A novel, apparent interspecific hybrid maple tree differs in characteristics from common maple tree species. These include in having a growth habit characterized by a substantially straight hole formed which conspicuously is an unbranched central leader, scaffold branches which are generally directed and exceedingly narrow when compared to those of other maple species, and attractive foliage which is unusually cut and which is not of the usual contrast in coloration and texture from to bottom surfaces. Also, the new tree is a seedless variety.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a new and distinct maple tree. The tree was discovered in a cultivated area. It was discovered at 3613 Orchard Drive, Midland, Mich.
The new tree may be propagated asexually by budding on a suitable other maple tree. Such budding is well known in the art. See e.g., U.S. Plant Pat. Nos. 4,392 (Mar. 6, 1979); 3,060 (Aug. 10, 1971); 2,759 (Aug. 15, 1967); 2,139 (Apr. 24, 1962), each incorporated herein by reference. In addition, the new tree may be propagated asexually by grafting, for example, a bud or scion into a root portion of the new tree. A section of its root may be lifted above ground to expose it to air and light. Other methods may be employed, e.g., known mist rooting, hormone-assisted rooting, etc.
The new tree has been asexually reproduced by division. Shoots growing near the base of the tree were cut away from the parent tree while keeping the shoots attached to a root section.
The new tree has been established as stable. The phenotype of the claimed plant is stable, i.e., the asexually reproduced offspring retain the distinguishing characteristics of the parent plant.
2. Description of the Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under Rules 56 & 97-99 Especially Under Current Rules 56, 97 & 98
The important Maple family, Aceraceae, formerly has been known to include about 120 species, all but two of which being belong to the genus Acer. In general, they are North temperate trees or shrubs with opposite leaves and small flowers, and fruit consists of two one-seeded portions. Source: Novak, "The pictorial Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers," Crown Publishers, Inc., New York 1965, page 367.
Belcher, U.S. Plant Pat. No. 2,139 (Apr. 24, 1962), discloses a Maple Tree, believed a variety of the sugar maple tree.
Schmidt, Jr., U.S. Plant Pat. No. 2,759 (Aug. 15, 1967), discloses a Norway Maple Tree, believed a variety of the Norway maple species.
Schmidt, U.S. Plant No. 3,060 (Aug. 10, 1971), discloses a Maple Tree, a sport of unknown parentage of the Norway maple species.
Schmidt, III, U.S. Plant Pat. No. 4,392 (Mar. 6, 1979), discloses a Maple Tree, a distinct variety of maple tree commonly called "Hedge Maple."
Schmidt, U.S. Plant Pat. 7,222 (Apr. 24, 1990), discloses a Magnificent Magenta Maple, a unique variety of the red or swamp maple species.
Seedless Silver Maple, a variety commerciallyG361 6 available in Michigan, is similar to the present invention in some characteristics, such as leaf morphology.
The silver maple is a common North American maple with deeply cut leaves that are light green above and silvery white below.
The miniature Japanese cutleaf maple is an ornamental variety with ornate, deeply cut leaves that are commonly violet.


A reduced instruction set computer architecture implemented on a field programmable gate array includes a parallel bit shifter capable of reversible shifts and bit reversals, a Reed-Muller Boolean unit coupled to the parallel bit shifter and an immediate instruction function using a half-word literal field in an instruction word that impacts a whole word logically through a combination of modes that variously manipulates the distribution of a set of literal bits of the half-word literal field across the instruction word.

Programmable devices are a class of general-purpose integrated circuits that can be configured for a wide variety of applications. Such programmable devices have two basic versions, mask programmable devices, which are programmed only by a manufacturer, and field programmable devices, which are programmable by the end user. In addition, programmable devices can be further categorized as programmable memory devices or programmable logic devices. Programmable memory devices include programmable read only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM) and electronically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM). Programmable logic devices include programmable logic array (PLA) devices, programmable array logic (PAL) devices, erasable programmable logic devices (EPLD) devices, and programmable gate arrays.
As chip capacity continues to increase, the use of field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) is quickly replacing the use of application specific integrated circuits (ASICs). An ASIC is a specialized integrated circuit that is designed for a particular application and can be implemented as a specialized microprocessor. Notably, a FPGA is a programmable logic device (PLD) that has a number of electronic gates approaching that of large ASICs, however a FPGA is significantly more flexible. Notably, FPGAs can be designed using a variety of architectures that can include user configurable input/output blocks (IOBs), and programmable logic blocks having configurable interconnects and switching capability.
The advancement of computer chip technology has also resulted in the development of embedded processors and controllers. An embedded processor or controller can be a microprocessor or microcontroller circuitry that has been integrated into an electronic device as opposed to being built as a standalone module or "plugin card." Advancement of FPGA technology has led to the development of FPGA-based system-on-chips (SoC) including FPGA-based embedded processor SoCs. A SoC is a fully functional product having its electronic circuitry contained on a single chip. While a microprocessor chip requires ancillary hardware electronic components to process instructions, an embedded processor SoC would include all required ancillary electronics within the chip. For example, a SoC for a cellular telephone can include a microprocessor, encoder, decoder, digital signal processor (DSP), RAM and ROM. A SoC could also include multiple processing modules coupled to each other via a bus or several busses. It should also be understood herein that "FPGA-based embedded processor SoCs" are a specific subset of FPGA-based SoCs that would include their own processors.
In order for device manufacturers to develop FPGA-based SoCs or FPGA-based embedded processor SoCs, it is necessary for them to acquire or develop system components and/or related technologies that are utilized to create the FPGA-based SoCs. These system components and/or technologies are called cores or Intellectual Property (IP) cores. An electronic file containing system component information can typically be used to represent the core. A device manufacturer will generally acquire several cores that are integrated to fabricate the SoC. More generally, the IP cores can form one or more of the processing modules in an FPGA-based SoCs. The processing modules can either be hardware or software based.
Notwithstanding advantages provided by using FPGA-based SoCs, the development of these SoCs can be very challenging. One of the challenges includes communication among multiple hardware and software processors embedded in a FPGA-based SoC. Typically, such communication occurs over a bus. Unfortunately, the embedded processors in a FPGA-based SoC are treated as a separate computer requiring the use of a C compiler and a runtime stack or a conventional heap data structure. Additionally, existing FPGA-based embedded processor SoCs require several programming languages to specify the entire design system. In particular, a system may require both a high-level software language and a hardware descriptive language (HDL) to define the hardware in the FPGA for the system solution. Furthermore, such existing systems require a Real Time Operation System (RTOS). FPGA based embedded processor SoCs are being introduced into the market, but there are no solutions that allow users to customize the system, the hardware and software processing modules and the associated software, nor are there systems that enable a user to tradeoff a function that is implemented in hardware (FPGA fabric) or software (running on the embedded processor). Nor is there a system that is optimized for a soft-fabric processor (or "soft" processor) to be implemented efficiently in the fabric of a field programmable gate array. It would be desirable to have a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) core that is intended for efficient physical implementation using an FPGA, well-balanced for embedded applications within the FPGA fabric, and able to be synthesized from HDL code with high performance. With this in mind, the RISC core would be ideally implemented with efficient resource utilization, small footprint utilization within the FPGA, high performance, as well as capable of supporting the unique problems of realtime software.

Reduced instruction set computer architecture with duplication of bit values from an immediate field of an instruction multiple times in a data word


Frames of data are encrypted by combining each of the frames with a mask that varies from frame to frame. The mask is obtained by using a frame counter as the seed for a pseudo random number generator, generating n pseudo random numbers, where n is the number of bytes to be encrypted in each frame, and concatenating the most significant bytes of each of the n pseudo random numbers to form the mask. The encrypted frames are transmitted, received and decrypted by combining them with the mask, which is independently generated at the receiver. The frame counter is aperiodically reset to a new initial value that is a substantially random number with respect to a previous initial value.

In North American wireless cellular telephony using a time divisional multiple access (TDMA) communication protocol, a voice signal in either traffic direction, that is, base station downstream to mobile station, or mobile station upstream to base station, is represented as a sequence of digitized speech frames. Each digitized speech frame is a block of a predetermined number of binary digits, representing the output of a speech-compressing analog-to-digital converter, together with various binary check digits and coding bits used for error detection and error correction.
To provide privacy in conversations, a transmitting station using a conventional encryption technique forms a fixed voice privacy mask (FVPM) having the same predetermined number of binary digits as the speech frame, and encrypts each frame with this particular FVPM, typically by simply combining the speech frame and the FVPM using an exclusive-or (XOR) operation, bit by bit. Decryption is performed at the receiving station by combining the received speech frame and the FVPM, again typically by XOR-ing the received frame and the FVPM. Since XOR-ing corresponds to inverting a bit, it will be appreciated that doubly inverting a binary digit recovers its initial value.
An advantage of this conventional technique is that the transmitting station and receiving station each have a procedure for privately generating the FVPM, so the FVPM is not transmitted and is not directly available to eavesdroppers. This technique is suitable for protecting against unintentional eavesdropping, such as incorrect channel tuning, or a simple channel scanning operation. Real-time decryption without knowledge of the FVPM is difficult using readily available computing systems.
A disadvantage of this conventional technique is that it does not provide sufficient security. More particularly, if an encrypted conversation is recorded, subsequent analysis can fairly easily determine the value of the FVPM and then perform unauthorized decryption of the conversation. Furthermore, it is believed to be only a matter of time until computing systems become readily available for real-time unauthorized decryption of conversations encrypted according to this conventional technique.
Thus, there is a need for an encryption technique wherein the transmitting station and receiving station each have a procedure for privately generating the encryption mask for transmitted frames, and which increases the difficulty of unauthorized decryption.

