide group. The cyclic amides of the present invention are not disclosed therein.
WO 93/07116 disclosed compounds of Formula ii as fungicides for crop protection. Compounds of Formula ii are: ##STR3##
wherein:
Once again, the cyclic amides of this invention are not disclosed therein.
J. Heterocyclic Chem., (1987),24, 465, J. Heterocyclic Chem., (1988),25, 1307, and Australian J. Chem., (1977),30(8), 1815 disclose 4-nitrophenyl isoxazoles (iii), phenyl pyrazolones (iv), and aryl isothiazolinones (v) respectively. ##STR5##
However, no utility as fungicides is alleged and no ortho-substituted compounds of the present invention are disclosed.

Dihydrotriazole compounds and their use for controlling fungal plant diseases


A valve assembly includes a housing having at least one valve orifice for fluid flow therethrough, and a valve member which moves between a fully closed position and a fully open position, respectively, closing and opening said valve orifice. The valve orifice has a clearance surface forming an auxiliary valve passageway selectively enabling flow communication therethrough in an intermediate position of the valve member between said fully open and fully closed positions, and in the intermediate position the valve member partially obstructs the valve orifice so that the passageway provides attenuated fluid flow communication through the valve orifice relative to fluid flow communication in the fully open position of the valve member. A manually controlled actuator enables limited displacement of the valve member between the fully closed position and the intermediate position for the attenuated flow communication through the valve orifice. The valve assembly can be one of dual valves for particular use as a surgical trumpet valve assembly housed within a two-part housing.

This invention relates to valve assemblies, and more particularly relates to improved valve structures for fluid delivery systems employed in surgical procedures.
Laparoscopic surgical procedures have been improved by endoscopic direction of laser surgery resulting in reduced complication and risk of infection. For example, laser surgery on a gallbladder is accomplished by inflation of the cavity with a controlled flow rate of CO.sub.2 while the surgeon endoscopically directs the laser surgery on the target tissue. In addition, the target site is irrigated with pressurized irrigation solution followed by vacuum aspiration. The surgeon controls the irrigation and vacuum aspiration using a dual valve assembly referred to as a "trumpet valve" in which the valved irrigation and vacuum lines are independently controlled by digital manipulation within a commonly housed module held by the surgeon. However, the target tissue vaporized by the laser produces a smoke-like "laser plume" which can could the surgeon's vision through the endoscope, requiring that the clouding vapor be periodically removed by vacuum aspiration through the trumpet valve. The interrupting removal of the clouding vaporized tissue by the vacuum aspiration requires a difficult valve control which must regulate the vacuum flow rate at a level which will not adversely aspirate the CO.sub.2 pressure necessary to prevent deflation of the cavity. This valving control problem is eliminated by the improved valve structure according to the present invention.


The present invention involves the provision of a backpack frame assembly and associated load carrying devices. The backpack frame includes a plurality of stays having flexible joints therebetween. A membrane is secured to certain of the stays and helps resist flexing of joints between adjacent stay end portions. Load carrying devices may be provided and are releasably mounted to the frame assembly.

