An internal combustion engine mounted on a small planing watercraft 1 having a deck frame 40, a riders' seat 4 mounted removably on the frame 40, a propelling means, an internal combustion engine 20 for driving the propelling means through a coupling 46. The engine 20 includes, an oil receptacle 32 located at the bottom of the engine body and communicating with internal space of a crankcase, an oil tank 30 separated from the engine body is inserted from above through the opening of the deck frame 40 and removably fixed to the deck frame at a position away from the space above the coupling 46 which interconnects the engine and the propelling means. An engine oil collected in the oil receptacle 32 is transported to the oil tank 30 by means of a scavenging pump, and the oil in the oil tank 30 is supplied to various parts in the engine body by means of a feed pump.

The present invention relates to an internal combustion engine mounted on a small planing watercraft, and more particularly to an oil tank of a four-cycle internal combustion engine with a dry sump lubrication system.
A small planing watercraft is propelled to plane on the water usually by a two-cycle engine which is small in size and light in weight. Since the small planing watercraft is a sporty vehicle, the two-cycle engine which accumulates no engine oil in a crankcase has an advantage that no engine oil flows into a combustion chamber from the crankcase when the small planing watercraft turns over. The two-cycle engine, therefore, is suitable for mounting on a small planing watercraft.
In recent years, however, in view of environmental protection, a four-cycle engine of relatively low noise level and clean exhaust gas has been examined for mounting on a small planing watercraft. For engines of this type also, attempts are being made to apply a dry sump lubrication system wherein no engine oil is accumulated in the crankcase.
One of the attempts is disclosed in JP-A-7-237587. The publication shows a small planing watercraft and, mounted thereon a four-cycle engine for propelling the watercraft. An oil tank accumulating engine oil for lubricating the engine is located in a space above a coupling which interconnects an engine output shaft and an impeller shaft extending in a longitudinal direction of the hull. An oil pan formed at the bottom of the engine body and the oil tank are communicated with an oil pipe, and the engine oil collected in the oil pan is transferred to the oil tank through the oil pipe by means of an oil pump.
When the dry sump lubrication system is applied to the internal combustion engine of a small planing watercraft, a problem to be examined is where and how to mount the oil tank in a limited space. In particular, when the oil tank is separately mounted from the engine body, it is important to determine a mounting location and mounting manner of the oil tank so that the oil tank can be secured firmly, and mounting and dismounting of the oil tank as well as maintenance of the oil can easily be performed.
The oil tank shown in the above publication is mounted separately from the engine body, but the publication does not disclose any means for mounting the oil tank except for the rough mounting location (above the coupling) of the oil tank, and it is not clear on which structural member the oil tank is mounted, and how to perform the maintenance of the oil. The coupling used in a small planing watercraft is associated with rubber elements or the like, and requires relatively frequent maintenance and inspection. Therefore, the oil tank located above the coupling hinders the maintenance and inspection of the coupling.
The present invention has been developed in view of the above problems which have been posed when a four-cycle engine with a dry lubrication system is mounted on a small planing watercraft.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an engine of a small planing watercraft having advantages of the dry sump lubrication system.
Another object of the invention to provide a dry sump lubricating system, having an oil tank which is easy for inspection of the oil level and replenishing of the engine oil, and is easy for dismount, cleaning, and replacement of the engine oil, and is stably mounted.

Internal combuston engine of small planing watercraft


A code converting apparatus for converting a first code sequence conforming to a first system to a second code sequence conforming to a second system, in which a speech decoding circuit acquires a first linear prediction coefficient and the information on an excitation signal from the first code sequence, and actuates a filter having the aforementioned first linear prediction coefficient with the excitation signal obtained from the information on the excitation signal, to generate a first speech signal. A gain code generating circuit calculates a gain minimizing the distance between a second speech signal, generated from the information, obtained from the second code sequence, and the first speech signal (optimum gain), and corrects the optimum gain and the gain code generating circuit then finds the gain information in the second code sequence, based on the optimum gain as corrected (optimum gain corrected), the above optimum gain and a gain read out from a gain codebook of the second system. The gain is found at this time, in a non-speech segment, based on a speech decision value, using an evaluation function which will reduce time variations of the gain of the second system.

As a method for encoding a speech signal at low or medium bit rates with high efficiency, there has so far been extensively used a method which separates and encodes the speech signal into linear prediction (LP) coefficients and an excitation signal for driving an LP filter. As typical of such method is code excited linear prediction (CELP). In the CELP, an LP filter, in which the LP coefficients, representing frequency response of the input speech, is driven by an excitation signal represented by the sum of an adaptive codebook (ACB) representing the pitch period of the input speech and a fixed codebook (FCB) composed of random numbers and pulses to generate a synthesized speech signal. The ACB and FCB components are multiplied by gains (ACB gain and FCB gain). As for CELP, reference may be had to M. Schroeder and B. S. Atal: "Code Excited Linear Prediction: High Quality Speech at very low Rates," Proc. of IEEE Int. Conf. on Acoustics., Speech and Signal Processing, pp. 937 to 940, 1985 (Publication 1).
If the interconnection between a 3G mobile network and a wired packet network is supposed to be implemented, there is raised a problem that direct connection is not possible because of the difference in the standard speech encoding systems used in the respective networks. The simplest solution for this is tandem connection. However, in the tandem connection, speech signals are transiently decoded from a code sequence, obtained on encoding the speech, using one of the standard systems, by this one standard system, and the speech signals, thus decoded, are re-encoded using the other standard system. As a result, there are raised such problems as lowered speech quality, increased delay and increased computation quantity as compared to a case where encoding and decoding are carried out only once in each of the speech encoding/decoding systems.
These problems may effectively be addressed by a transcoding system in which a code obtained on encoding the speech using one of the standard systems into a code decodable using the other standard system in a code domain or in an encoding parameter domain. As for the code converting method, reference may be had to Hong-Goo Kang: "Improving Transcoding Capability of Speech Coders in Clean and Frame Erased Channel Environments," Proc. of IEEE Workshop on Speech Coding 2000, pp. 78 to 80, 2000 (Publication 2).
FIG. 12 shows an illustrative configuration of a transcoder which converts a code, obtained on encoding the speech using a first speech encoding system (system A) into a code decodable by a second code (system B). Referring to FIG. 12, the transcoder includes an input terminal 10, a code demultiplexing circuit 1010, an LP coefficient code converting circuit 100, an ACB code converting circuit 200, an FCB code converting circuit 300, a gain code converting circuit 400, a code multiplexing circuit 1020 and an output terminal 20. Referring to FIG. 12, the component elements of the conventional transcoder are described.
A first code sequence, obtained on encoding the speech in accordance with the system A, is entered to the input terminal 10.
The code demultiplexing circuit 1010 separates codes corresponding to the LP coefficient, ACB, FCB, ACB gain and FCB gain, that is, LP coefficient code, ACB code, FCB code and the gain code, from the first code sequence, entered to the input terminal 10. The ACB gain and the FCB gain are collectively encoded/decoded and are termed the gains, for simplicity sake. The corresponding codes are termed gain codes. The LP coefficient code, ACB code, FCB code and the gain code are termed first LP coefficient code, first ACB code, first FCB code and the first gain code, respectively. The first LP coefficient codes, first ACB codes, first FCB codes and the first gain code are output to the LP coefficient code converting circuit 100, an ACB code converting circuit 200, an FCB code converting circuit 300 and to the gain code converting circuit 400, respectively.
The LP coefficient code converting circuit 100 is supplied with the first LP coefficient codes, output from the code demultiplexing circuit 1010, to convert the first LP coefficient codes into codes decodable by the system B. The so converted LP coefficient codes are output as the second LP coefficient codes to the code multiplexing circuit 1020.
The ACB code converting circuit 200 is supplied with the first ACB code, output from the code demultiplexing circuit 1010, to convert the first ACB code into a code decodable by the system B. The so converted ACB code is supplied as the second ACB code to the code multiplexing circuit 1020.
The FCB code converting circuit 300 is supplied with the first FCB code, output from the code demultiplexing circuit 1010, to convert the first FCB code into a code decodable by the system B. The so converted FCB code is supplied as the second FCB code to the code multiplexing circuit 1020.
The gain code converting circuit 400 is supplied with the first gain codes, output from the code demultiplexing circuit 1010, to convert the first gain code into code decodable by the system B. The so converted gain code is supplied as the second gain code to the code multiplexing circuit 1020.
More specified operations of the code converting circuits are hereinafter explained
The LP coefficient code converting circuit 100 decodes the first LP coefficient code, entered from the code demultiplexing circuit 1010, by an LP coefficient decoding method in the system A to produce first LP coefficient. The LP coefficient code converting circuit 100 quantizes and encodes the first LP coefficient, in accordance with the quantization method and the encoding method for the LP coefficient by the system B, to yield second LP coefficient code. The LP coefficient code converting circuit 100 outputs the second LP coefficient code to the code multiplexing circuit 1020, as the code decodable by the LP coefficient decoding method by the system B.
The ACB code converting circuit 200 translates the first ACB code, entered from the code demultiplexing circuit 1010, using the relationship of correspondence between the code of the system A and that of the system B, to derive the second ACB code. The ACB code converting circuit 200 outputs the second ACB code to the code multiplexing circuit 1020 as the code decodable by the ACB decoding method in the system B.
The FCB code converting circuit 300 translates the first FCB code, entered from the code demultiplexing circuit 1010, using the relationship of correspondence between the code of the system A and that of the system B, to derive the second FCB code. The FCB code converting circuit 300 outputs the second FCB code to the code multiplexing circuit 1020 as the code decodable by the FCB decoding method in the system B.
The gain code converting circuit 400 decodes the first gain code, supplied from the code demultiplexing circuit 1010, using the gain decoding method of the system A, to produce the first gain. The gain code converting circuit 400 then quantizes and encodes the first gain in accordance with the gain quantization method and the gain encoding method of the system B to derive the second gain and its code (second gain code). The gain code converting circuit 400 then outputs the second gain code as the code decodable by the gain decoding method of the system B to the code multiplexing circuit 1020.
The code multiplexing circuit 1020 is supplied with the second LP coefficient code, output from the LP coefficient code converting circuit 100, the second ACB code, output from the ACB code converting circuit 200, the second FCB code, output from the FCB code converting circuit 300 and the second gain code, output from the gain code converting circuit 400, to output a code sequence, obtained on multiplexing these codes, as a second code sequence to the output terminal 20. The above is the description of FIG. 12.
However, the conventional transcoder, explained above with reference to FIG. 12, suffers from the problem that the sound quality of the background noise energy for the non-speech period is deteriorated.
The reason is that the temporal variation of the background noise energy during the non-speech period are large because of severe temporal changes during the non-speech period of the second gain obtained on re-quantization of the first gain.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus whereby the deterioration of the sound quality of the background noise during the non-speech period may be reduced, and a recording medium having a corresponding program recorded thereon. Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description.

