The method for producing dimensionally stable, low-shrinkage, chemically modified industrial polyester yarns by melt spinning at speeds of 1000 to 4000 m/min. utilizes a copolymer containing at least 85 percent by weight polyethylene terephthalate units and comonomers. During polyester production to lower the thermal shrinkage one or more conformationally fixed linear difunctional comonomers are added to the polymer melt. These difunctional comonomers have the general formula, X'--R--X, where R is an unsaturated linear alkyl group having from three to ten carbon atoms or a cycloalkyl or aromatic group with 6 or more carbon atoms, and X and X' are, independently, OR' or COOR", and R'=H or an alkyl group and, independently, R" is also H or an alkyl group.

The production of shrink-resistant polyester threads, which also have high tensile strength and are stretch-resistant for industrial purposes, is known. Thus, GB-A-1 325 297 describes a method for spinning, stretching and thermofixing in one work cycle. For reduction of the shrinkage up to 1% by weight branching components are incorporated besides thermal fixing. The branching components not only prevent stretching of the threads, but also reduce the strength and the modulus and thus the dimensional stability. In this method, there results a thermal shrinkage of more than 7% , measured at 160.degree. C., with a maximum breaking strength of 80 cN/tex with a titer of approximately 1100 dtex. However, a yarn with such a high tendency toward shrinkage is no longer sufficient for the requirements for the dimensional stability of a tire. In this case, breaking strength, thermal shrinkage and initial modulus of elasticity (Young's modulus of elasticity) must be coordinated with one another within determined limits.
But another method is known for production of chemically modified, quick spun threads (DE-B-1266992). However, in this method only the dyeing properties are characterized by means of the addition of chain branching agents or cross-linking agents such as polyalcohols in quantities of 0.10 to 1.0 moles %.
It has now been found that the dimensional stability of a tire can be expressed by means of a characteristic number if the essential parameters, such as breaking elongation or strength (Ft), initial modulus of elasticity (Mo) and thermal shrinkage (TS), are kept within determined limits. The following characteristic number is suggested for the evaluation of a dimensionally stable yarn with low shrinkage and a high initial modulus of elasticity: ##EQU1##
It has not been possible thus far to achieve a low shrinkage at a given reference elongation or strength (Ft) and a high initial modulus of elasticity through mechanical/thermal means.


The present invention provides a multi-stepped accessory holder for an appliance having accessories that have dissimilar inner diameter connections, such as accessories with a male and/or a female ends. The female end of an accessory has a first inner diameter, and the male end of an accessory has a second inner diameter. The accessory holder includes a base having a first perimeter, and an upper portion mounted atop the base that has a second perimeter. The second perimeter of the upper portion is smaller than the first perimeter of the base. When the female end of an accessory is placed upon the accessory holder, the female end engages the first perimeter of the base. If it is desired that an accessory's male end be placed upon the holder, the male end engages the second perimeter of the accessory holder's upper portion.

The present invention relates generally to an accessory holder for holding or storing the accessories of an appliance, and more particularly to an accessory holder for holding the accessories of a wet/dry vacuum.
Appliances, such as wet/dry vacuums may include holders for storing accessories, such as brushes, crevice tools, extension wands, hoses, end fitting, etc. Because typical accessories of a wet/dry vacuum are normally connected by inserting one end of the accessory into the open end of another wet/dry vacuum accessory, or by inserting one end of the accessory into a connection of the wet/dry vacuum itself, the accessories of a wet/dry vacuum typically have both a male and a female end. Although the typical wet/dry vacuum accessory has both a male and a female end, the accessory holders are normally designed to accept only the male or female end of the appliance. Normally, tapered friction fits on a plug on the wet/dry vacuum are used to create a holder for the accessory. For example, a wand accessory having a female end with a large inner diameter is forced upon the tapered plug style accessory holder, so that the wand engages the tapered plug in order to secure the wand on the holder.
A user's determination of which end of the accessory is capable of being inserted onto a holder is usually determined by trial and error; resulting in the user having to switch between the respective ends of the accessory before the user can place the accessory onto the holder. Moreover, in order to accommodate accessories that may have male or female connections at both ends, different accessory holders designed to hold only those specific accessories are sometimes incorporated into the appliance.
The present invention is directed to overcoming, or at least reducing the effects of, one or more of the problems set forth above.

Multi-stepped appliance accessory holder


This invention relates to mutants or variants of Bacillus thuringiensis producing high amounts of active delta-endotoxins. The delta-endotoxins produced by the mutant or variant B. thuringiensis will have an activity directed towards the same pest insects as its parent B. thuringiensis delta-endotoxins, such as against lepidopterans (mutants from B. thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki or subsp. aizawai), dipterans (mutants from B. thuringiensis subsp. israelensis) or coleopterans (mutants from B. thuringiensis subsp. tenebrionis).

Commercial preparations of Bacillus thuringiensis are used worldwide for biological control of pest insects. The advantages of these bacterial insecticides are that they are highly selective for a very limited range of target insects and are biodegradable.
Commercial preparations of Bacillus thuringiensis can be applied right up to the time of harvest with no adverse effects.
Bacillus thuringiensis is a rodshaped, aerobic, spore forming bacterium uniquely characterized by the production during the sporulation process of one or more inclusions, referred to as parasporal crystals. These crystals are composed of high molecular weight proteins, referred to as delta-endotoxins. The delta-endotoxins are the active ingredient in available commercial preparations of Bacillus thuringiensis.
Many B. thuringiensis strains with different insect host spectra have been identified. They are classified into different subspecies based on their flagellar antigens. Of particular interest is Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies kurstaki and subspecies aizawai used for the control of lepidopteran pest insects, Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies israelensis used for the control of dipteran pest insects and Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies tenebrionis used for the control of coleopteran pest insects.
The first isolation of a coleopteran toxic Bacillus thuringiensis was reported in 1983 (A. Krieg et al., Z.and.Ent. 96, 500-508, European Patent Publication EP 0149162 A2).
The isolate, which was designated Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. tenebrionis, has been deposited with the German Collection of Microorganisms under accession number DSM 2803. Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. tenebrionis was isolated in 1982 from a dead pupa of the mealworm, Tenebrio molitor (Tenebrionidae, Coleoptera). The strain produces within each cell one spore and one or more insecticidal parasporal crystals which are of flat platelike form with an edge length of about 0.8 .mu.m to 1.5 .mu.m. It belongs to serotype H8a,8b and pathotype C of Bacillus thuringiensis (Krieg et al., System.Appl.Microbiol. 9, 138-141, 1987, U.S. Pat. No. 4,766,203, 1988).
It is only toxic against certain leaf eating beetle larvae (Chrysomelidae), but ineffective against caterpillars (Lepidoptera), mosquitoes (Diptera) or other insects.
Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. tenebrionis has been shown to be an effective control agent for the colorado potato beetle larvae. After uptake of crystals and spores from Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. tenebrionis or isolated crystals larvae, and to a certain extent adults, of the colorado potato beetle (Leotinotarsa decemlineata) stop feeding. Larval stages L1-L3 die within 1-3 days (Schnetter et al., in "Fundamental & applied aspects of invertebrate pathology", eds. R.A. Samson et al., Proceedings of the 4th Int. colloquium of Invertebrate Pathology, p. 555, 1986).
It has recently been shown that Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. tenebrionis in addition to the coleopteran active crystal also produces another parasporal crystal that is spindle-, speroidal or plateshaped (A.M. Huger & A. Krieg, J.Appl.Ent. 108, 490-497, 1989). The activity of the second crystal is not yet known.
Four commercial products of Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. tenebrionis have been developed for the control of coleopteran pests. NOVODOR.RTM. from Novo Nordisk A/S, TRIDENT.RTM. from Sandoz, and DiTerra.RTM. from Abbott Laboratories Inc., and Foil.RTM. from Ecogen.
The isolation of another coleopteran toxic Bacillus thuringiensis strain was reported in 1986 (Hernnstadt et al. Bio/Technology vol. 4, 305-308, 1986, U.S. Pat. No. 4,764,372, 1988). This strain, designated "Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. san diego", M7, has been deposited at the Northern Regional Research Laboratory, USA under accession number NRRL B-15939. A commercial product based on "Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. san diego" has been developed by Mycogen Corp.
Comparative studies of Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. tenebrionis, DSM 2803 and "Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. san diego", NRRL-B 15939 including phenotypic characterization of the vegetative cells, characterization of the toxic parasporal crystal and analysis of plasmid DNA have, however, shown that "Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. san diego" apparently is identical to the formerly isolated strain DSM 2803, Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. tenebrionis (Krieg et al.: J.Appl.Ent. 104, 417-424, 1987). Furthermore, the nucleotide sequences and deduced amino acid sequences of the coleopteran active delta endotoxin genes from Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. tenebrionis and "Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. san diego" are identical.
Under the same culture conditions the above-mentioned second type of crystals are also synthesized by "Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. san diego" (A.M. Huger & A. Krieg, J.Appl.Ent. 108, 490-497, 1989).
According to H. de Barjac & E. Frachon (Entomophaga 35(2), 233-240, 1990) the "san diego" isolate is similar to "tenebrionis" and it cannot be justified to regard it as a different subspecies.
The utility of Bacillus thuringiensis strains for the control of coleopteran pests is dependent upon efficient and economical production of the coleopteran active toxins and the potency of the product produced. This in turn is dependent upon the amount of delta endotoxins which can be produced by fermentation of the coleopteran active Bacillus thuringiensis strains.
B. thuringiensis has been used for many years for the production of insecticides, but although mutants of B. thuringiensis with increased delta-endotoxins yield would be advantageous, no such mutants have previously been described. Mutants producing higher yields of delta-endotoxins would give a more efficient and economical production of B. thuringiensis toxins and a possibility for manufacture of B. thuringiensis products with increased potency at equal cost. This in turn would be an advantage for the user as reduced volumes of pesticide formulation have to be stored and handled for a given acreage. In addition, the users will have less container material to dispose of, thereby reducing the impact on the environment.
Improvements of the production of delta endotoxin by Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. tenebrionis through mutation have not previously been reported.
One problem associated with the use of especially B. thuringiensis subspecies tenebrionis in controlling beetle larvae has been the relatively low potency or strength of the preparations requiring the application of relatively large amounts of preparation to the areas to be treated, such as 5 to 10 liter/ha compared to 1 to 2 liter/ha of most other B. thuringiensis products and most other insecticides.
Consequently a recognized need for products of improved strength exists.
One way to overcome this problem would be to concentrate the preparations. However, this would add considerably to the production cost in comparison to the savings obtained in storage and transportation.
A much more elegant solution would be to create mutants of existing B. thuringiensis strains capable of producing substantially larger amounts of delta endotoxins per cell.