Backpacks have been used for many years to carry a given load of contents on the back of a user. Modern backpack designs configured to carry moderate to large loads (in terms of weight and/or bulk) usually fall into one of two categories: external frame backpacks and internal frame backpacks. Both internal and external frame backpacks have a waist or hip belt and a yoke. The hip belt is designed to transfer a substantial amount of the weight of the backpack and contents from rigid or semi-rigid supports of the backpack to the hips of the backpack user. The yoke is primarily designed to stabilize the backpack load and more properly position portions of the backpack relative to the user's torso and shoulders. However, the yoke may also transfer a small amount of the weight of the backpack and contents to the user's shoulders, and in certain situations, may alternatively be called on to support the full weight of the backpack and contents without the use of the hip belt.
External frame backpacks typically include rigid, tubular frames (e.g., formed of aluminum or other metals or rigid materials) for supporting the weight of a pack bag. Such external frame backpacks can be particularly useful in securely holding bulky or heavy contents. The frame members of these frames are usually rigidly interconnected by a welded or pinned connection. A load is typically carried inside the pack bag or can be connected directly to the external frame. Pack bags and the like may be connected with the frame by, for instance, stitching a sleeve, loop or pocket formed on the pack bag over the frame members.
One drawback of the rigid frame design is that forces generated by an impact incident on the attached pack bag or the frame itself create stresses that tend to remain concentrated at either (1) the region of impact, (2) in the pack bag itself, or (3) at the associated connection points of the pack bag with the frame. For example, because of the rigid nature and lack of give of the typical external frame under force loading, loads on the pack bag must often generate a high level of tension on the pack bag material before appreciable transferring of the loads to the frame occurs. When an impact is severe, the locations of stress concentration tend to tear or fracture, and because pack bag material is not as strong as the rigid frame material, the bag may rip open and scatter the contents that were held therein.
Some external frame backpacks allow users to attach extra pack bags to the frame as needed. However, these extra bags are often connected via pins or strapping wrapped around the tubular frame members. Such connections are prone to fractures and tearing when the frame is under stress. Another disadvantage of external frame backpacks is the tendency for such packs to be unstable relative to internal frame packs because the load is usually placed laterally farther away from the user's center of gravity, a situation which is exacerbated by the rigidness of the external frame.
Internal frame backpacks generally allow a carried load to better conform to the profile of a user's back so that stresses on the user's body are reduced as compared to load carrying with an external frame backpack. However, the frame components of typical internal frame packs tend to become distorted from their original shape under the weight and shape of the backpack's load. Another disadvantage of internal frame backpacks is that the shape of the pack bag is dictated largely by the shape of the frame. Accordingly, the load side of the backpack often tends to mirror the wearer's back shape which may not be optimum for organizing a load thereon. As a result, internal frame backpacks do not effectively store contents that could otherwise be retained in the backpack. The relationship between the bag and the support members also prevents internal pack bags from being removable and modular. As such, the user is unable to swap a larger pack bag for a pack smaller bag without changing backpacks entirely.
Therefore, current external and internal frame designs lack the ability to form a backpack with modular pack bags or load carriers while also providing a frame structure that conforms well to a user's body profile, efficiently transfers loads to the user's body frame, and is resistant to impact loads incident either directly on the frame or indirectly through components attached to the frame.


Provided is a Fluid Catalytic Cracking catalyst composition having increased propylene production with respect to other Fluid Catalytic Cracking catalysts (measured at constant conversion). The catalyst composition comprises a particulate which comprises (a) non-rare earth metal exchanged Y-zeolite in an amount in the range of about 5 to about 50 wt %, based upon the weight of the particulate; and (b) ZSM-5 zeolite in an amount in the range of about 2 to about 50 wt %, based upon the weight of the particulate.

Fluidic Catalytic Cracking units are playing an increasingly important role in the production of propylene. The use of Y-zeolites in conjunction with pentasil zeolites, in particular, ZSM-5, has led to increases in the amount of propylene which can be produced from petroleum fraction feedstocks such as deep cut gas oil, vacuum gas oil, thermal oil, residual oil, cycle stock, whole top crude, tar sand oil, shale oil, synthetic fuel, heavy hydrocarbon fractions, such as those derived from the destructive hydrogenation of coal, tar, pitches, asphalts, hydrotreated feedstocks derived from any of the foregoing, and the like. Such Y-zeolites are generally doped or exchanged with rare-earth metals such as Lanthanum, Cerium, Neodymium and Praseodymium. These "rare-earth exchanged" zeolites are preferred because they have a high percentage of conversion which, it has been thought, is necessary in order to obtain high amounts of gasoline fraction which is generally thought to be necessary in order to maximize the amount of propylene which is produced by further cracking by the ZSM-catalyst.
However, such rare earth zeolites have reached a maximum in the amount of propylene that a given combination of rare earth-exchanged zeolites can generate in the co-presence of ZSM-type zeolites. It has heretofore been thought that other types of catalyst systems would have to be employed in order to get further gains in the amount of propylene with respect to the amounts produced by Y-zeolite/ZSM catalytic systems. While other types of dopants have been tried, many reduced the rate of conversion by the Y-zeolite, giving rise to overall efficiency considerations.

Modified Y-zeolite/ZSM-5 catalyst for increased propylene production


Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) mask blanks, methods for their manufacture and production systems therefor are disclosed. The EUV mask blanks comprise a substrate; a multilayer stack of reflective layers on the substrate; a capping layer on the multilayer stack of reflecting layers; an absorber layer on the capping layer, the absorber layer comprising an antimony-containing material; and a hard mask layer on the absorber layer, the hard mask layer comprising a hard mask material selected from the group consisting of CrO, CrON, TaNi, TaRu and TaCu.

Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography, also known as soft x-ray projection lithography, is used for the manufacture of 0.0135 micron and smaller minimum feature size semiconductor devices. However, extreme ultraviolet light, which is generally in the 5 to 100 nanometer wavelength range, is strongly absorbed in virtually all materials. For that reason, extreme ultraviolet systems work by reflection rather than by transmission of light. Through the use of a series of mirrors, or lens elements, and a reflective element, or mask blank, coated with a non-reflective absorber mask pattern, the patterned actinic light is reflected onto a resist-coated semiconductor substrate.
The lens elements and mask blanks of extreme ultraviolet lithography systems are coated with reflective multilayer coatings of materials such as molybdenum and silicon. Reflection values of approximately 65% per lens element, or mask blank, have been obtained by using substrates that are coated with multilayer coatings that strongly reflect light within an extremely narrow ultraviolet bandpass, for example, 12.5 to 14.5 nanometer bandpass for 13.5 nanometer ultraviolet light. EUV mask blanks are utilized to form EUV reflective masks.
FIG. 1 shows a conventional EUV reflective mask 10, which is formed from an EUV mask blank, which includes a reflective multilayer stack 12 on a substrate 14, which reflects EUV radiation at unmasked portions by Bragg interference. Masked (non-reflective) areas 16 of the conventional EUV reflective mask 10 are formed by etching buffer layer 18 and absorbing layer 20. A capping layer 22 is formed over the reflective multilayer stack 12 and protects the reflective multilayer stack 12 during the etching process. As will be discussed further below, EUV mask blanks are made on a low thermal expansion material substrate coated with multilayers, a capping layer and an absorber layer, which is then etched to provide the masked (non-reflective) areas 16 and reflective areas 24.
During manufacture of EUV mask blanks, a hard mask is formed over an absorber layer. A reflective mask having a mask pattern is formed from an EUV mask blank including the hard mask layer by etching and other processes. Next generation absorber materials used to form the absorber layer, for example, antimony-containing materials, pose a challenge during etching processes to have suitable etch selectivity of the hard mask layer with respect to the absorber layer. Accordingly, there is a need to provide hard mask materials for EUV mask blanks which have a suitable etch selectivity with respect to antimony-containing absorber materials.

Extreme ultraviolet mask blank hard mask materials


This invention relates to an activator, catalyst system, and the use thereof. In one aspect, the catalyst system includes one or more polymerization catalysts and at least one activator. The activator comprises one or more heterocyclic heteroatom containing ligands coordinated to an alumoxane, wherein the activator is a reaction product of one or more alumoxanes and one or more heterocyclic heteroatom containing compounds, the one or more heterocyclic heteroatom containing ligands represented by the formula:

Polymerization catalyst compounds are typically combined with an activator (or co-catalyst) to yield compositions having a vacant coordination site that will coordinate, insert, and polymerize olefins. Metallocene polymerization catalysts, for example, are typically activated with alumoxanes which are generally oligomeric compounds containing —Al(R)—O— subunits, where R is an alkyl group. A common alumoxane activator is methylalumoxane (MAO), typically produced by the hydrolysis of trimethylaluminum (TMA). MAO, however, is expensive to utilize because it generally must be added in great excess relative to the metallocene and because of the high cost of TMA. Additionally, MAO tends to be unstable as it precipitates out of solution over time.
As a result, alternative activators for metallocenes and other single-site polymerization catalysts have been discovered in recent years. For example, perfluorophenyl aluminum and borane complexes containing one anionic nitrogen-containing group have recently gained much attention.
Activator complexes having a Group 13 atom have also been suggested as a viable alternative to the expensive alumoxane activators. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,147,173 and 6,211,105 disclose a polymerization process and polymerization catalyst where the catalyst includes an activator complex having a Group 13 element and at least one halogenated, nitrogen-containing aromatic group ligand.
Each of these alternatives, including the formation of aluminoxane, requires multi-step, complicated syntheses. There is a need, therefore, to provide a simpler method of cocatalyst synthesis and catalyst activation. There is also a need to improve catalyst economics by providing a highly active co-catalyst.

Halogen substituted heterocyclic heteroatom containing ligands-alumoxane activation of metallocenes

Abstract: where        Y is O, S, PH or NH;        wherein each substituent X2, X3, X4, X5, X6, and X7 is independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, chlorine, fluorine, iodine, and bromine, provided at least one of X2, X3, X4, X5, X6 and X7 is not hydrogen when Y is NH; and        wherein the ratio of the heterocyclic heteroatom containing ligand to aluminum is between about 0.01 and about 10 molar equivalents. The catalyst system may be supported or non-supported.


A computer-implemented method for operating an intermediate broker with multi-session recording, wherein the method comprises the steps of: an intermediate broker providing an application session on an application server as a user session to a user client; a recording module recording the user session in a session recording; upon termination of the user session, the intermediate broker providing a session continuation link for continuing the application session; upon activation of the session continuation link, the intermediate broker continuing the application session on the application server as a further user session to a further user client; the recording module recording the further user session in a further session recording.