Method and apparatus for transcoding between different speech encoding/decoding systems


A fan blade device includes a plurality of main fan blades and extension fan blades. Each main fan blade includes a main fan blade body arranged obliquely, a plurality of first protrusions, and at least one engaging groove. Each extension fan blade includes an extension fan blade body arranged obliquely and having a top surface that is contiguously flush with a top surface of the main fan blade body of a respective main fan blade, a plurality of second protrusions respectively abutting against the first protrusions of the respective main fan blade, and at least one engaging piece engaging the at least one engaging groove of the respective main fan blade.

Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional fan blade device generally includes a central hub 11 and a plurality of fan blades 12 radiating outward from the central hub 11. The conventional fan blade device is typically integrally formed to reduce cost and manufacturing difficulty. With the functional evolution of various electronic products and machinery, the demand for improved heat dissipation efficiency of fan blade devices is also growing. For the aforesaid conventional fan blade device, the most direct way to improve heat dissipation efficiency is to increase the number of the fan blades 12, thereby increasing the volume of air that can be moved by the fan blades 12. The fan blades 12 of the conventional fan blade device are often arranged in the manner shown in FIG. 1; that is, they are placed around the central hub 11 at an angular interval. Therefore, the central hub 11 is made larger to increase the outer diameter thereof for installation of more fan blades 12. This is however not conducive to the miniaturization of the fan blade device.
Because of the above, there is an arrangement where the density of fan blades are increased by provisioning blades to be oblique and more adjacent to each other. In particular, each fan blade is positioned with the top portion thereof being placed over a bottom portion of an adjacent fan blade at one side, and with the bottom portion thereof being placed under a top portion of another adjacent fan blade at an opposite side, i.e., the projections of any two adjacent fan blades on an imaginary plane which is normal to the rotary axis of the fan blade device partially overlap. Although this configuration can significantly increase the number of fan blades, it will cause difficulty in demolding during manufacturing; therefore, the fan blade device of this type is not suitable for being molded integrally as one piece. Referring to FIG. 2, a typical current design of such a fan blade device is configured in two-halves. This fan blade device includes an upper hub 13, a lower hub 14 under the upper hub 13, a plurality of upper blades 15 extending radially outward from the upper hub 13, and a plurality of lower blades 16 extending radially outward from the lower hub 14. The upper hub 13 has a projection 131 that projects downward, and the lower hub 14 has an engaging groove 141 that faces upward and that is engaged with the projection 131. The upper blades 15 and the lower blades 16 are arranged alternately around the combined upper hub 13 and lower hub 14.
The design mentioned offers a manufacturing solution that is easier to demold. However, it only relies on the engagement between the projection 131 and the engaging groove 141 for positioning the upper hub 13 relative to the lower hub 14, and the upper blades 15 and the lower blades 16 are not interconnected. Therefore, the upper hub 13 and the lower hub 14 may become separated from each other during rotation, and the upper blades 15 and the lower blades 16 may consequently not be regularly arranged, thereby causing turbulence in the airflow and generating excessive noise. In addition, the larger volume of air which comes from the increase of blades will also cause more turbulence that impinges on the fan frame and generate noise.


An electrical connector receptacle having a simple connector housing structure, a secure grounding connection of a metal shell to ground, and excellent durability, includes a connector housing having a pair of locking sections with nut-storing-sections formed therein, nuts stored in the nut-storing-sections, and a metal shell covering the connector housing. The nut-storing-section is open at an upper side, and formed in a vertically elongated, concave shape with a depth to receive the nut fully, and has a screw-insertion-hole running through the locking section across the nut-storing-section, and a shell-strip through-hole running through the locking section above the screw-insertion-hole. A retaining through-strip is formed in the shell and is inserted into the shell-strip through-hole and contacted to an upper part of the nut stored in the nut-storing-section, thereby preventing falling-off of the nut, and providing electrically conduction to the nut.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connector receptacle with a lock nut in which a connection condition is firmly kept by screw fastening.
2. Related Art
As an electrical connecter receptacle having a metal shell for a measure against EMI used for connection of a personal computer, LAN device, measuring instrument or the like, for example, an electrical connecter receptacle has been known, wherein the metal shell is electrically connected to a conductive nut fitted in a through-hole of a connector body and a metal sheet member by using screws, and when the receptacle is mounted on a printed circuit board, the shell is grounded to a conductive portion of the relevant printed circuit board (refer to JP-U-5-72069).
However, in such a conventional electrical connector receptacle, the conductive nut is fitted in the through-hole of the connector receptacle body, and the metal shell is fixed by the screws and thus electrically conducted to the nut. That is, since screws and nuts are used for structures for fixing the metal shell and fixing the connector to the printed circuit board, a nut-storing-structure of the connector body becomes complicated, and the number of components is increased. In addition, the number of fixation operations is increased, and consequently much time is required. Moreover, since a condition of connection to an electrical connector plug as the other connector is made only by fitting-in of a connection port, and the screw and the nut for securely and firmly holding the connection condition are not used for locking, connection performance is inferior in reliability.

Electrical connector receptacle with lock nut


An image reading apparatus includes, with the purpose of accurately correcting noise in an image due to dust on a platen, three line sensors spaced from each other in a sub scanning direction to scan an original in the sub scanning direction, a platen between the original and the three line sensors, a moving mechanism for moving the platen, a noise detection processor detecting a noise pixel from each of multiple data output from the three line sensors, a second pixel extractor extracting a second pixel present in first data for correcting the noise pixel, based on a value of a first pixel present in second data different from the first data and corresponding to the same location on the original as the noise pixel, and a corrector correcting the noise pixel based on the extracted second pixel.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to image reading apparatuses and particularly to image reading apparatuses reading an original while transporting it.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally digital copiers and similar image reading apparatuses employ a technique referred to as so-called "reading an original while passing the original." More specifically, an original is transported relative to a fixed line sensor in a sub scanning direction orthogonal to the line sensor as the original is read.
Such image reading apparatus is provided with a transparent platen between the original and the line sensor to fix a position at which a transported original is read. The original reflects light which is in turn received via the platen by the line sensor.
As such, if dust, paper particles, flaws or other similar foreign matters (hereinafter generally referred to as "dust") adhere on the platen's reading position, the line sensor will read the dust while reading a transported original. This provides an output image with noise in the form of a line in the sub scanning direction.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-77584 discloses a technique for improving the image quality by replacing image data of a region where noise in the form of a line appears in the sub scanning direction with image data of regions adjacent to and located on respective sides of the region having the line noise.
However, the image data of the adjacent regions on respective sides of the noise region is not always similar to the image data of the noise region. For example, in the adjacent regions, an edge region could be present or the color could suddenly change. More specifically, it is supposed here that an original has two regions that are one region of red and the other region of black and a noise region is present in the red region near the boundary between the two regions. In this case, although the noise region should be corrected to red, the noise region could be corrected to black due to the presence of the adjacent black region.

Image reading apparatus correcting noise in image data

Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.


A monitoring technique is provided for diagnosing delays in file transfers between a server and a client via a network, which monitoring technique operates to make measurements of ordinary network traffic on a link unique to a given client/server pair connection. In particular, the invention operates to apply a set of rules to partition the file transfer time into increments attributable to specific identified causes. To that end, the invention intercepts and sorts traffic traversing a predetermined monitor point into a set of flows, wherein each flow consists of all of the traffic between one client and one server. For each flow the packet headers and timestamps of all packets passing in each direction are read. The partitioning of the file transfer times is based on the resulting data.