Variable mask for encryption generated independently at communications stations


A method of producing glass strands, the method comprising coating glass strands with a heat-polymerizable composition constituted by a solution with a solvent content of less than 5% by weight and a viscosity of less than 400 cP, the solution comprising a basic structure which can be polymerized or cross-linked thermally, the structure comprising at least 60% by weight of one or more components with molecular weights of less than 750, having at least one acrylic and/or methacrylic and/or vinyl ether and/or N-vinylamide and/or N-vinyllactam function, the proportion of polyfunctional components within these components being at least 45% by weight of these components, so as to produce glass strands coated with a non-polymerized, heat-polymerizable composition; the glass strands produced, as well as to composites produced from the strands.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of producing and treating glass strands which are intended, in particular, for reinforcing organic substrates, the glass strands being coated with an essentially organic sizing composition which can be polymerized under the action of heat. The present invention also relates to the glass strands produced according to this method and to the composites produced from the strands.
2. Discussion of the Background
The direct manufacture of glass strands is carried out in known manner from threads (or "thin streams") of molten glass which flow from the holes in one or more dies. The threads are drawn mechanically to form continuous filaments and the filaments are then assembled into one or more basic strands, the strands then being collected on moving supports or undergoing other treatments before collection, according to the required applications.
Before they are assembled in the form of strands, the filaments are coated with a sizing composition by passing over a continuously-supplied sizing member. This deposition of sizing composition is necessary for the production of the strands and enables the strands to be associated with other substances, such as organic substrates, to produce composites.
Indeed, in the first place, the sizing composition acts as a lubricant and protects the strands from abrasion resulting from friction of the strands on various members such as guide members, at high speed, during the process mentioned above.
In most cases, the sizing composition also ensures the integrity of the aforementioned strands, that is, the bonding together of the filaments of which they are constituted. This integrity is required particularly in textile applications where the strands are subject to large mechanical stresses. Indeed, if the filaments constituting the strands are not bound to one another, they break more easily in the course of such applications and clog the textile machines. In general, integrity of the strands is required, strands without integrity being considered difficult to handle and, in particular, difficult to extract from windings manually or by means of machines.
The sizing composition also enables the strands to be associated with various substrates to be reinforced in order to produce composite elements, by helping to create bonds between the strands and the substrates to be reinforced and facilitating the wetting of the strands by the substrate. The wetting of the strands means the spreading of the substrate on the surface of the strand, but also its penetration into the interior of the strand which is composed of filaments. The mechanical properties of the composites produced from the substrate and the strands depend, in particular, upon the quality of the adhesion of the substrate to the strands and the capacity of the strands to be wetted by the substrate. The wettability characteristics conflict, however, with the characteristics of integrity mentioned above. In fact, the greater the integrity of a strand, the stronger is the bonding of the filaments to one another and the more difficult it is for the substrate to be reinforced, to penetrate the interior of the strand. In fact, existing sizing compositions are generally the result of a compromise between the capacity to reinforce other substrates and the integrity required in the strands.
In order to be suitable for the methods used, the sizing composition must, in particular, be stable and compatible with the drawing speeds of the filaments which have to pass through it. The sizing composition should not be the source of excessive shearing phenomena due to high speeds of the filaments (which are drawn at a speed of several tens of meters per second) and should not pose problems in wetting the surfaces of the filaments at the speeds used. In methods which make use of steps for the heat treatment of the sizing composition, it is convenient, moreover, to use sizing compositions which react thermally and have a high enough reaction temperature to remain stable under the die.
Although the selection of the method involves the use of a sizing composition which responds to certain conditions, the selection of the sizing composition may also influence the method.
Thus, most sizing compositions used at the moment, are aqueous sizing compositions which are easy to use but which comprise large quantities of water (90% by weight of the sizing composition, leading, in particular, to windings having from 8 to 14% by weight of water) which necessitates the provision of a step for drying the strands before any use of the strands for reinforcing organic substrates since the water may detract from the good adhesion between the strands and the substrates. These drying steps are long and costly. When they are carried out during the drawing operation (that is, before the collection of the strands obtained after the assembly of the filaments) either at the level of the filaments (WO 92/05122) or at the level of the strands (U.S. Pat. No. 3,853,605), they necessitate the installation of drying devices under each die and, when they are carried out on windings of strands, they involve the risk of migration of the sizing composition into the interior of the windings. These migrations occur in a more or less selective manner according to the affinity of the sizing components for glass and they lead to the production of strands having characteristics which are not uniform along their lengths. Aqueous sizing compositions are moreover distributed unevenly on the strands from their deposition, due to their nature. In addition to these migration phenomena, in certain cases, there are phenomena of coloration of the strands or deformation of the windings. Moreover, the effectiveness of the drying steps is not always optimal, these drying steps having to be adapted to the various manufacturing conditions and depending on the composition of the sizing composition, the weight of the strands to be dried, etc. . .
A few patents propose solutions for reducing the drying and/or migration problems with the use of non-aqueous sizing compositions but the sizing compositions in question generally make use of organic solvents which are difficult to handle and may be harmful to the health of people in the vicinity because they are toxic and/or may pose problems of viscosity which can conveniently be solved by heating the sizing compositions (U.S. Pat. No. 4,604,325) or by adding suitable agents (U.S. Pat. No. 4,609,591). The use of these sizing compositions in many cases also necessitates the installation of certain devices below each die; in particular, it is necessary, when the strands coated with the sizing compositions are collected in the form of a winding, to treat the strands before producing the finished winding to prevent excessive bonding between the strands, since this bonding makes it difficult to unwind the strands. The treatments consist, for example, of heating the layer of continuous filaments coated with the sizing composition so as to eliminate the solvent of the sizing composition before assembling the filaments (U.S. Pat. No. 3,425,862) or polymerizing the sizing composition by subjecting the strand to the action of ultraviolet rays over at least a portion of its travel (U.S. Pat. No. 5,049,407). The effectiveness of these treatments depends, once again, on the operating conditions.

Method of producing sized glass strands and the resulting products


A method of making polymeric particulates wherein polymeric scrap material such as in the form of film waste is supplied to intermeshing pulverizer screws which are rotated to transport the polymeric material along their length and subject the polymeric material to solid state shear pulverization and in-situ polymer compatibilization. Uniform pulverized particulates are produced without addition of a pre-synthesized compatibilizing agent. The pulverized particulates are directly melt processable (as powder feedstock) and surprisingly yield a substantially homogeneous light color product. The polymeric film waste containing high proportions of LDPE yield molded articles of superior notched izod impact strength and elongation. Compatibilized polymeric particles can be formed even if the polymeric scrap material includes cellulose materials such as paper, cardboard and wood.