Recording an application session of an application running on an application server and then archive that recording for reference when needed is useful in several use cases in sectors such as finance, government, education, healthcare, IT, etc. For example, when rolling-out a new app to users, recording application sessions of these users and archiving them allows an administrator to review the application sessions later to assess how the app has been performing and how it has been adopted by the users. Another use case where recording application sessions is useful is for example for auditing purposes. Knowing exactly who did what on which application server and what the results of those actions were can be very useful to an administrator of a server network. All application sessions or application sessions based on users, computers, roles or use of privilege can be audited. Recording which users accessed which systems, what commands they executed, with what privilege, and the exact changes they made to key files and configurations is made possible when capturing on-screen activity of user clients of such users within a published application session or hosted shared desktop. In other words, an indexed, high-fidelity recording of each individual privileged session provides an administrator with a complete picture of exactly what happened—and who did it—on any managed system, at any given time, by any given user. This helps an administrator identifying inappropriate use of privilege or the source of a security incident. This knowledge can also be used in troubleshooting application issues. Let's say a user calls a helpdesk with an issue that is hard to reproduce. The application session of the user is recorded and the recording comprises everything the user has done by means of its user client in that session, including the steps the user took prior to the issues manifesting themselves. An administrator can search for and quickly find specific events in an application session, jump directly to that event in the session capture and replay any portion of the session to see every action taken by a user and every system response.
Recording an application session of an application running on an application server and then archive that recording for reference when needed is useful when for example a user wants to be able to access his application session from a plurality of devices comprising a suitable user client. For example, a user works on a desktop computer and his application session is recorded and archived. The same user may be able to access the application session from another device, for example another desktop computer, a laptop computer, a tablet or a smartphone respectively comprising a suitable user client. This way, actions undertaken by a user during an application session can be accessed and identified from a plurality of devices comprising a suitable user client. For example, a student running an application session of an application on a desktop computer at his school can record his application session and is still able to access the recorded application session from his laptop at home. Such a system is for example described in US2008/0189365A1 of IBM Corporation published on Aug. 7, 2008.
The feature XenApp 7.6 of Citrix, called Session Recording, enables an administrator to record active virtual app and server hosted desktop sessions, based on user, application or application server and then archive that recording for reference when needed. In other words, the Session Recording allows administrators to record on-screen user session activity and play it back at a later time as required. The Session Recording comprises a Session Recording Agent installed on Virtual Delivery Agent machines and recording the session data and sending it to the Session Recording Server. The Session Recording Server processes the data and stores it in a Session Recording Database on a SQL server. A Session Recording Player is used to list and playback the recordings and a Session Recording Policy console controls the recording behaviour. Administrators can search for application sessions based on specific criteria such as domain account, site, group, application or a specific date and time since this info was all captured as metadata during the recording.
With the Session Recording of Citrix, a plurality of application sessions can be recorded. Such an application session is initiated by a particular user, by for example logging in to the Citrix system and initiating an application session running a virtual windows desktop or an application session running a Word processing application instance. It is thus clear that each application session is initiated by and thus assigned to a particular user. When a plurality of application sessions is recorded by Session Recording of Citrix, each of the recorded application sessions thus corresponds to a particular user. Typically, in such a context only a user with administrator privileges, who is allowed to view and/or audit the recorded application sessions of all the users for which such recordings have been made will be the only one whom can access and visualize recordings of application sessions of these users. During such an auditing activity, typically such an administrative user will be able to filter recorded application sessions for each user. This means that the user with administrative privileges will be able to select recorded application sessions for each particular user for subsequent playback.
In the context of a broker, the Session Recording of Citrix or similar systems present specific disadvantages, more particularly when an application session involves a plurality of user sessions. A broker acts as an intermediate platform between backend remote application servers and user clients for accessing these remote applications by authorised users. Such an intermediate broker for example allows for a first user to initiate an application session to initiate a sequence of tasks and can then for example request further users to assist in or continue performing at least a part of this sequence of tasks. According to prior art systems the recording system would first record the application session as assigned to the first user which initiated this application session. Subsequently, all further users would also generate further recordings assigned to these further users when accessing their further application sessions. A sequence of tasks performed by a plurality of different users will thus result in a plurality of unrelated recordings of application sessions, which cannot be efficiently audited by users with administrative privileges, and are not accessible in a user friendly way to the plurality of users involved in the sequence of tasks to be performed.
It is an objective of the present invention to disclose a method and a system for operating an intermediate broker with multi-session recording and the intermediate broker that overcome the above identified shortcomings of existing solutions. More particularly, it is an objective to disclose a method and a system for operating an intermediate broker which make multi-session recording possible.