Mutants or variants of Bacillus thuringiensis producing high yields of delta endotoxin


There is disclosed a clip-on bracket assembly for detachably coupling to a first fixture comprising a first bracket member having an inner surface and an outer surface, the inner surface including a first planar surface portion and a second arcuate portion. A second bracket member substantially parallel to the first bracket member has an inner surface and an outer surface. The second member inner surface includes a first planar portion and a second arcuate portion wherein the first planar portions of the first and second members are fixedly coupled by means of an at least one spring washer. The second arcuate portions of the respective members are in parallel arrangement defining a gap therebetween for receiving and securing the fixture, where the first arcuate portion is springably movable with respect to the second arcuate portion to accommodate fixtures of varying widths.

A number of devices currently exist in the prior art for securing objects to eyeglasses. For example, there are many well-known clip-on devices for securing such items as sun visors, ornamental fixtures, as well as connecting eyeglass frames together at a bridge area to form a single structure. Many clip-on devices utilize set screws for securing for example, a fixture to the frame of an eyeglass. Such a clipping device, however, is very time consuming and labor intensive, requiring the user to, either manually or with the aid of a screwdriver, screw in the set screw in order to secure the clip to the frame.
In the medical field, for example, health care professionals including surgeons, as well as other health care providers who typically treat patients, often require a light for illuminating a particular area of a patient's body during examination. Mounting a light source to the frame of one's glasses thus permits the hands to remain free to perform more important functions other than holding a light source, including actively assisting in the medical treatment. However, because of the time factor and difficulty in assembling and removing a clippable device such as a light source to an eyeglass frame, applications such as these have had little success. Accordingly, a clip-on device which secures to the frame of a set of eyeglasses that is easy to install and remove, yet sufficiently lightweight and secure, is greatly desired.

Clip-on bracket assembly using spring washers for attaching to fixtures


Transaction management systems can take advantage of a lightweight approach to conversation management. In a cluster, a conversation manager can be used to keep track of state location throughout the cluster. When a cluster computing device receives a request, that computing device can contact the conversation manager to determine the location of the state within the cluster. Once the conversation manager provides the computing device with the location of the state, the computing device can invoke the state for the conversation. All state information can be kept in-memory on computing devices in the cluster in order to improve performance.

Within the context of a business application, the collective set of well-defined and ordered messages exchanged between participants can be referred to as a "conversation". To manage these unique conversations, a typical approach utilizes a collaborative system that provides the capability to handle the conversation states, which may include, but are not limited to, programs, applications, services, database instances, etc. As conversations are initiated, executed, and completed, a conversation manager can track and manage them, ensuring that the conversations are completed, and orchestrating the overall process execution. Some of these collaborate systems maintain conversation state information in a database. Each time a request comes into a conversation space, the conversation manager must access a database containing the state information and load it for the particular conversation. This results in a resource-costly hit to a database each time a message is received in the conversation space.

Systems and methods for lightweight conversations

Abstract: This description is not intended to be a complete description of, or limit the scope of, the invention. Other features, aspects, and objects of the invention can be obtained from a review of the specification, the figures, and the claims.


A manifold having a first side, a second side, a first channel extending from the first side to the second side, and a second channel extending from the first side to the second side is disclosed. The first channel and the second channel each define a linear longitudinal axis. In one embodiment, the first channel longitudinal axis and the second channel longitudinal axis are oblique to the first side and the second side of the manifold. The manifold of the present disclosure provides channels that can be easily cleaned and allow for an increased flow performance.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The present invention relates to an improved manifold for dispensing of multiple component adhesives and other liquids. More particularly, the present invention provides an improved manifold that is easily cleanable.
2. Description of the Related Art
The delivery of liquid materials through tubing, hoses, or pipes is simple and well known. Differing materials traveling concurrently through separate tubes are also common. It is frequently desirable for differing materials traveling through multiple tubes to converge into one tube. As liquids flow towards this point of convergence, the contour of the tube path will impact the flow performance of the liquid, increase or decrease the frictional resistance of the liquid, and affect the ease with which the tubes can be maintained, cleaned or unclogged.
The joining of multiple liquids requires a special tubing manifold such as a wye manifold. The design of the adapter is critical to liquid delivery performance. This apparatus is particularly important when used by an operator to apply a multiple component liquid such as a coating or an adhesive to a surface.
The wye manifold derives its name from the fact that it has a generally Y-shaped body or housing when it is configured to interconnect two upper tubular strings ("chemical feed tubes") to a single lower tubular string ("discharge tube"). As used herein, the term "wye manifold" includes configurations in which two or more chemical hoses are interconnected to another discharge tube by the wye manifold body or housing.
A prior art dual manifold, as illustrated in FIG. 5 of U.S. patent application publication 2012/0012054 A1 is used to apply two-part adhesives utilizing a wye manifold wherein the shape of an internal path is constructed with 90 degree angles as parallel first paths. The 90 degree angled paths are created from partially drilling faces of the wye manifold and connecting with a perpendicular path. Such prior art wye manifolds have flow paths with angles which require increased pressure for use.
In addition, when wye manifolds clog due to chemical reaction or physical change of the materials within, cleaning is not readily accomplished by applying pressure or by drilling due to the configuration of the internal pathways and the angles at which they are disposed within the manifold. Wye manifolds are often utilized for the purpose of merging the flow path of liquids. The merging of liquids frequently causes a chemical reaction with many multiple component coatings and adhesives. When the stream of materials is stopped or slowed, the chemicals begin to react right at this merge point. Often the curing of these liquids begins at the merge point and then progresses upstream past the angle change and up into the inlets of the wye manifold. The curing process results in clogging as the physical state changes from that of a liquid to a solid or gel. The resulting hardened mass takes on the shape of the wye. The inside walls of the wye manifold act like a mold while the materials set up and cure. This hardened mass could be forcibly moved downstream and out of the wye manifold if the shape of the tubing were straight. But the change in the angle of the flow path molds this mass into a shape with an elbow. This elbow of the mass is now locked into place by the angled elbow of the wye manifolds. If pressure is applied in an attempt to dislodge this clog, the hardened mass cannot flow past the corner and the wye manifold is clogged. It is not possible to eject this hardened mass by increasing the pressure of the fluids.
Restoring this wye manifold into a usable part is normally accomplished with mechanical means. A drill bit can be inserted into the outlet of wye. The spinning drill bit will remove the clogged mass from the lower part of the wye outlet. In order to access this opening, the downstream plumbing must be removed. Examples of downstream plumbing are spray nozzles and static mixing tips. In order to access the inlets of the wye manifolds, the liquid supply lines must also be removed. Cleaning out the manifold requires not only drilling up from the outlet and down through the inlet, but also a side plug must be removed to allow the drill to be inserted to clean out the horizontal portion of the clogged path. At that point, the drill bit can be inserted into each opening to clear out the hardened mass clog. This process is not only time consuming but extremely messy, expensive, and wasteful as the liquid in the supply lines usually flows out and cannot be recovered.
For overnight storage, the flow path of the wye manifold must be purged to prevent hardening of the materials. Additionally, it is often recommended that the outlets be filled with grease to prevent hardening. This shut down procedure at the end of each use is quite time consuming and the grease has to be purged prior to the next start up.
In view of the foregoing, it will be appreciated that a need exists for an improved manifold in which multiple chemical feed tubes are interconnected.


An information processing system is connected to a common storage and executes programs by use of processors. This system includes a common storage; a plurality of processors, connected to the common storage. Each processor executes an instruction to store data from common storage, and an instruction to load data from the common storage into the cache storage, wherein each processor includes a communication controller for, when detecting synchronization completion information for attaining synchronization of execution of instructions among a plurality of processors, sending synchronization completion information and receiving synchronization information from another processor; an instruction executing section for detecting a specified change of the flag of a specified location in the common storage by executing a Monitor instruction included in a program in response to synchronization information from the communication controller; an execution controller to execute subsequent instructions after the Monitor instruction, exclusive of a Load instruction to load data into a cache storage, until a change of the flag is detected by the execution section, wherein the processor allows instruction for loading data from common storage into the cache storage to be executed after the flag detection, and wherein the execution controller may include an inhibit resetting circuit to issue an inhibit instruction control signal to terminate the instruction send-out inhibiting action of the instruction inhibit circuit according to input from a service processor.