The present invention relates to solid state shear pulverization of multi-component polymeric blends, including thermodynamically incompatible polymers, to form without compatibilizing agents pulverized particulates that are directly melt processable as powder feedstock to shaped articles of manufacture by conventional blow molding, rotational molding, extrusion, and spray coating techniques without color streaking in the resulting articles of manufacture. Importantly, polymer blends formed of unsorted, post-consumer and post-industrial plastic film waste can be formed by solid state shear pulverization into polymeric particulates having surprisingly high notched izod impact strength.
Decreasing landfill space and rapidly rising disposal costs have forced many municipalities to begin curbside recycling of post-consumer plastic (polymeric) waste.
In 1997, municipal solid waste (MSW) generation in the U.S. totaled 217 million tons; plastics constituted 21.5 million tons, or 9.9 percent by weight of the total MSW generated, of which only 1.1 million tons have been recovered, (5.2% of generation). Plastics are a rapidly growing segment of MSW and are found in a wide variety of products, such as durable and non-durable goods, containers, packaging, furniture, etc. The resins used for these applications include high-density polyethylene (HDPE), low and linear-low density polyethylene (LDPE and LLDPE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polypropylene (PP), polystryene (PS), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and others. Although most of the above resins are being recycled, the recovery level of HDPE and PET is substantially higher than the others.
Post-consumer polymeric waste, as opposed to industrial plastic waste, typically includes substantial quantities of plastic bottles, containers and packaging materials. Plastic bottles are molded of different polymeric materials depending upon the product they are to contain. For example, plastic bottles for water, milk, and household chemicals typically are made of high density polyethylene (HDPE), while soft drink bottles are typically made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) with or without base caps made from high density polyethylene (HDPE). Generally, HDPE bottles account for approximately 50-60% and PET bottles account for approximately 20-30% of the bottles used by consumers. The balance of bottles, bottle caps and other containers used by consumers comprises other polymeric materials, such as low density polyethylene (LDPE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and other resins and multi-layered materials.
Plastic packaging materials also are made of a wide variety of polymers. For example, according to Plastics Compounding, Nov/Dec, 1992, the following polymers were used in packaging material in the %Us set forth: 27% LDPE, 21% HDPE, 16% PS, 16% PP, and 5% PET. Film waste in the U.S. in 1996 contained 15% HDPE, 68% LDPE, 13% PP, 2% PS AND 2% PVC according to an EPA update. Such film waste is formed from bags, packaging and shrink wrap films.
Post-industrial plastic waste can comprise polyolefins, PS, PET and other polymeric materials used for plastic packaging.
Currently, collection of plastic waste material exceeds the market demand for recycled plastic products as a result of the dearth of viable recycling technologies that are low cost and produce high quality recycled plastic products. One recycling approach has involved the high energy consuming batch grinding of commingled, unsorted mixed color plastic waste to form flake scrap material, melt processing and pelletizing the melt processed material to pellets, and extruding the pelletized plastic waste to form recycled plastic products. However, recycled plastic products made in this manner suffer from severe deficiencies that render the products unsatisfactory for many purposes and are of inferior, low value compared to products made of virgin polymeric materials. For example, these recycled plastic products exhibit inferior mechanical properties (e.g. tensile, flexural and notched izod impact strength) and inferior appearance in terms of color (dark brown or gray color) with streaking of colors within the molded product as a result of the chemical incompatibility of the different polymers present in the initial plastic waste stream and variations in the plastic waste stream composition over time.
A typical example of a low value, recycled plastic product is recycled plastic lumber having a dark brown or gray color with noticeable color streaking and inferior mechanical properties compared to components molded of virgin materials. As a result of the less than pleasing appearance, recycled plastic lumber is oftentimes painted to improve its appeal to the customer, or expensive pigments and other additives are added to the feedstock during the manufacturing process to this end. However, the cost of the recycled product is increased thereby.
Furthermore, certain melt processing techniques, such as blow molding, rotational molding, extrusion (e.g. extruded PVC pipe and profiles), and spray coating, require a plastic powder feedstock. That is, the flake scrap material is not directly melt processable to articles of manufacture by such powder feedstock-requiring melt processing techniques. To be useful as feedstock in such melt processing techniques, sorted or unsorted flake scrap material produced by batch grinding must be pelletized and then ground to powder form. The need to pelletize and grind sorted or unsorted flake scrap polymeric material prior to such melt processing adds considerably to the cost and complexity of recycling scrap plastics as well as the capital equipment expenditures required.
Currently used injection molding techniques require plastic pellets for high speed production of molded parts. Although unsorted, commingled flake scrap materials could be pelletized to provide feedstock for injection molding, the resultant molded products would suffer from the types of deficiencies discussed above attributable to polymer incompatibility.
So-called compatibilizing agents and/or reinforcing agents can be added to flake plastic scrap material comprising chemically incompatible polymers in attempts to produce a recycled plastic product exhibiting more desirable characteristics. However, addition of these agents to the plastic scrap material makes recycling more difficult and adds considerably to its cost. The Mavel et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,250,222 relates to this type of recycling approach and is representative of the disadvantages associated with such an approach to plastic recycling. In general, while there are available compatibilizing agents capable of providing compatibilization of binary polymeric blends, such materials are specific for the blend desired and costly to make and use. Acceptable compatibilizers for polymeric blends of three or more components simply do not exist.
Attempts have been made to sort commingled, post-consumer plastic scrap to overcome the polymer incompatibility problems associated with the recycling of commingled plastic scrap. To-date, HDPE and PET are recovered from plastic waste streams by recycling technologies requiring sorting of the commingled plastic materials. Sorting can require use of costly techniques, such as video cameras, electronic devices, infrared detectors, and organic xe2x80x9cmarkersxe2x80x9d, to provide effective segregation of like plastics. However, even sorted plastic waste can present problems in processing as a result of density and chemical differences among polymers falling in the same general class and made by different plastics manufacturers.
Further, sorted plastic scrap must be subjected to batch grinding to produce flake scrap material that then must be pelletized and ground again to provide powder feedstock for blow molding, rotational molding, some extruding, spray coating and other melt processing techniques that require powder feedstock.
The high cost of sorting has greatly limited widespread use of recycling approaches that require a sorting step. In particular, collected and sorted post-consumer plastic materials are usually more expensive than the corresponding virgin plastic materials. Thus, users of plastic materials are discouraged from using sorted, recycled plastic materials.
The plastics industry has dedicated significant technical and financial resources to increase plastics recycling from MSW. However, the properties of the discarded plastics are widely varied due to numerous suppliers, each of which use proprietary additive packages, fillers, and reinforcing agents. It has been established that it is not possible to control the consistency of the discarded feedstocks prior to recycling. Since mixed (commingled) plastics are incompatible with one another, their re-processing presents numerous challenges, including, but not limited to, a phase separation in the melt, delamination of molded parts, and inconsistent color, among others. Again, providing a compatibilizing agent to allow uniform blending of such diverse materials presents an insurmountable task, and, as of yet, such agents have not been made available.
In addition, the processing temperature of the plastics from MSW may differ by more than 100xc2x0 C., which would lead to a degradation of temperature-sensitive polymers. The most well-known example is of mixtures containing PET and PVC where PET requires high processing temperature above 270xc2x0C.; however, at this temperature, PVC would degrade. If the same mixture is processed at 170xc2x0 C., which is suitable for PVC, it would leave PET unmelted.
Because there is a limited use for mixed plastics waste, most of the discarded plastics are separated prior to reuse. The most common automated separation technologies are based on density difference, although manual sorting is still commonly used. The physical characteristics of the recycled material are sensitive to a change in composition and a presence of contaminants, such as labels, glue, adhesives, product residue, and dirt. For most applications of recycled plastics, a washing step would be an essential part of the reclamation process. After washing, single polymer streams are re-melted and re-pelletized for further re-use. Again, the sorting and washing procedures add costs which discourage wide spread recycling of plastics.
A new technology called Solid-State Shear Pulverization (S3P), developed by the Polymer Technology Center at Northwestern University, converts multicolor, mixed (commingled) plastics into a homogenous, pastel color powder, which is melt processable by all existing plastics fabrication techniques. U.S. Pat. No. 5,814,673 issued to Khait describes the S3P process. The entire content of this mentioned patent is herein incorporated by reference. The patented solid state shear pulverization process is disclosed as useful for pulverizing a commingled, multi-component polymeric scrap. That this process is capable of providing polymeric particles having good physical properties, uniform color and compatibilization without the addition of a compatibilization agent regardless of the differences in the chemical and thermodynamic nature of the polymeric scrap, and all done in the solid state, represents a drastic leap forward in processing multi-component polymeric scrap for recycle as well as providing a unique method of blending scrap and/or virgin polymers. Heretofore blending of even two polymeric materials has required the addition of expensive, specifically prepared compatibilizing agents, property-improving additives or simply could not have been accomplished by previous melt-blending techniques. U.S. Pat. No. 5,814,673 includes numerous examples directed to solid state shear pulverization of multi-component plastic materials including high density polyethylene, low density polyethylene, polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate, polystyrene and polyvinyl chloride. In all but two of the three or more component blends, H-PE was the majority component. In the other two blends, PET was the major component. In none of the examples described, is there a multi-component blend which is formed by the solid state shear pulverization process which yields a notched izod impact strength of greater than 1.0 ft.-lb./in. Thus, while improvement in compatibility between diverse polymers is certainly disclosed as well as forming a uniform colored polymeric powder from multi-component and multicolored polymer blends and further describing that the S3P blends have improved tensile strength, the patent does not otherwise disclose the blends which form the basis of this invention. One of such blends formed from film waste by the S3P process has surprisingly improved notched izod impact strength and elongation.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a method of processing multi-component polymeric materials, such as sorted or unsorted, commingled scrap polymeric material, by solid state pulverization to produce pulverized particulates (e.g. powder) that can be directly formed to shape by powder feedstock-using conventional melt processing techniques.
It is another object of the invention to provide a method of processing multi-component polymeric materials, such as sorted or unsorted, commingled scrap polymeric materials, having mixed colors by solid state pulverization to produce pulverized particulates that are melt processable to a substantially homogeneous light color without color streaking or marbleizing despite being produced from the mixed color scrap materials.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method of recycling commingled scrap multi-component polymeric materials without sortation and in a manner to achieve in-situ compatibilization of different polymers present and produce recycled polymeric particulates without the need for a compatibilizing agent.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide solid state pulverized polymeric particulates that are suitable as powder feedstock for melt processing by blow molding, rotational molding, some extruding, spray coating and other powder feedstock-using melt processing techniques.
It is still a further object of the invention to produce articles of manufacture, including molded parts and coatings, made from the aforementioned solid state pulverized polymeric particulates.
It is still yet another object of the invention to provide a method of processing multi-component polymeric materials in a manner to achieve in-situ compatibilization of a mixture of two or more incompatible polymers and provide homogenous polymer blends having high notched izod impact strength and/or elongation.
The present invention provides in one aspect a method of making polymeric particulates (e.g. powder) wherein sorted or unsorted, commingled multi-component polymeric scrap material, is supplied to pulverizer screw means rotated to transport the material along the length thereof and in the solid state convert the material to pulverized particulates (e.g. powder) that are melt processable directly by conventional blow molding, rotational molding, extrusion, spray coating and other melt processing techniques requiring a powder feedstock. This avoids the need for and costs associated with flake pelletizing and pellet grinding operations heretofore required.
The solid state pulverized particulates also are melt processable by conventional molding, extruding, spray coating and the like to form articles of manufacture having a substantially homogenous color appearance without color streaking or marbleizing. This color homogeneity is achievable regardless of whether the particulates include mixed color polymeric material of the same or different composition. This avoids the need for the addition of pigments and/or compatibilizing agents to the feedstock and the need to paint the molded or extruded product to hide unpleasing colors and color streaking.
The present invention provides in another aspect a method of making polymeric particulates wherein polymeric material, such as unsorted multi-component polymeric scrap material, comprising two or more thermodynamically incompatible polymers is supplied to pulverizer screw means rotated to transport the material along the length thereof and subject the material to solid state pulverization and in-situ polymer compatibilization. In-situ polymer compatibilization is evidenced, in one instance, by the resulting pulverized polymeric particulates exhibiting a thermogram different from that of the precursor unpulverized material. For example, the pulverized particulates of the invention exhibit a melting peak and/or crystallization peak quite different from those of the unpulverized material. Moreover, molded articles produced from the pulverized particulates of the invention exhibit increased tensile strengths and lack of delamination upon breaking in mechanical testing, this being a further indication of in-situ polymer compatibilization.
In an important aspect of this invention, multicomponent plastic scrap of a configuration equivalent to that found in municipal solid waste is converted to polymeric particulates by solid state shear pulverization. This scrap has as the major component LDPE. A polymeric particulate formed from a waste stream of multicomponent polymeric film which has undergone solid state shear pulverization can be molded into articles which exhibit extraordinary notched izod impact strength, including notched izod strengths of at least 5.0 ft.-lb./in. and/or exceptional elongation.
In practicing the present invention, the multi-component polymeric scrap material can include thermoplastics, polymer blends, polymer alloys, thermosets, elastomers and other polymeric materials. Typically, the polymeric material is comminuted to flake form by grinding, chopping or shredding using conventional equipment prior to pulverization. The pulverization process uses as scrap feedstock a material that is in a physical form (e.g. comminuted flakes) commonly available from scrap collections and municipal recycling centers.
The polymeric material is only subjected to limited frictional heating generated during the initial stage of the pulverization operation by engagement with the rotating screws. That is, solid state shear pulverization of the polymeric material preferably is conducted without heating of the material by any external pulverizer barrel heating device. Temperature control of the polymeric material during the pulverization operation is thereby facilitated to reduce degradation of the polymers and dye materials used with the feedstock polymers. Energy consumption during the pulverization operation also is reduced.
The present invention provides in still another aspect a method of making an article of manufacture having a substantially homogenous color from mixed-color polymeric material, such as sorted or unsorted, commingled polymeric scrap material. In this embodiment of the invention, mixed-color polymeric material of the same or different composition is supplied to pulverizer screw means rotated to transport the polymeric material along the length thereof to subject the material to solid state pulverization to form pulverized particulates. The pulverized particulates are molded, extruded or otherwise melt processed to form a substantially homogeneously colored shape characterized by the absence of color streaking and marbleizing, despite the particulates originating from mixed-color polymeric material. Typically, the pulverized powder is processable to a substantially homogenous pastel color tone corresponding to a dominant color of a particular scrap component in the feedstock.
The present invention also provides solid state pulverized particulates produced from scrap polymeric material wherein the particulates are suitable as powder feedstock, without conventional melt pelletizing and pellet grinding, for direct melt processing to shape using blow molding, rotational molding, some extrusion, spray coating, and other powder feedstock-using techniques.
The present invention further provides solid state pulverized polymeric particulates comprising three or more otherwise thermodynamically incompatible polymers produced from commingled, unsorted polymeric scrap materials. The polymers are in-situ compatibilized by solid state shear pulverization as evidenced by one or more different thermogram characteristics between recycled particulates of the invention and unpulverized polymeric material. Typically, the solid state pulverized particulates exhibit enhanced reactivity as compared to the unpulverized polymeric material.
Moreover, the present invention provides solid state pulverized polymeric particulates that exhibit, pulverized and as-melt processed, a substantially homogenous color despite being pulverized from mixed-color scrap material.
Articles of manufacture and powder coatings produced from the solid state pulverized particulates of the present invention exhibit mechanical properties generally superior to those exhibited by like processed flake polymeric material of the same composition depending on the polymer components involved. Notched izod impact strength substantially greater than even that expected from a mixture of compatible polymers coupled with excellent elongation and melt flow properties are achieved. Importantly, they also exhibit a substantially homogeneous color characterized by the absence of color streaking or marbleizing.
The present invention is advantageous in that the pulverized particulates are suitable for direct use as powder feedstock for powder feedstock-using conventional melt processing techniques by elimination of pelletizing and consequent pellet grinding operations. Moreover, commingled scrap polymer materials, virgin polymeric materials and mixtures thereof can be processed in a manner to achieve in-situ compatibilization of different polymers in a once-through pulverization operation without the need for a compatibilizing agent and without sortation in the case of commingled scrap feedstock. The pulverized particulates may be mixed with fillers, reinforcing agents, flame retardants, antioxidants and other additives commonly used in the plastics industry if desired.
The present invention can provide a high value, low cost recycled particulates product, as well as products molded or otherwise melt processed therefrom, thereby increasing utilization of available plastic scrap.
The aforementioned objects and advantages will become more readily apparent from the following detailed description and drawings.