Intermediate broker with multi-session recording


Reported herein are novel recombinant respiratory syncytial viruses (RSV) having an attenuated phenotype in which the native positions of the NS1 and/or NS2 genes in the RSV genome are shifted to a higher position, that is at positions that are more distal to the promoter. The changes in the gene positions may be present in combination with mutations at other loci to achieve desired levels of attenuation and immunogenicity. The recombinant RSV strains described here are suitable for use as live-attenuated RSV vaccines. Also provided are polynucleotide sequences capable of encoding the described viruses, as well as methods for producing and using the viruses.

Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infects nearly everyone worldwide early in life and is responsible for considerable mortality and morbidity. In the United States alone, RSV is responsible for 75,000-125,000 hospitalizations yearly, and conservative estimates indicate that RSV is responsible worldwide for 64 million pediatric infections and 160,000 or more pediatric deaths each year. Another notable feature of RSV is that severe infection in infancy frequently is followed by lingering airway dysfunction, including a predisposition to airway reactivity, that in some individuals lasts for years and can extend into adolescence and beyond. RSV infection exacerbates asthma and may be involved in initiating asthma.
RSV is a member of the Paramyxoviridae family and, as such, is an enveloped virus that replicates in the cytoplasm and matures by budding at the host cell plasma membrane. The genome of RSV is a single, negative-sense strand of RNA of 15.2 kilobases that is transcribed by the viral polymerase into 10 mRNAs by a sequential stop-start mechanism that initiates at a single viral promoter at the 3′ end of the genome. Each mRNA encodes a single major protein, with the exception of the M2 mRNA that has two overlapping open reading frames (ORFs) encoding two separate proteins M2-1 and M2-2. The 11 RSV proteins are: the RNA-binding nucleoprotein (N), the phosphoprotein (P), the large polymerase protein (L), the attachment glycoprotein (G), the fusion protein (F), the small hydrophobic (SH) surface glycoprotein, the internal matrix protein (M), the two nonstructural proteins NS1 and NS2, and the M2-1 and M2-2 proteins. The RSV gene order is: 3′-NS1-NS2-N-P-M-SH-G-F-M2-L. Each gene is flanked by short conserved transcription signals called the gene-start (GS) signal, present on the upstream end of each gene and involved in initiating transcription of the respective gene, and the gene-end (GE) signal, present at the downstream end of each gene and involved in directing synthesis of a polyA tail followed by release of the mRNA. Transcription initiates at a single promoter at the 3′ end and proceeds sequentially.
The development of RSV vaccines has been in progress since the 1960's but has been complicated by a number of factors. For example, immunization of RSV-naïve infants with inactivated RSV has been shown to prime for enhanced disease upon subsequent natural RSV infection, and studies in experimental animals indicate that disease enhancement also is associated with purified RSV subunit vaccines.
Another obstacle to immune protection is that RSV replicates and causes disease in the superficial cells of the respiratory airway lumen, where immune protection has reduced effectiveness. Thus, immune control of RSV infection is inefficient and often incomplete, and it is important for an RSV vaccine to be as immunogenic as possible. Another obstacle to RSV vaccines is that the magnitude of the protective immune response is roughly proportional to the extent of virus replication (and antigen production). Thus, the attenuation of RSV necessary to make a live vaccine typically is accompanied by a reduction in replication and antigen synthesis, and a concomitant reduction in immunogenicity, and therefore it is beneficial to identify a level of replication that is well tolerated yet satisfactorily immunogenic.
Another obstacle is that RSV grows only to moderate titers in cell culture and is often present in long filaments that are difficult to purify. RSV can readily lose infectivity during handling. Another obstacle is the difficulty in identifying and developing attenuating mutations. Appropriate mutations must be attenuating in vivo, but should be minimally restrictive to replication in vitro, since this is preferred for efficient vaccine manufacture. Another obstacle is genetic instability that is characteristic of RNA viruses, whereby attenuating mutations can revert to the wild-type (wt) assignment or to an alternative assignment that confers a non-attenuated phenotype. Instability and de-attenuation are particularly problematic for point mutations.
Taking these factors together, there is a need for live attenuated RSV strains that replicate efficiently in vitro, are maximally immunogenic, are satisfactorily attenuated, and are refractory to de-attenuation.

Recombinant respiratory syncytial virus strains comprising NS1 and NS2 gene shifts

The United States of America, as represented by the Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services


A method, computer system, and a computer program product for deploying a plurality of microservices across a service infrastructure having a plurality of resources is provided. The present invention may include determining at least one dependency of the plurality of microservices. The present invention may include for each resource of the plurality of resources, determining an outage distribution descriptive of an availability of the resource with respect to time. The present invention may include based on the outage distribution associated with each resource and the at least one dependency of the plurality of microservices, determining a deployment configuration of the plurality of microservices across the resources of the service infrastructure.

