The average cycle propylene selectivity of an oxygenate to propylene (OTP) process using one or more fixed or moving beds of a dual-function oxygenate conversion catalyst with recycle of one or more C4+ olefin-rich fractions is substantially enhanced by the use of selective hydrotreating technology on these C4+ olefin-rich recycle streams to substantially eliminate detrimental coke precursors such as dienes and acetylenic hydrocarbons. This hydrotreating step helps hold the build-up of detrimental coke deposits on the catalyst to a level which does not substantially degrade dual-function catalyst activity, oxygenate conversion and propylene selectivity, thereby enabling a substantial improvement in propylene average cycle yield. The propylene average cycle yield improvement enabled by the present invention over that achieved by the prior art using the same or a similar catalyst system but without the use of the hydrotreating step on the C4+ olefin-rich recycle stream is of the order of about 1.5 to 5.5 wt-% or more.

A major portion of the worldwide petrochemical industry is concerned with the production of light olefin materials and their subsequent use in the production of numerous important chemical products via polymerization, oligomerization, alkylation and the like well-known chemical reactions. Light olefins include ethylene, propylene and mixtures thereof. These light olefins are essential building blocks for the modern petrochemical and chemical industries. The major source for these materials in present day refining is the steam cracking of petroleum feeds. For various reasons including geographical, economic, political and diminished supply considerations, the art has long sought a source other than petroleum for the massive quantities of raw materials that are needed to supply the demand for these light olefin materials. In other words, the holy grail of the R & D personnel assigned to work in this area is to find a way to effectively and selectively use alternative feedstocks for this light olefin production application, thereby lessening dependence of the petrochemical industry on petroleum feedstocks. A great deal of the prior art's attention has been focused on the possibility of using hydrocarbon oxygenates and more specifically methanol or dimethylether (DME) as a prime source of the necessary alternative feedstock. Oxygenates are particularly attractive because they can be produced from such widely available materials as coal, natural gas, recycled plastics, various carbon waste streams from industry and various products and by-products from the agricultural industry. The art of making methanol and other oxygenates from these types of raw materials is well established and typically involves the use of one or more of the following procedures: (1) manufacture of synthesis gas by any of the known techniques typically using a nickel or cobalt catalyst followed by the well-known methanol synthesis step using relatively high pressure with a copper-based catalyst; (2) selective fermentation of various organic agricultural products and by-products in order to produce oxygenates; or (3) various combinations of these techniques.
Given the established and well-known technologies for producing oxygenates from alternative non-petroleum raw materials, the art has focused on different procedures for catalytically converting oxygenates such as methanol into the desired light olefin products in order to make an oxygenate to olefin (OTO) process. These light olefin products that are produced from non-petroleum based raw materials must of course be available in quantities and purities such that they are interchangeable in downstream processing with the materials that are presently produced using petroleum sources. Although many oxygenates have been discussed in the prior art, the principal focus of the two major routes to produce these desired light olefins has been on methanol conversion technology primarily because of the availability of commercially proven methanol synthesis technology. A review of the prior art has revealed essentially two major techniques that are discussed for conversion of methanol to light olefins (MTO). The first of these MTO processes is based on early German and American work with a catalytic conversion zone containing a zeolitic type of catalyst system. Representative of the early German work is U.S. Pat. No. 4,387,263 which was filed in May of 1982 in the U.S. without a claim for German priority. This '263 patent reports on a series of experiments with methanol conversion techniques using a ZSM-5 type of catalyst system wherein the problem of DME by-product recycle is a major focus of the technology disclosed. Although good yields of ethylene and propylene were reported in this '263 patent, they unfortunately were accompanied by substantial formation of higher aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons which the patentees speculated might be useful as an engine fuel and specifically as a gasoline-type of material. In order to limit the amount of this heavier material that is produced, the patentees of the '263 patent propose to limit conversion to less than 80% of the methanol charged to the MTO conversion step. This operation at lower conversion levels necessitated a critical assessment of means for recovering and recycling not only unreacted methanol but also substantial amounts of a DME intermediate product. The focus then of the '263 patent invention was therefore on a DME and methanol scrubbing step utilizing a water solvent in order to efficiently and effectively recapture the light olefin value of the unreacted methanol and of the intermediate reactant DME.
This early MTO work with a zeolitic catalyst system was then followed up by the Mobil Oil Company who also investigated the use of a zeolitic catalyst system like ZSM-5 for purposes of making light olefins. U.S. Pat. No. 4,587,373 is representative of Mobil's early work and it acknowledged and distinguished the German contribution to this zeolitic catalyst based MTO route to light olefins. The inventor of the '373 patent made two significant contributions to this zeolitic MTO route the first of which involved recognition that a commercial plant would have to operate at pressure substantially above the preferred range that the German workers in this field had suggested in order to make the commercial equipment of reasonable size when commercial mass flow rates are desired. The '373 patent recognized that as you move to higher pressure for the zeolitic MTO route in order to control the size of the equipment needed for commercial plant there is a substantial additional loss of DME that was not considered in the German work. This additional loss is caused by dissolution of substantial quantities of DME in the heavy hydrocarbon oil by-product recovered from the liquid hydrocarbon stream withdrawn from the primary separator. The other significant contribution of the '373 patent is manifest from inspection of the flow scheme presented in FIG. 2 which prominently features a portion of the methanol feed being diverted to the DME absorption zone in order to take advantage of the fact that there exist a high affinity between methanol and DME thereby downsizing the size of the scrubbing zone required relative to the scrubbing zone utilizing plain water that was suggested by the earlier German work.
Primarily because of an inability of this zeolitic MTO route to control the amounts of undesired C4+ hydrocarbon products produced by the ZSM-5 type of catalyst system, the art soon developed a second MTO conversion technology based on the use of a non-zeolitic molecular sieve catalytic material. This branch of the MTO art is perhaps best illustrated by reference to UOP's extensive work in this area as reported in numerous patents of which U.S. Pat. No. 5,095,163; U.S. Pat. No. 5,126,308 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,191,141 are representative. This second approach to MTO conversion technology was primarily based on using a catalyst system comprising a non-zeolitic molecular sieve, generally a metal aluminophosphate (ELAPO) and more specifically a silicoaluminophosphate molecular sieve (SAPO), with a strong preference for a SAPO species that is known as SAPO-34. This SAPO-34 material was found to have a very high selectivity for light olefins with a methanol feedstock and consequently very low selectivity for the undesired corresponding light paraffins and the heavier materials. This ELAPO catalyzed MTO approach is known to have at least the following advantages relative to the zeolitic catalyst route to light olefins: (1) greater yields of light olefins at equal quantities of methanol converted; (2) capability of direct recovery of polymer grade ethylene and propylene without the necessity of the use of extraordinary physical separation steps to separate ethylene and propylene from their corresponding paraffin analogs; (3) sharply limited production of by-products such as stabilized gasoline; (4) flexibility to adjust the product ethylene-to-propylene weight ratios over the range of 1.5:1 to 0.75:1 by minimal adjustment of the MTO conversion conditions; and (5) significantly less coke make in the MTO conversion zone relative to that experienced with the zeolitic catalyst system.
The classical OTO technology produces a mixture of light olefins primarily ethylene and propylene along with various higher boiling olefins. Although the classical OTO process technology possesses the capability of shifting the major olefin product recovered therefrom from ethylene to propylene by various adjustments of conditions maintained in the reaction zone, the art has long sought an oxygenate to propylene (OTP) technology that would provide better yields of propylene relative to the classical OTO technology. The driving force for this shift in emphasis towards propylene is the growth rate of the propylene market versus the growth rate of the ethylene market. The existing sources of propylene production in the marketplace are primarily based on conventional steam cracking of naphtha, LPG streams, propane streams and the like. Another major existing source of propylene is of course the olefins that are produced in a fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) hydrocarbon conversion process in the modern day refinery. Because the basic raw material used in an OTO process is derived from natural gas which is widely available particularly in remote areas of the world but unfortunately markets for this gas are typically not conveniently available near the location of the remote gas fields. These remote gas fields tend to be quite large and because of the relatively well-developed technology for converting natural gas to methanol and other oxygenates are viewed by those skilled in this art and being the next logical source of large-scale propylene production provided a commercially acceptable OTP process can be established which possesses intrinsic high selectivity for the desired propylene product.
Workers at Lurgi Oel Gas Chemie GmbH have recently announced a new fixed bed methanol to propylene (MTP) process which according to Lurgi offers the potential to satisfy the arts' thirst for a propylene selective OTO type of process. It appears that the basic flow scheme and technical details of the Lurgi process offering in this field have been relatively recently disclosed in a U.S. application publication, Publication No. U.S. 2003/0139635A1 which was published on Jul. 24, 2003 and describes a process for selectively producing propylene from a feedstock which comprises methanol and/or DME. Analysis of the two figures attached to this patent publication make it clear that Lurgi contemplates a reactor flow configuration for the oxygenate to propylene (OTP) synthesis portion of its flow scheme wherein three reactors are utilized with fixed beds of oxygenate conversion catalysts in a parallel flow arrangement with respect to the oxygenate feed. The reactors are connected in a serial flow arrangement with respect to the effluents of the first reactor and the second reactor. The dual function OTP catalyst system taught as being useful in this flow scheme is rather narrowly defined in paragraph [0005] of this patent publication as a pentasil-type (i.e. ZSM-5 type) having an alkali content less than 380 ppm and a zinc oxide content of less than 0.1 wt-% coupled with a restriction on cadmium oxide content of the same amount. The teachings with respect to this catalyst are derived from a European patent, EP-B-0448000, filed by Sud Chemie and Lurgi claiming priority from an original German application that was filed in March of 1990. Thus the catalyst contemplated for use in Lurgi's flow scheme is well known to those skilled in this art. According to Lurgi's marketing presentation, the on-stream portion of the process cycle for this MTP process is expected to be 500 to 700 hours before in situ regeneration becomes necessary. (See Rothaemel et al. "Demonstrating the New Methanol to Propylene (MTP) Process" presented to the ERTC Petrochemical Conference in March of 2003 at Paris, France). The activity-stability of the MTP catalyst in this Lurgi presentation show a significant drop in conversion activity over the first five cycles with each cycle being terminated after the oxygenate conversion level drops to about 94% to 95% of the oxygenate feed. No mention is made in this paper of a corresponding drop in propylene selectivity and instead the average once-through propylene selectivity over the on-stream cycle is discussed and a table presented showing that it ranges from 30% to 40% of the converted products with a number between 68% to 71% presented as an estimate of the average cycle yield for propylene over the 500 to 700 hour cycle length expected to be achieved by this flow scheme with full recycle. Lurgi also contemplates that at the end of the cycle when the conversion has dropped to a level of about 94% of the carbon equivalent in the feed that the reactors will be shut down and the catalyst regenerated in situ using a air/nitrogen mixture to burn off the detrimental coke deposits.
Although Lurgi does not state exactly what countermeasures it takes during its process cycle in order to compensate for the falloff in activity of its dual-function MTP catalyst due to coke deposition, we believe that Lurgi undoubtedly follows the conventional procedure for compensating for activity decay in a catalytic operation involving an increase in the average reactor temperature in order to attempt to hold conversion in the targeted range of greater than 94% of the oxygenate charge. Under these circumstances it is our considered opinion based on experimental results with similar dual-function catalysts and similar feeds that the falloff of propylene selectivity over the cycle is accelerated by the coke deposition and by the attempt to take countermeasures to compensate and we believe that the selectivity falloff will be greater than the activity falloff by a factor of 1.25 to 3.5 or more depending somewhat on the exact composition of the catalyst used and the operating condition changes that are made during the cycle to attempt to compensate for the falloff in activity.
The problem addressed by the present invention is then to modify this OTP process of the prior art which uses heavy olefin recycle in order to enhance its average propylene selectivity over its on-stream cycle time and thereby diminish the requirement for recycle of olefin products other than propylene in order to compensate for lower propylene selectivity. We have now discerned that propylene selectivity is a function not only of reaction conditions but also of average coke level deposited on the OTP conversion catalyst during the on-stream portion of the process cycle and that a major source of coke precursors is the heavy olefin recycle stream since it contains detrimental amounts of highly unsaturated hydrocarbons. Put another way we have now found that average propylene selectivity in an OTP process operated with heavy olefin recycle can be significantly enhanced if the amount of detrimental carbonaceous deposits laid down on the dual-function catalyst during the on-stream portion of the process cycle is controlled by selective hydrogen treatment of at least a portion of the heavy olefin recycle stream to convert highly unsaturated hydrocarbons, such as dienes and acetylenic hydrocarbons, contained therein to the corresponding olefin compounds, thereby eliminating coke precursors. This catalytic hydrotreatment step enables oxygenate conversion and propylene selectivity to be maintained over the process cycle near or at essentially start-of-cycle levels. Quite surprisingly we have also discerned that if selective hydrogen treatment of the heavy olefin recycle stream is used, then the average propylene selectivity over the process cycle will be improved by about 1.5% to 5.5% or more, relative to the prior art, depending somewhat on the countermeasures taken in the prior art process as the catalyst performance degrades due to the high level of coke deposition on the catalyst during the latter portion of the on-stream cycle.
The instant application is a companion case to our prior filed case on the use of moving bed technology in an OTP process filed Jun. 25, 2004 as application Ser. No. 10/876,394, all of the teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Conversion of oxygenate to propylene with selective hydrogen treatment of heavy olefin recycle stream