In contemporary data networks, data is typically exchanged between a requesting user, usually referred to as a client, and a network computer having an associated local storage means where the requested data is stored, that network computer usually being referred to as a server. Commonly, the flow of data between the client and the server is predominantly in the server-to-client direction. The transfer time for a given increment of data being exchanged via the network is a function of various network and client/server constraints, and may deviate significantly from an ideal transfer time. It is, of course, the user's desire to minimize the network transfer time, so as to receive a requested set of data as soon as possible after initiating the request. That objective similarly holds from the standpoint of the network infrastructure—the sooner a given data transfer is completed, the sooner the network bandwidth dedicated to that request can be reused for another data transfer application. A key consideration in the realization of any performance improvement for a network is knowledge of the source and length of transmission delays that contribute to sub-optimum data transfer times.
While efforts have been made in the art to determine network transfer delay cause and contribution, the necessary monitoring has generally been implemented through instrumentation of the clients and servers, and the transmission of known test messages. In one case known to the inventors, a methodology was suggested for carrying out the monitoring function using actual network traffic data based on a critical path analysis methodology, but that approach applies only to controlled test conditions, rather than existing operational networks. See A. Barford and M. Crovella, "Critical Path Analysis of TCP Transactions," SIGCOMM '00, Stockholm, 2000.

Method and apparatus for identifying delay causes in traffic traversing a network


An enclosure (302), an electronic device (300) that includes the enclosure, and a method (600) for forming the enclosure. The enclosure can include a first enclosure portion (304) and a second enclosure portion (306). The first enclosure portion can include a first wall (410), which can include a first side (412) and at least a second side (414). In one arrangement, an angle (θ) between the first side and the second side is not greater than 70°. The second enclosure portion can include a second wall (420), which can include a third side (422) and at least a fourth side (424). In one arrangement, an angle between the third side and the fourth side is not greater than 70°.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to device enclosures.
2. Background of the Invention
Enclosures are frequently used to enclose various items, including electronic circuits. A typical electronic device 100 comprising an enclosure 102 is depicted in FIG. 1. The enclosure 102 usually will include a plurality of enclosure portions 104, 106 that mate along a junction 108.
Oftentimes an electronic device 100 will include one or more audio transducers 110, 112 for transmitting and receiving acoustic signals. In such a device 100, it is generally desirable to acoustically isolate the inside of the enclosure 102 from the outside. Accordingly, steps are sometimes taken to reduce leakage of acoustic signals through the junction 108.
An example of the reduced leakage junction 108 is depicted in FIG. 2, which is an enlarged section view of the communication device 100, taken along section line 2-2. The junction 108 depicted is commonly referred to as a triple-wall junction. In a triple wall junction, one portion, such as the upper portion 104, will have a contoured end 202 in which a channel 204 defines two opposing walls 206, 208. The lower portion 106 will have a contoured end 210 that includes a wall 212 which fits into the channel 204, between the walls 206, 208.
Although the nature in which the ends 202, 210 of the respective portions 104, 106 of the enclosure 102 engage reduces the transfer of acoustic energy through the junction 108, unfortunately the upper portion 104 tends to be rather thick in order to accommodate the wall 212 while providing sufficient structural support for the walls 206, 208. For instance, the thickness, T1, of the upper portion 104 may be approximately 2.3 mm for a small electronic device.


A method and system for identifying active and standby states of plural routers within a virtual router in a network is provided. The health of a virtual router represents whether the routers of the virtual router are configured for their appropriate active and standby states. For example, first information from a first and second router of a virtual router is obtained. The first information is used to determine the active and standby states within the virtual router. A topology of the network is produced identifying the active and standby states.

Computer networks, such as Local Area Networks (LANs) and Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs) can be complex to operate. Corporations use network management software applications to maintain computer networks. The network management software applications can display the network topology and indicate any failures in the computer network. An example of a network management software application, is the Hewlett-Packard OpenView Network Node Manager (NNM) product.
To reduce network disruption due to router failure, some networks employ virtual routers, which are also known as virtual router groups. Virtual routers typically comprise two or more routers which share the same IP address. One of the routers of the virtual router is designated as the active router while one of the other routers of the virtual router is designated as a standby router. The active router forwards all packets for the virtual router. The standby router of the virtual router is only employed for routing functions for the virtual router when the active router switches from the active state, e.g., the active router fails. Since a virtual router employs a single IP address, the process of switching one router from the active state to an inactive state and another router into the active state is transparent to end users.

Method and system for identifying the health of virtual routers

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A method and system for detecting an object uses a composite evidence grid based on dual frequency sensing. A source transmits a laser transmission in a first zone. A detector receives a reflection of the laser transmission from an object in the first zone to determine laser observed data associated with points on the object. A transmitter transmits a radar transmission in a second zone that overlaps with the first zone. A receiver receives a reflection of the radar transmission from an object in the second zone to determine radar observed data associated with points on the object. The laser observed data is processed to form a laser occupancy grid for the first zone and the radar observed data is processed to form a radar occupancy grid for the second zone. An evaluator evaluates the radar occupancy grid and the laser occupancy grid to produce a composite evidence grid for at least an overlapping region defined by the first zone and the second zone.

In the prior art, a laser range finders have been used to determine representations of objects in a field of view. However, the performance of the laser range finder may be degraded by precipitation, fog, rain, high humidity, or dust. Thus, there is a need for enhancing the reliability and performance of the laser range finder in the presence of precipitation, fog, rain, high humidity, and dust.

Method and system for detecting an object using a composite evidence grid


First and second stators are arranged on mutually spaced positions of an imaginary common axis, and first and second rotors are coaxially and rotatably arranged on mutually spaced positions of the imaginary common axis between the first and second stators.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to electric motors and more particularly to the electric motors of an axial gap type which comprises a rotor shaft that is rotatable about its axis, at least one rotor that is fixed to the rotor shaft to rotate therewith and at least one stator that is disposed around the rotor shaft and axially spaced from the rotor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hitherto, various radial gap electric motors have been proposed and put into practical use particularly in the field of power generators that need higher power density and lower heat generation. Some of them are disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Applications, Tokkaihei 11-341758 and Tokkai 2000-224836.
The motor shown by 11-341758 comprises a cylindrical stator, an outer rotor rotatably disposed around the cylindrical stator and an inner rotor rotatably disposed in the cylindrical stator. While, the motor shown by 2000-224836 comprises a cylindrical stator, an outer rotor rotatably arranged in a diametrically outer side in the cylindrical stator and an inner rotor rotatably arrange in a diametrically inner side in the cylindrical stator.
In both of the motors mentioned hereinabove, by feeding the stator with a compound current, the outer and inner rotors are forced to rotate independently from each other.
In the motor of the latter reference, viz., 2000-224836, it is considerably difficult to provide the inner rotor with a sufficient size due to the inevitably limited space defined in the diametrically inner area of the cylindrical stator, and thus, it is difficult to expect a sufficient torque from such small sized inner rotor. In view of this drawback, electric motors of the type of the former reference, viz., 11-341758 have been widely used in these days.


A wall hook includes a wall mount having a receptacle portion and a peripheral notch at the receptacle portion, a hook member having a mounting plate at one end fitted into the receptacle portion of the wall mount and fixedly fastened with the wall mount to a flat wall surface by nails and at least one hooked portion extended out of the peripheral notch at the receptacle portion of the wall mount for hanging things, and a shield covered on the receptacle portion of the wall mount to keep the mounting plate and the nails from sight.

The present invention relates to a wall hook for mounting on a flat wall surface for hanging things, and more particularly to such a wall hook which is detachable and, which causes a sense of beauty when installed.
A variety of wall hooks have been disclosed for mounting on a flat wall surface for hanging things. Among these wall hooks, there is a simple one having a mounting hole at one end for fastening to a flat wall surface by a nail and a hooked portion at one end for hanging things. This structure of wall hook destroys the sense of beauty of the wall because the installed nail is not kept from sight. There are known wall hooks hat keep installed nail or anchoring means from sight when installed. However, these wall hooks are commonly complicated, and their hook members are not replaceable.

Lung-Chun Tsun, Lung-Chin Hsiang,Taichung County


A polishing pad for a chemical-mechanical polishing apparatus includes a first support layer and a polishing layer. The polishing layer is present on the first support layer. The polishing layer has a top surface that faces away from the first support layer and at least one first cavity that is buried at least beneath the top surface of the polishing layer.

Chemical mechanical polishing/planarization (CMP) is a process of smoothing surfaces with the combination of chemical and mechanical forces. The process uses an abrasive and corrosive chemical slurry in conjunction with a polishing pad. The CMP process can remove material on a wafer and tends to even out irregular topography of the wafer, making the wafer flat or planar.

Polishing pad, method for manufacturing polishing pad, and polishing method

TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.