The present invention relates generally to microservices in a service infrastructure, and more particularly to a method for deploying a plurality of microservices across a service infrastructure having a plurality of resources.
The present invention also relates to a computer program product comprising computer-readable program code that enables a processor of a system, or a number of processors of a network, to implement such a method.
The present invention further relates to a computer system comprising at least one processor and such a computer program product, wherein the at least one processor is adapted to execute the computer-readable program code of said computer program product.
The present invention also relates to a system for deploying a plurality of microservices across a service infrastructure having a plurality of resources.
A traditional software service may be hosted in a cloud service over a traditional on-site deployment. Implementing a cloud service infrastructure may improve convenience of use, ease of setup, and may optimize flexibility and scalability of the infrastructure. It may be beneficial to ensure that a cloud service runs with optimal reliability in order to minimize the downtime of the service infrastructure. This may ensure that service level agreements, i.e., commitments agreed upon between a service provider and a service client, are met.
A microservice hosted in a cloud service may occasionally fail, resulting in the redeployment of the failed microservice. During the time required for redeployment, the failed microservice may experience a downtime, wherein the microservice is out of action and unavailable for use. The downtime may be dependent on the system architecture of the cloud service. Other microservices hosted in the cloud service may not be aware of the downtime of the failed microservice, and may attempt to continue interaction with the failed microservice. This can result in issues beyond just the failed microservice, e.g. lost transactions. Consequently, problems may arise when connecting a microservice to other failed microservices within the same bounded (internal) infrastructure or of a remote (external) infrastructure. Microservices and service infrastructures, both internal and external, may be slow or down. If the connected microservice is not designed to optimally handle this scenario, this may produce an adverse impact on the performance and stability of the overall service infrastructure (in this example, a cloud service).
The performance of a microservice in a system infrastructure relative to a predetermined performance threshold can be monitored. If the microservice is performing below expectations, i.e. the microservice performance is below the threshold, the location of the microservice may be investigated to determine the cause of the low performance. The microservice may be migrated to another location within the system infrastructure if the original location is found to be the cause of the low performance. This may enable the optimization of microservice performance in a system infrastructure; however, this approach may not optimize the reliability and availability of the microservice.

Deploying microservices across a service infrastructure


The apparatus of the present invention comprises a reaction vessel, and disposed within this vessel, a pair of opposed electrodes. The opposed electrodes comprise an upper electrode and a lower electrode which are spaced apart a suitable distance for receiving the substrate. The lower electrode has an upper surface covered with a solid dielectric. The upper electrode may have its lower surface covered with a solid dielectric, or it may be composed of a plurality of fine wires. Near the spaced apart electrodes are a plurality of gas outlets for uniformly dispersing the reaction gas between the spaced apart electrodes.. The method of the present invention comprises introducing a reagent gas or a mixture of a reagent gas and a rare gas or an inert gas into the reaction vessel, exciting the gas to produce a glow discharge plasma under atmospheric pressure, and treating the surface of the substrate with the plasma.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for causing a plasma reaction under atmospheric pressure. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for forming a thin film on an article with a high efficiency, and a method and apparatus for reforming the surface of an article by means of highly stable glow discharge plasma under atmospheric pressure.

Method and apparatus for causing plasma reaction under atmospheric pressure

Research Development Corporation of Japan


A handwritten character recognizer having an input cluster buffer and a point buffer with dynamic and static stroke feature extraction and segment analysis by conical boundaries for identification of stroke segments dynamic stroke feature extractor static stroke feature extractor. A stroke recognizer compares single copies of idealized stroke representations with hierarchically approximated multiple scaled topological representations of a current stroke, followed by stroke proportion discrimination comparing a selected topological representation of the current stroke with boundaries defined by linear combinations of features of direct and reversed ideal stroke prototypes to provide a stroke identification. A cluster recognizer maintains a time ordered current stroke buffer and previous stroke buffer and constructs a per stroke area of influence list. The time ordered buffers are scanned to generate a spatially ordered window buffer. A position discriminator assigns character meanings to clusters of stokes in the window buffer. The buffer scanner is responsive to a current stroke having spatial coordinates located between previous strokes for reordering the stroke buffers and determining a new cluster meanings. An editor is responsive to an editing gesture or combination of two strokes for directing the stroke buffer controller to modify the strokes in the stroke buffer accordingly.