The present invention relates to an instruction execution control method and information processing apparatus for monitoring information about the completion of synchronization among processors, and selectively causing a specific instruction of the subsequent group of instructions to wait until the completion of synchronization is indicated when the processors are operated in synchronism with each other for synchronous execution of their respective processes in a computer system including a plurality of processors.
The synchronized operation of the processors for synchronous execution of processes has conventionally been done between an instruction stream of a synchronization notifying processor issuing a SYNC request and an instruction stream of a processor which is subjected to synchronization.
More specifically, in response to a Store instruction (ST: instruction 1), the processor, which will subsequently issue a SYNC request, outputs data of a preliminary process or a result of a process to the main storage, and when a SYNC instruction (instn. 2) is issued, this SYNC instruction serves to ensure that writing of the above-mentioned result into the main storage is finished. Then, the completion of synchronization is notified by a Store instruction (ST) to the synchronized-side processor, to more specific, by the use of communication means between the two processors or according to a value written into the specified location in the common (shared) storage area in the main storage, for example.
On the other hand, by using an LD (Load) instruction (instn. 4), the synchronized-side processor receives information about synchronization completion through the communication means between the two processors or reads this information which is written in the above-mentioned location of the common storage, a representative one of which is the main storage, or waits for synchronization completion by monitoring the common storage by repeating the Load instruction (instn. 4) by issuing a BC (conditional Branch) instruction (instn. 5) until the completion of synchronization is notified from the synchronization notifying processor. When this information about the completion of synchronization is transferred between the two processors, the synchronized-side processor gets out of a spin loop of Load (instn. 4) for monitoring and conditional Branch (instn. 5), and performs subsequent processes.
The above-mentioned spin loop is used to wait for information about synchronization completion by repeating a condition test incessantly. In a synchronization operation for exclusive access control, a scheme for attaining synchronization is adopted in which the processors wait for information about the completion of synchronization which gives an access permission to an exclusive location, that is, a location where that information is written by a Store instruction prior to a TS instruction by using a spin-lock-wait operation, which is achieved by a combined use of a TS (Test and Set) instruction (instn. 1) to test an area where information about synchronization completion and a BC (conditional Branch) instruction (instn. 2).
More specifically, the Test and Set instruction is used to test an area where synchronization information is written and read, in other words, to test a flag area in the main storage (to be more concrete, a value is input and evaluated), and set (1 is written if the evaluated value is 0). The Test and Set instruction is an instruction with a lock to prohibit access to the flag area from another processor. As has been described, in the spin loop method or the spin-lock-wait method, waiting for information about the completion of synchronization is done by using a Load information to monitor this information and a Branch instruction to repeat the Load instruction until synchronization completion is notified.
In the conventional synchronization method mentioned above, after a Load instruction for monitoring the common storage area and a Branch instruction for repeating the Load instruction have been set, the next instruction in the remaining instructions of the program is not performed until information about the completion of synchronization is given.
In the synchronized-side processor, however, the only instruction which needs to be put in the waiting state until information about the completion of synchronization is issued is a Load instruction which is likely to transfer information from the main storage to the register or the cache storage in the synchronized-side processor before updating when the synchronization notifying processor updates the contents of the main storage by a Store instruction to store data of a preliminary process or a result of a process. In spite of this, an arithmetic instruction or a Branch instruction which is nothing to do with the Load instruction is forced to wait to no purpose.
To put differently, when information about the completion of synchronization is received, an arithmetic instruction or a Branch instruction which needs to be executed in advance regardless of the order of instructions written in the program. Accordingly, the efficiency of instruction execution in synchronized operations is decreased.

Processing instructions up to load instruction after executing sync flag monitor instruction during plural processor shared memory store/load access synchronization


A dehumidifying apparatus with an electronic refrigeration unit includes a thermoelectric unit, a DC power source, and absorbing and liberating heat exchangers. The thermoelectric unit includes a plurality of N-type thermoelectric elements, heat absorbing electrodes, P-type thermoelectric elements, and heat liberating electrodes electrically connected in series. The DC power source supplies DC current to the N-type and P-type thermoelectric elements serially connected through the heat absorbing and heat liberating electrodes. The absorbing and liberating heat exchanger are integrated with the heat absorbing and liberating electrodes, respectively. A heat liberating surface of the liberating heat exchanger is formed at a position different from the absorbing heat exchanger. The absorbing and liberating heat exchangers include heat absorbing and liberating fins, respectively. A notch is formed in one side of each of the heat liberating fins so that a part of a heat absorbing fin fits the notch. The heat absorbing fins are set in a position corresponding to a notch of a corresponding heat liberating fin so that a part of the heat absorbing fin overlaps a part of the heat liberating fin. The overlapped portions are used for the heat absorbing and heat liberating electrodes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a dehumidifying apparatus with an electronic refrigeration unit utilizing heat-absorbing-type and heat liberating-type reactions based on Peltier effect produced at the junction between an N-type thermoelectric element consisting of N-type semiconductor and a P-type thermoelectric element consisting of P-type semiconductor.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is considered to form a dehumidifying apparatus with a thermoelectric conversion unit consisting of N-and P-type thermoelectric elements. FIG. 34 shows a thermoelectric conversion unit to be applied to the above dehumidifying apparatus, having a plurality of N-type thermoelectric elements 111, 112, . . . consisting of N-type semiconductor and P-type thermoelectric elements 121, 122, . . . consisting of P-type semiconductor which are linearly arranged by turns at a certain interval. These arranged N-type thermoelectric elements 111, 112, . . . and P-type thermoelectric elements 121, 122, . . . are successively connected at their top and bottom in series by heat-absorbing-type electrodes 131, 132, . . . and heat-liberating-type electrodes 141, 142, . . . .
That is, when a DC power source is connected to a group of the serially-connected thermoelectric conversion elements, heat absorbing reaction occurs at the heat-absorbing-type electrodes 131, 132, . . . constituting the NP junction and heat liberating reaction occurs at the heat-liberating-type electrodes 141, 142, . . . constituting the PN junction, in the current flowing direction because of Peltier effect.
Insulating plates 15 and 16 are installed so that they are faced each other on the surfaces where the heat-absorbing-type electrodes 131, 132, . . . and heat-liberating-type electrodes 141, 142, . . . are set, in order to hold the groups of thermoelectric conversion elements. And, an absorbing heat exchanger 17 and liberating heat exchanger 18 are installed outside the insulating plates 15 and 16 so that the exchangers are faced each other.
For the thermoelectric conversion unit with the above structure, the temperature decreases at the heat-absorbing-type electrodes 131, 132, . . . and the low temperature is transmitted to the absorbing heat exchanger 17 through the insulating plate 15, while the temperature rises at the heat liberating-type elements 141, 142, . . . and the high temperature is transmitted to the liberating heat exchanger 18 through the insulating plate 16. Therefore, heat absorbing and heat liberating effects are always taken out through the insulating plates 15 and 16 and the absorbing and liberating efficiencies are greatly decreased by the insulating plates 15 and 16.
For a dehumidifying apparatus consisting of the above thermoelectric unit, the air dehumidified and cooled by the absorbing heat exchanger 17 is sent to the liberating heat exchanger 18 to be heated. Therefore, the size of an heat liberating fin installed on the liberating heat exchanger 18 increases. In this case, because the insulating plate 16 is set between the heat-liberating-type electrodes 141, 142, . . . producing liberating effect and the liberating heat exchanger 18, the thermoelectric conversion effect decreases. Therefore, to obtain adequate dehumidifying effect, the size of the thermoelectric conversion unit must be increased.

Dehumidifying apparatus with electronic refrigeration unit


The invention relates to a method for controlling swaying and swinging of a spreader in a crane and the load attached thereto, the crane comprising: a trolley, hoist gears, hoisting ropes, on which the spreader is suspended from the trolley, auxiliary gears provided with motors and motor control equipment and auxiliary ropes, and in which method the forces of the auxiliary ropes exerted on the spreader are controlled by moving the auxiliary ropes using the auxiliary gears by means of torque instructions (Tcontrol) obtained on the basis of the rope forces (Frope) of the auxiliary ropes and the rotating speed data (n) of the auxiliary gears, and whereby the torque instruction of the motor control equipment in each auxiliary gear is formed gear-specifically as a sum of a static (Tstat) and a dynamic (Tdyn, calc) term.

The invention relates to a method for controlling swaying and swinging of a spreader in a crane and the load attached thereto, the crane comprising: a trolley, hoist gears provided with hoist drums placed in the trolley, hoisting ropes arranged on the hoist drums, on which the spreader is suspended from the trolley and which are directed back to the trolley through sheaves arranged on the spreader, whereby the swaying and swinging is controlled by control equipment comprising: four auxiliary gears provided with rope drums including motors and motor control equipment placed in the trolley, auxiliary ropes arranged on the rope drums of the auxiliary gears, sheaves for the auxiliary ropes placed in the spreader, through which sheaves the auxiliary ropes passing obliquely from the rope drums of the auxiliary gears are directed to spaces arranged in the hoist drums for the auxiliary ropes, and in which method the forces of the auxiliary ropes exerted on the spreader are controlled by moving the auxiliary ropes using the auxiliary gears by means of torque instructions obtained on the basis of the rope forces of the auxiliary ropes and the rotating speed data of the auxiliary gears using control logic that allows providing and maintaining the desired rope forces, controls the rotation and the resistance of the swinging of the motors in the auxiliary gears.
The method of the invention is known from Fl patent 101466, in which the method is presented in connection with a crane moving by means of rubber tyres and whose hoisting heights and hoisting speeds are moderate.
The method according to Fl patent 101466 adequately reduces the undesired movements of the load in the original applications thereof. Then again, in for instance the quay cranes moving on rails presented in Fl patent 108788, whose hoisting heights and moving speeds are significantly higher, the diagonal geometry of the auxiliary ropes and especially situations, in which the auxiliary ropes wound specifically on hoist drums move from one layer to another, require very rapid speed changes in the auxiliary gears. The control logic circuit presented in Fl patent 101466 is not fast enough for such a purpose.

Method for controlling spreader in crane


A processing tool for garlic and like edibles including a container mounted comminuting unit having-upper-and lower sets of spaced linearly aligned blades selectively presented in an upwardly directed operating position upon an inverting of the unit, the blades of each set having a comminuting profile differing from that of the blades of the other set and are selectively engaged by a set of spaced pusher teeth aligned along a sinusoidal path and mounted on an overlying cap for, upon rotation of the cap relative to the comminuting unit, moving an edible through the comminuting blades for the desired comminution thereof, the cap including a separate chamber for preparation of the edible before the comminuting process.