Solid state shear pulverization of multicomponent polymeric waste


A support structure stabilizes a position of a load measurement sensor by ensuring the rigidity of a support bracket supporting the sensor. The support structure supports the sensor, including an extension shaft portion extending from a sensor body, by each of attachment bracket and while the extension shaft portion is located at the lateral side of the sensor body, wherein each of the attachment brackets and includes an upright wall that is provided with an insertion hole into which the extension shaft portion is inserted when the sensor is supported, a bottom wall that intersects the upright wall and contacts the upright wall at one end in the seat width direction, and an upward protruding wall provided at a position contacting the bottom wall at the other end opposite the upright wall in the seat width direction of the bottom wall, intersecting the bottom wall, and facing the upright wall.

Disclosed herein is a support structure that supports a load measurement sensor, and particularly, a support structure that supports a load measurement sensor by a support bracket while an extension shaft portion provided in the load measurement sensor is located at the lateral side of a sensor body.
For the purpose of improving the safety or the comfortable sitting feeling of the passenger, there has been proposed a technique that controls the operation of a peripheral unit of a vehicle seat in response to the weight of the passenger sitting on the vehicle seat. In such a technique, a load measurement sensor is generally disposed below the vehicle seat on which the passenger sits in order to detect the weight of the passenger sitting on the vehicle seat.
As for the load measurement sensor arrangement position, the load measurement sensor is generally disposed below the vehicle seat. For example, there is known a vehicle seat in which the load measurement sensor is disposed between a slide rail that slides the vehicle seat in the front to back direction and a seat frame that constitutes the vehicle seat (Japanese Patent Document No. 4205028 B1, "the '028 Document").
As illustrated in FIG. 26, the '028 Document discloses a configuration in which a load measurement sensor 130 (which is described as a "load sensor" in the '028 Document) is attached to an upper position of an upper rail 112 (which is described as a "slider" in the '028 Document) sliding relative to a lower rail 111 (which is described as a "rail body" in the '028 Document) attached to a vehicle body floor and a seat frame 101 is disposed above the load measurement sensor 130. Furthermore, FIG. 26 is a partially perspective view illustrating a vehicle seat that employs a load measurement sensor support structure according to the related art.
Then, as illustrated in FIG. 27, a shaft portion 131 (which is described as a "male screw" in the '028 Document) is provided in order to fix the load measurement sensor 130 to the seat frame 101, and is disposed so that the axial direction of the shaft portion 131 becomes the perpendicular direction. FIG. 27 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the load measurement sensor support structure according to the related art.
In recent years, there has been a demand for a technique of decreasing a height of a vehicle seat in order to improve the convenience of the passenger when the passenger sits on the vehicle seat or to improve the design of the vehicle seat. However, in a case where the load measurement sensor 130 is attached by the above-described configuration, the seat frame 101 is disposed at a position that is high by the height of the load measurement sensor 130, and hence a problem arises in that the height of the vehicle seat increases.
In order to solve the above-described problems, there is proposed a technique in which the shaft portion supporting the load measurement sensor is disposed so that the axial direction thereof becomes the horizontal direction instead of the perpendicular direction (Japanese Patent Document No. 2010-42809 A, "the '809 Document"). In the '809 Document, the load measurement sensor (which is described as a "body weight detection sensor" in the '809 Document) is attached so that the axial direction thereof becomes the horizontal direction, and the load measurement sensor is disposed within the height range of the seat frame. For this reason, the height of the vehicle seat may be decreased compared to the technique of the '028 Document.