The advent of affordable touch sensitive tablets and pens as computer input devices and the availability of more powerful microprocessors and lower cost memory has resulted in increased use of computer systems wherein the primary user input interface is hand formed characters or symbols through a touch tablet, often referred to as "tablet computers" and "clipboard computers".
Although such handwritten character input systems offer a more convenient and intuitive user interface for many purposes, the methods and apparatus used for handwritten character recognition have imposed many constraints which have prevented such systems from realizing their full potential. For example, and although much information for identifying handwritten characters is contained in the individual strokes comprising the characters, many system of the prior art are not effective at extracting and using stroke information, either as part of a dynamic and therefore faster process for recognizing characters or in recognizing the constituent parts of the characters. For example, many handwritten character recognition system of the prior art have difficulty in determining whether a curved or angled stroke in a character is a single stroke or two or more strokes.
As a consequence, many such systems of the prior art typically can perform character recognition only upon completed characters, thereby either slowing the performance of the systems or requiring that the systems be implemented only with the very fastest and most powerful microprocessors in order to keep up with the user input.
Another severe problem of the prior art is that most systems of the prior art identify an input character by comparing the completed input character to possible matching character configurations stored in the system, usually either in a database or generated as required. The very large range of variations in character position, orientation, size, and stroke configuration and proportion that can occur with handwritten characters thereby again either severely limits the system performance or requires the use of very powerful microprocessors with large memories and high capacity disk drives to store or generate and process the libraries of possible character configurations.
Yet another problem of the prior art systems for handwritten character recognition is that, because of the complex processing required for recognition of handwritten characters, many such systems impose restrictions upon the user interface in order to reduce the processing requirements.
For example, many such systems require that the characters be written only into predefined spaces, often referred to as "combs", and in a certain order, and some systems of the prior art even require that the characters be limited to certain stroke configurations, such as block capital letters. Such systems, for example, do not permit a user to go back to an earlier part of a line of characters to enter a new character or symbol or to rewrite, modify or edit an already entered character or string of characters.
A related problem is the entry of system or application commands, such as "save file" or "open file" or "spelling check", and the entry of editing commands, such as "insert", "delete", or "insert space". Because of the complexity of processing required to distinguish such commands from handwritten text, however, many systems of the prior art require that application and system commands and editing commands be entered into specially designated areas of the tablet, and even that the system or application commands and the editing commands be entered in separate areas.
As such, the systems of the prior art do not allow the full realization of a handwritten input system. Such systems do not, for example, permit a user to enter characters in a natural, free form style, or to enter a system or application command through a gesture or symbol or combination of symbols entered at any convenient place on the tablet, or to directly edit text by symbols or marks written directly into the text, such as deleting a character by "scratching out" the character.
The method and apparatus of the handwritten character recognition system of the present invention provides a solution to these and other problems of the prior art.

Real time handwriting recognition system


A circuit board suitable for being electrically connected to a chip package is provided. The chip package has a chip pad and a plurality of inner leads. The circuit board includes at least one patterned conductive layer and at least one insulating layer. The patterned conductive layer has at least one first pad and at least one second pad. The first pad has an extension part and is suitable for being electrically connected to the chip pad. The second pad is suitable for being electrically connected to one end of at least one of the inner leads, while the other end of the inner lead suitable for being electrically connected to the second pad has a projection at least partially overlapping the extension part on the patterned conductive layer. Moreover, the patterned conductive layer is disposed outside the insulating layer.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a wiring board and an electronic assembly, and more particularly, to a circuit board and an electronic assembly including a chip package and a circuit board.
2. Description of Related Art
In general, a conventional wiring board used for carrying and being electrically connected to a plurality of electronics includes a package substrate and a circuit board. The wiring board is constituted by alternately stacking a plurality of patterned conductive layers with a plurality of insulating layers. The patterned conductive layers are, for example, defined on a copper foil layer through a lithograph and etching process. The insulating layers are respectively disposed between the adjacent patterned conductive layers for isolating the patterned conductive layers. Moreover, the overlapping patterned conductive layers are electrically connected to each other through conductive vias.
As for the circuit board, a chip package can be disposed on its surface to form an electronic assembly. The chip package and the patterned conductive layer on the surface of the circuit board are electrically connected to each other, and electrical signal propagation can be achieved through the inner circuit of the circuit board.
FIG. 1A is a schematic top view of a conventional electronic assembly. FIG. 1B is a schematic cross-sectional view of FIG. 1A along the line A-A. Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B, a conventional electronic assembly 100 includes a chip package 110 in a quad flat no-lead (QFN) package configuration (referred to QFN package for short hereafter), a circuit board 120, and a solder mask layer 130. The QFN package 110 includes a chip 112, a lead frame 114, a plurality of bonding wires 116, and an encapsulant 118. The chip 112 has an active surface 112a and a plurality of bonding pads 112b disposed on the active surface 112a. The lead frame 114 has a chip pad 114a and a plurality of inner leads 114b, wherein the chip 112 is disposed on the chip pad 114a. The chip pad 114a and the inner leads 114b are electrically connected to the bonding pads 112b via the bonding wires 116. The encapsulant 118 at least encapsulates the chip 112, the bonding wires 116, and a part of the lead frame 114.
The QFN package 110 is disposed on the circuit board 120. The circuit board 120 has two patterned conductive layers 122, an insulating layer 124, and a plurality of conductive vias 126. The insulating layer 124 is disposed between the two patterned conductive layers 122. The conductive vias 126 pass through the insulating layer 124 so as to electrically connect the two patterned conductive layers 122. As seen from FIGS. 1A and 1B, the patterned conductive layer 122 electrically connected to the QFN package 110 has a ground pad 122a and a plurality of signal lines 122b (only one signal line is shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B), such that the chip pad 114a of the QFN package 110 is disposed on the ground pad 122a, and one end of the signal line 122b is electrically connected to one of the inner leads 114b of the QFN package 110. Moreover, a solder mask layer 130 is disposed on the patterned conductive layer 122 electrically connected to the QFN package 110. The solder mask layer 130 has an opening 132 for exposing a part of the signal line 122b and the ground pad 122a.
However, under high-frequency signal transmission, the induced inductance generated by the bonding wires 116 aggravates the impedance mismatch between the signal line 122b and the inner leads 114b electrically connected thereto; thus, the signal transmission quality between the signal line 122b and the inner leads 114b electrically connected thereto is thereby deteriorated.