Embodiments of the disclosure provide methods and devices for decoding video signals using inter prediction. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a method for processing a video signal comprises constructing a reference picture list of a current picture in the video signal and performing a prediction for a current picture by using the reference picture list, wherein constructing the reference picture list comprising, if a first entry of the reference picture list corresponds to a short-term reference picture (STRP), obtaining a picture order count (POC) difference between a picture related to the first entry and another picture, and if a second entry of the reference picture list corresponds to a long-term reference picture (LTRP), obtaining a POC modulo value of a picture related to the second entry. A reference picture list for identifying a picture may be generated in a simplified and effective manner. Thus, the compression performance may be increased, and the computation time may be decreased.

Compression coding refers to technology for a series of signal processes for transmitting digitalized information via communication line or storing the same in a suitable format in a storage medium. Videos, images, voices, or other media may be targeted for compression coding. In particular, compression coding technology aimed at videos is known as video compression.
Next-generation video content will feature a high-spatial resolution, high-frame rate, and high dimensionality of scene representation. For processing of such content, an extensive increase will result in light of memory storage, memory access rate, and processing power.
Thus, a need exists for a design of coding tool for efficiently processing next-generation video content. In particular, post-high efficiency video coding (HEVC) video codec standards require prediction technology capable of precisely generating prediction samples while using resources more efficiently.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and device for processing video signal by using inter prediction


A VTOL aircraft includes at least one puller rotor and at least one pusher rotor. The VTOL aircraft, for example, may include three puller rotors and one pusher rotor. The combination of static puller and pusher rotors allows the rotors to remain in a fixed orientation (i.e., no moving mechanical axes are required) relative to the wings and fuselage of the VTOL aircraft, while being able to transition the aircraft from a substantially vertical flight path to a substantially horizontal flight path.

Airplanes require long runways for take off and landing but this is not always ideal. In many situations, it would be preferable to take off or land in a confined space, as in areas where a runway is not available or cannot be used. Although helicopters, including electric helicopters, provide such take-off and landing capability, the tradeoff is severely decreased range and speed as compared to airplanes. For example, electric helicopters, quadcopters, and the like are generally limited to about 15-30 minutes of flight. There are several other limitations and disadvantages to these conventional approaches, as well.


Techniques to automatically switch among video signals in a television broadcast are disclosed. A trigger decoder may receive a network video signal for a network program. The network video signal may be comprised of a video signal and a trigger control signal. The trigger control signal may comprise a time period indicative of how long until a station break is to occur within the network program. The trigger decoder may separate the video signal from the trigger control signal. A latency adjuster may determine a delay between the transmission of the network video signal and the reception of the network video signal. A master control switcher clock may be reset based on the delay. The master control switcher may receive the video signal for the network program, and one or more video signals from one or more video servers containing video content. The master control switcher may select one of the video signals to output, wherein the time for switching from the video signal for the network program to another video signal is controlled by the trigger control signal and the reset clock.

In the early 1970's network broadcasters saw a need for their local television stations to have an automated master control system that worked hand in hand with a traffic and sales system. The initial goal was to create sales orders and a schedule that could then be formatted into a file that could be loaded into a computer system. This computer would then control the systems used in the master control operation. Finally the completed log with accurately logged air times and log discrepancies would be returned to the sales system allowing for an automated billing to clients. That traffic and sales system originally ran on a mainframe computer system. These two systems would later become the Integrated Broadcast System (IBS) and Real-Time (RT) system respectively.
Network broadcasters such as CBS also own and operate many local affiliate stations throughout the country. Each of these local stations broadcasts the network master schedule in addition to local programming (e.g., local news) that does not come from the network. The master schedule is a detailed down to the second account of that day's programming. Programming may include television programs, advertisement spots, and promotions of network programs hereinafter referred to as programs and spots. Television programs may be pre-recorded or live.
Today, consumers may obtain television service from one of many different alternatives. In addition to over-the-air (OTA) reception of locally broadcast television signals, consumers may receive television programming through service providers such as cable television service providers, satellite television service providers, and television over telephone line service providers. A network delivers its broadcast schedule and content to each of its local stations (e.g., affiliates). The local stations must then insert the various spots into the schedule along with the programs and distribute a broadcast signal to each of the television service providers as well as broadcast the signal over-the-air. The spots must be inserted during local station breaks at exactly the right moment by the local station to avoid even momentary black screen conditions that may be caused when transitioning from the program to a local station break.
For many programs, the network may tweak the schedule by adjusting when the station breaks may occur for a given program. Often these adjustments are made very close to the actual airing of the program. The local stations must be able to adjust to the revised schedule to ensure the station breaks are updated accordingly. A network video signal is typically sent to the local station via a satellite connection which creates a slight albeit noticeable delay. The network video signal may be comprised of the video signal itself (e.g., content of a program) as well as a control signal. The control signal may include a trigger control signal that marks a point in the program to indicate that a station break will occur within the program in x seconds. The trigger control signal, however, does not factor a local delay (δ) that may occur as a result of the transmission time from network facility to local station.
Accounting for the delay is necessary to avoid unwanted black screen moments when the network video signal and local schedule are not totally in sync with one another.