Hand-held kitchen tools for the comminuting of foodstuffs and the like are well known in the art. While not limited thereto, the present invention is particularly concerned with the processing of garlic for use as a component in food preparation. This will include the basic steps of decorticating or removing the outer skin or shell to expose the garlic cloves, and the slicing, pulverizing or otherwise comminuting of the cloves.
Earlier forms of garlic tools have generally employed squeeze-type implements wherein, through the manipulation of a pair of hinged arms, a plunger engages within a chamber with a perforated bottom to progressively crush a chamber-received clove with the particle and liquid effluent discharging through the perforated bottom of the chamber. In most instances, a major portion of the clove or cloves will remain within the chamber as a pulverized mass which will normally be discarded.
Another form of garlic tool will be noted in U.S. Pat. No. 6,945,486 B2, issued to Eric Y. Teng on Sep. 20, 2005. This tool, in the principally disclosed embodiment, includes a pair of interesting pressure units respectively having protruding rows of linearly aligned "grater elements" wherein the grater elements of one row alternate with the grater elements of the second row for what the inventor refers to as a peeling, pressing and grating of unpeeled garlic cloves therebetween. The rotation of the pressure units of Teng relative to each other will result in a corresponding rotation of the elements of the opposed rows about a center of rotation toward alignment wherein all of the elements of one row are in intimate alternating alignment with the elements of the other row. Such an arrangement would appear to move an engaged garlic clove radially outward from the center of rotation along the rather blunt and wide engaging faces of the elements. This in turn would tend to encourage the major crushing action to occur toward the outer circumference of the grating chamber wherein outward movement of the garlic will be limited by the peripheral wall. As such, it is likely that substantial force would be required to maintain the desired twisting action between the two hand manipulated pressure units. Should, to the contrary, the actual grating in Teng occur along the full length of the rows, the linear arrangement of both sets of elements will result in a rotational period wherein all of the elements are aligned. This simultaneous alignment of all of the elements of each set alternating with the elements of the other set with an engaged clove therebetween could also tend to produce increased resistance to rotation.
Earlier variations of similar hand-rotating comminuting tools will be noted in Winfield et al, 795,746, issued Jul. 25, 1905; and Ross et al, U.S. Pat. No. 6,637,684 B1, issued Oct. 28, 2003.


A method includes detecting, by a pair sensors located at two locations, a radio wave generated from a lightning discharge occurring; for the pair of sensors, determining propagation paths between the discharge and sensors; repeating the same with a second pair of sensors and another lightning discharge; for each path, determine path vectors defined by an attenuation coefficient vector; constructing a matrix with each row comprising the difference between path vectors from sensor pair measurements from the lightning discharge and including a selection entry based on the identification of the sensors to enable the logarithm of sensor calibration factors to be solved for; constructing another vector, where each entry comprises the difference between the logarithms of the sensor amplitudes from a sensor pair measurement adjusted by a logarithm of an offset; inverting a system of linear equations defined by the matrix to solve for attenuation and sensor calibration factors.

Terrestrial-based lightning detection, location, and measurements made on a global scale are determined by measuring radio waves from lightning discharges. In some cases, radio waves having frequencies of approximately 50 kilohertz or less (although other frequency bands are considered) may have reflected off of the Earth's ionosphere and may be redirected towards the Earth in what is known as subionospheric propagation.
This background is only provided to illustrate one example technology area where some embodiments described herein may be practiced.

Empirical determination of VLF attenuation factors


A controller for a resonant inverter with a self-oscillating driver IC for powering AC loads, such as gas discharge lamps or regulated DC/DC converters, includes a timing circuit that generates control strobe pulses that are injected into the timing circuit. The timing circuit is coupled to an inverter resonant tank through a feed back circuit providing phase lock for the resonant inverter. The feed back circuit includes a passive phase shifting circuit for 360° closed loop phase shift. Phase controlled strobe pulses automatically adjust IC oscillator frequency for safe and stable inverter operation above resonant frequency. By injecting a small AC or DC control signal into the timing circuit, sync strobe pulse phase angle can be advanced or delayed and thus frequency and power of the phase lock system can be controlled.

The present invention relates to resonant inverters for powering AC loads, preferably gas discharge lamps, and for dimming such lamps. The invention also relates to regulated DC/DC converter circuits.
The following references are incorporated by reference: U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,245,253; 4,998,046; 6,246,183; 5,723,953; and 5,719,472; U.S. Patent Application US 2003/0147263 A1; IR Application Notes AN-995A "Electronic Ballast Using the Cost-Saving IR2155X Drivers"; IR Design Tip DT98-1, "Variable frequency Drive Using IR215X self oscillating IC's"; and "A Resonant Inverter for Electronic Ballast Application," Melvin C. Cosby and R. M. Nelms, IEEE Transactions On Industrial Electronics, vol. 41, no. 4, August 1994.
A gas discharge lamp typically utilizes electronic ballast for converting AC line voltage to high frequency current for powering the lamp. Conventional electronic ballasts include an AC to DC converter and a resonant inverter converting DC voltage to lamp high frequency current. The resonant inverter includes switching transistors generating a high frequency rectangular AC voltage that is applied to a voltage resonant circuit having an inductor and a capacitor in series. The gas discharge lamp is coupled in parallel to the capacitor. For high frequency electronic ballasts, a self-oscillating resonant inverter is a common part that generates AC voltage for starting and AC current for powering the lamp. Self-oscillating resonant inverters utilize a feed back transformer coupled between a resonant tank circuit and gates of the switching transistors to provide a sinusoidal voltage to the gates for sustaining the oscillations. Resonant inverters are also used in DC/DC converters.
The main advantage of resonant inverters is zero voltage switching that permits operation at higher switching frequencies. A typical resonant inverter comprises a half (or full) bridge with power MOSFETs generating high frequency AC to power a resonant load. Three types of resonant loads are common that differ by real load coupling to LC components: series, parallel and series-parallel circuit configurations. In any combination of resonant load components, the control circuit provides MOSFET switching above resonant frequency for efficient and reliable MOSFET operation. When switching above resonant, the input of the resonant load is inductive. When switching below resonant, this input is capacitive and should be avoided. Self-oscillating inverter circuits built as oscillators with a positive feed back automatically provide a stable inductive mode of operation. In such oscillators, switching frequency advances the resonant frequency of the resonant load and tracks any changes in resonant load.
Ballasts with high frequency oscillating inverter standard industrial controllers and self-oscillating half bridges, such as the IR215X and IR53H(D) series from International Rectifier or the L6579 series from ST Microelectronics and others, do not have the drawbacks of self-oscillating resonant inverter circuits. However, the pre-adjusted switching frequency is not sensitive to resonant frequency changes of the resonant load, and is susceptible to noise and variations of integrated circuit (IC) supply voltage Vcc. In view of this, a direct application of these controllers is not likely. Without correction of switching frequency, the MOSFETs could cross conduct and fail when operating below resonant frequency in some steady-state conditions, dimming mode or, at lamp starting. Also, power control with the above ICs is not provided.
One solution for avoiding this problem is described in Application Notes AN 995A "Electronic Ballasts Using the Cost-Saving IR215X Drivers" issued by International Rectifier. This reference recommends a feed back circuit with two anti-parallel power diodes connected in series with the resonant load as zero current detectors. The diodes generate a rectangular AC pulse signal that forces the timing circuit in the IC to switch synchronously with this signal. A feed back signal indicates phasing of current in the resonant load. However, zero current sensing in any portion of the resonant load does not provide the necessary 360° positive feed back angle for phase locked operation above resonant frequency. In addition, when used as a source of synchronization signals, the power diodes add significant power losses to the ballast.
Other prior art IC driven resonant inverters are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,723,953 and 5,719,472. Both patents teach half bridge IC feed back control by changing sinusoidal control signal amplitude. With this approach, phase shifting is forced to depend on the amplitude of the feed back signal and thus the stability of the oscillating system can be pure, especially during transients.
U.S. Patent Application 2003/0147263 A1 discloses a phase delay control that controls the inverter. This control has a static feed back circuit having an input signal representing the phase of the inductor current which is compared with a signal representing a reference phase. The difference, or error signal, is supplied to a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) to control inverter frequency and power. This control technique utilizes active components incorporated in a controller for processing pulse signals.
The present applicant's prior application (Ser. No. 10/649,898) discloses a method for controlling a resonant inverter by synchronization of a self-oscillating driver IC. The method utilizes a voltage attenuated and phase shifted feed back sinusoidal signal for loop lock up. Even so, there is still a need for circuitry with a wider range of control and better robustness and phase shift control.
One of the problems of the prior art circuits for internal synchronization of IC driven resonant half bridge inverters is that they require significant phase rotation to get 360° total phase shift of the feed back signal. It is very desirable, for reliable phase lock up and before closing the loop, that the injected feed back signal is generated with a minimum phase difference relative to the external synchronization signal. It is also very desirable for reliable synchronization that the injected signal be sufficiently above the ramp signal in wide range of operating frequencies. It is also very disable to have inverter output power control by a small external DC signal (as when dimming).

Control system for a resonant inverter with a self-oscillating driver


Embodiments herein relate e.g. a method performed by a radio network node (12) for handling system information of a wireless communication network (1). The radio network node (12) transmits an indication to a UE (10), the indication associated with an update of system information of the wireless communication network (1), wherein the indication indicates a type of system information. The indication may indicate whether the update regards critical system information being a first type of system information, or less critical system information being a second type of system information.