In a network environment, multimedia content is streamed from a server computer to a client computer via the network. A user of the client computer can alter the speed at which the multimedia content is played; either speeding up or slowing down the playback. The client seamlessly switches between the different playback speeds, reducing breaks and/or delays between the time the user selects the new playback speed and the time the multimedia content begins being played back at the new speed.

Multimedia streaming—the continuous delivery of synchronized media data like video, audio, text, and animation—is a critical link in the digital multimedia revolution. Today, streaming media is primarily about video and audio, but a richer, broader digital media era is emerging with a profound and growing impact on the Internet and digital broadcasting.
Synchronized media refers to multiple media objects that share a common timeline. Video and audio are examples of synchronized media—each is a separate data stream with its own data structure, but the two data streams are played back in synchronization with each other. Virtually any media type can have a timeline. For example, an image object can change like an animated .gif file: text can change and move, and animation and digital effects happen over time. This concept of synchronizing multiple media types is gaining greater meaning and currency with the emergence of more sophisticated media composition frameworks implied by MPEG-4, Dynamic HTML, and other media playback environments.
The term "streaming" is used to indicate that the data representing the various media types is provided over a network to a client computer on a real-time, as-needed basis, rather than being pre-delivered in its entirety before playback. Thus, the client computer renders streaming data as it is received from a network server, rather than waiting for an entire "file" to be delivered.
The widespread availability of streaming multimedia enables a variety of informational content that was not previously available over the Internet or other computer networks. Live content is one significant example of such content. Using streaming multimedia, audio, video, or audio/visual coverage of noteworthy events can be broadcast over the Internet as the events unfold. Similarly, television and radio stations can transmit their live content over the Internet.
A U.S. patent application entitled "Multimedia Timeline Modification in Networked Client/Server Systems," filed Sep. 15, 1998, Ser. No. 09/153,664, by inventors Anoop Gupta and Nosakhare D. Omoigui, describes a system that allows a user to vary the playback speed of streaming multimedia content using time-scale modification technology. A U.S. patent application entitled "Timeline Correlation Between Multiple Timeline-Altered Media Streams," filed Sep. 15, 1998, Ser. No. 09/153,749, by inventors Anoop Gupta, Nosakhare D. Omoigui, and Liwei He, describes a system that utilizes time-scale modification so that a user can vary the speed of streaming content without destroying its intelligibility.
Although such systems allow a user to change the playback speed of streaming multimedia content without destroying its intelligibility, such changes are not always "seamless". There may be rather lengthy delays, from the user's perspective, between the user's request for a new playback speed and the actual rendering of the data at that requested speed. Additionally, there may be breaks in the data where the user is presented with either a "paused" view of the streaming data or no data at all until the system is able to render the stream at the requested speed. These problems degrade the overall user experience in playing back the multimedia content.
The invention described below addresses these problems, reducing delays and breaks when switching between different playback speeds of time-scale modified streams.

Seamless switching between different playback speeds of time-scale modified data streams