Techniques to broadcast a network television program


The invention presents a method of radiation dosimetry and radiation field imaging. It utilizes luminescent material based on aluminum oxide doped with carbon and magnesium (Al2O3:C,Mg) and containing aggregate oxygen vacancy defects. Storage of dosimetric information is based on ionization of the crystal matrix, generation of free electrons and capture of electrons and holes by traps and color centers. An absorbed dose is determined by non-destructive readout of fluorescence from color centers induced by radiation. The preferred mode of measurements is to illuminate the Al2O3:C,Mg phosphor with a red laser (at 635 or 650 nm) and to measure the intensity of 750 nm fluorescence. Method allows for high temperature and environmental stability of dose information. The detector material is insensitive to room light before and after the irradiation and provides a fast data rate during scanning for imaging of radiation fields.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to radiation dosimetry techniques.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Different applications require different types of radiation dosimetry techniques. Active dosimetry including gas counters, scintillator detectors and electronic dosimeters based on p-i-n semiconductor diodes allow for instant monitoring of radiation dose and dose rates, but are relatively expensive. Passive radiation detectors and techniques for measuring the acquired doses are simpler and provide less expensive solutions for low risk radiation environments. Some currently used passive detector technologies are: photographic and photochromic films, radio-photoluminescent (RPL) glasses, thermoluminescent detectors (TLD) and optically stimulated luminescent (OSL) detectors. The first three technologies allow for non-destructive and multiple readout but do not provide high sensitivity of radiation dose measurements. The last two (TLD and OSL) provide extremely high sensitivity and wide dynamic range but the readout is destructive.
Therefore, there exists a need for better method of measuring a dose of ionizing radiation.

Method for non-destructive measuring of radiation dose


An emitter of a thyristor is divided into a plurality of emitter regions. An electrode is provided next to each of these regions, and a turn-off current path proceeds via this electrode from the base adjoining the emitter region over a first field effect transistor to a main terminal of the thyristor. Every emitter region is also connected to this main terminal via a second field effect transistor which is integrated into the semiconductor body of the thyristor, or is manufactured in thin-film technology.

The invention is directed to a deactivatable thyristor having four successive semiconductor layers of different conductivity types forming an emitter of first conductivity type, a base of second conductivity type, a base of first conductivity type, and an emitter of second conductivity type, and wherein the emitter of the first conductivity type is divided into a plurality of emitter regions that are connected to a first main terminal, the emitter of the second conductivity type being connected to a second main terminal.
Earlier European Patent Application No. 90 104 736.5, incorporated herein, discloses a thyristor of this type wherein every emitter region is connected via an individually allocated resistor element to a first main terminal. The resistor element is designed as a coating of resistive material which is applied onto an electrically insulating layer that covers the first principal surface. Such resistor elements, however, lead to an undesirable increase in the voltage drop thereat in the conductive condition of the thyristor.

Deactivatable thyristor with turn-off current path


A pipe coupling for a central vacuum cleaning pipeline is adapted to be connected with at least one pipe to form a central vacuum cleaning pipe line. The pipe coupling comprises at least a first and a second opening defined by an envelope wall, the envelope wall comprises an inner and an outer surface, wherein at least said first opening is arranged to receive a pipe introduced into the first opening along a first insertion and retraction direction, so that the pipe coupling overlaps the pipe with a part of the inner surface of the pipe coupling at an attachment section. The attachment section comprises in turn an annular seal member arranged in the attachment section to effectively seal between the inner surface of the pipe coupling and the outer surface of said pipe. The attachment section further comprises an annular recess which defines a stop surface. The annular recess is configured to form a smooth transition between the pipe and the pipe coupling. A manufacturing method for the pipe coupling is also described.

Central vacuum cleaning systems are widely used in a number of different facilities such as stables, warehouses, hotels, and private accommodations. Vehicles such as trains, airplanes, busses and boats are also subject for the implementation of central vacuum cleaning systems. Generally such central vacuum cleaning systems are assembled during the construction of the building or the vehicle, however not so uncommon; a central vacuum cleaning system can be installed afterwards by tearing down parts of the walls, ceilings or floors to incorporate the pipelines of the vacuum cleaning system. In either case, the assembling of the pipeline, which in almost all cases extends inside the walls, ceilings or floors are in most cases done under a tight time schedule. Clients pay per hour or in cases where a fixed rate is set, the installer of the system is driven to minimize the installation time for optimizing the profit. These driving forces tend to increase the demand for quality control and the demand on equipment to be easy and flexible to install. Such equipment can be pipelines which are easy and flexible to install, which do not leak and which provide an installer with the possibility to make amendments after installation, e.g. if some item or the installation is proven to be defect.
Additionally, one of the reasons which central vacuum cleaning systems is widely used is that they provide a quiet vacuum cleaning, with substantially no air contamination. The main reason for this being that the central vacuum cleaning unit, which suck air, is not arranged in the same room as where the actual cleaning takes place. It should be noted however, that these cleaning systems are not silent; indeed there is what can be called a noise pollution due to turbulent air flow through the pipelines. The turbulence, and the noise pollution, is affected by the couplings, air flow velocity, pipeline flow resistance and dimensions of the pipelines, pipe isolation etc. However, the above mentioned issues seem to not yet have been properly solved by the industry.
One attempt to provide pipes which provide tight seals is described in the publication of U.S. Pat. No. 5,547,230, in which a force transmitting joint is formed between two pipe sections. The pipe ends comprise a variable wall thickness so that they can be joined with mating pipe ends. Although the solution is said to provide a tight seal, the solution do not provide for a sufficiently low noise pollution, with respect to fluid flow through the pipelines. Further in U.S. Pat. No. 4,664,421 is a leak resistant pipe joint provided to joint plastic pipes of at least four inches in diameter. The pipe joint comprises a flexible gasket with projecting ribs. The solution seems to provide for a tight seal, but lack solutions and the insight of providing a low noise fluid flow through the pipeline.
Other existing vacuum pipe lines and pipe couplings uses PVC pipes and PVC pipe couplings. Adhesive is used to attach the pipes and the pipe couplings. Not only is PVC an environmentally less desired material, the adhesive complicates the assembly of the pipes. It has been shown that adhesive connections are more susceptible to noise pollution than adhesive free connections. The main reason being that adhesive have a tendency to protrude out from the connection (between the pipe and the pipe coupling) and into the pipe, when the pipe and the pipe coupling is pushed together.
It is an object of the present invention to at least partly solve the above mentioned drawbacks. More specifically it is an object of the present invention to at least partly provide a solution with reduces the noise of fluid flow in the pipelines, while at the same time partly provides a pipe coupling which enables easy and flexible assembly of a vacuum pipe line.


Provided is an electronic device and method for receiving identification information about a mobile device from the mobile device, determining based on the identification information, the mobile device as a peer device for performing an operation of the electronic device along with, or instead of, the electronic device, and determining at least one from among the peer device and the electronic device, the determined at least one performing the operation of the electronic device, based on a condition of the electronic device.

With advances in internet technology (IT), the number of users carrying electronic devices, including laptops, smartphones, and tablet computers, is increasing.
Users may want to use their electronic devices simultaneously and continuously.
A cloud service may be used for simultaneous and continuous use of electronic devices. For example, a user may edit a document on a smartphone, and then continue editing it on other electronic devices by using the cloud service.
When using the cloud service, resources of electronic devices may be wasted to store and process the same data downloaded from a cloud server. When an electronic device does not store data from the cloud server, the electronic device needs to access the cloud server to download the data. The electronic device needs to connect to the Internet in order to access the cloud server.
Therefore, technology for simultaneous and continuous use of electronic devices, which does not waste resources of all of the electronic devices, is needed.

Device and method for adaptively changing task-performing subjects


A method, apparatus and computer program product are provided in order to manage a medical imaging study display environment. The method includes receiving, from at least one display device coupled to a medical imaging workstation, display environment context data. The method also includes extracting, by processing circuitry, metadata from a medical imaging study accessed by the medical imaging workstation, determining based at least in part on the metadata, image viewing context data, determining, based on the display environment context data and the image viewing context data, whether a display environment of the medical imaging workstation complies with one or more rules for viewing the medical imaging study, and in response to determining that the display environment of the medical imaging workstation does not comply with the one or more rules, performing at least one action before allowing viewing of the medical imaging study to proceed.