The invention provides a user with a first tab printing setting part for setting up an item concerning printing on a first tab sheet and a second tab printing setting part for setting up an item concerning printing on a second tab sheet; and setting up, when the value of an item is set up in one of the first tab printing setting part and the second tab printing setting part, a value of the corresponding item in the other one of the first and second tab printing setting parts in dependence upon the value of the item in the aforementioned one of the parts.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a computer readable recording medium stored with a control program for controlling an image forming apparatus having tab sheet inserting function, a printing setting apparatus, and a printing setting method.
2. Description of Related Art
There exist printing apparatuses that are capable of creating printed products by inserting between pages a tab sheet having a flat rectangular main body and a tab protruding at a specified position on a side of said may body. See Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. 2005-182757. Index texts can be printed on the tab of the tab sheet using such a printing apparatus.
It is preferable to be able to insert different tab sheets, e.g., different types of tab sheets, at a page position indicating a "chapter" break and a page position indicating a "section" break of a printed product, respectively, when the printed product consists of chapters and sections.
However, if the chapter tab sheet used for the "chapter" break and the section tab sheet used for the "section" break are to be used distinguishably, the user must conduct settings for the items concerning printing on tabs such as font names and sizes of characters for the chapter sheet and the section sheet separately. Consequently, the operation is not only complicated but also presents an inherent problem that a confusion by the user in setting up, for example, the fonts of the characters to be printed on the chapter tab sheet and the section tab sheet may end up in a result contrary to the user's intention.
On the other hand, the technology described in the aforementioned document has no consideration for the method of using tab sheets for a plurality of different purposes as exemplified by the tab sheets used at the breakpoints of "chapters" and the tab sheets used at the breakpoints of "sections," so that it does not provide a means of solving the abovementioned problem.

Computer readable recording medium stored with control program for controlling image forming apparatus, printing setting apparatus, and printing setting method


Methods and a system for simulating a weapon system are provided. The weapon system may be modeled using a detailed-error-source description (DESD), with an error term for each error source in the weapon system. A target for the weapon system may be determined. For each simulated shot, each error term in the DESD may be perturbed using a Monte Carlo technique and an impact location of the simulated shot determined. The perturbation of each error term, additional system parameters, and the impact location of each simulated shot may be stored in a system-state data structure. A performance result of the weapon system may be determined. After firing all simulated shots, analysis of the system-state data structure may be performed. Performance results and/or an error-weighting function of the weapon system may be determined based on the analysis.

Ballistics and projectile weapons have been studied, mathematically and militarily, for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. The well-known ballistic equations of motion provide a mathematical model for the ideal trajectory of a projectile fired by a weapon, whether the projectile is a small-arms round or an artillery shot. These equations can be used to predict the location of a projectile impact or "impact location".
Characterizing gun systems may require many experimental trials due to the large number of variables that affect performance. Such systems can be analyzed statistically given sufficiently large sample spaces, which would require firing an infeasible number of artillery shots. Each artillery shot may cost thousands of dollars. Artillery shots are intended to destroy their targets, and as such, typically are only fired on remote, isolated test ranges. Transporting large weapon systems, such as artillery pieces, and a large number of projectiles to a remote location where the weapon can be fired may involve prohibitive expenditures of both time and money. Weapon systems are inherently dangerous—while every effort is made to ensure range safety, some risk to test personnel remains.
Analysis of the precision of artillery systems and their associated error budgets is generally performed using a Root Sum of Squares (RSS) approach. RSS uses a variation value, or standard deviation from a prescribed value, that is determined for each component in a system, to estimate a total error, or accumulation, based on taking a square root of the sum of squares of the standard deviations. A sensitivity analysis may also be performed to arrive at a better estimate. In this case each error component has a relative weight associated with it. This analysis typically involves calculating partial derivatives for each error source in the system. This is often difficult or impossible, if the system cannot be described by a closed form expression.

Method and apparatus for analysis of errors, accuracy, and precision of guns and direct and indirect fire control mechanisms


Methods for updating query results are provided. In one embodiment, a stored query is modified to retrieve a selected subset of rows from stored query results without retrieving a remaining portion of the stored results. The modified query is executed, updated results are obtained from the modified query, and the updated results are displayed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a method for updating query results.
2. Description of the Related Art
Databases are computerized information storage and retrieval systems. A relational database management system is a computer database management system (DBMS) that uses relational techniques for storing and retrieving data. The most prevalent type of database is the relational database, a tabular database in which data is defined so that it can be reorganized and accessed in a number of different ways.
Regardless of the particular architecture, in a DBMS, a requesting entity (e.g., an application or the operating system) demands access to a specified database by issuing a database access request. Such requests may include, for instance, simple catalog lookup requests or transactions and combinations of transactions that operate to read, change and add specified records in the database. These requests are made using high-level query languages such as the Structured Query Language (SQL). Illustratively, SQL is used to make interactive queries for getting information from and updating a database such as International Business Machines' (IBM) DB2, Microsoft's SQL Server, and database products from Oracle, Sybase, and Computer Associates. The term "query" denominates a set of commands for retrieving data from a stored database. Queries take the form of a command language that lets programmers and programs select, insert, update, find out the location of data, and so forth.
Information in a database may be constantly changing. For instance, in a database that stores medical records, new records may be added, old records may be deleted, and existing records may be updated with new information such as test results. A user executing queries against the database may wish to remain up-to-date with respect to the latest information in the database. For instance, the user may wish to remain up-to-date because the user may be conducting ongoing research using the database. One method for keeping the user up-to-date with respect to information in the database is to allow the user to store queries which the user has executed against the database. The user may run a query once to obtain an initial set of results and the user may decide to store the query. Later, the user may run the stored query again to obtain a new set of results. The user may also wish to store the results of the initial query execution for later reference, analysis, or comparison with subsequent results. The results stored by the user may be stored in a table consisting of several rows and columns of data.
In some cases, the user may wish to obtain updated results, but the user may not want to update the entire table of stored results. For instance, the user may only be interested in updating certain rows in the stored results because those rows contain information, such as test results, which the user is tracking. For instance, the user may wish to update results only with respect to a certain patient that the user is interested in. Where the results contain several rows for a single patient, representing different test dates for instance, the user may only wish to update results for those test dates. In other cases, the user may also wish to have outdated rows removed and to be informed of any new rows which have been added. If the user wants to update those desired rows, the user may have to rerun the stored query and update the entire table.
Rerunning the stored query may be costly. For instance, the stored query may be executed against a database with many tables and many records. The stored query may require many comparisons and calculations to be performed as well. When the user only wishes to see updated results for certain rows in the stored results, the user would prefer not to have to run the stored query and update the entire set of results because of the associated execution costs. Accordingly, what is needed is a method for updating results wherein the user only wishes to update a selection of the rows in the results.

Method for regenerating selected rows for an otherwise static result set

International Business Machines Corporation


A rotating cropping and sampling shear for rapidly running rolling stock, particularly for wire and/or bar steel is disclosed. The shear has a blade support rotatable in a shear housing and is constructed in a hollow-cylindrical manner. The shear has a ring blade whose cutting edge rotates at the hollow-cylindrical wall of the blade support, a blade drum which is axially spaced from the blade support and is rotatable in the same rotational plane and includes a ring blade arranged at the outer circumference whose cutting edge runs along the outer wall of the drum. The rolling stock is guided in the space between the blade support and the blade drum. The blade support or the blade drum can be displaced axially relative to one another and one inside the other by a displacing device.

Because of the production methods for hot-rolled, slender rolling stock, such as wire rod or bar steel, inherent dimensional defects and other defective locations occur, particularly in the leading ends or lagging ends of the rolling stock. Accordingly, it is necessary to remove the defective end pieces between the parts of the rolling mill train or for the subsequent cold working of the rolling stock. In the production of a wire rod, the defective end pieces must be cut off before the finishing roll group and before the wire rod is wound on a winding drum since it is difficult and time-consuming to shear off or detach the end piece after the wire is wound onto the drum.
Rolling mills for the production of wire rod contain highly developed system components for the economy and production capacity of the overall installation. One of the prerequisites for this is a high rolling speed. The rolling speed in the wire finishing train, in the so-called Morgan finishing group, is more than 100 m per second. When utilizing reserves, the rolling speed can amount to 120 m per second. Thus, the cropping and cutting shears, used in the rolling mill train, must be capable of cropping the rolling stock at high rolling speeds at the leading end or at the lagging end or by cutting it off for sampling or also carrying out emergency cuts during disturbances. Various shear constructions are known for this purpose.
The European Patent Application 0 256 371 Al describes starting and continuous drum shears for high wire speeds. The drum shear for cropping rod wire is designed in such a way that it is swivelable around a vertical axis situated in the blade area and in such a way that a switch arranged upstream is adjustable for the guidance of the rod wire in synchronized transverse movement within two limiting swivel positions in which the rod wire runs outside the cut area of the shears. In this way, the blade drums can carry out several revolutions prior to the cut in order to reach the required high circumferential speeds. However, the blade drums can also rotate in continuous operation. As a result of the swiveling of the switch, e.g. the front end of a rod wire passes through the cut area of the shears so that a front cropping arrives in a deflecting channel leading to the chopper shears. The following rod wire is guided in the channel to the finishing stand or to the coiler by the continued transverse movement of the switch. The synchronized actuating drive for the swiveling of the switch comprises a crank drive combined with a cam drive, by means of which the switch can be switched smoothly and without excessive acceleration for the cut. This shear enables the cropping of the rod wire at determined points and at a determined time with high accuracy and at high rolling speeds.
Rotating cropping and sampling shears for wire rod mill trains is known from the European Patent Application 0 259 600 Al and comprises two blade pairs arranged so as to be offset in the circumferential direction, wherein the blades with radially extending cutting edges are inserted in opposite, approximately planar blade supports supported at a uniform height below the rolling axis. The severing cuts are effected by axial displacement of a blade support in that the latter is inclined at an acute angle of a few degrees relative to the other blade support. Because of the inclined cutting position of the rotating blade, a front cropping with adjoining sample piece or a sample piece alone or a back cropping with following sample piece can be ejected laterally into a sample channel. Thus, it is possible with these shears to cut out sample pieces at desired locations of a rapidly running rolling stock and to select a continuous operation of the shears.