In a typical wireless communication network, user equipments (UE), also known as wireless communication devices, mobile stations, stations (STA) and/or wireless devices, communicate via a Radio Access Network (RAN) to one or more core networks (CN). The RAN covers a geographical area and provides radio coverage over service areas or cells, which may also be referred to as a beam or a beam group, with each service area or beam being served or controlled by a radio network node such as a radio access node e.g., a Wi-Fi access point or a radio base station (RBS), which in some networks may also be denoted, for example, a gNode B, a NodeB, or an eNodeB. The radio network node communicates over an air interface operating on radio frequencies with the user equipment within range of the radio network node.
A Universal Mobile Telecommunications network (UMTS) is a third generation (3G) telecommunications network, which evolved from the second generation (2G) Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). The UMTS terrestrial radio access network (UTRAN) is essentially a RAN using wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) and/or High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) for UEs. In a forum known as the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), telecommunications suppliers propose and agree upon standards for third generation networks, and investigate enhanced data rate and radio capacity. In some RANs, e.g. as in UMTS, several radio network nodes may be connected, e.g., by landlines or microwave, to a controller node, such as a radio network controller (RNC) or a base station controller (BSC), which supervises and coordinates various activities of the plural radio network nodes connected thereto. This type of connection is sometimes referred to as a backhaul connection. The RNCs and BSCs are typically connected to one or more core networks.
Specifications for the Evolved Packet System (EPS), also called a Fourth Generation (4G) network, have been completed within the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) and this work continues in the coming 3GPP releases, for example to specify a Fifth Generation (5G) network and future generation networks. The EPS comprises the Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), also known as the Long Term Evolution (LTE) radio access network, and the Evolved Packet Core (EPC), also known as System Architecture Evolution (SAE) core network. E-UTRAN/LTE is a variant of a 3GPP radio access network wherein the radio network nodes are directly connected to the EPC core network rather than to RNCs. In general, in E-UTRAN/LTE the functions of an RNC are distributed between the radio network nodes, e.g. eNodeBs in LTE, and the core network. As such, the RAN of an EPS has an essentially "flat" architecture comprising radio network nodes connected directly to one or more core networks, i.e. they are not connected to RNCs. To compensate for that, the E-UTRAN specification defines a direct interface between the radio network nodes, this interface being denoted the X2 interface.
There has been a lot of work in 3GPP lately on specifying technologies to cover Machine-to-Machine (M2M) and/or Internet of Things (IoT) related use cases. 3GPP Releases 13 and 14 include enhancements to support Machine-Type Communications (MTC) with new UE categories, denoted as Cat-M1 and Cat-M2, supporting reduced bandwidth of up to 6 and 24 physical resource blocks (PRBs), and to support Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) UEs providing a new radio interface, and UE categories denoted as Cat-NB1 and Cat-NB2.
LTE enhancements introduced in 3GPP Release 13, 14 and 15 for MTC are referred to as "eMTC", including (not limiting) support for bandwidth limited UEs, denoted Cat-M1 UEs, and support for coverage enhancements. This is to separate the discussion from NB-IoT (notation here used for any Release), although the supported features of eMTC and NB-IoT are similar on a general level.
There are multiple differences between regular LTE and the procedures and channels defined for eMTC and NB-IoT. Some important differences include new physical channels, such as the physical downlink control channels (PDCCH), called MPDCCH in eMTC and NPDCCH in NB-IoT, and a new physical random access channel (PRACH) denoted as NPRACH for NB-IoT. For system information (SI), both eMTC and NB-IoT, there is no dynamic scheduling of either System Information Block one-Bandwidth Reduced (SIB1-BR)/System Information Block one-Narrowband (SIB1-NB), scheduling information included in Master Information Block (MIB)/Master Information Block-Narrowband (MIB-NB), or system information messages, fixed scheduling inside system information window provided in SIB1-BR/SIB1-NB. Both eMTC and NB-IoT support coverage enhancements and the UE may have to accumulate several repetitions of system information broadcast in order to be able to successfully decode it. This means that system information acquisition time will in practice be longer the worse coverage the UE is in. In order to combat this, more dense repetitions for some physical channels and system information were introduced in eMTC and NB-IoT Release 13. The drawback of this is an increase in system overhead, i.e. more radio resources are consumed by continuous ("always-on") control signaling broadcast. The system acquisition procedure is in general the same for eMTC and NB-IoT as for LTE. The UE first achieves downlink synchronization by reading Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS)/Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS), then it reads MIB, then SIB1, and finally the SI-messages are acquired, each possibly containing multiple SIBs.
For eMTC and NB-IoT UEs, the system information is considered to be invalid 24 hours after it was successfully considered to be valid. For "normal" UEs the system information is considered to be invalid after 3 hours. It is also possible to configure eMTC and NB-IoT to use the 3 hours validity range by using parameter si-ValidityTime [TS 36.331 v. 14.0.0].
During Release 14 some problems related to long system information acquisition time were identified by working group (WG) RAN4. Reducing the system acquisition time is also one of the agreed work item objectives for Release 15, which is common to both eMTC and NB-IoT such as:
Improved Latency:
Reduced system acquisition time                Improved cell search and/or system information (including MIB and SIB1-BR) acquisition performance
System information change can be indicated to UEs by using Paging message, according to TS 36.331 v.14.0.0. The Paging message is used to inform UEs in RRC_IDLE state and UEs in RRC_CONNECTED state about a system information change. If the UE is in RRC_CONNECTED or is not configured to use a Discontinuous Reception (DRX) cycle longer than the modification period in RRC_IDLE state, and receives a Paging message including the systemInfoModification, it knows that the system information will change at the next modification period boundary. A UE in RRC_IDLE state that is configured to use a DRX cycle longer than the modification period, and receives in an eDRX acquisition period at least one Paging message including the systemInfoModification-eDRX, shall acquire the updated system information at the next eDRX acquisition period boundary. Although the UE may be informed about changes in system information, no further details are provided, except if systemInfoValueTagSI is received by UEs or UEs in Coverage Enhancement (CE).
Also, the system information change can be indicated using Direct Indication Information, as stated below for eMTC:
Direct Indication information is transmitted on MPDCCH using Paging-Radio Network Temporary Identifier (P-RNTI) but without associated Paging message. Table 6.6-1 defines the Direct Indication information, see TS 36.212 [22, 18.104.22.168.14] v.14.0.0.
When bit n is set to 1, UE shall behave as if the corresponding field is set in the Paging message. Bit 1 is the least significant bit.
TABLE 6.6-1Direct Indication information Bit Direct Indication information1 systemInfoModification 2 etws-Indication 3 cmas-Indication 4 eab-ParamModification 5 systemInfoModification-eDRX 6, 7, 8 Not used, and shall be ignored by UE if received.
Likewise, there is Direct Indication information also for NB-IoT:
Direct Indication information is transmitted on NPDCCH using P-RNTI but without associated Paging-NB message. Table 6.7.5-1 defines the Direct Indication information, see TS 36.212 v.14.0.0.
When bit n is set to 1, the UE 10 may behave as if the corresponding field is set in the Paging-NB message. Bit 1 is the least significant bit.
TABLE 6.7.5-1Direct Indication information Bit Field in Direct Indication information1 systemInfoModification 2 systemInfoModification-eDRX 3, 4, 5, 6, Not used, and shall be ignored by UE if received 7, 8
For eMTC and NB-IoT UEs, one important aspect is extended battery life. Currently the UEs are required to acquire the system information upon receiving notification about system information change, which increases the battery consumption. There may be cases, where the network system information is changing relatively often, i.e. more often than the UEs in the system would actually need for transmissions. This leads to an inefficient signalling behaviour of the UE increasing the power consumption at the UE.

Radio network node, user equipment and methods performed therein


A method and apparatus for protecting against a replay attack in a database system makes use of customer records including a counter, and freshness records that include the customer counters and a freshness record counter. The counter from the customer records, the customer records in the freshness records, and the freshness record counter are used by a cryptographic device together with a cryptographic device counter to verify the freshness of the customer record prior to updating the customer record with respect to a recent transaction.

The use of the Internet as a vehicle for communicating information and exchanging value electronically has resulted in the need for ensuring that such transactions take place in a secure manner. Not only is it imperative that the communication itself be secure but just as important is the need to ensure that information stored at a data center in a database be secured from tampering. For example, postage metering systems are now available whereby postage value in the form of an indicium can be obtained over the Internet. User accounts that are debited to pay for the downloaded postage are maintained in relational databases at a secure data center and are therefore secure from outsiders. However, there still exists the possibility that someone from within the data center could attempt to alter the postage account database records. The instant invention is directed to preventing such internal security attacks.
As discussed above, there are definite needs to secure the information stored in a database. In relational databases, data is stored as a database record. To protect the record, the confidential portion of a database record is encrypted, the record is digitally signed, and the signature is attached to the record. When it is required that information in a particular database record be changed, the manipulation of the database record is only performed in a cryptographic device(s) which holds cryptographic keys for encryption and which digitally signs the manipulated database record. There is also a need for a mechanism to protect against the 'replay' attack of a database record, i.e., an old but legitimate record is used to replace a newly updated record. Without such a replay protection mechanism, a cryptographic device cannot detect such an attack. This invention addresses the issue of replay attacks.

Architecture and method to secure database records from tampering in devices such as postage value dispensing mechanisms


Compounds of general formula (I)