Advances in medical imaging technology allow for the capture of more richly detailed images than ever before. Images with an increased resolution and bit depth provide medical practitioners with the ability to discern anatomical features that might not be readily apparent at lower resolutions or color bit depth. At the same time, the ubiquity of the personal computer, a move to cost effective, off-the-shelf components for viewing of medical images, and the ability to access stored images remotely has led to an increased range of the capabilities of display environments used to view these images.
Small variations in display environments can have a dramatic impact on the ability of a medical practitioner to accurately identify particular features. Identification of these features is often essential for a correct diagnosis. A small change in the display environment such as the display resolution, color bit depth, or even ambient light in the viewing environment may result in the medical practitioner failing to note the presence or absence of a particular feature. Incorrect diagnoses may result in less efficient care, requiring additional tests and imaging studies. In the worst case, a misdiagnosis may have a material effect on patient outcomes if an otherwise treatable condition is not identified before it becomes too serious for effective treatment. Despite having a material impact on the success of the diagnosis, small changes in the display environment may not be immediately apparent to the naked eye. Through applied effort, ingenuity, and innovation, Applicant has solved many of these identified problems by developing a technical solution that is embodied by the present invention, which is described in detail below

Method and apparatus for managing a configurable display environment


Disclosed is a method for preparing a template DNA from a processed vegetable food, comprising the steps of: extracting a crude DNA fraction from a processed vegetable food subjected to at least one of a high temperature treatment, a high temperature grinding treatment, a high pressure treatment and a fermentation treatment, and optionally subjected to defatting; and performing a DNA fractionation treatment of the crude DNA fraction by a polyethylene glycol precipitation method and/or a polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis method. Also disclosed is a method for detecting a gene of a plant in a processed vegetable food derived from the plant by a PCR method in which such a template DNA is used. The processed vegetable food may be an oil source seed.

The present invention relates to a method for preparing a template DNA from a processed food using seeds of a plant such as soybean as a material, the template DNA being usable for detecting the genes of the plant and recombinant genes thereof by a PCR method and to a method for detecting the genes of a plant using such a template DNA in detecting the genes of the plant in the processed vegetable food derived from the plant by a PCR method.
Processed food using seeds of a plant as a material are subject to high temperature treatment, high temperature grinding treatment, high pressure treatment, or mechanical grinding treatment during the process of its production and as a result fragmentation of DNA molecule occurs. In the case of fermented foods such as bean paste and fermented soybeans, further fragmentation of DNA occurs due to nuclease originated from microorganisms.
The present invention is to provide a method for preparing a DNA fragment having a purity capable of using as a template for PCR amplification from such a processed vegetable food. Further, the present invention is to provide a method for using said template DNA in detecting by a PCR method the genes of a plant from which processed vegetable food is produced.
For the extraction of plant DNAs, i.e., DNAs of soybean and other plants, there have already been developed fundamental techniques, which can also be used for the extraction of DNA from foods, such as the CTAB method (Marray, M. G. and Thompson, W. F. (1980); Rapid isolation of high molecular weight plant DNA. Nucleic Acids Res., 8, 4321-4325), the SDS-phenol method (David, R. W., Thomas, M., Cameron, J., St. John, T. P., Scherer, S. and Padgett, R. A.; (1980) xe2x80x9cMethods in Enzymologyxe2x80x9d, ed. by Grossman, L. and Moldav, K., Vol. 65, p404, Academic Press, New York), and the protease K method (Jofuku, K. D., Goldberg, R. B.; (1988) Plant molecular biologyxe2x80x94a practical approach, ed. by Show, C. H., p37, IRL Press, Oxford-Washington D.C.).
However, when processed foods using plant seeds as a material are produced, generally the material is often subjected to various processing steps such as high temperature, high pressure, and mechanical grinding treatments, or fermentation operation with microorganisms. For this reason, if the above fundamental techniques are applied directly, it has been in many cases difficult to prepare a DNA having a sufficient purity to be used as a template DNA in PCR amplification.
For example, in the case of soybean, which is one of materials for Japanese traditional plant-derived foods, seeds and bean sprouts allow extraction of high purity DNA which is in a native state only by use of the above fundamental methods. Tofu (bean curd) inclusive of kori-dofu (freeze-dried tofu) and aburaage (fried tofu slice) inclusive of ganmodoki (fried stuffed tofu), etc. can be used for preparing a template DNA for PCR by use of the above fundamental methods without pretreatment or DNA purification operation since they have undergone DNA fragmentation during their production, although yield of the template DNA is low.
In the case of kinako (parched bean flour) (high temperature grinding) and steamed/boiled soybean (cooked bean, autoclaving), or their fermented foods (natto (fermented soybeans), miso (bean paste), etc.) and the like, the DNA is cut into fragments by the respective treatment involved and hence it has been very difficult to prepare high purity DNA with which no low molecular weight DNA is mixed.
The first object of the present invention is to provide a method for preparing high purity DNA which can be used as a template for PCR from processed vegetable foods derived from soybean and other plant seeds as a material, the processed foods having been subjected to denaturation treatment for protein.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for detecting a gene of a plant by a PCR method from a processed vegetable food derived from the plant, using said template DNA.
To know exactly what the materials contained in a highly processed food are like is now a global trend in the stream of consumers"" consciousness. However, many of the operations during the processing procedure are often accompanied by considerable denaturation of proteins so that the identification of plant materials by the analysis of proteins according to the conventional methods were successful in only limited situations.
In order to obviate the above problems, the present inventors have made intensive research and as result they have found that use of optional pretreatment prior to fundamental methods for DNA extraction and application of specified purification and separation methods after the extraction enable preparation of high purity DNA even from processed vegetable foods which has been subjected to a protein denaturation treatment.
Thus, if DNA which is resistant to heat treatment and the like, that is, remains in the processed food in an uncleaved state after the protein denaturation treatment can be prepared in a highly pure state, then it is possible to clarify the name of the plant material with high sensitivity by detecting the gene of the plant by a PCR method using this. Finally, there is the possibility that a judgment can be realized as to whether or not the plant as a raw material of processed vegetable food is a plant that has been subjected to gene recombination treatment. The present invention has been achieved based on these findings.
Therefore, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for preparing a template DNA from a processed vegetable food, comprising the steps of:
extracting a crude DNA fraction from a processed vegetable food subjected to at least one of a high temperature treatment, a high temperature grinding treatment, a high pressure treatment and a fermentation treatment, and optionally subjected to defatting; and performing a DNA fractionation treatment of the crude DNA fraction by a polyethylene glycol precipitation method and/or a polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis method.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for detecting a gene of a plant in a processed vegetable food derived from the plant by a PCR method, wherein the template DNA obtained by the method of the first aspect of the present invention is used.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the method of the second aspect of the invention, the processed vegetable food is an oil source seed.

Method for preparing template DNA from processed vegetable food, which is feasible for amplification of DNA region by PCR method

Director of National Food Research Institute

Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries


A fluid control valve capable of rapidly opening and closing. The valve includes a housing with an annular-shaped spool cavity that contains an annular-shaped spool capable of axial movement within the spool cavity between first and second spool positions. The spool has axially-spaced circumferential spool sealing features and optionally radial passages therethrough. The housing has axially-spaced circumferential housing sealing features configured and disposed within the spool cavity so that, with the spool in the first spool position, fluid flow is enabled through the spool cavity axially between the spool sealing features and the housing sealing features, which provide axial force balancing of the spool. With the spool in the second spool position, the spool sealing features and the housing sealing features cooperate to substantially prevent fluid flow through the spool cavity.

The present invention generally relates to fluid control valves. More particularly, this invention relates to a fast-acting fluid control valve capable of opening and closing more quickly that conventional valves of comparable flow capacity as a result of reduced moving mass, decreased stroke distance, and increased actuator properties, which preferably include reduced magnetic diffusion time (less lag before activation/deactivation) and increased force to mass ratio.
Research efforts have been made to design fluid control valves with rapid opening and closing speeds. Examples include U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,105,616 and 6,474,353 to Sturman et al., which disclose a valve with two connected flow paths defined at the outer circumferential surface of a solid spool (plunger). The spool is contained and axially movable within a valve housing. The spool has a central axial hole, conferring a generally tubular shape to the spool, to prevent fluid from being trapped between the ends of the spool and the housing and exerting a counteracting static force on the spool. While the spool is capable of rapidly opening and closing in part due to the very small size of the spool, speed is limited by inherent eddy currents in the spool and the relatively large mass of the spool resulting from its relatively thick wall. The extent to which the thickness of the spool wall can be reduced is limited by hoop stresses, since all fluid pressure is exerted on the exterior of the spool.
Another example of a rapid-actuated valve is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,077,378 to Rampen et al., which notably differs from the valve taught by Sturman et al. by having an annular-shaped spool (sealing ring) that is axially actuated by a combination of magnets (permanent and/or electromagnetic) and optionally springs. Flow is axial over the inner and outer circumferential surfaces of the spool, thereby avoiding the effect of hoop stresses on the structural integrity of the spool. Because flow is entirely in the axial direction, the shape of the spool must be carefully tailored so that closure of the spool against axially spaced seats occurs while maintaining approximately equal flow velocities at the inner and outer circumferential surfaces of the spool. Nonetheless, the spool is a check valve that cannot open against very high pressures because it is not axially balanced.
Notwithstanding the above, further improvements in valve performance, and particularly speed for a given flow rate capacity, would be desirable.