Load measurement sensor support structure


A system for determining the efficacy of a sterilization process and communicating that determination to a remote device. The system includes a sterilization sensor and a reader adapted to receive that sterilization sensor. The sterilization sensor has an indicator that undergoes a predetermined optical change when exposed to a sterilization process. The reader has an illumination source for illuminating the sterilization sensor, a color sensor for evaluating the condition of the illuminated sterilization sensor, and an interpretation circuit for interpreting the output of the color sensor to determine whether the optical change has taken place. The reader also has a communication circuit for communicating data from the interpretation circuit to the remote device. In the preferred embodiments, the sterilization sensor is disposable and the reader is reusable.

A reliable supply of sterile instruments and supplies is important to modem medical practice. Various types of apparatus are known for sterilizing reusable goods within a hospital setting. Among the best known is the steam autoclave, which uses high temperature and high pressure steam to render medical goods sterile. When used as a sterilizing gas, steam is fast and effective, but its use requires high temperatures. Goods that cannot withstand autoclaving temperatures can be sterilized with sterilizers using biocidal gases such as ethylene oxide or hydrogen peroxide. Some types of medical goods are also suited to being sterilized by a liquid bath.
Whatever the selected method and sterilizing agent, an important part of the process of providing sterile goods is verifying that conditions necessary for sterilizing are met. Two broad classes of indicators are typically used for such verification. The first class, the so-called biological indicators, includes devices that employ viable spores of particularly hardy stains of bacteria. After a sterilizing cycle, the biological indicator is placed in an environment conducive to bacterial growth. If no growth occurs, an effective cycle is presumed. The second class is the so-called chemical indicators; these devices include a chemical compound that undergoes some sort of change (e.g., color, physical or chemical state, etc.) when subjected to a set of pre-determined conditions of sterilization within a sterilizing chamber. If the change occurs in the indicator, the sterilization cycle is presumed effective.
One change chemical indicators can undergo is a change in state. An indicator can, for example, melt. Devices that incorporate such an indicator can be made useful for remote monitoring such that the indicator can be assessed at a short distance without the need for its visual inspection. Melting of the indicating substance can, for instance, permit a physical rearrangement of a magnetostrictive element within the indicator which can be detected remotely by well-known electronic techniques.
Remote monitoring is an advantage because it is typical to enclose medical goods within a package or wrapping prior to sterilization. For example, the surgical instruments desired for a particular procedure can be laid out on a tray in a convenient layout and wrapped as an assembly in material that is porous to the sterilizing gas but nonporous to bacteria. The wrapped tray can be sterilized and maintained as a wrapped assembly until delivered to the surgical suite. Often a chemical indicator is attached to the outside of the wrapped assembly, and a change in the indicator to show that the exterior was subjected to sterilizing conditions is taken as a proxy showing that instruments in the interior of the wrapped assembly have also been rendered sterile. It may be preferred, however, to assess the sterilization of the goods by direct measurement of the conditions within the enclosed packaging material. While it is possible to include another chemical indicator within the wrapped assembly, unless adapted for remote monitoring its condition may not be reliably known until the tray is unwrapped in the surgical suite. At that point, it is inconvenient to learn that the goods are not sterile. It is particularly inconvenient if nonsterile goods from a newly unwrapped tray are placed inadvertently within the sterile field before being noticed; in such case the process of preparing the suite for surgery may have to begin again.
Known indicators adapted for remote monitoring generally have the disadvantage of being capable of only a single use, and mechanical components contained in such monitors are substantially more expensive than standard indicators.

Electronic reader for sterilization monitors


A housing and interlock mechanism for a high current electrical switch, wherein the interlock mechanism precludes disruption of the circuit when the circuit is energized or under load. The interlock mechanism includes a lever arm for rotating a transfer gear to slidably desplace an elongated drive bar for simultaneously rotating an actuation gear for actuating the switch and an interlock gear for selectively engaging the plug.

The use of equipment including industrial processors requiring relatively high currents is becoming increasingly common. In the powering of such equipment, it is considered unsafe to allow a switch to be moved to the "on" position in the absence of a properly inserted plug. Attempting to insert or remove a plug from an energized receptacle, especially with a load connected to the plug, can result in arcing between the plug and receptacle with damage to the components as well as creating a substantially safety hazard to personnel. To prevent this occurrence, switches are often enclosed within a housing and commonly provided with some type of interlock mechanism.
These switch enclosures are often employed in environments requiring certain sanitary conditions such as food processing stations. To maintain the sterility of the food processing environment, the entire system must be periodically cleaned. In the cleaning process, the switch houses are subjected to substantial water pressure. However, the water pressure is not uniformly distributed about the housing and may often impact only parts of the housing. Therefore, if there are any recesses, or grooves in the housing, these may tend to accumulate matter and reduce the effective cleaning. Face mounted switch operating handles are particularly exposed to the environment and the cleaning process and may provide access for fluid penetration of the housing.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,298,701 to Sandor, discloses a high current switch operator mounted in a closed housing having a switch and a receptacle, wherein the housing includes an interlock mechanism to prevent operation of the switch to the ON position unless a plug is properly inserted in the receptacle. A face mounted handle is attached to a shaft which directly turns a gear (designated the second gear) which carries the interlocking components.
The Sandor interlocking components include a stepped recess in the second gear and a latch for engaging the recess when the handle is in the OFF position, a second recess in the second gear adjacent the first recess captures the latch and prevents further movement of the handle when the plug is not fully inserted. A first gear of equal size is coupled to the second gear and operates the switch when the handle is moved and a third gear is interposed between the first and second gears for ensuring concurrent rotation of the switch and the handle. In such a system of gears the handle directly turns the second gear that carries the recess, which recess rotates in synchronism with the handle, and since the first gear also rotates in synchronism with the handle the amount of force applied to the gears is the same and limited to that needed to rotate the switch.

Switch operator with interlock mechanism


The present invention relates to the efficient expression of HIV polypeptides in a variety of cell types, including, but not limited to, mammalian, insect, and plant cells. Synthetic expression cassettes encoding the HIV Gag-containing polypeptides are described, as are uses of the expression cassettes in applications including DNA immunization, generation of packaging cell lines, and production of Env-, tat- or Gag-containing proteins. The invention provides methods of producing Virus-Like Particles (VLPs), as well as, uses of the VLPs including, but not limited to, vehicles for the presentation of antigens and stimulation of immune response in subjects to whom the VLPs are administered.

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is recognized as one of the greatest health threats facing modern medicine. There is, as yet, no cure for this disease.
In 1983-1984, three groups independently identified the suspected etiological agent of AIDS. See, e.g., Barre-Sinoussi et al. (1983) Science 220:868-871; Montagnier et al., in Human T-Cell Leukemia Viruses (Gallo, Essex & Gross, eds., 1984); Vilmer et al. (1984) The Lancet 1:753; Popovic et al. (1984) Science 224:497-500; Levy et al. (1984) Science 225:840-842. These isolates were variously called lymphadenopathy-associated virus (LAV), human T-cell lymphotropic virus type III (HTLV-III), or AIDS-associated retrovirus (ARV). All of these isolates are strains of the same virus, and were later collectively named Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). With the isolation of a related AIDS-causing virus, the strains originally called HIV are now termed HIV-1 and the related virus is called HIV-2 See, e.g., Guyader et al. (1987) Nature 326:662-669; Brun-Vezinet et al. (1986) Science 233:343-346; Clavel et al. (1986) Nature 324:691-695.
A great deal of information has been gathered about the HIV virus, however, to date an effective vaccine has not been identified. Several targets for vaccine development have been examined including the env, Gag, pol and tat gene products encoded by HIV.
Haas, et al., (Current Biology 6 (3):315-324, 1996) suggested that selective codon usage by HIV-1 appeared to account for a substantial fraction of the inefficiency of viral protein synthesis. Andre, et al., (J. Virol. 72(2):1497-1503, 1998) described an increased immune response elicited by DNA vaccination employing a synthetic gp120 sequence with optimized codon usage. Schneider, et al., (J Virol. 71(7):4892-4903, 1997) discuss inactivation of inhibitory (or instability) elements (INS) located within the coding sequences of the Gag and Gag-protease coding sequences.
The Gag proteins of HIV-1 are necessary for the assembly of virus-like particles. HIV-1 Gag proteins are involved in many stages of the life cycle of the virus including, assembly, virion maturation after particle release, and early post-entry steps in virus replication. The roles of HIV-1 Gag proteins are numerous and complex (Freed, E. O., Virology 251:1-15, 1998).
Wolf, et al., (PCT International Application, WO 96/30523, published 3 Oct. 1996; European Patent Application, Publication No. 0 449 116 A1, published 2 Oct. 1991) have described the use of altered pr55 Gag of HIV-1 to act as a non-infectious retroviral-like particulate carrier, in particular, for the presentation of immunologically important epitopes. Wang, et al., (Virology 200:524-534, 1994) describe a system to study assembly of HIV Gag-β-galactosidase fusion proteins into virions. They describe the construction of sequences encoding HIV Gag-β-galactosidase fusion proteins, the expression of such sequences in the presence of HIV Gag proteins, and assembly of these proteins into virus particles.
Recently, Shiver, et al., (PCT International Application, WO 98/34640, published 13 Aug. 1998) described altering HIV-1 (CAM1) Gag coding sequences to produce synthetic DNA molecules encoding HIV Gag and modifications of HIV Gag. The codons of the synthetic molecules were codons preferred by a projected host cell.
The envelope protein of HIV-1 is a glycoprotein of about 160 kD (gp160). During virus infection of the host cell, gp160 is cleaved by host cell proteases to form gp120 and the integral membrane protein, gp41. The gp41 portion is anchored in (and spans) the membrane bilayer of virion, while the gp120 segment protrudes into the surrounding environment. As there is no covalent attachment between gp120 and gp41, free gp120 is released from the surface of virions and infected cells.
Haas, et al., (Current Biology 6(3):315-324, 1996) suggested that selective codon usage by HIV-1 appeared to account for a substantial fraction of the inefficiency of viral protein synthesis. Andre, et al., (J. Virol. 72(2):1497-1503, 1998) described an increased immune response elicited by DNA vaccination employing a synthetic gp120 sequence with optimized codon usage.