A process for preparing venlafaxine in a high yield as well as processes for producing venlafaxine hydrochloride of form I having a very hight polymorphic purity are described.

Venlafaxine is the INN for 1-(2-dimethylamino-1 -(4-methoxyphenyl)-ethyl)-cyclohexanol. Its racemic hydrochloride salt is included in a formulation which is commercially available under the trade name Effexor. Venlafaxine is used in form of its salt as this allows an easy preparation of various types of formulations, such as tablets, capsules, lozenges, powders, and the like for oral administration.
Venlafaxine was first described in EP-A-112 669. According to this document venlafaxine is prepared by N-methylation of the precursor N,N-didesmethyl venlafaxine using formaldehyde and formic acid. The venlafaxine is then recovered by chromatography to remove the by-product spiro venlafaxine and it is subsequently converted into venlafaxine hydrochloride using 4N isopropanolic HCl. The yield of the product, however, was very low.
In Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 1990, Vol. 33, No. 10 (2899-2905) the synthesis of venlafaxine from p-methoxybenzylcyanide is disclosed and it involves N-methylation by a modified Eschweiler-Clark procedure using formaldehyde and formic acid. A solution of venlafaxine in ethyl acetate is treated with 2-propanolic HCl and the obtained venlafaxine hydrochloride is then recrystallized from methanovethyl acetate under unspecified conditions. The calculated yield for the crude product is 80%, based on N,N-didesmethyl venlafaxine.
The existence of certain polymorphs of venlafaxine hydrochloride is mentioned in EP-A-797 991. In this document, two polymorphs are described one of them being regarded as a kinetical product of the crystallization process. It is also disclosed that on heating in the crystallization solvent one of the polymorph is transformed into the other polymorph. It is, however, not disclosed which solvent is used for recrystallization.
Later on, various patent applications were published disclosing different polymorphic forms of racemic venlafaxine hydrochloride, e.g. designated as Form I, II, III and IV and A, B, C and D, and processes for their preparation.
WO 02/45658 describes the preparation of crystalline venlafaxine from N,N-didesmethyl venlafaxine hydrochloride and processes for producing crystalline venlafaxine hydrochloride forms I, II, III and IV. The products obtained were often mixtures of polymorphs which underlines the criticality of the conditions used. Venlafaxine hydrochloride form I is said to be obtainable by reacting a solution of venlafaxine in isopropanol and exposing the solution to gaseous HCl. The reaction mixture is cooled, filtered and dried. The yield of the product is, however, not given. An alternative method for preparing venlafaxine hydrochloride form I comprises dissolving venlafaxine hydrochloride in methanol under reflux and adding an anti-solvent selected from ethylacetate, isopropyl ether or methyl t-butyl ether and converting the obtained form III to form I by drying at about 60.degree. C.
WO 02/36542 discloses also polymorphic forms of venlafaxine hydrochloride which are designated as forms A, B, C and D and processes for their preparation.
WO 02/50017 describes the N-methylation of N,N-didesmethyl venlafaxine which can also be used in form of its formic acid salt.
WO 03/050074 describes a process for preparing venlafaxine hydrochloride form I by reacting venlafaxine with gaseous HCl in various solvents, namely ethyl acetate, acetonitrile, acetone and methylisobutyl ketone. The calculated yield of the product obtained is only 50%, based on the starting material N,N-didesmethyl venlafaxine. It is further disclosed that numerous factors are influencing the type of polymorph which is produced and its purity.
It is apparent from the above documents that most known venlafaxine hydrochloride polymorphs are prepared by using venlafaxine hydrochloride in different solvents and under different reaction conditions. Such parameters appear to play a major role in the formation of different polymorphs having different crystalline structures. These parameters may include presence of co-solvents, the temperature at which hydrochloride formation occurs, whether or not refluxing of the reaction mixture after hydrochloride formation is effected and the temperature at which the filtration of hydrochloride salt is performed.
Since venlafaxine hydrochloride is marketed as a racemate, polymorphism is to be dealt with great care, especially since the form which is more thermodynamically stable and shows desired bioavailability would be preferred over other forms considering storage conditions and shelf life. The less thermodynamically stable form is prone to convert into a more stable form and such forms are not good candidates for pharmaceutical applications, since this conversion will be noticed during the storage of the material.
It has now been surprisingly found that the process according to the invention for preparing venlafaxine hydrochloride form I allows an easy and reproducible way to obtain this product in high yields and especially important with a very high polymorphic purity.
It has further been found out that the process according to the invention for preparing venlafaxine avoids the formation of substantial amounts of by-products and proceeds quickly to completion and hence results in high yields of venlafaxine in an economical manner.

Processes for preparing venlafaxine and venlafaxine hydrochloride of form I


The present invention relates to a medical instrument comprising an instrument body. The instrument body comprises at least one outer surface, and a recess is disposed in said instrument body. A non-contact readable data carrier is embedded in said recess, wherein means are arranged between said data carrier and said recess by which the data carrier is floatingly embedded in said recess.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a medical instrument having an instrument body with an outer surface. A non-contact readable data carrier is embedded in a recess of the instrument body.
2. Related Prior Art
Such a medical instrument is disclosed in DE-A-197 23 442. A medical instrument, namely an endoscope is described having a registering device arranged in its interior, which measures environmental parameters, such as temperature, pressure, humidity, radiation or shock or impact loads to which the endoscope is subjected. In one embodiment, a transmitter is integrated into the endoscope in addition to the registering device. With the transmitter it is possible to send the data in the registering device to an antenna located outside of the endoscope. The registering device therefore represents a non-contact readable data carrier.
In the mentioned embodiment, the registering device is held in pass-fit manner in a recess within the eyepiece of the endoscope. The recess is formed in the instrument body of the endoscope. The registering device is seated firmly in the recess and therefore in direct contact with the instrument body.
Practical experiments have now shown that such an arrangement of the data carrier within a medical instrument has drawbacks. This is especially the case when the data carrier includes sensitive electronic components. Examples include electronic memories or integrated circuits for transmission and/or reception by which the data can be transferred in non-contact manner. Such electronic components respond sensitively to thermal and also mechanical loads and can be easily damaged by such loads. Thermal loads however frequently arise in practical use of such a medical instrument. A particular example is the sterilisation of the medical instrument after each use, which normally takes place under very high temperatures and pressures. Moreover, a medical instrument is often subject to mechanical loads such as a bending load, namely through manipulation during an operation.
The known arrangement of DE-A-197 23 442 provides the data carrier, as mentioned, directly connected with the instrument body of the medical instrument. Consequently, thermal and mechanical loads on the instrument body are transferred to the data carrier practically without attenuation. A sensitive component within the data carrier can easily be damaged.
A further drawback of the known arrangement results from the fact that numerous medical instruments are made of special medical steel. The steel and other electrically conductive materials are however practically impermeable to electromagnetic waves. As a consequence, a data carrier arranged within the medical instrument is difficult to read out using electromagnetic transmission means and this only in conjunction with additional means. Thus the access to the data carrier and in particular reading out the data carrier is hampered.
Finally, a further disadvantage of the known medical instrument results from its production. The carrier must be secured in or on the medical instrument such that it does not loosen in the course of actual use. This is achieved in DE-A-197 23 442 by embedding the data carrier in the mentioned recess in a pass-fit. The assembly in this manner is however comparatively complicated.
A medical control system for controlling operation units is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,609,560. The operation units are medical instruments. According to the reference, a control system accesses the individual medical instruments with the aid of an identification code. Thus each medical instrument possesses a unit in which an identification code can be stored. No disclosure however is given as to how these storage units, which also correspond to data carriers, are arranged in or on the medical instruments.
Thus the object of the present invention is to embed a data carrier in a medical instrument such that it will withstand mechanical and thermal loads.

Medical instrument with a non-contact readable data carrier


The present disclosure is directed to the use of plant promoters to drive recombinant expression in filamentous fungal cells. In certain aspects, the present disclosure provides an expression cassette useful for the expression of polypeptide in filamentous fungal cells. Also provided herein, are vectors and recombinant filamentous fungal cells comprising the expression cassettes of the present disclosure, and methods of making and using the same for recombinant polypeptide expression.

The use of recombinant expression has greatly simplified the production of large quantities of commercially valuable proteins. Currently, there is a varied selection of expression systems from which to choose for the production of any given protein, including prokaryotic and eukaryotic hosts. A variety of gene expression systems have been developed for use with filamentous fungal cells. Many systems entail the use of inducible promoters, the majority of which require the addition of an exogenous inducer molecule to the culture which is cost prohibitive in large scale commercial fermentations, or endogenous promoters that are susceptible to regulation by endogenous filamentous fungal proteins. Thus, there is a need for expression systems that are economically viable and provide robust expression in large scale commercial fermentations.