The leak detection system encompasses the use of a fluid monitoring device equipped with transmission capabilities and a data acquisition device. The fluid monitoring device monitors consumption of a fluid over a predetermined time period to obtain a consumption value. The fluid monitoring device then compares the consumption value against a pre-established threshold value. If the consumption value is less than the threshold value, the fluid monitoring device produces a leak indication. The fluid monitoring device transmits the leak indication, which is received by the data acquisition device.

To detect leakage beyond a metering point, utilities currently have to deploy an expensive data recorder to monitor intervals over a time period of interest. The data recorded is left in place, logging water consumption over a series of short intervals (on the order of 5 minutes). Post analysis of the data recorder looks for the minimum consumption level with the theory that at least one interval will register zero consumption if there are no leaks. If there are leaks, there will not be a zero level. In this model, the data recorder is too expensive to leave at the site and must be portable and moved to where a perceived leak may be.
Some AMR providers support leak detection, but in a brute force, non-efficient manner. These devices can be used to record the full interval data, but at added device, communications, and operations cost. Additional memory is needed to store essentially a month's worth of 5 minutes of data, communicating this amount of interval data is not possible by today's technology models for the industry—only a warning flag can be sent. Thus, there is an operations cost that is incurred in responding to the warning flag via a service call to manually collect the full interval data. This is troublesome, because the leak may be inconsequential or it may be a flood. In either case, the leak detection system will respond with the same level of priority.
In one approach, a utility company uses expensive (e.g., $2,500 FS Brainard) data recorders to detect water leakage in a seemingly unconventional, but effective manner. The data loggers are initially set to record hourly consumption. If a leak is suspected they are then programmed to record 10-second consumption. The theory is that there must be at least one interval where there is no water consumption: an interval that registers '0' units of water usage. If there is no such interval, the conclusion is that there is a water leak in the system. Using this approach helped the utility company to identify a 6 gallon/minute, $700 per month leak at a local hospital.
Other examples of leak detection systems are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,155,481, 5,617,084 and 6,181,257, however they are not without their shortcomings. For instance, the '481 patent to Brennan, Jr. et al., discloses the use of a reed switch in combination with the magnetically coupled drive of the water meter. This approach is subject to failure over time since the state of the reed switch (or any other similar mechanical element) must be determined and such devices are subject to failure from fatigue. With respect to the '084 patent to Sears, only a yes/no indication of a leak is provided without an actual value of leakage level that would be of assistance to the user.
The trend of water becoming a less abundant resource, combined with the fact that utility companies are realizing that they are experiencing as much as 20% water leakage losses, highlights the need for finding a water leak detection system that is easy to implement and that requires a lower expenditure to implement.


The invention relates to sensors having field effect semiconductors. The sensor of the invention comprises a ring oscillator constituted by an odd number of CMOS inverters disposed in a zone sensitive to the physical property to be measured. In order to increase the sensitivity of the sensor, the N channel of the NMOS transistor in each CMOS inverter is disposed perpendicularly to the P channel of the PMOS transistor.

It has long been known that silicon, the base material from which MOSFETs are made, has piezoresistive properties that are of interest in the field of sensors.
Also known, e.g. from European patent EP-B-0 040 795, is a semiconductor sensor comprising an odd number of complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) inverters disposed in a zone which is sensitive to pressure, the inverters being inter connected to form a pressure sensitive ring oscillator. The frequency of the oscillator obtained in this way is directly related to the stress to which the semiconductor devices are subjected under the effect of pressure.
An object of the invention is thus to provide a semi conductor sensor having very good sensitivity while maintaining a relatively low cost price. Another object is to eliminate sensor drift under the effect of temperature and to improve the yield of the manufacturing process by reducing the number of rejects.

Semiconductor sensor with perpendicular N and P-channel MOSFET's


A power management system includes a voltage source configured to provide at least a first voltage and a second voltage, and a controller configured to couple the first voltage to a first voltage supply terminal or couple the second voltage to a second voltage supply terminal in response to a comparison of one or more first variables associated with the first voltage supply terminal to one or more second variables associated with the second voltage supply terminal.

Electronic systems such as computer systems often use electrical components that operate at different power supply voltage levels. The computer systems are designed to meet industry standards that include standards for bus systems which interconnect the components. One such standard bus system is the peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus system. The PCI bus system is a high performance bus system which is used to interconnect integrated circuits, printed circuit boards and processor or memory subsystems within a computer. Industry standards are employed for bus systems because they define common form factors, power and voltage requirements and interconnect configurations that enable multiple manufacturers to manufacture components that can connect to the bus system. Computer systems usually include a common backplane that includes slots which provide PCI bus access to printed circuit cards or PCI cards that are inserted into the slots. In accordance with the PCI standards, the slots can accept PCI cards that operate at one of two or more voltage levels and meet maximum power usage requirements.
To meet these power and voltage requirements, many computer systems include power supply systems having distributed power architectures. With distributed architectures, a common AC to DC power supply is used to generate intermediate voltages, and additional DC to DC voltage converters are used to generate final voltages. With the PCI bus, the AC to DC power supply can be used to generate intermediate voltages such as 48 volts or 12 volts, and subsequent DC to DC voltage converters can be used to generate signaling voltages, such as 3.3 volts or 5 volts.
Power supply systems have also used multiple tap transformers to meet the power and voltage requirements. Multiple tap transformers include a number of taps which can provide the needed voltage levels.
One problem is that the maximum power usage is defined for each PCI card, but the specific supply voltage level from which power may be consumed is not. As a result, power supply systems are typically designed to supply the maximum power requirement for each of the final voltage levels which are provided. For an example PCI bus system that can use PCI cards that operate at 3.3 volts or 5 volts, the DC to DC converter providing the 3.3 volts and the DC to DC converter supplying the 5 volts are each able to provide sufficient power for all of the slots in the computer system in case all of the PCI cards are operating at 3.3 volts or at 5 volts.
This unused power supply capacity typically increases manufacturing costs. If power redundancy is employed, the manufacturing costs are further increased, because the redundant power supply system is able to provide twice the amount of power at each signaling voltage level. With large computer systems that include many slots, these manufacturing costs can become substantial.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A method for treating cancer cells is provided comprising directly or systemically administering a therapeutically effective dose of an attenuated measles virus. In one embodiment, the therapeutically effective dose is from about 103 pfus to about 1012 pfus and is delivered by direct injection into a group of cancer cells or via intravenous injection.

Current standard cancer therapies include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and autologous cell transplantation. Surgery is generally effective in the early treatment of cancer; however, metastatic growth of tumors can prevent any complete cure. Chemotherapy, which involves administration of compounds having antitumor activity, while effective in the treatment of some cancers, is often accompanied by severe side effects, including nausea and vomiting, bone marrow depression, renal damage, and central nervous system depression. Radiation therapy has also been used to target cancer cells, as cancer cells are less able to repair themselves after treatment with radiation. However, radiation cannot be used to treat many cancers because of the sensitivity of normal cells which surround cancerous tissue.
Efforts to improve the efficacy of standard cancer therapies by combining them have been moderately successful. Multi-drug combination chemotherapy regimens and high dose therapy have improved the outlook of patients with certain types of cancer, e.g., intermediate-grade histology non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), particularly when followed by autologous stem cell rescue. However, no therapeutic options have been proven to be of benefit to patients who have active disease after transplantation.
The goal of many recent research efforts has been to specifically target cancer cells with suicide or toxic genes ("therapeutic genes") and techniques to transfer therapeutic genes into tumor cells have been developed (Freeman, et al. 1996). However, to date these techniques have been hampered by the restricted range of action of the therapeutic genes as cell killing is predominantly limited to transduced cells (Paillard, 1997). This problem is exacerbated by the fact that levels of transduction with available gene delivery vectors are low, even in vitro.
Lytic viruses with tissue tropisms can have anti-cancer effects when the natural tissue targets of these viruses include cancer cells. Anecdotal accounts of regression of Hodgkin's disease and of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (NHL) after natural measles virus infection have been reported in the literature (Taqi, et al., 1991; Bluming and Ziegler, 1971). A study in which another paramyxovirus, mumps, was administered to 90 patients with advanced malignancy was reported by Asada (1974). In this study, a tissue culture suspension of wild-type mumps virus, was administered by a variety of routes, mostly to patients suffering from advanced and terminal cancer. Almost half of the patients had significant, although short-lived responses in treated regions. Newcastle Disease Virus, an avian paramyxovirus has also shown promising results in preclinical studies (Lorence, et al. 1994; Lorence, et al. 1988; Reichard, et al. 1992); however, humans lack any natural immunity to the virus, discouraging its widespread use in humans.