Expression of HIV polypeptides and production of virus-like particles


A data presentation device used in agriculture and advertising. The inventive data presentation device comprises a container provided with a pillar or post. The container is embodied in the form of a reusable blister package which comprises a base and a flanged cap.

A blister pack is universally known (RU 2173291 C2) A blister pack comprises a base and a cap provided with a flange. A stored article is placed under the cap, which cap is attached to the base by the flange. The cap is generally transparent. Thus a packed article is readily visible. Such blister packs can be used for storing seeds. However they cannot be used for presenting information about sown seeds.
A device for presenting information about sown plant seeds is shown in GB-A-2321445. This device comprises a cylindrical container on the top of a post which can be pushed into the ground. The container is provided with a dome which has a clamp for suspending a plaque. The plaque, secured in the clamp, is disposed within the container where it is not exposed to the environment. The container can be transparent or opaque. An opaque container is used to protect the information applied on the plaque from sun rays.
The structure of this device is difficult to fabricate, because it is difficult to adapt such a structure to streamlined manufacture. The device comprises three parts: a container provided with a post, a plug and a plaque. Consequently, such devices are relatively expensive. To use the device, an inscription must be made on the plaque. In the case of numerous plantings, such inscription becomes a labour-consuming operation. Further, inscriptions of this kind are abbreviated so that some information is lost.
The object of at least preferred embodiments of the invention is to provide a device for presenting information suitable to perform the following functions:                to provide information about the sown plant seeds, or about chemicals (fertilizers, pest control agents) used to treat the soil or plants;        to provide advertising information;        to serve as a pack for plant seeds or chemicals.

Device for presenting information about plant materials


A semiconductor device includes a wiring substrate. The wiring substrate includes a first surface, a second surface located at an opposite side of the first surface, a cavity formed in the first surface, an electrode pad formed on the first surface surrounding the cavity, and a high frequency wire exposed on the first surface. A semiconductor element is accommodated in the cavity. A bonding wire connects the semiconductor element and the electrode pad. A first protection film is arranged on the first surface of the wiring substrate to cover the first surface, the semiconductor element, the electrode pad, the bonding wire, and the high frequency wire.

A semiconductor device includes a wiring substrate on which semiconductor elements are mounted. When the semiconductor element (i.e., semiconductor chip) includes a circuit for a high frequency such as the milliwave band, an antenna is connected to the high frequency circuit. The antenna is connected to the semiconductor element by a bonding wire. Japanese Laid-Out Patent Publication No. 2011-114192 describes one example of a wiring substrate including an antenna. In the wiring substrate, the semiconductor element and the bonding wire are covered by a recessed cap which is adhered to the wiring substrate.


Features are disclosed for transferring speech recognition workloads between pooled execution resources. For example, various parts of an automatic speech recognition engine may be implemented by various pools of servers. Servers in a speech recognition pool may explore a plurality of paths in a graph to find the path that best matches an utterance. A set of active nodes comprising the last node explored in each path may be transferred between servers in the pool depending on resource availability at each server. A history of nodes or arcs traversed in each path may be maintained by a separate pool of history servers, and used to generate text corresponding to the path identified as the best match by the speech recognition servers.

Automatic speech recognition ("ASR") systems convert speech into text. As used herein, the term "speech recognition" refers to the process of converting a speech (audio) signal to a sequence of words or a representation thereof (text). Speech recognition applications that have emerged over the last few years include voice dialing (e.g., "Call home"), call routing (e.g., "I would like to make a collect call"), simple data entry (e.g., entering a credit card number), preparation of structured documents (e.g., a radiology report), and content-based spoken audio searching (e.g., finding a podcast where particular words were spoken).
In converting audio to text, ASR systems may employ models, such as an acoustic model and a language model. The acoustic model may be used to convert speech into a sequence of phonemes most likely spoken by a user. A language model may be used to find the words that most likely correspond to the phonemes. In some applications, the acoustic model and language model may be used together to transcribe speech.
An ASR system may employ an ASR engine to recognize speech. The ASR engine may perform a search among the possible utterances that may be spoken by using models, such as an acoustic model and a language model. In performing the search, the ASR engine may limit its search to some subset of all the possible utterances that may be spoken to reduce the amount of time and computational resources needed to perform the speech recognition.
Early ASR systems were limited in that they had a small vocabulary, could recognize only discrete words, were slow, and were less accurate. For example, early ASR systems may recognize only digits or require the user to pause between speaking each word. As technology progressed, ASR systems were developed that are described as large-vocabulary, continuous speech recognition or LVCSR. LVCSR systems provided improvements over the early systems, including larger vocabularies, the ability to recognize continuous speech, faster recognition, and better accuracy. For example, LVCSR systems may allow for applications such as the dictation of documents. As the technology has improved and as computers have become more powerful, LVCSR systems have been able to handle larger and larger vocabularies and increase accuracy and speed.
As LVCSR systems increase in size, the ASR engine performing the search may have a more complicated task and may require a significant amount of computing resources and time to perform the search. Certain devices, such as smartphones, tablet computers, and others, may lack the computing resources necessary to perform LVCSR or other types of ASR. It may also be inconvenient or inefficient to provide the hardware or software necessary for ASR on certain devices. As an alternative to implementing ASR directly on unsuitable devices, an ASR engine may be hosted on a server computer that is accessible via a network. Various client devices may transmit audio data over the network to the server, which may recognize any speech therein and transmit corresponding text back to the client devices. This arrangement may enable ASR functionality to be provided on otherwise unsuitable devices despite their limitations.
As mentioned above, ASR may be computationally intensive. However, the amount of computational resources required for ASR may also vary substantially depending on the content of the speech that is being recognized. For example, certain words or phrases may require substantially more resources to recognize than others. Accordingly, a server with sufficient resources to perform ASR on the most complex parts of an audio stream will be underutilized when working on less complex parts. To avoid underutilization, particularly in hosted environments of the sort described above, a single server may be used to perform ASR on several audio streams at once. However, when one or more of the streams becomes too complex, the server will be overloaded and unable to keep up. Of course, overloading may be avoided by adding additional servers and configuring each one to handle fewer audio streams, but then many of the servers will end up being underutilized once again.
Additional background information on ASR systems may be found in L. R. Rabiner and B. H. Juang, Fundamentals of Speech Recognition, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliff, N.J., 1993; F. Jelinek, Statistical Methods for Speech Recognition, MIT Press, 1997; X. Huang, A. Acero, H.-W. Hon. Spoken Language Processing, Prentice Hall, 2001; D. Jurafsky and J. Martin, Speech and Language Processing (2nd edition), Prentice Hall, 2008; and M. Gales and S. Young, The Application of Hidden Markov Models in Speech Recognition, Now Publishers Inc., 2008; which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

Load balancing for automatic speech recognition


An empty block table is constructed by 64 words.times.8 bits and has 512 memory positions 000H(A0) to IFFH(A511) one-to-one corresponding to 512 blocks BL0 to BL511 within a flash memory FMi. Empty data [a] of 1 bit is stored to each memory position (Aj). This empty data has value "1" when a block BLj corresponding to this memory position (Aj) is in an empty state at present. The empty data also has value "0" when no block BLj corresponding to this memory position (Aj) is in the empty state at present (when data are included in this block).