Use of plant promoters in filamentous fungi


Well pick-up regions are disclosed herein for improving performance of memory arrays, such as static random access memory arrays. An exemplary integrated circuit (IC) device includes a circuit region; a first well pick-up (WPU) region; a first well oriented lengthwise along a first direction in the circuit region and extending into the first WPU region, the first well having a first conductivity type; and a second well oriented lengthwise along the first direction in the circuit region and extending into the first WPU region, the second well having a second conductivity type different from the first conductivity type, wherein the first well has a first portion in the circuit region and a second portion in the first WPU region, and the second portion of the first well has a width larger than the first portion of the first well along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction.

The semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) industry has experienced exponential growth. Technological advances in IC materials and design have produced generations of ICs where each generation has smaller and more complex circuits than the previous generation. In the course of IC evolution, functional density (i.e., the number of interconnected devices per chip area) has generally increased while geometry size (i.e., the smallest component (or line) that can be created using a fabrication process) has decreased. This scaling down process generally provides benefits by increasing production efficiency and lowering associated costs. Such scaling down has also increased the complexity of processing and manufacturing ICs.
For example, in memory devices, such as static random-access memory (SRAM), leakage issue becomes more severe in advanced process nodes. SRAM generally refers to a memory or a storage that can retain stored data only when power is applied. Since SRAM cell performance is largely layout dependent (for example, it has been observed that an inner SRAM cell of an SRAM macro will perform differently than an edge SRAM cell of the SRAM macro), well pick-up regions (or areas) have been implemented to stabilize well potential, facilitating uniform charge distribution throughout an SRAM macro, and thus uniform performance among SRAM cells of the SRAM array. However, as circuit geometry shrinks, leakage between adjacent n-type wells (or n-wells) and p-type wells (or p-wells) becomes more severe due to dopant diffusion. This leads to higher n-well and p-well resistance in well pick-up regions and higher pick-up resistance, which deteriorates latch-up performance. Accordingly, although existing well pick-up region designs for SRAM macros have been generally adequate for their intended purposes, they have not been entirely satisfactory in all respects.

Well pick-up region design for improving memory macro performance


A device for providing remote indication of the opening of a weighted pallet type tank vent in which a permanent magnet is attached to the end of the pallet guide shaft distal to the pallet. A magnetic induction sensor is secured to the outside of the shaft guide to sense movement of the magnetic field produced by the magnet and produce an electrical signal which may be transmitted to a remote location to indicate that the pallet has opened and relieved pressure in the tank.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to tank venting valves for relieving the internal pressure in tanks at a predetermined pressure. More specifically the invention is concerned with whether a venting valve has opened and actuated.
2. Related Art
There are several types of pressure relief valves for atmospheric or low pressure storage tanks. One of the basic designs is known as a "weight loaded tank vent". The design utilizes a weighted cover over a nozzle for the seating area. The cover, also known as a pallet, forms a barrier to the nozzle opening. The weight of the pallet determines at what pressure the pallet will lift open to relieve pressure in the tank. The start to open pressure indicated by lift of the cover is known as the "set pressure". The set pressure can easily be determined by dividing the weight of the pallet assembly by the open area of the nozzle. If a higher set pressure is desired more weight is added to the pallet.
Other types of pressure relieving devices include a spring loaded tank vent and a pilot operated tank vent. The spring loaded type is used for set pressures above that which is practical for weight loaded operation due to either a high set pressure where there is not enough room for the weights on the pallet, or where the size of the vent nozzle dictates too large of an overall weight on the pallet.
Pilot operated tank vents utilize the tank pressure acting on an area larger than the nozzle area to create a higher downward force to hold down a pallet or seat plate against the tank pressure. The set pressure is adjustable by means of a spring in the pilot.
Any of the three types may be vented to the atmosphere or piped into headers for vapor recovery or burning. Generally these valves open, make an emission or release and close without producing any record of opening and can present a source of atmospheric contamination. Often it is desirable to have a record of when a particular vent valve has opened.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,497,725 discloses a sight indicator which mechanically indicates whether a tank vent valve has opened and also to what approximate degree. The sight indicator has the drawback that a person must actually see the indicator which may require a person to climb on the tank. In addition, the sight indicator will not indicate how many times the vent has opened.
Proximity switches are devices which react to motion without being in actual contact with the moving part. common proximity switches utilize a generated magnetic field that is disturbed when a metallic object moves into the field. These proximity switches are not very sensitive and require substantial movement before detection. Such proximity switches are variously described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,618,823; 4,757,213; 4,879,531; 5,012,206 and 5,264,733.
Such a magnetic induction proximity is described generally in U.S. Pat. No. 4,587,486 discloses a magnetic-field-dependent proximity switch which detects the movement of a magnetic field provided by a permanent magnet attached to the moving part. Werner Turck GmbH & Co. manufactures a magnetic induction proximity switch which operates by sensing the movement of a magnetic field which it designates as cylinder position indicators for use on hydraulic cylinders to determine the movement of the cylinder. It is advisable that these devices be potted (hermetically sealed) and have FM or UL type approvals for safety and commercial uses.
It is an advantage that the present device will not interfere with the breather vents function or relief capacities. It is a feature that the present device provides a signal that may be transmitted to a remote location and recorded after the vent valve is closed. It is another feature that the present device can be retrofitted easily to existing vent valves. Additionally, it is a feature that the sensitivity of the device detects movement of less that 1/32 inch so that minor openings of the tank valve can be detected. These and other features and advantages will become apparent from the following descriptions.


This application relates to the modulation of host cell factors required for influenza virus replication. The application relates to compounds, including nucleic acid compounds (such as, e.g., small interfering RNAs (siRNAs)) and small molecules, that target human host cell factors involved in influenza virus replication, and the use of such compounds for modulating influenza virus replication and as antiviral agents. The application also relates to methods of treating an influenza virus infection and methods of treating or preventing a symptom or disease associated with influenza virus infection, comprising administering to a subject a composition comprising a compound, such as a nucleic acid compound (e.g., an siRNA) or small molecule, that targets a human host cell factor involved in influenza virus replication.

Influenza viruses are enveloped RNA viruses that belong to the family of Orthomyxoviridae (Palese and Shaw, 2007). Influenza A and B viruses are considered to be major human pathogens and in a normal season they can cause between 3-5 million cases of severe illness and up to 500,000 deaths worldwide (World Health Organization, 2003). Influenza A viruses can also cause pandemics such as those that occurred in 1918, 1957 and 1968. These outbreaks resulted in high mortality rates because of the lack of pre-existing immunity against the new virus strain. The current pandemic outbreak, beginning in 2009, of the swine-origin H1N1 influenza virus (Wang & Palese, 2009), and the emergence of the highly pathogenic avian H5N1 influenza virus in the late 1990s (Claas et al., 1998), have sparked renewed interest in the development of anti-influenza virus drugs.
Strategies for identifying targets for antiviral intervention typically focus on compounds that attack the virus itself, i.e., viral proteins—the structural components of the virion, as well as viral genome-encoded enzymes which are necessary for propagation of the virus. The approach of targeting viral proteins has several limitations: i) the limited number of viral targets; ii) viral targets tend to be highly specific to a particular virus or even strain of virus; and iii) viruses are able to rapidly alter their genetic composition to develop resistance to antiviral drugs. Another approach in antiviral drug development is to design drugs to strengthen the host's immune system to fight the viral infection, rather than to fight the viral infection itself. Using this strategy, drugs are designed to boost the host's immune system to allow the host to better fight off infection by the virus.
Cellular targets have traditionally been considered less desirable candidates for antiviral therapy. Relatively few antiviral drugs have been directed at host enzymes for several reasons, the most prominent being the high risk of toxicity to the host itself. Although host cell factors play a key role in facilitating viral growth and propagation, strategies for attacking such host factors remain elusive.
Currently there are only four U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)—approved drugs available for the treatment of influenza, amantadine, rimantadine, oseltamivir, and zanamivir (DeClercq, 2006). The adamantanes (amantadine and rimantadine) block the M2 ion channel of the virus and prevent the release of the viral genome into the host cell (Pinto and Lamb, 1995; Wharton et al., 1994). These drugs are effective if used prophylactically and if administered within 48 hours of infection but are not effective against influenza B viruses. However, the development of widespread resistance has precluded the use of adamantanes in recent influenza seasons (Bright et al., 2006) and isolates of the H5N1 influenza virus have been shown to be resistant to these drugs due to mutations in M2 (Cheung et al., 2006).
The preferred treatment for influenza virus infection is now the use of the neuraminidase (NA) inhibitors, oseltamivir and zanamivir (Garman and Laver, 2004). By targeting NA, these compounds prevent the release of the virus from the infected cell and halt the spread of the virus. As part of its pandemic preparedness plan, the World Health Organization (WHO) has advised that supplies of the NA inhibitors be stockpiled, but it is always advantageous to have at least two antiviral drugs (aimed at different targets) available due to the possible emergence of resistant virus strains. In fact the 2007-2008 influenza season in the Northern hemisphere has shown a marked increase in the number of H1N1 isolates that are resistant to oseltamivir (World Health Organization, 2008) and concerns have also been raised regarding oseltamivir-resistant H5N1 influenza viruses isolated from patients in Southeast Asia (Le et al., 2005). There is now widespread resistance to both of these drug classes (Layne et al., 2009).
Thus, a major challenge to anti-influenza drug development is finding new strategies for combating influenza virus infection.