The present invention relates to novel 1,4-piperidine and piperazine derivatives, to processes for preparing the novel derivatives, to novel intermediates useful in the process, to pharmaceutical compositions comprising the derivatives, and to the use of derivatives in the treatment of disorders of the central nervous system.
It has been disclosed in the scientific literature that certain disorders of the central nervous system may be treated using a modulator of sigma receptor function. Amongst compounds known to possess affinity for sigma ligands are certain piperidine and piperazine derivatives.
WO 91/09594 discloses compounds having affinity for sigma receptors, certain of which are piperidine or piperazine derivatives, and discloses that they are useful in the treatment of schizophrenia and other psychoses.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,736,546 discloses certain 1,4-(diphenylalkyl)piperazines having one phenyl group unsubstituted and the other phenyl group substituted by two alkoxy groups. One of the compounds disclosed is 1-[2-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)ethyl]-4-(3-phenylpropyl)piperazine. It is also referred to in the scientific literature as SA 4503. The compounds of U.S. Pat. No. 5,736,546 are said to be useful in the treatment of dementia, depression, schizophrenia, anxiety neurosis, diseases accompanying abnormal immune response, cryptorrhea and digestive ulcer.
WO 2004/110387 discloses that sigma ligands, in particular SA 4503, are also useful in the treatment of patients to facilitate neuronal regeneration after onset of a neurodegenerative disease, such as ischemic stroke, traumatic brain injury or spinal chord injury.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,389,630 discloses certain diamine compounds having cerebral protective action. The compound of Example 50 is a piperazine derivative, but the vast majority of the exemplified compounds are homopiperazine derivatives. The mechanism of action of the compounds is not discussed.
It has now been found that certain novel 1,4-piperidine and piperazine derivatives have high affinity for sigma receptors, in particular sigma-1 receptors.
According to one aspect, the present invention provides a compound of general formula (I)
in which:—
R1 represents a phenyl group that is unsubstituted or substituted by one, two or three substituents selected independently from (1-2C)alkylenedioxy, a halogen atom, a hydroxyl group, a (1-4C) alkyl group, a (3-6C)cycloalkyl group, a halo(1-4C) alkyl group, a (1-4C)alkoxy group, a cyano group, and a halo(1-4C)alkoxy group;
m is 2, 3, 4 or 5;
X is CH or N;
n is 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5, provided that when X is N, n is 2, 3, 4 or 5;
Y is O, NR2 or S;
R2 is hydrogen, (1-4C)alkyl or phenyl(1-4C)alkyl, or is as defined for R3; and
R3 represents indan-1-yl, indan-2-yl, 1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphth-1-yl or 1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphth-2-yl, each of which may bear a hydroxyl substituent on a non-aromatic carbon atom; (3-6C) cycloalkyl; or a phenyl group that is unsubstituted or substituted by one, two or three substituents selected independently from (1-2C)alkylenedioxy, a halogen atom, a hydroxyl group, a (1-4C) alkyl group, a (3-6C)cycloalkyl group, a cyano group; a phenyl group, an imidazolyl group, a halo(1-4C) alkyl group, a (1-4C)alkoxy group and a halo(1-4C)alkoxy group;
or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof.
Compounds according to the invention have been found to have high affinity for sigma receptors, in particular sigma-1 receptors.
As used herein, unless otherwise indicated, the term halogen atom includes fluorine, chlorine and bromine.
The term (1-2C)alkylenedioxy includes methylenedioxy and ethylenedioxy.
An example of a (1-4C) alkyl group is methyl. Other examples are ethyl, propyl, 2-propyl, butyl, 2-butyl and t-butyl.
The term halo(1-4C)alkyl as used herein includes perfluoro(1-4C)alkyl, such as trifluoromethyl.
An example of a (1-4C)alkoxy group is methoxy. Other examples are ethoxy, propoxy and 2-propoxy.
The term halo(1-4C)alkoxy as used herein includes perfluoro(1-4C)alkoxy, such as trifluoromethoxy.
Examples of a (3-6C) cycloalkyl group are cyclopentyl and cyclohexyl.
Referring to formula (I), examples of particular values for R1 are phenyl, benzo[1,3]dioxol-5-yl, 2-fluorophenyl, 3-fluorophenyl, 4-fluorophenyl, 3,4-difluorophenyl, 3-chlorophenyl, 3-methylphenyl, 2-trifluoromethylphenyl, 3-trifluoromethylphenyl, 4-trifluoromethylphenyl, 2-methoxyphenyl, 3-methoxyphenyl, 4-methoxyphenyl, 4-isopropoxyphenyl, 3,4-dimethoxyphenyl, 2,3,4-trimethoxyphenyl, 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl, 2-fluoro-3,4-dimethoxyphenyl, 3-chloro-4-methoxyphenyl, 4-chloro-3-methoxyphenyl, 2-trifluoromethoxyphenyl, 4-trifluoromethoxyphenyl and 3-trifluoromethoxyphenyl.
Particular examples of values for R1 are phenyl, benzo[1,3]dioxol-5-yl, 2-fluorophenyl, 3,4-difluorophenyl, 2-trifluoromethylphenyl, 3-trifluoromethylphenyl, 4-trifluoromethylphenyl, 2-methoxypheny, 3-methoxyphenyl, 4-methoxyphenyl, 3,4-dimethoxyphenyl and 2-trifluoromethoxyphenyl.
Particular mention is made of compounds of formula (I) in which R1 represents 3,4-dimethoxyphenyl, 4-methoxyphenyl, 4-isopropoxyphenyl, 4-trifluoromethoxyphenyl, or 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl.
Examples of values for m are 2 and 3. An example of a particular value for m is 2.
Examples of particular values for n are 2 and 3. An example of a particular value for n is 2.
An example of a particular value for R2 is hydrogen.
Examples of particular values for Y are O and NH.
Examples of particular values for R3 are phenyl, benzo[1,3]dioxol-5-yl, 2-fluorophenyl, 4-fluorophenyl, 2,4-difluorophenyl, 4-trifluoromethoxyphenyl, 2-chlorophenyl, 4-chlorophenyl, 3,4-dichlorophenyl, 4-methylphenyl, 4-isopropylphenyl, 4-t-butylphenyl, 4-cyanophenyl, 2-trifluoromethylphenyl, 4-trifluoromethylphenyl, 2-methoxyphenyl, 4-methoxyphenyl, 4-biphenyl, 4-(1-imidazolyl)phenyl, 2-fluoro-4-methoxyphenyl, 3-fluoro-4-methoxyphenyl, 3-chloro-4-methoxyphenyl, 2-trifluoromethoxyphenyl, 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl, and 4-trifluoromethoxyphenyl.
Particular examples for R3 are phenyl, 2-fluorophenyl, 4-fluorophenyl, 2-chlorophenyl, 4-chlorophenyl, 4-methylphenyl, 4-isopropylphenyl, 4-cyanophenyl, 3,4,5-trimethoxy group, and 2-trifluoromethylphenyl.
Particular mention is made of compounds of formula (I) in which R3 represents a 4-fluorophenyl group.
It will be appreciated that certain compounds of formula (I) contain a centre of asymmetry. These compounds may therefore exist and be isolated in the form of stereoisomers. The present invention provides a compound of formula (I) in any stereoisomeric form.
It will also be appreciated that the compounds of formula (I) or their pharmaceutically acceptable salts may be isolated in the form of a solvate, and accordingly that any such solvate is included within the scope of the present invention.
Certain compounds of formula (I) have also been found to possess good selectivity for sigma-1 receptors as compared with sigma-2 receptors. This selectivity for sigma-1 receptors is particularly desirable, because selectivity for sigma-2 receptors can have undesired results. For example, sigma-2 receptors have been shown to play an important role in the sigma receptor-mediated neck dystonia in rats (Matsumoto R R, et al., Pharmacol. Biochem. Behav. 36, 151-155, 1996). For example microinjection of DTG (1,3-di-2-tolyl-guanidine, a sigma-1 and sigma-2 receptor agonist) induced neck dystonia in rats while injection of SA-4503 (a selective sigma-1 agonist) had no effect (Nakazawa M et al., Pharmacol biochem. Behav., 62, 123-126, 1999). In addition sigma-2 receptors have been implicated in the regulation of cell proliferation. Cytotoxic effects have been correlated with sigma-2 receptor ligands (Vilner and Bowen, Eur. J. Pharmacol Mol Pharmacol Sect 244, 199-201, 1993). Sigma-2 selective drugs can inhibit tumor cell proliferation through mechanisms that may involve apoptosis and intracellular calcium release (Aydar E et al., Cancer Research 64, 5029-5035, 2004). Compounds of formula (I) possessing good selectivity for sigma-1 receptors are therefore particularly preferred.
According to another aspect, therefore, the present invention provides a compound which is selected from    1-(3,4-Dimethoxyphenethyl)-4-(2-(4-fluorophenoxy)ethyl)piperidine;    1-(4-(Trifluoromethyl)phenethyl)-4-(2-phenoxyethyl)piperidine;    4-(2-(2-Fluorophenoxy)ethyl)-1-(3,4-dimethoxyphenethyl)piperidine;    1-(3,4-Dimethoxyphenethyl)-4-(2-phenoxyethyl)piperazine;    1-(3-Methoxyphenethyl)-4-(2-phenoxyethyl)piperazine;    1-(4-Methoxyphenethyl)-4-(2-phenoxyethyl)piperazine;    1-(2-(Benzo[d][1,3]dioxol-5-yl)ethyl)-4-(2-phenoxyethyl)piperazine;    1-(3,4-Difluorophenethyl)-4-(2-phenoxyethyl)piperazine;    1-Phenethyl-4-(2-phenoxyethyl)piperazine;    1-(3,4-Dimethoxyphenethyl)-4-(2-(4-chlorophenoxy)ethyl)piperazine;    4-(2-(4-(3,4-Dimethoxyphenethyl)piperazin-1-yl)ethyloxy)benzonitrile;and pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof.
The above compounds have been found to possess good selectivity for sigma-1 over sigma-2 receptors.
The compounds of general formula (I) can be prepared by conventional processes.
According to another aspect, therefore, the present invention provides a process for preparing a compound of general formula (I), or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, which comprises
a) reducing a compound of general formula (II)
with a reducing agent;
b) for a compound of formula (I) in which X is N, reacting a compound of general formula (III)
in which each of Z1 and Z2 independently represents a leaving atom or group, with a compound of general formula (IV)R1—(CH2)m—NH2  (IV)or a corresponding compound in which one or two substituents on R1 are protected; or
c) for a compound of formula (I) in which X is N, reacting a compound of general formula (V)
with a compound of general formula (VI)Z3—(CH2)n—Y—R3  (VI)in which Z3 represents a leaving atom or group;
followed by removing any protecting group and, optionally, forming a pharmaceutically acceptable salt.
Referring to process step a), the reducing agent can conveniently be a borane (BH3), a borohydride reducing agent, such as sodium borohydride, or an alkali metal aluminium hydride, such as lithium aluminium hydride. The reduction is conveniently performed in the presence of a solvent such as an ether, for example tetrahydrofuran. The temperature at which the reduction is carried out is conveniently in the range of from −25 to 100° C., such as from −10 to 40° C.
Compounds of general formula (II) can be prepared by reacting a compound of general formula (VII)