Method for limiting the growth of cancer cells using an attenuated measles virus

Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research


Apparatus and methods for distributing print jobs. A print job is generated at an application node of a network, and has associated therewith print parameters. The print job is routed to a distribution node on the network. The parameters are then parsed from the generated print job and the print job parameterized with predetermined metrics that are a function of at least one of the parsed parameters. The parameterized print job is then routed to a destination device on a destination node on the network.

The present invention pertains to printing systems, and particularly to apparatus and methods for distributing print jobs to one or more of a plurality of printers.
In the area of multi-processing, one of the ongoing challenges is to develop methods and workflows that lend themselves to efficient uses of parallel processing. Today, one of the most popular methods for describing documents, especially for printed delivery, is the well known PostScript® format, by Adobe Systems Incorporated. PostScript has many benefits and is almost universally employed in many print markets today. However, it has a limitation which creates a significant barrier to efficient parallel processing. In particular, within a PostScript file, the boundaries and content of individual pages are buried within the file, and can only be determined by processing the PostScript file in some manner to establish the page boundaries and content. One popular method to do this is to transform or convert a PostScript file into a portable document format ("PDF") file, typically referred to as a "distilling" operation. This allows the page boundaries in a multi-page job to be established and thus allows multiple interpreters to operate on the pages individually, thus facilitating parallel processing. However, if the object is to process a job faster, one must take into account the time necessary to convert from a page dependent format as in the PostScript file to the desired page independent format as in a PDF file. This added conversion time will add to the overall time to complete the job.


A stamped electrical socket contact for connection to a contact pin which is inserted along a pin insertion axis, and a method for forming such a socket contact. The socket contact includes a body portion from which a first longitudinal beam and a second longitudinal beam extend. The first and second beams are positioned about a central plane. When viewed from a direction normal to the central plane, the first and second beams intersect the pin insertion axis at an acute angle.

The present invention relates to socket contacts which can be installed in a housing with a small spacing between the contacts for connection to a corresponding array of conductive pins that are insertable into the socket contacts to form an electrical connection.
Receptacle-type contacts are commonly manufactured by stamping a metal sheet to provide a carrier strip carrying a plurality of socket contact blanks. The contact blanks are subsequently bent into an appropriate shape, and the formed contacts are then inserted into a connector housing. Typically, the plurality of formed contacts on the carrier strip are inserted into the housing as a single unit ("gang insertion"), thereby simplifying and speeding the assembly process.
To permit multiple contacts to be inserted into the housing as a single unit, the contacts must be spaced from each other on the carrier strip by a distance which is an integral multiple of the pitch of the conductive pins which will mate with the contacts. It is preferred that the center-to-center spacing (e.g., pitch) of the formed contacts on the carrier strip equals the pitch of the conductive pins, so that only a single contact insertion step is required when installing a row of contacts in the connector housing. If the pitch of the contacts on the carrier strip is greater than the pitch of the conductive pins, multiple contact insertion steps are required to install a single row of contacts. For example, if the pitch of the contacts on the carrier strip is two times the pitch of the conductive pins, two insertion steps are necessary, with each insertion step installing one half (e.g., every other contact) of the row of contacts into the connector housing.
If the pitch of the finished contacts is to equal the pitch of the finished connector, then the width of each contact blank cannot be greater than the pitch of the finished contacts. Because there is a continuing trend toward miniaturization of connectors, the pitch of the connector pins and contacts (and thus the width of the contact blanks) is continually decreasing. As the pitch decreases, the formation of socket contacts using a stamping and bending procedure becomes increasingly difficult for dual beam contacts with oppositely disposed wipers. When the pitch of the connector becomes less than or equal to the maximum pin diameter times pi (e.g., circuit pitch .ltoreq.D.sub.max .pi.), a shortage of material occurs in the contact blank. That is, the amount of material required to form the contact blank is larger than the amount of available material on the carrier strip.
The material shortage problem is illustrated in FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B. FIG. 1A shows an example of a known socket contact 2 having a shank 4 and wipers 6 extending from shank 4. Wipers 6 are bent toward each other so as to capture a contact pin (not shown in FIG. 1A) inserted between wipers 6. It is desired to have the centerlines of wipers 6 align with the centerline of contact pin 8, so that uniform normal forces are applied to contact pin 8. FIG. 1B shows a cross section of socket contact 2 along line 1B--1B of FIG. 1A, with a contact pin 8 inserted into socket contact 2. As shown in FIG. 1B, contact pin 8 has a diameter of 0.018 inch, the socket contact 2 has a material width of 0.005 inch, wipers 6 have a half-width of 0.0055 inch, and a clearance of 0.001 inch is provided between shank 6 of contact pin 8 and socket contact 2. The centerline of socket contact 2 thus has a radius R of 0.0125 inch from the center of contact pin 8. The width of material needed to form socket contact 2 is the sum total of: 1) the centerline length of the curved portion of socket contact 2 (.pi.R =0.0393 inches ); 2) one half the width of each wiper 6 (0.0055 .times.2=0.0110 inches); and 3) the contact singulation width (0.0040 inches). The singulation width is the amount of material needed to account for separation of the individual contacts. Thus, to form shaped socket contact 2, a flat blank width of 0.0543 inch is required. If the pitch of the connector is 0.05 inch, for example, there will be a material shortage of 0.0043 inch, and the centerlines of wipers 6 of the formed socket contact 2 will not be positioned opposite each other on the centerline of contact pin 8.
When a material shortage occurs with the type of socket contact illustrated in FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B, there have been attempts to bring the wiper centerlines into alignment with the contact pin centerline by stretching the blanked material in the direction of arrows 9 during the shaping processes. However, this results in an unstable forming process and thus produces manufacturing difficulties. In addition, assembly issues also arise in attempting to control the contact location within the housing aperture to prevent the wiper edges from being the sole contact points which engage the pin.
There are some socket contacts stamped on connector pitch when the pitch is less than or equal to the maximum pin diameter times pi. For example, International Publication No. WO 9630969 nests the contact spring arms by staggering their position along the pin insertion axis. The resulting geometry provides a formed contact having one rigid contact beam and one compliant contact beam, with the contact points of the beams being offset along the pin insertion axis. The offset contact points cause unequal normal forces to be applied to the contact pin, which in turn results in undesirable pivoting of the contact on the pin. To ensure that both contact beams wipe the pin and to compensate for small variations in pin location, the contact body is stamped with a compliant waist having a reduced cross section. The reduced cross section of the contact causes current crowding in the area of the waist, and further encourages undesirable pivoting of the contact on the pin.
It is also known to deal with the material shortage problem by stamping and forming the socket contacts at slightly greater than connector pitch, and then pleating the carrier strip to move the formed contacts into an on pitch spacing. This method also has drawbacks, primarily that the pleated carrier strip is easily stretched. Thus, a complicated and expensive handling system is required for pleated carrier strips.
Because of the material shortage problem illustrated above, the majority of connector systems which have a circuit pitch which is less than or equal to the maximum pin diameter times pi, such as CompactFlash, PCMCIA and PCMIDE connectors, stamp the receptacle contacts on twice the circuit pitch. Prior art receptacle contacts of this type are exemplified in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,678,278; 4,722,704; 4,874,338; 4,909,746; 4,720,277; and 5,597,324.
One type of receptacle socket contact is known as a dual-beam receptacle socket contact. One embodiment of such a contact is illustrated in FIG. 1A. A contact of this type includes a pair of resilient beams configured to grasp a conductive pin therebetween. The beams are disposed to contact opposite sides of a conductive pin inserted into the connector, and are formed to produce a contact force sufficiently low to allow easy pin insertion while at the same time providing the required contact force for long term ohmic contact upon insertion of the pin. The contact force must be sufficiently low to prevent undesirably high insertion force, plating wear, and bending of the pins during insertion while accommodating some variance in the positioning of individual pins, but high enough to ensure consistent electrical contact with the pin. Dual beam sockets are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,140,361; 4,591,230; 4,607,907; and 4,702,545.
What is needed is a socket contact which can be stamped from a flat metal sheet on connector pitch when pitch is less than or equal to pi times the maximum pin diameter, and which reduces or overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art socket contacts.

Canted beam electrical contact and receptacle housing therefor


An arc tube assembly (10) for a protected high intensity discharge lamp. The assembly has a ceramic arc tube (12) with a short shroud (20) surrounding at least the arc chamber (14) of the arc tube. The short shroud (20) allows the frit seal areas (46) of the arc tube capillaries (18) to project beyond the shroud (20) and thereby operate at a lower temperature, thus increasing lamp life.