The present invention relates to a memory apparatus including a semiconductor memory constructed such that memory data are batch-erased in a block unit.
Recently, a flash memory (flash EEPROM) has been noticed as a semiconductor memory for replacement of with a magnetic memory such as a hard disk, a floppy disk, etc. The flash memory is a nonvolatile semiconductor memory in which power consumption is small and data can be electrically rewritten. Further, the flash memory is light in weight and is compact and has a preferable earthquake proof property. Accordingly, usage of the flash memory to a portable device, etc. is enlarged.
For example, a memory array within a chip of the flash memory is divided into plural memory blocks such as 512 memory blocks. Each block is divided into plural pages such as 16 pages or sectors. Normally, programming (write-in) and reading-out are performed in a page unit and an erasing operation is performed in a block unit.
In general, a dedicated controller for only the flash memory is used in a computer system using the flash memory in an external memory unit. A host computer (e.g., a personal computer) gives writing and reading commands to this controller. The controller directly controls writing and reading operations of data with respect to the flash memory by receiving the commands from the host computer. Further, the controller performs a memory managing operation such as data rewriting every block and the batch erasure, etc.
When such a memory administration operation is performed, the controller must be able to know blocks (in use) including memory data and blocks (empty blocks in an empty state) including no memory data within each flash memory at any time. Therefore, an address conversion table for registering blocks used at present and an empty block table for registering empty blocks in an empty state at present are formed within a RAM (generally SRAM) separately arranged from the flash memory. The controller refers to or searches for these tables every time writing commands are transmitted from the host computer.
When a memory region within the flash memory is divided into 512 blocks as mentioned above in the empty block table in the conventional flash memory system, 512 address data storing positions (address data storing positions) are formed in this empty block table. Address data of 9 bits for designating a memory position (physical address) of one empty block in an empty state within this flash memory is stored every address data storing position.
An empty block registered in this table to be used most early is designated by a read pointer. The controller refers to the read pointer when an empty block is required to write new data, etc. Thus, since the read pointer designates an address data storing position, the controller reads address data stored to this address data storing position and gets access to the empty block by this read address data.
When the address data is thus read out of the address data storing position, the read pointer increments a pointer value by one and designates the next address data storing position. Data (address data) in address data storing positions undesignated by the read pointer may be erased immediately after the address data have been read. Otherwise, these data (address data) may be held until the next new data (address data) are stored (registered).
The controller refers to a write pointer when the used block is changed to an empty block in an empty state by the batch erasure. Thereafter, the write pointer increments a pointer value by one and designates the next address data storing position.
The conventional empty block table mentioned above requires a memory capacity (512.times.9 bits) obtained by multiplying the total number (512 in the above example) of address data storing positions K by a bit number (9 bits in the above example) of block address data with respect to one flash memory. The number of address data storing positions equal to the total block number (512) is set within this table since all the blocks can simultaneously attain empty states in a certain case.
In the actual flash memory system, many (e.g., 10) flash memories are connected to the same bus and one controller generally controls operations of these flash memories. The number of empty block tables corresponding to the total number of flash memories is set within a table memory (SRAM).
In the conventional system, the memory capacity (512.times.9 bits per one table) of the above-mentioned empty block tables is large so that a large-scale expensive table memory (SRAM) is required. Accordingly, it is difficult to construct the controller and the table memory (SRAM) by one chip, which becomes one factor limiting a table managing function and system performance.

Memory apparatus and memory control method


A spark plug, in particular for use in internal combustion engines, includes a spark plug casing and a ground electrode carrier casing. The ground electrode carrier casing has at least two ground electrode carrier casing portions having mutually different materials and/or the ground electrode carrier casing is of a different material from the spark plug casing.

The present invention concerns a spark plug, in particular for use in internal combustion engines, comprising a spark plug casing and a ground electrode carrier casing. The invention also concerns a process for the production of such a spark plug.
The spark plugs which are known in the state of the art have a ground electrode carrier casing with which the spark plug is inserted, for example, into the cylinder head of an internal combustion engine. In most cases, the ground electrode carrier casing is provided at its outside surface with a screwthread with which the spark plug can be screwed into the cylinder head. However, spark plugs with smooth cylindrical ground electrode carrier casings are also known, and these spark plugs are clamped into the cylinder head or are fixed thereto, for example, by a bayonet fixing. One or more ground electrodes are provided at the combustion chamber end of the ground electrode carrier casing. The ground electrode carrier casing itself is made in one piece with the rest of the spark plug casing, or is welded thereto by resistance welding methods. In the case of the spark plugs known in the state of the art, the combustion chamber end of the ground electrode carrier casing frequently involves problems with the extremely high temperatures there. The situation repeatedly involves hot corrosion in the region of the ground electrode carrier casing and thus gives rise to adverse impairment or destruction of the spark plug.
In the state of the art shown in FIG. 1, the spark plug has an insulator body 1 and a spark plug casing 2 enclosing the body 1. The ground electrode carrier casing 3 is generally connected integrally or by resistance welding to the spark plug casing 2. In the commercially available standard spark plug shown in FIG. 1, the ground electrode carrier casing 3 carries the screwthread 9 with which the spark plug is screwed, for example, into the cylinder head of an internal combustion engine. Arranged at the combustion chamber end 10 of the ground electrode carrier casing 3, which is located at the combustion chamber side or which faces towards the combustion chamber, is a hook electrode 4 serving as the ground electrode. Arranged to oppose the end of the hook electrode 4, the central electrode 5 projects out the insulator body 1. The connecting contact 7 is provided for connecting the central electrode 5, which is guided in the insulator body 1, to an ignition plug (not shown).

Spark plug including ground elcetrode carrier casing


The present invention relates to new crystalline salt forms of flibanserine which have valuable pharmacological properties, to a process for their manufacture, to pharmaceutical formulations containing them and to their use as medicament.

The compound 1-[2-(4-(3-trifluoro-methyl-phenyl)piperazin-1-yl)ethyl]-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzimidazol-2-one is known EP 0 526 434 B1 and has the following chemical structure, depicted below as Formula (I)
Furthermore the free base of this compound is known from EP 1 414 816 B1 in its polymorph B form, as well as a process for its manufacture.
The above mentioned patents further disclose the use of this compound for the treatment of different diseases inter alia for the treatment of HSDD (Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder).


The present invention relates to an electronic device for driving at least a first channel and a second channel of light emitting diodes. The electronic device includes driving means having a first and a second driving portion for driving the first and the second channel of light emitting diodes separately, and configuration means for providing configurability of the driving means for using the driving means at least partially in a shared manner for more than one channel of light emitting diodes.

Light emitting devices, like light emitting diodes (LED) are becoming more and more popular to be used as substitutes for conventional light sources. The driving circuits used for the light emitting devices are pushed to increasing levels of integration. This aims to integrate all electronic components like power control, power delivery, microprocessor units for color control, sensor readout hardware, protocols for wired and wireless communication etc. Up to date applications for LEDs require a wide variety of flavors ranging from phosphor-converted white to RGB or RGBA. Multi-color arrangements require different independent channels in order to set amplitudes and pulse width modulated brightness levels independently for each color. Control of brightness and color is carried out by integrated NMOS or PMOS transistors (i.e. N-type and P-type metal oxide silicon transistors) being suitable to withstand high currents and high power levels. The transistors are used as switching devices or as linear devices to control the current through the LEDs. Accordingly, the chip size consumed by those integrated switches is considerably high. This results in a waist of unused functionality and chip area, if not all channels are used, or if the power rating limitation of one channel is exceeded by the application requirement.

Electronic device for driving LED strings


In the display device which is used in a miniaturized portable equipment, when a drive circuit is also connected on the same substrate as pixels, an input signal of low voltage has a level thereof shifted even when the threshold value is large or fluctuated. The display device includes pixel electrodes, switching elements which supply video signals to the pixel electrodes, and a drive circuit which supplies the video signals to the switching elements on the same substrate, wherein the drive circuit includes a level shift circuit, the level shift circuit includes a transistor. In a state that the transistor assumes an ON state, when an input signal is inputted to a source terminal and the input signal is at a low voltage level, a drain terminal assumes a low voltage level. Further, even when the input signal is at a high voltage level equal to or lower than a threshold value, the drain terminal outputs a voltage equal to or more than the threshold value as a high level voltage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an active-matrix-type display device, and more particularly to a drive-circuit-integral type display device which forms a drive circuit on the same substrate as a display region.
2. Description of the Related Art
A TFT (Thin Film Transistor) type liquid crystal display device which includes a switching element in a pixel portion has been popularly used as a display device of a personal computer or the like. Further, the TFT-type display device is also used as a display device of a personal computer or the like. The display device used in the portable device is required to be further miniaturized and to exhibit the further reduction of power consumption compared to a conventional liquid crystal display device.
As the display device which possesses the structure effective for the miniaturization, there has been known a so-called drive-circuit integral type display device which also forms a drive circuit which supplies signals to a pixel portion.
In incorporating the circuit in the display device, there arises a drawback that a voltage level of an inner circuit and a voltage level of an input signal from an external device differ from each other. To overcome this drawback, a level shift circuit which converts a voltage level is used.
JP-A-2003-302946 describes a level shift circuit which is used in a drive-circuit integral type display device.


A multilayer hollow fiber body useful, for example, in a blood oxygenator. The multilayer hollow fiber body comprises a single hollow fiber mat arranged in the form of a body comprising a plurality of hollow fiber plies. The mat comprises a plurality of generally parallel hollow fibers disposed at regular intervals, and a plurality of connecting fibers holding the connecting fibers. The mat is repeatedly folded over on itself along fold lines, each of which is at an oblique angle to the hollow fibers, to form a multilayer hollow fiber body in which the hollow fibers of any ply of the multilayer hollow fiber body are disposed so as to cross the hollow fibers of an adjacent successive ply of the multilayer hollow fiber body. Also disclosed is a method of making the multilayer hollow fiber body.