in which Z4 represents a leaving atom or group, such as a p-toluenesulfonyloxy group, with a compound of general formula (VIII)H—Y—R3  (VIII).
Compounds of general formula (VII) can be prepared from a corresponding compound of general formula (IX),
for example by reaction with a sulfonyl halide, such as p-toluenesulfonyl chloride.
Compounds of general formula (IX) can be prepared by reacting a compound of general formula (X)
with a compound of general formula (XI)R1—(CH2)m-1COOH  (XI)or a reactive derivative thereof, using standard amide bond coupling conditions.
Alternatively, compounds of general formula (II) can be prepared by reacting a compound of general formula (XII)
with a compound of general formula (XI), or a reactive derivative thereof, using standard amide bond coupling conditions.
Compounds of general formula (XII) can be prepared by deprotecting a compound of general formula (XIII)
in which P1 represents an amino protecting group, such as t-butoxycarbonyl.
Compounds of general formula (XIII) can be prepared from the corresponding compounds of general formula (XIV)
following the procedure for preparing a compound of general formula (II) from a compound of general formula (IX).
Referring to process step b), the leaving atoms or groups represented by Z′ and Z2 may be, for example, hydrocarbylsulfonyloxy groups, such as methanesulfonyloxy or p-toluenesulfonyloxy, or halogen atoms, such as chlorine atoms.
The reaction is conveniently performed at a temperature in the range of from 0 to 100° C., such as from 50 to 90° C. Convenient solvents include organic solvents, for example amides such as dimethylformamide. The reaction is conveniently performed in the presence of a base, for example an alkali metal carbonate such as potassium carbonate. The reaction may be performed in the presence of a catalyst, such as sodium iodide.
Compounds of general formula (III) can be prepared from the corresponding compounds of general formula (XV)
for example by reaction with thionyl chloride to afford a compound of formula (III) in which Z1 and Z2 represent chlorine atoms.
Compounds of general formula (XV) can be prepared by reacting a compound of general formula (XVI)
with a compound of general formula (XVII)Z5—(CH2)n—Y—R3  (XVII)in which Z5 represents a leaving atom or group, for example a halogen atom such as a bromine atom.
Referring to process step c), the leaving atom or group represented by Z3 may be, for example, a hydrocarbylsulfonyloxy group, such as p-toluenesulfonyloxy. Convenient solvents include ketones, such as acetone. The reaction is conveniently performed at a temperature in the range of from 0 to 100° C.
A pharmaceutically acceptable salt may be formed by a conventional method, such as by reacting a compound of formula (I) with a pharmaceutically acceptable acid, such as hydrochloric acid.
Certain of the intermediates, for example compounds of formula (II), may be novel. The invention also provides the entire novel intermediates disclosed herein.
The compounds of the invention may be administered by any convenient route, e.g. into the gastrointestinal tract (e.g. rectally or orally), the nose, lungs, musculature or vasculature or transdermally. The compounds may be administered in any convenient administrative form, e.g. tablets, powders, capsules, solutions, dispersions, suspensions, syrups, sprays, suppositories, gels, emulsions, patches etc. Such compositions may contain components conventional in pharmaceutical preparations, e.g. diluents, carriers, pH modifiers, sweeteners, bulking agents, and further active agents. If parenteral administration is desired, the compositions will be sterile and in a solution or suspension form suitable for injection or infusion. Such compositions form a further aspect of the invention.
According to another aspect, the present invention provides a pharmaceutical composition, which comprises a compound of formula (I) or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, as defined hereinabove, together with a pharmaceutically acceptable diluent or carrier.
According to another aspect, the present invention provides the compound of formula (I), or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, for use in therapy.
According to another aspect, the present invention provides the use of the compound of formula (I), or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, for the manufacture of a medicament for the treatment of a disorder responsive to a modulator of sigma receptor function.
According to another aspect, the present invention provides a method of treating a condition responsive to a modulator of sigma receptor function in a patient requiring treatment, which comprises administering to said patient an effective amount of a compound of formula (I) or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof.
The subject may be a human or a non-human animal, such as a non-human mammal, for example a cat, dog, horse, cow or sheep.
The disorder responsive to a sigma receptor modulator may be, for example, a disorder of the central nervous system, such as a neurological disorder or a psychiatric disorder that has been linked to sigma receptors. Examples of neurological disorders include cerebral deficits subsequent to cardiac bypass surgery and grafting, cerebral ischemia (e.g. associated with stroke or cardiac arrest); spinal cord trauma; head trauma; multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's Disease; Huntington's Chorea; amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; AIDS-induced dementia; muscular spasms; convulsions; drug tolerance, withdrawal, and cessation (i.e. opiates, benzodiazepines, nicotine, cocaine, or ethanol); ocular damage and retinopathy; cognitive disorders; idiopathic and drug-induced Parkinson's Disease; pain; and movement disorders such as tardive dyskinesia. Examples of psychiatric disorders that are treated with a compound of formula I include schizophrenia, anxiety and related disorders (e.g. panic attack and stress-related disorders), depression, bipolar disorders, psychosis, and obsessive compulsive disorders.
The compounds according to the invention are of particular interest for use as neuroprotective agents and in the treatment of patients to facilitate neuronal regeneration and functional recovery after onset of a neurodegenerative disease, in particular ischemic stroke, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, and multiple sclerosis.
The dosage of the compounds of formula (I) will depend upon the nature and severity of the condition being treated, the administration route and the size and species of the subject. In general, quantities in the range of from 0.01 to 100 mg/kg bodyweight will be administered.
As used herein, the term "treatment" includes prophylactic use. The term "effective amount" refers to the amount of the compound of formula (I) that is effective to reduce or inhibit the development of the symptoms of the disorder being treated.
The compound according to the invention may be administered alone or in combination with another therapeutic agent having a different mode of action.
The ability of a compound to bind to a sigma receptor may be demonstrated by one or more of the following tests.
Sigma-1 (σ1) and sigma-2 (σ2) receptor binding assays are carried out in membranes from HEK-293 (Human Embryonic Kidney) cells.
Membrane Preparation:
Confluent HEK-293 cells are harvested in PBS/5 mM EDTA. They are centrifuged at 2000 rpm for 5 min and then washed two times in PBS. Cells are homogenized in 20 mM Tris-HCL (pH=7.5) containing 5 mM EDTA, 0.5 mM PMSF and 0.5 μg/ml leupeptin using a Dounce homogenizer and sonicated for 5 minutes.
Nuclear debris and intact cells are removed by centrifugation at 3000 rpm for 10 minutes at 4° C. The supernatant is centrifuged at 12000 rpm for 30 minutes and the resulting pellet is resuspended in 25 mM Tris-HCL (pH=7.5), 25 mM Mg2Cl, 10% sucrose containing 0.5 mM PMSF, 2 mM AEBSF, 1 mM EDTA, 130 μM bestatin, 14 μM E-64, 1 μM leupeptin and 0.3 mM aprotinin.
Proteins are determined using the Bio Rad Protein Assay Dye Reagent and the membranes are aliquoted and frozen at −80° C.
σ1 Receptor Binding Assay
The binding assays are performed in 96-well plates.
σ1 receptors are labeled using the al selective probe (+)-[3H] Pentazocine (Bowen W D et al, Mol Neuropharmacol 3, 117-126, 1993).
Total binding is determined by incubating 50 μg of HEK-293 cell membranes with 10 nM (+)-[3H]-pentazocine (Perkin-Elmer, 35 Ci/mmol) and assay buffer (50 mM Tris-HCl, pH=8.3) in a total volume of 200 μl. Non specific binding is determined in the presence of 10 μM unlabeled pentazocine. For competition experiments, 50 μl of displacing compound is added at 8 different concentrations. Incubations are carried out for 120 min at 37° C. Assays are terminated by dilution with ice-cold 10 mM Tris-HCl, pH=8.3 and vacuum filtration through glass fibers using a Skatron cell harvester from Molecular Devices. The filters are washed three times and the membrane-bound radioactivity is determined in a Microbeta scintillation counter.
Filters are soaked in 0.5% polyethyleneimine for 1 hour before use.
Specific binding is determined by subtraction of non specific binding from total binding. IC50 values (concentration of competing ligand required for 50% inhibition of [3H]-pentazocine binding) are analyzed by non-linear regression fit using the GraphPad Prism software.
σ2 Receptor Binding Assay
The binding assays are performed in 96-well plates
σ2 receptors are labeled using [3H] DTG (Di-o-tolylguanidine), under conditions in which σ1 receptors are masked with the al selective compound pentazocine (Hellewell S B et al, Eur. J. Pharmacol, 268, 9-18, 1994).
Total binding is determined by incubating 50 μg of HEK-293 cell membranes with 10 nM [3H]-DTG (Perkin-Elmer, 58 Ci/mmol) in the presence of 10 μM pentazocine and assay buffer (50 mM Tris-HCl, pH=8.3) in a total volume of 200 μl. Non specific binding is determined in the presence of 10 μM unlabeled DTG. For competition experiments, 50 μl of displacing compound is added at 8 different concentrations. Incubations are carried out for 120 min at 37° C. Assays are terminated by dilution with ice-cold 10 mM Tris-HCl, pH=8.3 and vacuum filtration through glass fibers using a Skatron cell harvester from Molecular Devices. The filters are washed three times and the membrane-bound radioactivity is determined in a Microbeta scintillation counter.
Filters are soaked in 0.5% polyethyleneimine for 1 hour before use.
Specific binding is determined by subtraction of non specific binding from total binding. IC50 values (concentration of competing ligand required for 50% inhibition of [3H]-DTG binding) are analyzed by non-linear regression fit using the GraphPad Prism software
The compounds exemplified herein have all been found to have an IC50 of less than 700 nM in the σ1 receptor binding assay.
The following examples illustrate the invention.