Metal halide arc discharge lamps are frequently employed in commercial usage because of their high luminous efficacy and long life. A typical metal halide arc discharge lamp includes a quartz or fused silica arc tube that is hermetically sealed within a borosilicate glass outer envelope. Recent advances in the art have employed a ceramic arc tube constructed, for example, from polycrystalline alumina. It is with the latter type that this invention is particularly concerned. The arc tube, itself hermetically sealed, has tungsten electrodes sealed into opposite ends and contains a fill material that may include mercury, metal halide additives and a rare gas to facilitate starting. In some cases, particularly in high wattage lamps, the outer envelope is filled with nitrogen or another inert gas at less than atmospheric pressure. In other cases, particularly in low wattage lamps, the outer envelope is evacuated.
It has been found desirable to provide metal halide arc discharge lamps with a shroud that comprises a generally tubular, light-transmissive member, such as quartz, that is able to withstand high operating temperatures. The arc tube and the shroud are coaxially mounted within the lamp envelope with the arc tube located within the shroud. Preferably, the shroud is a tube that is open at both ends.
The shroud or shield has several beneficial effects on lamp operation. In lamps with a gas-filled outer envelope, the shroud reduces convective heat losses from the arc tube and thereby improves the luminous output and the color temperature of the lamp. In lamps with an evacuated outer envelope, the shroud helps to equalize the temperature of the arc tube. In addition, the shroud effectively reduces sodium losses and improves the maintenance of phosphor efficiency in metal halide lamps having a phosphor coating on the inside surface of the outer envelope. Finally, the shroud improves the safety of the lamp by acting as a containment device in the event that the arc tube shatters.
In lamps using ceramic arc tubes, mounting the arc tube within a shroud has proven difficult and expensive. The ceramic arc tube has a tubular or bulbous body with ceramic, cylindrical capillaries extending therefrom. The capillaries are relatively small, often having diameters of 3 mm or so, and contain the electrodes. A number of techniques have been devised for solving the mounting problems of ceramic arc tubes as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,628,080; 6,741,034; 6,858,976; and 7,135,811, all of which are assigned to the assignee of the instant invention. Of these, U.S. Pat. No. 6,741,034 also teaches a starting aid in conjunction with a mounting clip and the teachings of the '034 are hereby incorporated by reference.
While the structures shown in the above-cited references have proven commercially successful, nevertheless, lamps so constructed have life spans shorter than anticipated. Often, this shortened lifetime is caused by cracks developing in the frit seal that fixes the electrode within the capillary.


An edge stackable absorbent display container (10) includes an open-top tray (14) that has an array of liquid receiving cavities (A-I) formed by intermediate longitudinal and laterally extending support ribs (36, 37, 38 and 39). The side cavities (A, B, C and G, H and I) are sloped with respect to the central cavities (D, E and F), forming the tray bottom wall (22) in a spread U-shape that enhances the tilting of the tray. Liquid absorbent material (56) is placed in at least some of the cavities (A-I), and a porous sheet (16) is supported over the cavities on the support ribs and the sheet support rim (60). Liquid from the product, such as raw poultry, can drain through the porous sheet and become absorbed by the absorbent material.

The present invention generally relates to containers for storing and displaying foods and other products that bear liquids and that are likely to exude liquids while stored and displayed. More particularly, the present invention relates to an edge stackable absorbent container for displaying products that exude liquids.
Excess moisture within food storage containers can cause premature spoilage of the food products that are stored in the containers because the moisture provides a favorable environment for the growth and reproduction of microorganisms. Excess moisture in a food storage container also can lead to leakage of fluids from the storage container that can cause contamination of other foods and items about the container.
Attempts at controlling excess moisture in food storage containers, such as trays (both rigid and flexible) and bags, have met with some success. The prior art devices include (1) pre-formed trays configured for the insertion of absorbent pads or absorbent sheets with the food products resting on the absorbent pads and sheets; (2) trays with built-in reservoirs arranged to trap excess moisture exuded from the products, with some of the trays including a porous cover over the reservoirs that allows fluids to drain from the product to the cover into the reservoir, but which partially restricts the fluids from re-emerging past the cover following shaking or movement of the trays; and (3) trays or packs made from multiple layers of material with one layer being liquid impervious and a second layer being liquid pervious to allow foods to enter, and an absorbent media sandwiched between the two layers to absorb and retain the entering fluids.
There is a desire in supermarkets and other places to display foods in disposable trays having a transparent cover with the trays arranged in a shingle stack. A shingle stack refers to several trays that are edge stacked on shelves so that the trays with a product are tilted forward for better viewing by the customer. This is particularly attractive for foods like chicken parts. Unfortunately, many products that exude liquids, such as chicken, will exude so much liquid that when the tray is tilted, the liquid naturally flows toward the lower-most side wall of the tray, creating an undesirable liquid pool. This might occur even with trays that have absorbent material in the bottom of the tray, because there might be liquid on the upper side of the food product that has not flowed to the bottom of the tray, or the food product has been frozen or partially frozen and ice has formed on the upper surface of the food product and does not melt and flow off the food product until the tray and food product have been tilted. This tends to result in the liquid flowing to the lower edge of the tray instead of to the bottom of the tray, making an undesirable pool of liquid and blood that is visible in the package. Also, if more liquid has accumulated in the bottom of the tray than can be absorbed by the absorbent material, there can be run-off of the excess liquid from the bottom of the tray into the lower edge of a tilted tray. Simply putting more absorbent material in the bottom of the tray does not always solve this problem as any unabsorbed liquid still tends to flow toward the bottom side wall when the tray is tilted.
Accordingly, there exists a need for an edge stackable absorbent container for displaying products that exude liquid that avoids the above noted shortcomings of the prior art.

Edge stackable absorbent display container


Methods, media, and devices for communicating messages between a computer and a server are provided. A processor receives a message in a first format incompatible with the computer from a client computer and performs first and second operations in parallel. In the first operation, the message in the first format is forwarded to the server. In the second operation, the message in the first format is converted into a message in a second format compatible with the computer, and the message in the second format is forwarded to the computer. The processor receives, from the computer, a request in the second format, converts the request in the second format to a request in the first format, and forwards the request in the first format to the server.

Load testing, generally, is used to put demands on a system, device, application or combination thereof, and measure the response. Load testing has numerous uses, including: demonstrating that a system meets performance criteria, comparing two systems to determine which performs better, and measuring the components of the system or workload on the system that cause the system to perform poorly. Load testing, as described above, is useful for testing the performance of software applications, databases, networks, client side processing, load balancing utilities, and other systems and programs.
In software, and more particularly, software applications utilized over a network, load testing may refer to the practice of modeling the usage of a software application by simulating multiple users accessing the program concurrently. As such, testing is relevant for multi-user systems, often systems built according to a client/server model, such as web servers. However, other types of software systems may also be load tested. For example, a word processor or graphics editor can be forced to read an extremely large document; or a financial software package can be forced to generate a report based on several years' worth of data.
When the load placed on a system is raised beyond normal usage patterns in order to test a system's response at unusually high or peak loads, this technique is known as stress testing.
Some load testers operate based on a "script" of the test to be performed. That is, the script of the workload of the system is run by the load tester. For example, a script may consist of a series of Database requests. As long as a user is able to edit the script, the user is capable of creating and altering conditions for testing. Such modifications may include parameterization (selecting data for keyword-driven testing), correlation, and error handling. One benefit of a script is easy modification to alter the conditions of the load on the system.
Although models can be useful, the most useful load testing assessment is based on actual, rather than theoretical, loads. It is often crucial for the test conditions to be similar to the expected actual use. However, it can be difficult to simulate or predict the actual conditions of operation because the workload of a system has random characteristics. While models attempt to mimic what may happen in the system, it is impossible to exactly replicate this workload variability.
Accordingly, in order to better simulate actual operating conditions, the above mentioned scripts may be created by "recording" the system to be tested during normal operation. That is, during a "recording phase" a system is operated normally so that, for example a client application issues requests to a backend server, which sends responses, and those requests and responses are "recorded" to create a script. The recorded script is then "played back" by the load tester to test and evaluate the performance of the system. One example of such a tester is LoadRunner®, which is commercially available from Hewlett-Packard, Corp.
A drawback to load testing and performance products available on the market (i.e., so-called "off-the-shelf" products) is that they are typically limited to particular message formats. For example, an application to be tested may send out messages in format X, but the load tester may only accept a script in format A. Thus, if the application messages (which may be in the form of requests and responses) are recorded in format X, then the load tester cannot support the script and test the application.
If the software testing laboratory is testing multiple applications having different message formats X, Y, Z, etc., and the load tester can only operate with one format A then the problem is magnified.
If the software testing laboratory uses multiple load testers working in formats A, B, C, etc., then the problem may be exacerbated even further.
Another problem arises when the format of the load tester is not comprehendible by a user, such that a User may edit the script to, for example, alter the conditions of load testing.
It should be readily apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art that other problems and drawbacks also may also exist.

System and method for testing applications with a load tester and testing translator


A cathode-follower power output stage is driven by a novel drive stage to provide with low distortion the large signal required to drive the output stage. The drive stage comprises two series connected vacuum tubes which share the large static and dynamic voltages of the drive stage so as to provide a drive signal having a large voltage swing, without generating audible distortion and without subjecting the drive stage tubes to excessively high voltages. The plate of a first drive tube is connected to the cathode of the second drive tube. A load impedance is connected from a B+ power supply terminal to the plate of the second drive tube. The grid of the second drive tube is driven by a signal responsive voltage divider network driven by the plate of the second drive tube. The voltage divider network maintains the grid of the second drive tube at a voltage approximately midway between the voltage of the second drive tube plate and the ground as the plate voltage swings in response to the signal current flowing through the load impedance. The two series connected drive tubes thereby share approximately equally both the quiescent static voltage and the dynamic output voltage of the drive stage as the latter drives the grid of the cathode-follower output stage with the required large amplitude voltage swings.

(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to high-fidelity vacuum-tube audio power amplifiers for driving a loudspeaker to provide music reproduction without audible distortion, and more particularly, to an amplifier having a cathode-follower output stage requiring a large drive voltage swing provided by a novel series-connected drive stage.
(2) Brief Description of the Related Prior Art
In the past decade of the art of high-end audio reproduction it has come to be recognized by many audiophiles and amplifier designers that vacuum-tube amplifiers provide superior music reproduction as compared with transistor amplifiers. These tube amplifiers generally have output stage configurations which are either push-pull or single-ended.
Both the single-ended output stage and the push-pull output stage operate in the common-cathode mode which has numerous disadvantages, primarily due to the relatively large magnitude of the tube plate resistance. As explained in more detail below, these disadvantages include the need for a large air gap in the single-ended transformer core to prevent saturation thereby reducing the transformer primary inductance and increasing the distortion due to the resulting steep elliptical loadline traversed by the tube operating point. Further, the high source impedance, inherent in the common-cathode mode, also increases the distortion due to the nonlinear magnetization current of the transformer core. It also results in a high amplifier output impedance at the speaker terminals thereby providing a low amplifier damping factor and poor speaker transient response. A further disadvantage of the high source impedance of the output stage is the resulting frequency response nonlinearity when driving typical speakers which have an impedance which varies with frequency. In addition, the high source impedance of the plate resistance coacts with the leakage inductance and winding capacitance of the output transformer to generate phase shift and rolloff at high frequencies. The common-cathode mode also results in a high Miller-effect capacitance at the input of the output stage.
In a push-pull configuration, the high source impedance due to the plate resistance exacerbates the inevitable dynamic and static imbalances of a push-pull output stage accompanying the aging of the output tubes with use over time, and also those imbalances due to asymmetrical drive signals transmitted to the two halves of the push-pull stages.
These disadvantages of the common-cathode output stage are further explained in the detailed description of the prior art set forth below. It is well-known in the prior art that a lower output impedance and reduced distortion in the output stage itself can be obtained by utilizing a cathode-follower mode of operation for the output configuration. However, this has heretofore been impractical because the cathode-follower output stage requires a very large drive signal so that the preceding conventional drive stage would have generated as much or more distortion than would have been reduced by the cathode-follower output mode. Also, the large supply voltage required for the drive stage would have subjected the drive stage tube to an excessively high plate-to-cathode voltage.

Cathode-follower high-fidelity power amplifier


A gear range indicator for use with automatic transmissions which is remote from the shift mechanism yet requires minimal adjustment to be made to the mechanical linkage to compensate for variations in the position of the display relative to the shift mechanism. This gear range indicator used has magnetic biasing means to position a pointer to the appropriate transmission gear range symbol on the display.

Associated with an automatic transmission installed in a vehicle is a gear range indicator which displays the gear range selected by a vehicle operator using a shift mechanism.
Prior art gear range indicators commonly rely exclusively on adjustment of the effective length of a cable connecting the indicator with the shift mechanism to compensate for variations in relative location between the indicator and the shift mechanism attaching point. One method of adjustment is to pull on the cable until a desired alignment between indicated gear range and shift mechanism position is achieved, and then fixing the cable to the shift mechanism. An alternative adjustment method provides a rotatable threaded member, similar to a turnbuckle, between the shift mechanism and the gear range indicator for adjusting the effective length of the cable. One such adjuster is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,788,881, issued to Owen et al. on Dec. 6, 1988, and assigned to the assignee of the present invention.
Reducing the sensitivity of the gear range indication to variations in position between the indicator and the shift mechanism attaching point is an alternative to adjusting the effective cable length. An example of a gear range indicator employing this approach is provided by U.S. Pat. No. 5,070,808, issued to Poskie on Dec. 19, 1991, and assigned to the assignee of the present invention.

Magnetically aligned transmission shift indicator


A device which in an optical interface adapts XFP to a 300 pin MSA transponder socket, permitting replacement of 300 pin MSA transponders with an XFP module on an existing host circuit pack. The device performs dispersion compensation in a removable module, addressing issues of jitter, path length equalization, cross talk and electromagnetic compatibility. As deployed, the device presents at the optical interface the attributes of XFP, hence connected optical devices are “fooled” into reading a connection to XFP instead of the 300 pin MSA.

In the past, optical interfaces were designed from discrete components. There have been many efforts to establish industrial standards in optical modules resulting in the formation of several Multi Source Agreements (MSA) including the 300 Pin MSA. This MSA specification consolidated this functionality into a 300 pin transponder. See, Reference Documents for 300 Pin 10 Gb and 40 Gb Transponders, available at www.300pinmsa.org, incorporated herein by reference. The industry has spent the last several years designing host circuit packs using MSA-based transponders.
Over the past few years, technological advances have resulted in smaller such devices such as XFP. XFP is currently the most advanced MSA providing compact 10 Gb/s modules at reduced costs with lower power consumption. The XFP device is a hot-pluggable small footprint serial-to-serial data-agnostic multirate optical transponder intended to support telecom (SONET OC-192 and G.709 "OTU-2") and datacom applications (10 Gb/s Ethernet and 10 Gb/s Fibre Channel). Nominal data rates range from 9.95 Gb/s, 10.31 Gb/s, 10.52 Gb/s, 10.70 Gb/s and the emerging 11.09 Gb/s. The XFP transponder supports all data encodings for these technologies, and may be used to implement single-mode or multi-mode serial optical interfaces at 850 nm, 1310 nm or 1550 nm. The XFP transponder design may use one of several different optical connectors. A full description of the XFP is contained in "XFP (10 Gigabit Small Form Factor Pluggable Module)", Revision 3.1, Apr. 2, 2003, available at www.xfpmsa.com/cgi-bin/msa.cgi, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Currently, the XFP module is incompatible with existing 300 pin MSA transponders, and it is not practical to redesign existing circuit packs to employ the XFP module. Accordingly, what is needed is a module for adapting XFP to a 300 pin MSA transponder socket, enabling a transition from 300 pin MSA to XFP without circuit pack hardware and software redesign.


A system and method distribute the task of decryption between a server and a client. To encrypt data, the client generates an encryption/decryption key. Namely, a user interface obtains a password, generally from a user. A hint generator generates a hint. A key generator generates the key based on the password and the hint. In one embodiment, the key generator hashes the password to generate a first secret, hashes the first secret to generate a second secret, hashes the first secret with the hint to generate an intermediate index, and hashes the second secret and the intermediate index to generate the key. An encryption engine can then use the key to encrypt data. The client then sends the encrypted data and possibly the hint for storage on the server. To decrypt the data, the key must be determined. Accordingly, the server knows some information and the user knows some information for decrypting the data. To generate the key, the decrypting client must first obtain rights to retrieve the hint from the server and must obtain the password from the user. Increased level of security is achieved.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to computer networks, and more particularly to a system and method for encrypting and decrypting files to enable secure exchange of information in a computer network.
2. Background Art
In its infancy, the Internet provided a research-oriented environment where users and hosts were interested in a free and open exchange of information, and where users and hosts mutually trusted one another. However, the Internet has grown drastically, currently interconnecting at least 100,000 computer networks and millions of users. Because of its size and openness, the Internet has become a target of data theft, data alteration and other mischief.
Virtually everyone that sends information over the Internet is vulnerable. Before sending a file, companies balance the benefits and ease of transferring a file over the Internet against the risks of potential unauthorized file access.
One of the most popular of current security techniques is private key file encryption and decryption. A file may be encrypted and decrypted using a private key known to all authorized users. Thus, a file may be encrypted using the private key, forwarded over a computer network, and decrypted using the private key by the end user. Accordingly, both the encrypting party and the decrypting party must know the private key.
This encryption and decryption security technique does not solve problems and concerns of the roaming user. First, for example, a roaming user must maintain a portable record of all private keys so that he or she can decrypt or re-encrypt files. Maintaining a portable record can be a time consuming and cumbersome process. Therefore, a system and method for encrypting and decrypting files is needed to facilitate remote access to information resources in a computer network easily and securely (without sending keys over the network).

System and method for encrypting and decrypting files