In the field of membrane blood oxygenators employing a multiplicity of porous hollow fibers, it has long been recognized that gas transfer between the lumens of the hollow fibers and the blood circulating outside the fibers is optimized when the fibers of adjacent layers cross one another. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,794,468 (Leonard) discloses winding a single porous hollow fiber around a core in such a way that the hollow fiber along one layer is generally parallel to itself but disposed at an angle to the hollow fiber of the immediately adjacent layers. This provides flow channels for fluid on the outside of the hollow fibers having low resistance and desirable flow characteristics without the use of spacers between the layers, which would undesirably increase the prime volume of the resulting product and surface area that blood contacts.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,940,617 and 5,143,312 (Baurmeister '617 and '312) disclose forming a structure comprising two superimposed hollow fiber mats that are then spirally wound to form a multilayer hollow fiber body. Each mat comprises a plurality of generally parallel hollow fibers that are held by solid transverse fibers. The hollow fibers of the two superimposed mats are disposed at an equal but opposite angle (other than perpendicular) to the longitudinal direction of the mat. The result is that the hollow fibers of adjacent layers cross one another to form flow channels without the use of spacers. While the concept of employing a mat has certain manufacturing advantages, one problem with the Baurmeister method and product is that it requires the use of two fiber mats in order to accomplish the result of crossing the hollow fibers of adjacent layers. The mats disclosed in the Baurmeister patents are available from Akzo Nobel Faser AG, Wuppertal, Germany.
An additional restriction or limitation of the prior systems discussed above is that they require the hollow fiber structure to extend completely around a core or otherwise form an unbroken wound structure.

Multilayer hollow fiber body and method of making


Embodiments of the disclosure are drawn to apparatuses and methods for a tunable digital power amplifier (DPA). The tunable DPA may be coupled to a reconfigurable capacitor to form a frequency tunable DPA. The capacitance of the reconfigurable capacitor may be adjusted to optimize the DPA to operate at a desired frequency band. The single tunable DPA may operate over a wide range of frequencies.

This disclosure relates generally to power amplifiers. More specifically, this disclosure relates to digital power amplifiers. Power amplifiers (PA) used in wireless communication transmission must meet stringent linearity and noise requirements in order to leverage the limited spectrum available. Fragmentation of the limited spectrum requires PAs that can operate over multiple narrowband channels across a wide bandwidth. A prior solution to this problem are PAs that operate over a wide bandwidth, but performance, such as peak power, must be sacrificed to ensure a flat, broadband response of the PA. Another prior solution included providing a circuit with multiple PAs, with each PA optimized for a different frequency band, and a user could switch between the PAs to select the desired frequency band. However, this solution requires many components, large layout area, and the optimization of several PAs.

Apparatuses and methods for tunable digital power amplifiers


Substantially aqueous-free, enamel protectant and repair brushing gels containing: stannous fluoride, calcium and a substantivity agent comprising: an emulsion of polydimethylsiloxane in a nonionic surfactant, wherein substantivity of said stannous fluoride and calcium into biofilm present on enamel is enhanced through calcium binding shifting from bidentate to monodentate in the presence of stannous fluoride; and said brushing gels have substantially improved, enamel protectant factor (EPF) and enamel repair factor (ERF) values compared to fluoride brushing treatments with comparable or higher fluoride levels.

The use of fluoride in anticaries drug products, marketed in the U.S., is carried out under the guidance of the FDA's Fluoride Monograph, 21 CFR 355.10 (revised Apr. 1, 2012).
TABLE 1Concentration and Dosage of Stannous Fluoride in Dentifrice/Rinse/Gelproducts according to the Federal Register 21 CFR 355.10DentifricesDentifrices containing 850 to 1,150 ppm theoretical totalfluorine in a gel or paste dosage form.Stannous fluoride 0.351 to 0.474% with an availablefluoride ion concentration = 700 ppm for productscontaining abrasives other than calcium pyrophosphate.Stannous fluoride 0.351 to 0.474% with an availablefluoride ion concentration = 290 ppm for productscontaining the abrasive calcium pyrophosphate.PreventiveStannous fluoride 0.4% in an anhydrous glycerin gel,treatmentmade from anhydrous glycerin and the addition ofgelsuitable thickening agents to adjust viscosity.Treatment rinseStannous fluoride concentrate marketed in a stable formand containing adequate directions for mixing withwater immediately before using to result in a 0.1%aqueous solution.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Enamel protectant and repair brushing gels


A particle detector includes: a flow cell having two chambers (A) and (B) communicating with each other via a through-hole, the chamber (A) having an inlet for a sheath liquid and the chamber (B) having an outlet for a waste liquid; a sheath liquid supplier; a nozzle for ejecting a particle-containing specimen with a tip portion of the nozzle being disposed at an appropriate position in the chamber (A), the nozzle being disposed coaxially with the flow cell and movable in an axial direction; an air cylinder for reciprocating the nozzle in the axial direction so as to switch between a sheath flow state for allowing the specimen and the sheath liquid to flow through the through-hole and a non sheath flow state for allowing only the specimen to flow through the through-hole; and a pair of electrodes for detecting a particle in the specimen when the specimen passes through the through-hole. Also, a particle analyzing apparatus including the particle detector is disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a particle detector and a particle analyzing apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to an improved particle detector for detecting the number, the size, and the like of particles in a particle-containing specimen by means of a flow cell and to an improved particle analyzing apparatus for analyzing particles in a particle-containing specimen by means of a flow cell.
2. Description of the Related Arts
Flow cells for analyzing particles in a sample are disclosed, for example, in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application (Kokai) Nos. Sho 60(1985)-262041 and Sho 61(1986)35333.
In analyzing particles contained in a whole blood sample by means of a known flow cell, three kinds of diluted specimen, namely, a specimen for measuring leukocytes, a specimen for measuring erythrocytes plus platelets, and a specimen for measuring hemoglobin, are prepared out of the whole blood sample so as to measure the number of leukocytes, the number of erythrocytes plus the number of platelets, and the concentration of hemoglobin, respectively in detecting sections each fabricated exclusively for measuring one of the above three kinds of specimen.
The dilution ratio of these three kinds of diluted specimen is, in the case of measuring leukocytes, about 200 to 500 times when a sheath flow is not used, and is about several to 50 times when a sheath flow is used. In the case of erythrocytes plus platelets, the dilution ratio is about 25000 to 50000 times when a sheath flow is not used, and is about 200 to 1000 times when a sheath flow is used. For measuring hemoglobin, the dilution ratio is about 200 to 500 times.
Here, a lot of blood will be required if a specimen is to be diluted in a ratio of about several to 50 times. On the other hand, two diluting steps will be required if a specimen is to be diluted in a ratio of about 25000 to 50000 times.
The two purposes, namely, the reduction of the amount of blood and the simplification of the diluting steps cannot be achieved at a time in a conventional apparatus if the measurement of leukocytes and the measurement of erythrocytes plus platelets are to be carried out in a single detecting section, so that one of these measurements has to be sacrificed. Therefore, two detecting sections are generally provided for carrying out the measurements in the respective detecting sections. This, however, leads to complication of the apparatus and increase in the costs.

Particle detector and particle analyzing apparatus


Enabling creation of control flow patterns in a workflow via continuations. Each continuation represents an activity execution context for an activity executing in the workflow by a workflow engine virtualizing a managed execution environment. Responsive to a request, the activity execution context is recreated via the continuation and the activity is executed within the recreated context.

Existing systems attempt to model business processes or other real-world interactions between autonomous agents via high-level workflows. However, the workflows may vary in a variety of dimensions such as (a) execution and modeling complexity, (b) knowledge of the structure of the flow at design time, (c) statically defined or ad-hoc/dynamic, (d) ease of authoring and editing the flow at various points in its lifecycle, and (e) weak or strong association of business logic with the core workflow process. Existing workflow models fail to accommodate all these factors.
Further, most existing workflow models are based on either language-based approaches (e.g., BPEL4WS, XLANG/S, and WSFL) or application-based approaches. Language based approaches are high-level workflow languages with a closed set of pre-defined constructs which help model the workflow process to the user/programmer. The workflow languages carry all of the semantic information for the closed set of constructs to enable the user to build a workflow model. However, the languages are not extensible by the developers and represent a closed set of primitives that constitute the workflow model. The languages are tied to the language compiler shipped by the workflow system vendor. Only the workflow system product vendor may extend the model by extending the language with a new set of constructs in a future version of the product. This often requires upgrading the compiler associated with the language. In addition, the languages usually do not declaratively expose or define functions or operations that can be readily and efficiently used by other programs.
Application based approaches are applications that have the workflow capabilities within the application to solve a domain specific problem. These applications are not truly extensible nor do they have a programmable model.

Framework for modeling continuations in workflows