Abstract: Compounds of general formula (I)

Abstract: in which R1, m, X, n, Y and R3 have any of the meanings given in the specification, have affinity for sigma receptors and are useful in the treatment of disorders of the central nervous system.


A system and method for providing sensor data may comprise receiving a request for sensor data, the request including a triggering parameter. Furthermore, the system and method for providing sensor data may comprise searching for information identifying devices that meet the triggering parameter. Devices are selected from a plurality of item tracking devices, where the plurality of item tracking devices correspond to a plurality of items. Moreover, the system and method for providing sensor data may retrieve the requested sensor data that corresponds to the devices that meet the triggering parameter, and return the requested sensor data.

Asset management has always been an important part of commerce. Tracking assets is important to organizations of all kinds, whether it be a company keeping track of inventory to be sold in its stores, or a package delivery provider keeping track of packages being transported through its delivery network. To provide quality service, an organization typically creates and maintains a highly organized network for tracking its assets. Effective management of such networks allows lower cost, reduced delivery time, and enhanced customer service.
Technological advances have enabled items to be tracked in ways that far exceed the functionality of a simple list. A rich information framework now can be applied to describe the item's interaction with its surroundings, such as transportation and custodial handoffs.
Bar codes are one way organizations keep track of items. A retailer, for example, may use bar codes on items in its inventory. For example, items to be sold in a retailer's store may each have a different bar code on it. In order to keep track of inventory, the retailer typically scans the bar code on each item. In addition, when an item is sold to a consumer, the bar code for that item is scanned.
Similarly, a package delivery provider may utilize bar codes by associating a bar code with packages to be delivered to a recipient. For example, a package may have a bar code corresponding to a tracking number for that package. Each time the package goes through a checkpoint (e.g., the courier taking initial control of the package, the package being placed in a storage facility, the package being delivered to the recipient, etc.), the package's bar code may be scanned. Bar codes, however, have the disadvantage that personnel must manually scan each bar code on each item in order to effectively track the items.
Radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags are an improvement over typical bar codes. RFID tags do not require manual scanning that is required by typical bar codes. For example, in a retail context, an RFID tag on an inventory item may be able to communicate with an electronic reader that detects items in a shopping cart and adds the cost of each item to a bill for the consumer. RFID tags have also been used to track things such as livestock, railroad cars, trucks, and even airline baggage. These tags typically only allow for basic tracking and do not provide a way to improve asset management using information about the environment in which the items are tracked.
Sensor-based tracking systems are also known which can provide more information than RFID systems. Such systems, however, can be expensive, and may provide extraneous and redundant item information.
It is therefore desirable to provide a system that lowers the costs of sensor-based tracking and enables sensor data to be shared in order to build a strong information web surrounding the item being tracked.

Methods and systems for providing sensor data using a sensor web


Disclosed is a sleeve for modify a seat belt assembly, the sleeve being used to vary the position of the shoulder strap or other portion of the assembly relative to the passenger. The sleeve is installed at a portion of the seat belt assembly where a belt or strap forms a loop through an eye mounted at an anchor point of the assembly, and the sleeve holds opposed sections of the loop in facial contact. The sleeve has flaps that fold and attach together so as to releasably secure the sleeve around the loop sections. The sleeve also has a tongue extending therefrom through the eye and into attachment to one of the flaps, whereby movement of the sleeve relative to the seat belt assembly is limited or prevented.

Most seat belt assemblies of automotive vehicles have a shoulder strap intended to pass diagonally over a passenger's shoulder toward the passenger's waist. For small adults or for children, the shoulder strap passes over the neck or head, making the strap uncomfortable and unduly restrictive of passenger movement. Further, the shoulder strap can injure a smaller passenger if that passenger is jolted forward against the strap.
My invention solves the above problem by a sleeve that adjusts the strap to pass correctly over the smaller passenger's shoulder. The sleeve engage a portion of the strap that forms a loop through an eye anchored in the vehicle, and the sleeve holds together opposed sections of the loop. The sleeve has a pair of flaps that releasably secure the sleeve around the opposed loop sections. A tongue extending from the sleeve passes through the eye and attaches to one of the flaps so as to limit the sleeve's movement along the strap.


A salvage tool for removing worn, damaged or seized threaded fasteners includes a socket body having formed therein a fastener-receiving recess with an axis of rotation, the recess having a plurality of substantially flat planar surfaces arranged in a polygonal configuration and substantially parallel to said axis, with each of said flat planar surfaces having projecting laterally inwardly therefrom a fastener-engaging surface with inner and outer ends spaced apart in use substantially axially, each fastener-engaging surface being arcuate in transverse cross-section perpendicular to said axis and sloping away from said axis from said inner end toward said outer end.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to tools for turning threaded fasteners, such as bolts, nuts and the like and, in particular, relates to salvage tools for removing worn, damaged or seized threaded fasteners.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known to provide socket-type salvage tools with laterally inwardly projecting teeth or barbs designed to dig into the fastener surface to facilitate turning of the fastener. Such an arrangement is disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,947,712. While that arrangement works relatively well for rotating the fastener, it tends to destroy the fastener, can be used only for rotation in only one direction, and tends to have a relatively short life because the teeth or barbs tend to become worn or broken in use.
It is also known to provide fastener turning tools which have corner relief regions and drive surfaces which may be arcuate, designed to engage the fastener away from the corner, to assist in turning fasteners with worn or rounded corners. However, these arrangements do not assist in rotating stuck fasteners, such as rust-seized fasteners.


A journaled database may comprise a computing node that forms a local version of a global state, synchronized with respect to the high-water mark of a data node that maintains the global state. Instructions to modify the state that have been committed, subsequent to forming the local version of the state, may be represented in a merge signature. An uncommitted transaction may be checked for conflicts with respect to a last-ordered committed instruction to modify the data state. Validation with respect to earlier instructions represented by the merge signature may be skipped.

Recently, distributed computing environments have been employed to maintain collections of data. Multiple computing nodes, potentially distributed across various geographic regions and data centers, may be employed to collectively provide applications with an efficient mechanism for storing and retrieving data. The complexity of such systems may increase in proportion to the number of computing nodes that make up the system and in proportion to the number of clients of the system. One issue that may arise involves efficient processing of updates to the collection of data, particularly when many clients are reading and writing to the same value.

Transaction pipelining in a journaled database


Provided is a hydrogen absorbing alloy electrode having on a conductive support surface a hydrogen absorbing alloy layer which comprises a hydrogen absorbing alloy powder capable of absorbing and desorbing hydrogen electrochemically and a binder; with the hydrogen absorbing alloy layer having a surface coated spotwise with an amorphous water-repelling fluoropolymer at a total coverage of 0.001 mg/cm.sup.2 to 5 mg/cm.sup.2, wherein a solution of the fluoropolymer in a solvent having a boiling point of 50.degree.-110.degree. C. is spray-coated on the alloy layer surface.

Storage batteries which have been prevailingly used are, as well known, a nickel-cadmium storage battery and a lead storage battery. As the range of their use have been increasing in recent years, however, the development of storage batteries having lighter weight, higher capacitance and higher energy density has come to be desired eagerly.
Quite recently, a metal-hydrogen alkali storage battery wherein a hydrogen absorbing alloy is used as a negative electrode and nickel hydride as a positive electrode has come into the limelight.
While such a nickel-hydrogen alkali storage battery is charged with electricity, the hydrogen absorbing alloy electrode electrolyzes the water in an alkali electrolytic solution and absorbs the hydrogen gas produced by the electrolysis. During the discharge, on the other hand, the hydrogen absorbing alloy electrode releases the hydrogen gas and, at the same time, oxidizes the hydrogen gas to return it to the state of water.
When the storage battery is overcharged for the purpose of rapid charging, however, not only oxygen gas is generated from the positive electrode but also hydrogen gas is generated from the negative electrode, and thereby the internal pressure of the storage battery is increased.
This is being the case, it has been proposed to design the negative electrode so as to have a greater charging capacity than the positive electrode, thereby generating oxygen gas preferentially upon charging. Therein, the oxygen gas generated preferentially is made to react with the hydrogen gas produced on the negative electrode to be converted into water; as a result, a rise in the internal pressure of the storage battery can be controlled.
An increase in the charging capacity of the negative electrode, although it can inhibit the increase in an internal pressure of the battery upon overcharging, has a defect that it requires correlatively a decrease in the volume occupied by the positive electrode in the storage battery to result in the lowering of the battery capacity.
For the purpose of obviating such a defect, it has been proposed to coat the electrode surface with a fluorine-containing water repellent to form thereon a three-phase interface of gas, liquid and solid, thereby making an improvement in hydrogen absorbing properties of the electrode (Japanese Tokkai Hei 2-250260 and Japanese Tokkai Hei 2-291665). In coating such a water repellent on the negative electrode, a solvent-insoluble resin, such as a polytetrafluoroethylene resin or a tetrafluoroethylene-hexafluoroethylene copolymer resin, has been used in the form of dispersion, so that the foregoing measure has a drawback of requiring much time and labor for formation and drying of the coat of water repellent.


A combination camera and flashlight is disclosed that includes a flashlight portion having an illumination bulb and a camera portion for recording visual information. A mechanism is also provided for automatically turning off the illumination bulb when the shutter is opened.

The present invention relates generally to a device that combines the functions of a camera and a flashlight. More particularly, a compact combination camera and flashlight is disclosed which prevents picture washout caused by light rays from a flashlight illumination bulb impinging on the aperture of a photographic lens when a picture is taken.
Devices which combine the function of a camera and a flashlight are generally known. Such devices are often marketed to police and/or security operations for use on patrol. The intention is that when a suspect or an incident is observed in the dark, the flashlight portion of the device can be used for illumination. The camera portion of the device may be used to obtain a clear picture of the suspect or incident which in turn can be used for either identification or evidence in future proceedings. The flashlight portion can also be used for illumination during patrols. Of course, there are many other applications for such combined devices as well.
Heretofore, many types of combination camera and flashlights have been proposed. By way of example, such devices are shown in Japanese laid open utility Model Publication Nos. 15929/1983, 131728/1984, 149201/1986, 162901/1986 and 151201/1986. In each of the described devices, the aperture of the photographic lens and the illumination bulb are both arranged generally in a forward region of the device in order to minimize the overall size of the combined camera and flashlight. However, in such devices, the light can remain on when the picture is being taken. When this occurs, light from the illumination bulb often tends to at least partially wash out the picture, which detracts from the overall quality of the picture.

164 Aza Moto-machi, Terano, Shinkawa-cho