Compositions and methods for inhibiting human host factors required for influenza virus replication

Icahn School of Medicine at Mounta Sinai

Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute


A method and apparatus for two-dimensional wavelength beam combining of laser sources. In one example, an external cavity multi-wavelength laser includes an array of laser emitters each producing an optical beam having a specified wavelength, a grating stack comprising a plurality of first-order diffraction gratings arranged linearly in a first dimension, and a dispersive element. The laser further includes a cylindrical telescope that images the optical beams from the array of laser emitters onto the grating stack. A first cylindrical transform lens spatially overlaps the optical beams in a second dimension forming a first region of overlap at the grating stack. A second cylindrical transform lens spatially overlaps the optical beams from the grating stack in the first dimension forming a second region of overlap at the dispersive element. The dispersive element transmits a multi-wavelength output beam comprising the spatially overlapped optical beams from the array of laser emitters.

Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of lasers and, more particularly, to methods and apparatus for wavelength beam combining using laser arrays.
Discussion of Related Art
High-efficiency multi-wavelength external-cavity laser sources that use laser arrays are utilized for a variety of applications including machining, material processing, laser pumping and numerous medical procedures. Two-dimensional (2-D) wavelength-beam-combining (WBC) of laser sources has been as a technique to enhance the power and brightness of 2-D laser sources.
A two-dimensional wavelength beam combining system generally comprises a plurality of multi-wavelength laser elements and two-dimensional dispersive elements. The two-dimensional dispersive elements generally include a diffraction grating/prism and an Echelle grating operating in high diffracting orders. One example of a two-dimensional wavelength beam combining system including the use of high-order gratings is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,327,292 to Sanchez-Rubio et al. filed on Jun. 21, 1999.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Two-dimensional wavelength-beam-combining of lasers using first-order grating stack


The present invention is directed to the use of benzethonium chloride, alone or in combination with phenoxyethanol or phenyl ethyl alcohol, to provide anti-microbial activity in pharmaceutical compositions. The present invention also provides methods of using benzethonium chloride, alone or in combination with phenoxyethanol or phenyl ethyl alcohol, to inhibit microbial growth in pharmaceutical compositions.

Sterility is one of the most important characteristics of pharmaceutical compositions. Maintenance of sterility of pharmaceutical compositions is a function of both the method of sterilization and the integrity of the packaging or application system. For products that are intended for multiple dosing, antimicrobial agents must be added to the product formulation to protect the product from accidental microbial contamination during its storage or use or both. This is true regardless of the dosage form of the composition.
Stable multi-dose pharmaceutical formulations containing a variety of active ingredients are viewed by the pharmaceutical industry as particularly advantageous and commercially attractive. These formulations are generally, though not always, are packaged in a manner that allows for the extraction of partial amounts of the formulation at various times. This type of system is desirable as it allows multiple doses to be obtained from a single container, and allows for more controlled administration of the pharmaceutical composition as the formulation may be withdrawn and used, applied or administered in any partial amount, and over an extended period of time.
The nature of the use of multi-dose formulations imposes special requirements on the formulation. For example, maintenance of the sterility of a composition is particularly challenging given the many opportunities for introduction of microorganisms and other contaminants into the formulations. Repeated introduction of foreign elements, for example, needles or swabs, into the multi-dose container after formulation also creates a likelihood of introducing microorganisms into the container. Additionally and alternatively, microorganisms may be introduced during filling of the containers or during reconstitution of the formulations after lyophilization and prior to use, application or administration. The extended periods of time over which the container may be stored—especially during multiple introductions of foreign elements, and/or after contaminants may have been introduced, demands that the formulation contain special additives to insure the sterility of the contents.
To insure that these formulations maintain optimally sterile properties, the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) and regulatory agencies in other jurisdictions including in Europe and Japan, require that all multi-dose compositions contain preservatives to prevent the growth of, or to affirmatively kill, any microorganisms that may be introduced into them. The development of preservative-containing multi-dose formulations is challenging, however, because various active ingredients in pharmaceutical compositions tend to interact adversely with preservative compounds.
Possible adverse interactions between preservatives and pharmacologically active ingredients include the degradation of the active ingredients, especially ones stored for extended periods of time; inactivation, neutralization, or alteration of the active ingredients; formation of aggregates comprising the active ingredients and other additives or constituents of the formulations; and other interactions that inactivate, degrade or make the administration of the formulation to humans, by any dosage route, difficult, painful or otherwise undesirable.
Additionally, preservatives themselves are noted for causing acute adverse reactions, such as allergic reactions or even seizures, in humans upon administration. Ideally, a preservative contained in a multi-dose pharmaceutical formulation should be effective in low concentration against a wide variety of microorganisms; soluble in the formulation; non-toxic; compatible and nonreactive with the active ingredient as well as other additives; active with long term stability; and nonreactive with components of the container or closure system.
Sandeep Nema et al. published lists of various excipients that have been included in the formulation of injectable products marketed in the United States. The antimicrobial preservatives listed in this review article are included in Table 1:
TABLE 1ANTIMICROBIAL PRESERVATIVESPreservativeFrequencyRangeBenzalkonium chloride10.02%w/vBenzethonium chloride40.01%Benzyl alcohol740.75–5%Chlorobutanol170.25–0.5%m-cresol30.1–0.3%Myristyl gamma-picolinium20.0195–0.169%chlorideParaben methyl500.05–0.18%Paraben propyl400.01–0.1%Phenol480.2–0.5%2-Phenoxyethanol30.50%Phenyl mercuric nitrate30.001%Thimerosal460.003–0.01%
Despite the range of preserving agents available, finding a reliable, broadly non-reactive preservative or combination of preservatives useful in pharmaceutical compositions remains elusive. Accordingly, there remains a need for a preservative or combination of preservatives that is minimally reactive with active ingredients in pharmaceutical formulations; is minimally reactive with other additives commonly used in multi-dose pharmaceutical formulations; maintains the stability of the active ingredient and the composition over an extended shelf life of the product; meets the United States, European, and Japanese pharmacopia criteria for preservative challenge testing; is safe in the concentrations used; and is administrable—by any parenteral, topical, ocular, inhaled or oral route—in a manner that is effective, and minimizes pain and the chance of adverse reaction, for example, allergic reaction in the patient.


A method for preparing a composition of the formula in a yield greater than 50% where R1 is C 1-20 comprising the steps of combining fluorene or dibromo flourene, an excess of alkali metal hydroxide and a halogenated alkyl in the presence of a phase transfer catalyst but in the absence of a polar aprotic solvent; heating the combination; and separating the dialkylated fluorene or dialylated dibromo fluorene. If the flourene is not brominated prior to alkylation, the dialkylated fluorene is then brominated.

9,9-disubstituted,2,7-dibromo fluorenes are useful starting materials for numerous polymers including polymeric light emitting diodes. Bromination at the 2 and 7 position creates sites for polymerization of the fluorene monomer. Dialkylation at the 9 positions advantageously increases solubility for creation of polymer films.
The use of alkali metal hydroxides in the dialkylation of fluorene is reported. However, in most reports polar aprotic solvents are also used. Additionally, only bromoalkanes are used as the alkylating-agent.
Alkylation of fluorene without a polar aprotic solvent in the presence of aqueous (50%) sodium hydroxide and the phase transfer catalyst triethyl benzylammonium chloride at temperatures of 90 to 100 degrees C. is reported in Makosza, Bulletin L'Academie Polonaise Des Sciences, 1967, 15 165-67. However, the reported reaction produced a mixture of 9-butylfluorene and 9,9-dibutylfluroene. The percentage yield is not indicated. Makosza then states that "[b]etter results were obtained when a small amount of dimethylsulphoxide (DMSO) was added." Id at 166. The result using DMSO yielded a 65% mixture of 9,9 -dibutylfluorene and 9-butylfluorne. Id. at 167.
Additionally, dibromo dialkyl fluorene has been produced through alkylation of 2,7-dibromo fluorene. However, the 9,9-alkylation conducted via that route also required use of a polar aprotic solvent.
Use of a polar aprotic solvent and other solvents present disadvantages relating to waste disposal requirements and disposal costs.
A process to produce high yields of dibromo dialkyl fluorene using alkali metal hydroxide without the use of polar aprotic solvents would be beneficial. Additionally, a method of alkylation which could use a variety of haloalkanes, especially chloralkanes, would also be desirable.

Method for producing substituted fluorene monomers


Disclosed herein is a motion monitoring system for monitoring movement of a brush-type DC motor. The system includes an electrical comparator having first and second differential inputs. A current detector is connected to provide a drive current signal to the first differential input of the comparator. A low-pass filter is connected to provide an averaged drive current signal to the second differential input of the comparator. When a drive current is applied to the motor, the comparator produces a stream of binary logic-level pulses corresponding to motor movement. The pulses can be used to determine motor position and velocity.

This invention relates to ink-jet printing mechanisms, and more particularly, to drive motors used in ink-jet printers, plotters, scanners, facsimile machines, and the like.
An inkjet printing mechanism is a type of non-impact printing device which forms characters and other images by controllably spraying drops of ink from a printhead. Inkjet printing mechanisms may be employed in a variety of devices, such as printers, plotters, scanners, facsimile machines, and the like. For convenience, inkjet printers are used herein to illustrate the concepts of the present invention.
The printhead ejects ink through multiple nozzles in the form of drops which travel across a small air gap and land on a recording media. The drops are very small. Inkjet printers commonly print within a range of 180 to 600 dots per inch (dpi). The ink drops dry on the recording media shortly after deposition to form the desired printed images.
There are various types of inkjet printheads including, for example, thermal inkjet printheads and piezoelectric inkjet printheads. By way of example, for a thermal inkjet printhead, ink droplets are ejected from individual nozzles by localized heating. A small heating element is disposed at individual nozzles. An electrical current is passed through the element to heat it. This causes a tiny volume of ink to be rapidly heated and vaporized by the heating element. The vaporization causes the ink to be ejected through the nozzle. A driver circuit is coupled to individual heating elements to provide the energy pulses and thereby controllably deposit ink drops from associated individual nozzles. Such drivers are responsive to character generators and other control logic to energize selected nozzles of the printhead for forming desired images on the recording media.
During printing, ink tends to build up at the nozzle orifices on the printhead. This build-up can be caused by ink droplets that are not completely ejected, excess ink at the orifice that is not vaporized during ejection, or ink splatterings that reflect from the recording media. The resident ink on the printhead can clog the nozzle orifices and detrimentally disrupt or impair proper printing.
Conventional inkjet printers are often equipped with service station mechanisms that include wiper assemblies designed to periodically clean the nozzle section of the inkjet printhead to remove any resident ink. Typically, the wiper assembly has an individual wiper for each printhead which engages and scrubs the printhead orifices. The wiper assembly is alternately moved to an activated position suitable for cleaning the printhead and then to a retracted position where it does not interfere with the printhead during printing.
A service station can be configured to perform different printhead maintenance tasks. Capping nozzles when they are not in use is another example of a service station function.
A service station must typically be moved between two or more positions. In many configurations, there is a need to control the position and/or velocity of the motor and associated mechanism. This is often accomplished with motor positional feedback provided by an integrated or external encoder. In some environments, such as in magnetic-based hard-disk drives, feedback is provided without an encoder, by using back-EMF sensing. However, this technique is not commonly used in conjunction with brush-type DC motors. Furthermore, back-EMF sensing is used primarily for velocity control rather than position control.
Step motors can be used in some situations to eliminate the cost and complexity associated with external feedback devices. However, step motors are noisy and subject to positional errors.
The inventors have found a way to monitor and control the velocity and position of a conventional, brush-type, DC motor, without requiring an external encoder. When used to position a service station in an inkjet printer, cost is reduced by eliminating the need for stepper motors or encoders.

Inexpensive motion control using DC motors


A zero-order sustained-release delivery system for delivery of carbamazepine. A matrix tablet formulations of carbamazepine comprising hydrophilic polymer gel which inhibits transformation of carbamazepine into carbamazepine dihydrate by causing morphologic changes of carbamazepine crystals and results in amorphous form of carbamazepine present in the polymer matrix.

1. Field of Invention
This invention concerns a zero-order sustained release drug delivery system suitable for administration of carbamazepine. In particular, the invention concerns the drug delivery system comprising a polymer matrix made of a hydrophilic polymer or a mixture thereof and a pharmaceutically active agent carbamazepine incorporated into the polymer matrix. The polymer or the polymer mixture forms the matrix for incorporation of a pharmaceutically active agent and participates and is involved in the crystallization process of carbamazepine within the polymer matrix by inhibiting carbamazepine transformation into its dihydrate crystals. Due to a change of anhydrous carbamazepine into an amorphous rather than crystalline form, carbamazepine is released from the polymer matrix in zero-order release rate.
2. Background Art and Related Art Disclosures
Carbamazepine is a well-established antiepileptic compound. It is regarded as a first-line drug in the treatment of patients suffering from partial seizures, with and without second generalization, and in patients with generalized tonic clonic seizures (Porter, R. J., Penry, J. K., pp. 220-231, Advances in Epileptology, Meinardi, H., Rowan, A. J., Eds., Swets & Zeitlinger, Amsterdam (1977) and Acta Neurol. Scand., 64, Suppl. 88 (1981)). Besides being an antiepileptic compound, carbamazepine has also proved effective in the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia and in patients suffering from manic depressive episodes (Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiat., 29:265-267 (1966); Arch. Neurol., 19:129-136 (1968); Excerpta Medica, 139-147 (1984); and Excerpta Medica, 93-115, (1984)).
Although the half-life of carbamazepine is relatively long, between 25 and 85 hours, after a single dose due to autoinduction, its effect is substantially reduced after repeated dosing (J. Clin. Pharmacol., 23:241-244 (1982); J. Ther. Drug Monit., 3:63-70 (1981); and Europ. J. Clin. Pharmacol., 8:91-96 (1975)). Due to its particular physical properties and due to its increased metabolism, pronounced daily fluctuations in the serum concentration of carbamazepine were observed and are of concern.
Because there is a correlation between peak concentrations of carbamazepine and central nervous system (CNS) side effects, especially in patients receiving polytherapy (Epilepsia, 28:507-514 (1987); Epileysia, 28:286-299 (1987); Epileysia, 21:341-350 (1980); Epilepsia, 25:476-481 (1984) and Arch. Neurol., 41:830-834 (1984)), it is of great clinical importance to assure a steady level of carbamazepine during a 24-hour carbamazepine delivery.
Using conventional carbamazepine formulations, however, this can only be achieved by dividing the total daily intake into several, typically 3-4 doses per day. This is very bothersome for ambulatory patients and laborious for medical personnel in institutions and may, therefore, result in compliance problems.
The availability and introduction of slow release carbamazepine formulations would be, therefore, regarded as a major clinical advantage. To date, such formulation has not been available, mainly due to physical and chemical properties of carbamazepine.
It is well known, that differences due to polymorphism and pseudopolymorphism observed in certain pharmaceuticals are of importance because physical and chemical properties of different crystalline forms of these pharmaceuticals vary. Differences in these chemical or physical properties, such as for example, solubility, can affect their bioavailability and effective clinical use (J. Pharm. Sci., 58:911-929 (1969)).
Several polymorphs of carbamazepine have been identified (Thermomicroscopy in the Analysis of Pharmaceuticals, Pergamon, N.Y., p. 227 (1971); Pharmazie, 11:709-711 (1975). Yakufaku Zasshi, 104:786-792 (1988)), as well as pseudopolymorphs--the dihydrate (Int. J. Pharm., 14:103-112 (1983)); Int. J. Pharm., 20:307-314 (1984)) and an acetone solvate (Pharmacology, 27:85-94 (1983)).
In the presence of water, carbamazepine transforms rapidly to carbamazepine dihydrate. Carbamazepine dihydrate crystals grow by the whisker mechanism (Int. J. Pharm., 20:307-314 (1984)) and conversion has been shown by X-ray powder diffraction to be 95% complete after 1 hour (J. Pharm. Sci., 80:496-500 (1991)).
The inhibition of formation of large crystals of carbamazepine dihydrate are of great importance for its pharmaceutical formulation since the formation of large crystals of carbamazepine dissolve slowly and unpredictably and, therefore, cause bioavailability problems and may result in unpredictable and uncontrollable drug delivery.
Some attempts to overcome the above problems were made. For example, Khanna S. C., et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,857,336, have described an oral dosage form for administration of carbamazepine wherein a core comprising a paste of a fine carbamazepine powder dissolved in a protective colloid, a hydrophilic swelling agent and, optionally, a water-soluble osmosis inducing-agent was encapsulated in a water-permeable shell impermeable to the components of the core. The water-permeable encapsulation shell permits a water passage through the cell for the transport of the water soluble core components into the surrounding aqueous body fluid. However, in this arrangement the delivered amount is not strictly controllable because it depends on the amount of water present in the surrounding environment, on the permeability of the shell to the water and on the overall kinetics of carbamazepine release from the colloid and its transport through the shell. Additionally, the manufacturing of the paste masses is inconvenient and laborious due to the need for encapsulation and additionally requires use of organic solvents which may affect the drug biological activity.
Another attempt to solve the above problems is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,284,662, has improved the oral dosage form described above (ibid) by reducing the usage of the organic solvents, particularly in core preparations, thus resulting in somehow easier processing, avoiding possible formation of unsuitable pasty masses in manufacture. However, similarly to above formulation, this formulation does not eliminate or inhibit crystallization and therefore also results in unpredictable drug delivery.
The aim of this invention is to provide a controllable, predictable and true zero-order release dosage formulation of carbamazepine using a simple, fast, easy and more practical manufacturing process than those described in two patents cited above.
The delivery system of the invention comprises carbamazepine formulated as a tablet or other oral formulation based on the matrix of hydrophilic polymers gel layers containing carbamazepine. The polymer matrix inhibits the transformation of anhydrous carbamazepine into crystallized dihydrate resulting in amorphous carbamazepine more readily releasable from the polymer matrix at steady zero-order rate.

Zero-order sustained release matrix tablet formulations of carbamazepine

Yissum Research Development Company of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem