An expandable inter-vertebral prosthesis. The prosthesis takes over the supporting function of the inter-vertebra disc between two adjacent vertebra bodies, and includes one or more cages and a reinforcing element. Upon cage expansion, a hollow central portion of the cage can accommodate the reinforcing element. The reinforcing element, upon expansion, assumes a spiral shape, and substantially fills up the hollow central portion of the cage to provide enhanced load-bearing capability in a substantially longitudinal spinal direction. Hinges in the cage permit expansion and, once the cage has expanded, prevent it from collapsing. Delivery of the cage in an unexpanded condition into an inter-vertebral space is ensured with a restraining tool that engages the hinge members. The cage, reinforcing element and restraining tool are inserted with the aid of a conventional delivery tube.

This application relates to the field of producing an improved spinal prosthesis that is used in surgical procedures, and more particularly to a minimally invasive inter-vertebra expandable cage to replace dysfunctional spinal discs.
Methods to achieve the fusion of two adjacent vertebra-bodies are well known in the art. In these procedures, it is necessary to maintain (or regain) the original distance between the vertebra bodies, as otherwise problems, such as nerve damage, may occur. Therefore, it is important to pull or push the vertebra bodies apart during surgery and to place a support that is strong enough to withstand the axial compression forces during normal use. In a human body, these forces can be as high as 1000 N. In conventional spinal fusion procedures, the area of the spine that has to be operated on is approached from the front side, where relatively large incisions have to be made. An example of such a procedure is described in xe2x80x9cSubtotal and total vertebral body replacement and interbody fusion with porous Tixe2x80x94Ni implantsxe2x80x9d, by B. Silberstein in proceedings of SMST-97, Pacific Grove, Calif., USA, on pages 617-621. In this procedure, a rigid porous metal implant is placed between the vertebra bodies, while a tension force is put onto the spine. This method requires a relatively large operation place around the area where the implant must be inserted.
Another method was developed by Krupp Medizintechnik in Essen, Germany, where an expandable ring was made of a nickelxe2x80x94titanium (NiTi) shape memory alloy. This ring was applied in a compressed shape in the inter-vertebra gap and, after insertion, was heated to recover to the programmed height, which resulted in an expansion dimension twice as large as in the compressed state. After placement and expansion, this hollow ring was filled with bone particles and, after several weeks, total fusion was achieved. However, the initial stability of such a ring, in combination with loose bone particles, was very restricted. This necessitated that the patient had to stay relatively immobile for a long time. (See, for example, G. Bensmann et al. in xe2x80x9cxc3x9cfntersuchungsberichte Krupp Forschungsinstitutxe2x80x9d, Band 42, 1984, pages 22-38).
This invention relates to an improved prosthetic device for a minimally invasive permanent spinal fusion that doesn""t suffer the limitations of the prior art. In the present context, a spinal fusion procedure is considered xe2x80x9cpermanentxe2x80x9d when the formation of a rigid bone graft between adjacent vertebrae is effected such that it restores spinal functionality to a level approaching that prior to the injury, disorder or disease that necessitated the procedure.
According to an aspect of the present invention, an expandable intervertebral prosthesis for replacement of the nucleus of an intervertebral disc is disclosed. The prosthesis comprises at least one cage made from a relatively thin walled material, and a reinforcing element disposed within a substantially hollow central region of the cage created when the cage is expanded. As used in conjunction with the present disclosure, the term xe2x80x9csubstantiallyxe2x80x9d refers to an arrangement of elements or features that, while in theory would be expected to exhibit exact correspondence or behavior, may in practice embody something slightly less than exact. The reinforcing element rolls up from an oblong geometry into at least one substantially planar spiral geometry in a force-free state. The reinforcing element occupies the central region of the expanded cage in such a way that stability along a substantially longitudinal axis of the cage is increased, thereby enabling a permanent spinal fusion. In the present context, the longitudinal axis of the cage is substantially aligned with the lengthwise axis of the spine. Accordingly, the vertebrae stack together along the longitudinal, or Z, axis. This axis also defines a longitudinal axis of the intervertebral space.
The reinforcing element may initially have an oblong geometry resembling a strip, which can be of straight or slightly curved cross-section. Upon deployment in the substantially hollow central region of the expanded cage, the oblong shape transforms into a compact body in the shape of a substantially planar spiral. This spiral fills the central region of the cage in such a way that axial stability is increased considerably, while still enabling a permanent spinal fusion. Material choices in both the reinforcing element and the cage may further enhance the utility of the prosthesis. For example, the reinforcing element can be made of any material and form that gives it the capability to be delivered in its initial oblong shape, and then rolled up into its spiral shape in the expanded cage. Examples may include surgical-grade steel, or a shape memory material with superelastic or shape memory behavior. Similarly, the cage can be made of any material and form that give it the capability to be delivered in an collapsed shape and to expand when it is in place. It too can be made from any biocompatible polymer or metal, but preferably of shape memory material with superelastic or shape memory behavior, with their inherently high strain-to-failure ratio. The cage can also be heat-treated to give it the tendency to open up at body temperature by its superelastic properties, and therefore elastic energy will be stored in the cage as long as it is collapsed. In the latter case, the material can be heated above its transformation temperature by means of body heat or any additional heating source. By use of a shape memory cage, the separate restraining tool may not be necessary.
Hinges may be disposed at various locations within the cage to provide preferential bending locations, and thereby facilitate the cage""s expansion once it has been deployed in an intervertebral position. These hinges, capable of elastic or plastic deformation, enable both a large expansion ratio and well-defined final cage geometry after expansion. The hinged locations may be formed by any number of conventional methods, including, but not limited to, cutting, grinding, scoring or heat treatment. The hinges may, in the alternate, be conventional pinned hinge members. In addition, the hinges may be configured with mechanical stop or locking features so that once expanded, the cage may settle in to a final expanded state, providing additional longitudinal direction stability and strength. Similarly, one or more apertures may be included in the one or more surfaces of the cage, and may additionally disposed adjacent the hinges. These apertures permit the insertion of an elongate instrument into the unexpanded cage to keep the cage unexpanded until such time as the elongate instrument is released. The elongate instrument comprises an outer tube and a tension wire disposed within the outer tube so that relative movement along the elongate instrument""s elongate axis is permitted. To avoid the rapid expansion of the cage, the elongate instrument includes an additional restraining element disposed on the tension wire. This restraining element engages complementary apertures placed within the cage, and keeps the cage in its unexpanded state, even after the cage has left the distal end of the delivery tube. Once the cage is placed in the desired location, the restraining element is gradually released and retracted back into the delivery tube, thus enabling the full expansion of the cage. The unexpanded cage, reinforcing element and elongate instrument can be used with conventional delivery apparatus, such as a delivery tube, to deliver them into the intervertebral space prior to expansion and reinforcement.
One or more of the cages may be combined once they are deployed in the intervertebral space, leading to the formation of an assembled cage. After placement of a first cage, a second cage can be placed in a different position or orientation to construct an assembled cage that provides more support to the vertebrae and gives stability along more directions. Mating surfaces between the first and second cage may include interlocking features, such as grooves, recessions or protrusions to ensure a proper relative placement between the two. The substantially hollow central region within the assembled cage can be defined by the space between the two interconnected cages such that it is bounded by top and bottom walls, and partially bounded by side walls.
According to another aspect of the invention, an expandable intervertebral prosthesis with increased axial stability in a direction substantially parallel with a longitudinal spinal axis is disclosed. The prosthesis includes a first cage in an unexpanded state, a second cage placed inside the first expanded state cage, and a reinforcing element that rolls up from an oblong geometry into at least one substantially planar spiral geometry in a force-free state. The cages are adapted to be placed in an intervertebral position within a spine, and then caused to expand to one or more expanded states. The cages are interconnected such that when both cages are in at least one of their expanded states, they together form an assembled cage, which, in turn defines a substantially hollow central region. The reinforcing element at least partly fills the substantially hollow central region in the assembled cage, thereby forming a reinforced cage.
Optionally, the reinforcing element forms a form-fitted spiral without intervening spaces in the force-free state. In addition, the form-fitted spiral has axial surfaces in substantial contact with corresponding inner surfaces of the cage assembly to enable the cage assembly to take up high axial loads. Moreover, the reinforced cage further comprises sterilizable material with deformation properties corresponding essentially to those of an intervertebral disc to be replaced.
According to another aspect of the invention, an expandable prosthesis for replacement of an intervertebral disc to promote spinal fusion is disclosed. The prosthesis includes at least one cage made from a relatively thin-walled material, and a reinforcing element disposed within a substantially hollow central region defined by at least one the cage. The at least one cage comprises a first, unexpanded state prior to deployment into an intervertebral space, and a second state wherein after deployment in the intervertebral space, the at least one cage is expanded. The reinforcing element comprises a first, oblong state prior to deployment into the substantially hollow central region, and a second state wherein it assumes a substantially planar spiral configuration upon deployment in the substantially hollow central region. The substantially planar spiral configuration at least partly fills the substantially hollow central region in such a way as to improve the stability of the expanded at least one cage in a direction substantially parallel to a longitudinal axis of the intervertebral space.
According to another aspect of the invention, a prosthesis expandable in a plurality of dimensions to promote intervertebral fusion is disclosed. The prosthesis includes a cage and a reinforcing element. The cage further includes a first, unexpanded state prior to deployment into an intervertebral space and a second, expanded state. The second, expanded state itself includes a first expansion in a direction substantially parallel to a longitudinal axis of the intervertebral space thereby defining a substantially hollow central region, and a second expansion in a plane normal to the first expansion such that a space formed by the first and second expansions defines a substantially hollow central region. The reinforcing element includes a first, oblong state prior to deployment into the substantially hollow central region, and a second state wherein the reinforcing element assumes a substantially planar spiral configuration upon deployment in the substantially hollow central region. The substantially planar spiral configuration assumed by the reinforcing element in its second state at least partly fills the substantially hollow central region in such a way as to improve the stability of the expanded cage in a direction substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the intervertebral space. Optionally, the cage also includes a plurality of hinges, at least some of which are designed to pivot around an axis substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the intervertebral space.
According to yet another embodiment of the invention, a method of using an intervertebral prosthesis is disclosed. The method includes the steps of providing a prosthesis, spreading apart adjacent vertebrae such that an intervertebral space is defined thereby, placing the prosthesis in a delivery tube, inserting the delivery tube into the intervertebral space, controlling the expansion of at least one expandable cage of the prosthesis through limiting the relative movement between the outer tube and tension wire, using the elongate instrument, which is adapted to control the expansion of the at least one expandable cage, to remove the at least one expandable cage from the delivery tube, placing the at least one expandable cage in the intervertebral space, expanding the at least one expandable cage, and inserting a reinforcing element into a substantially hollow central region defined by the expansion of the at least one expandable cage such that the reinforcing element rolls up from an oblong geometry into at least one substantially planar spiral geometry in a force-free state that at least partly fills the substantially hollow central region. The elongate instrument further comprises an outer tube, a tension wire disposed within and relatively movable to the outer tube and a restraining element disposed on the tension wire. The restraining element is further adapted to engage at least a portion of the at least one expandable cage.
It is contemplated that variations in structural features and arrangement of parts may appear to a person skilled in the art without departing from the scope of or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention. Accordingly, other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description, the accompanying drawings and appended claims.

Reinforced expandable cage and method of deploying


The present invention provides novel PKA-binding polypeptides, nucleic acids that encode the polypeptides and antibodies specifically immunoreactive with the polypeptides.

Extracellular signals such as hormones and cytokines modulate many cellular processes by activating adenylate cyclase, increasing intracellular levels of cAMP and ultimately activating the cAMP-dependent kinase (PKA). PKA is a ubiquitous enzyme that functions in many intracellular pathways, for example, regulation of glycogen metabolism by reversible phosphorylation of glycogen phosphorylase [Walsh et al., J. Biol. Chem., 243:3763-3765 (1969)], and regulation of MAP kinase signaling by inhibiting Raf-1 activation by Ras [Vojtek et al., Cell, 74:205-214 (1993) and Hafner et al., Mol. Cell Biol., 14:6696-6703 (1994)]. Inactive PKA exists as a tetramer in which two identical catalytic subunits are bound to a dimer of two regulatory subunits. Activation of PKA by cAMP is effected by binding of a cAMP molecule to each of the regulatory subunits (R) causing release of the active catalytic subunit (C). While only one form of the C subunit has been identified, two classes of R subunit exist, RI and RII, with apparently distinct subcellular distributions. The RI isoforms (RI.alpha. and RI.beta.) are reported to be predominantly cytoplasmic and are excluded from the nucleus, whereas up to 75% of the RII isoforms (RII.alpha. or RII.beta.) are particulate and associated with either the plasma membrane, cytoskeletal components, secretory granules, golgi apparatuses, centrosomes or possibly nuclei [Scott, Pharmac. Ther., 50:123-145 (1991)]. Presumably, differences (either physical or physiological) in the various R subunits provide a means by which cells are able to restrict activity of the C subunit to a desired pathway.
Recent evidence indicates that cells are able to target PKA activity by localizing the inactive enzyme in the vicinity of potential substrates, thereby restricting the activity of the C subunit following release by cAMP binding to the R subunit. This "compartmentalization" segregates PKA with participants in a given signaling pathway and contributes to PKA specificity in response to different extracellular stimuli. Compartmentalization of PKA occurs, at least in part, by interaction or tethering, of the R subunit with specific proteins which localize, or anchor, the inactive holoenzyme at specific intracellular sites. Proteins which specifically segregate PKA have been designated A Kinase Anchor Proteins, or AKAPs [Hirsch et al., J. Biol. Chem., 267:2131-2134 (1992)]. In view of the fact that some AKAP have been shown to bind, and anchor, other proteins in addition to PKA, the family of proteins is generally referred to as anchoring proteins.
To date, a number of anchoring proteins have been identified [discussed below] which apparently bind PKA by a common carboxy terminal secondary structure motif that includes an amphipathic helix region [Scott and McCartney, Mol. Endo., 8:5-11 (1994)]. Binding of PKA to most, if not all, identified anchoring proteins can be blocked in the presence of a peptide (Ht31) that mimics this common secondary helical structure, while a mutant Ht31 peptide, containing a single animo acid substitution that disrupts the helical nature of the peptide, has no effect on PKA/anchoring protein binding [Carr et al., J. Biol. Chem., 266:14188-14192 (1991)]. Even though PKA/anchoring protein interaction is effected by a common secondary structure, anchoring proteins (or homologous anchoring proteins found in different species) generally have unique primary structure as evidenced by the growing number of anchoring proteins that have been identified in a variety of organisms. Presumably, the unique amino acid structure, most notable in amino terminal regions of the proteins, accounts in part for anchoring proteins identified as unique to various specific cell types and for the various specific intracellular compartments in which PKA localization has been observed.
For example, anchoring proteins which are predominantly expressed in mammalian brain have been identified in the rat (AKAP 150) and cow (AKAP 75) [Bergman, et al., J. Biol. Chem. 266:7207-7213 (1991)], as well as in humans (AKAP 79) [Carr, et al., J. Bio. Chem. 267:16816-16823 (1992)]. Amino acid identity and immunological cross-reactivity between these neuronal-specific proteins suggest that they represent interspecies homologs. As another example, AKAP 100 appears to be specific for human and rat cardiac and skeletal muscle, while being expressed to a lower degree in brain cells of these mammals. As still another example, AKAP Ht31 [Carr et al., J. Biol. Chem., 267:13376-13382 (1992)] appears to be specific for thyroid cells. Conversely, AKAP 95 has been shown to be expressed in a multitude of cell types, showing no apparent tissue or cell-type specificity.
With regard to localization in specific intracellular compartments, AKAP 75, microtubule-associated protein (MAP-2) [Threurkauf and Vallee, J. Biol. Chem., 257:3284-3290 (1982) and DeCamilli et al., J. Cell Biol., 103:189-203 (1986)], AKAP 79 [Glantz et al., J. Biol. Chem., 268:12796-12804 (1993)] and AKAP 150 [Glantz et al., Mol. Biol. Cell, 3:1215-1228 (1992)] are closely associated with cytoskeletal structural proteins, with AKAP 75 more specifically associated with post synaptic densities [Carr et al., J. Biol. Chem., 267:16816-16823 (1992)]. Still other anchoring proteins have been shown to localize with less widespread cellular structures, including AKAP 350 association with centrosomes [Keryer et al., Exp. Cell Res., 204:230-240 (1993)], AKAP 100 with the sarcoplasmic reticulum in rat cardiac tissue [McCartney, et al., J. Biol. Chem. 270:9327-9333 (1995)], and an 85 kDa AKAP which links PKA to the Golgi apparatus [Rios et al., EMBO J., 11:1723-1731 (1992)].
AKAP 95, with an apparent zinc finger DNA-binding region, appears to reside exclusively in the nucleus [Coghlan et al., J. Biol. Chem., 269:7658-7665 (1994)]. The DNA binding domain of AKAP 95 provides a role for direct involvement of PKA in gene transcription, possible by positioning of PKA for phosphorylation of transcription factors. Other diverse cellular activities shown to be influenced by anchoring protein/PKA binding have been demonstrated by disruption of the interaction, for example, disruption of PKA/anchoring protein binding in T cells has been shown to reverse cAMP-induced suppression of interleukin 2 expression [Lockerbie et al., J. Cell Biochem., Suppl. 21A:76, Abstract D2155 (1995)] and disruption of PKA/anchoring protein binding in hippocampal neurons has been shown to attenuate whole cell currents through alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4isoxazole propionic acid/kainate glutamate receptors [Rosenmund et al., supra.]. The ability of anchoring proteins to regulate IL-2 expression and to regulate glutamate receptor activity, in combination with a previous demonstration that anchoring proteins can bind calcineurin, suggest multiple therapeutic applications for anchoring proteins and molecules which modulate anchoring protein binding to cellular components.
In view of the diversity, both in terms of cell type expression, subcellular localization and physiological activities of anchoring proteins identified to date, there thus exists a need in the art to continue to identify novel anchoring proteins and nucleic acids which encode them. The uniqueness of anchoring protein primary structures provides a target for specifically regulating PKA localization, and thereby its function in specific cellular processes.


One aspect of the invention is a method of rapidly drilling holes in a workpiece on a drilling machine having first and second spindles holding first and second drill tools, a first and second pressure foot mounted on the first and second spindles and a work table mounted beneath the spindles on which workpieces can be mounted. The method includes selecting a workpiece having a thickness, defining a nominal vertical home position for the first and second spindles, such that in the home position there is a nominal clearance distance between the bottom surface of the spindle's pressure foot and the top surface of the workpiece to be positioned beneath the spindle, measuring a drill tool offset distance for the first and second spindles such that the drill tool offset distance is equal to the distance between the bottom surface of the pressure foot of the spindle and the tip of the drill tool mounted in the spindle, compensating for the drill tool offset distance by designating a vertical upper limit for the first spindle and a vertical upper limit for the second spindle such that when the first and second spindles are at their respective upper limits, the tips of their respective drill tools are positioned in equal distance from the top surface of the work table, and accordingly, the top surface of the workpiece mounted thereon.

In the manufacture of printed circuit boards, frequently literally thousands of small holes must be drilled into each printed circuit board. In volume production of the circuit boards, the drilling of holes is accomplished by computer controlled automatic drilling machines in which the printed circuit boards are usually mounted on a worktable which is movable in a horizontal X-Y plane. A sheet of back-up material is typically mounted on top of the worktable, and beneath the printed circuit boards, so that the drill tool does not drill into the worktable upon passing through the underside of the printed circuit board.
Usually, the worktable moves horizontally to be positioned under a spindle having a drill tool mounted therein, so that the holes may be drilled at appropriate drilling locations. Drilling of the circuit boards is accomplished by advancing each drill spindle downward through a vertical drilling stroke.
A vital concern in the field of printed circuit board drilling machines is the speed with which a machine can drill holes. This is usually referred to as the productivity or "throughput" of a drilling machine. Although the time it takes to drill any single hole is relatively small, each circuit board drilled usually requires drilling thousands of holes, for example as many as 20,000 or more holes per board. Consequently, any small variance in the time to drill a single hole has a greatly multiplied effect and is very significant in the long term.
Another concern is that of minimizing drilling of the back-up material. When holes are drilled completely through a printed circuit board, the tool must penetrate the back-up material to some degree in order for the drill hole to be uniform throughout the entire depth of the circuit board. However, it is desirable to minimize the amount of penetration into the back-up material because the time required for such drilling lengthens the drill stroke and also causes wear of the drill. Further, circuit boards are commonly drilled in stacks. The deeper the hole is to be drilled, the longer the drill tool must be. In turn, the longer a drill tool is relative to its diameter, the more easily the tool will break. By decreasing the depth of tool penetration into the back-up material, shorter tools can be used for a given diameter hole, thus decreasing the likelihood of tool breakage.
Prior art through drilling techniques have not been satisfactory in satisfying these performance criteria. Prior art machines include a sensor to determine the vertical position of the drill spindle, and in turn the tip of the drill tool which extends a nominal distance from the spindle. One approach has been to simply drill to a preselected vertical position which is sufficiently deep to insure that the workpiece is fully drilled through. However, to accommodate several variables, the preselected depth must be so far beneath the top surface of the backup material to result in substantial amounts of unnecessary drilling of back-up. For example, the back-up material is not perfectly planar, and thus the position of its top surface can only be estimated. Further, due to drill wear, the precise position of the tip of the drill tool changes. During use, the drill tools gradually become worn and thus they become measurably shorter over time. Prior to drilling into a workpiece, therefore, the vertical or Z-axis position of the tip of a worn drill tool is often higher than its expected position, namely, the Z-axis position of the tip of a new, unworn drill.
Using this prior art technique in a multi-spindle drilling machine, all the drill tools penetrate beyond the workpiece and into the back-up material below the workpiece so that even the worn drill tools will be ensured of drilling completely through the workpiece. As a result, unworn and only nominally worn drill tools drill unnecessarily deep into the back-up material, causing lost time during unnecessary drill movement. Additionally, drilling into the back-up material causes further wear of the drill tool, and causes loosened particles of the back-up material to be carried up into and embedded into the walls of the hole drilled in the workpiece, thereby decreasing the quality of the hole.
One solution to the above problem is to frequently replace all the drill tools on the drilling machine with new, unworn drill tools. This solution, however, is unnecessarily expensive and wastes drill tool which could otherwise be sharpened and reused.
Another approach has been to use a technique designed for drilling holes only partially through a workpiece, called "depth control drilling." In depth control drilling, the variance or "offset" in vertical position of a worn drill tool from the nominal position of a new drill tool is determined before drilling begins, so that the precise vertical position of the tip of the drill tool is known. When the drill stroke is commenced, the depth of the hole is measured from the top of the workpiece. This reference position is sensed when a pressure foot, which is attached to the drill spindle, engages the top of the workpiece. When the desired depth is reached, the drill stroke is terminated. This technique is adapted to through-drilling by treating the depth of the hole to be drilled as equal to the thickness of the workpiece or stack of workpieces desired to be through-drilled.
The shortcoming of using the depth control technique for through-drilling is that sensing the vertical position of the top surface of the workpiece, from which the depth of the hole is measured, can be inexact. For example, inaccuracies arise due to debris on top of the workpieces. Likewise, an assumption must be made regarding the thickness of the workpiece which is being drilled in order to determine how deep the hole must be in order to drill completely through the workpiece. This assumption may be inaccurate since waviness in the workpieces can result in varying workpiece thicknesses depending on the location at which the hole is being drilled. These inaccuracies are multiplied when several printed circuit boards are stacked for through-drilling. Also, debris between stacked workpieces can cause variation in workpiece thickness.
Thus, a method is needed for preventing unnecessary loss of time during drilling by eliminating unnecessary drill movement during the drilling of printed circuit boards in order to improve the productivity of drilling machines.

Method and apparatus for drill length compensation


A method and multilayer analytical element for the determination of catechol and catechol generating substances such as salicylate is described. A series of enzymatic conversions involving tyrosinase is used to convert catechol to o-quinone and the latter to convert a leuco dye to a colored dye.

The determination of the catechol generating substance salicylate in biological fluids such as human serum, has diagnostic significance. Acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin) is used as an analgesic and as an anti-inflammatory drug for arthritis. It rapidly hydrolyzes to salicylate which has the therapeutic effect. The therapeutic level as an analgesic is up to 20 mg/dl. For arthritis the level is up to 30 mg/dl. Problems such as headaches, tinnitus, flushing and hyperventilation occur at higher salicylate levels followed by imbalances in the acid-base level. Salicylate levels above 60 mg/dl can be lethal.
One method for assaying salicylate employs the enzymatic conversion of salicylate to catechol catalyzed by salicylate hydroxylase with the accompanying conversion of NADH to NAD.sup.+. There is a quantitative correlation between disappearance of NADH, as reflected in a change in optical density at 340 nm, and the concentration of salicylate (You and Bittikofer, Clin. Chem., 30:1549, 1984). The problem is that this method is suitable for incorporation into a dry format to be stored over time because of the instability of NADH at low pH and the low extinction coefficient of NADH
Other problems of existing methods for the determination of salicylate suffer from poor sensitivity NADH method, interferences from phenolic and ketoacids normally present in serum Ferric chloride, time-consuming procedures, inability to measure protein bound salicylate (measure only free salicylate refers to ion selective electrodes), or unsuitability for dry format.

Method and element for assay of catechol and catechol generating substances


A mail justifier system including at least one bucket for holding a flat article and a plurality of ramps configured to contact the flat article through an opening defined on the bucket to raise the flat article to a desired level. A plurality of parallel rollers is configured to enter into the opening and contact the flat article. The parallel rollers rotate causing the flat article to move within the bucket from a first position to a second position.

1. Field
The present invention relates to mail sorting processes, and more particular to an in-line justifier system and associated method for justifying mail pieces in a mail sorting process.
2. Related Art
Generally a flat mail sorting machine uses one or more carrousels of mail buckets. Mail pieces are singulated by one or several feeders and injected into the mail buckets. Generally, the buckets are configured to drop mail into trays positioned directly below the buckets according to a mail sort plan. However, due to the variable position of the mail within the buckets the mail stack quality in the tray may be affected.
Several variables contribute to the position of the mail within the bucket, such as the bond of the mail in the injection area, the mail pieces injection into the bucket, the centrifugal force around the curves of the carousel, and the like. These variations in the lateral position of the mail in the bucket dictate where the mail piece may ultimately drop in the tray. The variations of the position of the mail piece within the tray creates challenges for controlling and potentially automating follow-on mail sorting processing of the mail piece in the tray.

In-line justifier for letter and flat mail sorter


Disclosed are mutant DNA polymerases having improved extension rates relative to a corresponding, unmodified polymerase. The mutant polymerases are useful in a variety of disclosed primer extension methods. Also disclosed are related compositions, including recombinant nucleic acids, vectors, and host cells, which are useful, e.g., for production of the mutant DNA polymerases.

Pyrophosphorolysis activated polymerization (PAP) is a PCR method in which the primer(s) end in an extension terminator which must be removed by pyrophosphorolysis before the primer(s) can be extended. "Pyrophosphorolysis" is simply the reverse of the extension of a primed template by DNA polymerase (i.e., the addition of a dNMP residue to the primer strand). In the "forward" reaction (i.e. the extension of a primed template) pyrophosphate is generated and dNTPs are consumed, as dNMPs are added to the 3′-end of the primer. In the "reverse" reaction (i.e. pyrophosphorolysis) pyrophosphate is consumed and dNTPs are generated as dNMPs are removed from the 3′-end of the primer strand. Primed templates ending in a residue which cannot be extended (a "terminator") are expected to be subject to pyrophosphorolysis if the polymerase is able to incorporate the terminator and if pyrophosphate is present. In PAP, the use of these blocked primers allows for rare allele detection because pyrophosphorolysis requires a perfectly matched primer:template complex for maximal rate of terminator removal.

Mutant DNA polymerases with improved pyrophosphorolysis activated polymerization (PAP) ability


A system for producing and storing electrical energy includes a thermally insulated chamber containing a first circuitry in which circulates a first working fluid, a hot source, a cold source, wherein the hot source is composed of a pure water ice slurry at 0° C., the cold source is composed of an ice slurry with a temperature lower than or equal to −40° C. and the system for producing/storing electrical energy further includes a second circuitry of working fluid for circulating a second working fluid between the hot source and a thermostat, wherein the second working fluid is circulated between said thermostat and the hot source by an auxiliary expansion valve and an auxiliary compressor.

The storage of electricity has become a major issue of stability of the electricity grids in the short and medium terms. Historically, the electricity grids were designed to be "downstream" that is to say to go from big power plants to the consumers. Everything was therefore dimensioned (production and distribution) according to this unidirectional pattern and with a control of the productions to match as closely as possible the demand for electricity.
In the last few years, due to the rarefaction of fossil fuels on the one hand and to their harmful effects on the environment on the other hand, new electricity production means have been introduced in the energy mix, based primarily on renewable energies.
But one of the characteristics of these new production tools implemented heavily is their variability, even their intermittence. Certainly, these energies are predictable in the short and medium terms, but they are irregular, and contrary to the historical production means, they cannot be controlled. Furthermore, as yet totally devoid of any storage means, these new tools must feed their electricity into the distribution grid according to their production, in real time.
The result of this variability is the need to make use of the storage means (mainly hydraulic) and of some power plants whose production is highly reactive, such as oil or gas-fired power plants, to ensure at all times the balance between supply and demand for electricity. But this exercise has its limitations because the hydraulic storage reached saturation and flame production tools have non-zero startup times and costs, leading the power plant operators to subsidize operators to consume the electricity rather than having to stop these power plants and to restart them shortly after. This operation meets a physical need for preservation of grids which, without this operation, would see the voltage and/or frequency of their electricity fluctuate outside the tolerances.
It is to avoid this type of operations that all the energy players have started looking for new electricity storage tools which can be mobilized rapidly and on a large scale.
Many techniques are contemplated such as the improvement of the hydraulic storage, the storage by compressed air, the electrochemical storage, by hydrogen storage or by flywheel.
However, these various techniques are limited by a lack of operating sites (hydraulic) or by problems of still too high costs (electrochemistry, hydrogen or flywheel) and again for many years.
There is also the hardly used way of storing electricity thermodynamically, field in which many innovations are in preparation, by coupling refrigeration cycles and organic Rankine cycles (ORC for short).
However, these new systems and methods have many drawbacks.
For instance, the hot and cold sources are made of non-constant storage temperature materials. Moreover, these systems have many exchanger stages, which is detrimental to efficiencies, too low to contemplate an industrial exploitation.
To improve efficiencies, it is useful to use hot sources and cold sources with constant temperatures and heat exchangers immersed in these sources.
This is particularly the case of the U.S. Pat. No. 8,484,986, relating to electricity storage systems by thermodynamic means, comprising a heat exchange circuit between a cold source and a hot source with constant temperatures, allowing in a charge cycle to store electrical energy and in a discharge cycle to generate electrical energy.
Although this U.S. Pat. No. 8,484,986 constitutes real progress in electricity storage by thermodynamic means, the described system can be improved by using a storage material whose phase change takes place at a temperature lower than the room temperature.

Thermodynamic system for storing/producing electrical energy


A voltage detection circuit comprises a reference resistor including a terminal for receiving a first voltage; a reference transistor including a control terminal for receiving a second voltage; a comparator, including a first input terminal for receiving a converted voltage and a second input terminal for receiving the second voltage, for generating an output voltage; and a voltage dropping circuit series, comprising a plurality of voltage dropping circuits connected in a series, for converting an input voltage into the converted voltage; wherein the comparator indicates whether the input voltage matches a specific multiple of a voltage difference between the first voltage and the second voltage, and the specific multiple relates to a number of the plurality of voltage dropping circuits.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a voltage detection circuit, more particularly, to a voltage detection circuit which requires lower power and is capable of precisely detecting a specific multiple of a reference voltage or a negative value of a specific multiple of a reference voltage.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Power management integrated circuit (PMIC) has been widely used in electronic products such as notebooks, mainboards, digital cameras, smart phones, tablet computers, etc. Detection circuits such as power on detector, signal ready detector, etc., are included in PMIC. In the prior art, detection circuits for precisely detecting a specific voltage occupy large layout area. Other simple detection circuits with smaller layout area are not such precise. Therefore, the applicant of the present invention has provided a power-on reset circuit in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/666,982, which is capable of precisely detecting a twice of a reference voltage, utilizes layout area efficiently, and has characteristics such as low quiescent current, low power consumption, etc.
Nevertheless, in practical applications, besides detecting a twice of a voltage value, a detection circuit may need to detect other multiple of a reference voltage, or a negative value of a multiple of a reference voltage. Therefore, how to design a detection circuit, which is capable of detecting any multiple of the reference voltage and also has characteristics such as good detection precision, efficient utilization of layout area, low quiescent current, low power consumption, etc., is a significant objective in the field.


In apparatus for winding a filament (12) onto a bobbin (16), a free arm follower (32, 64) with guide pulleys (46, 48, 76, 78) is provided for both the bobbin (16) and filament supply spool (14). The free arm followers swing in respective arcs parallel to the longitudinal axes of the supply spool (14) and bobbin (16) to produce consistent and uniform filament winding. A quadrature sensor (90) determines the number of actual windings laid down in each layer which are compared (94) with predetermined winding number and if the numbers do not coincide, a stop for flaw circuit (102) stops the spindle motors (28, 82) to enable winding flaw correction. A layer counter (104) energizes a lead angle driver (106) to provide correct winding lead on changing winding direction with each new layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the winding of a filament onto a bobbin or canister, and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for controlling the winding of a filament onto a bobbin or canister with great consistency.
2. Description of Related Art
There are many requirements for a filament to be wound onto a bobbin or canister in uniform winding layers where any inconsistencies, such as climb back or gapping, make the final winding unacceptable. Exemplary of one such use is where a wound optical fiber or metal wire filament is dispensed during flight of a vehicle to maintain a data link with launch site equipment. In such use, an incorrectly or inaccurately wound bobbin may induce stress in the filament during dispense that can cause it to break or be stressed to the point that transmission efficiency of data is substantially reduced. Moreover, in the case of an optical fiber whose dimensions may be in the order of thousandths of an inch, the winding of a bobbin is a relatively difficult proposition in that because of the fiber small cross-sectional dimensions inconsistencies can readily occur.
All known so-called automatic filament winding machines have relatively awkward techniques for transition forming (i.e.) moving from one layer to the next layer) and cross-over control. Some of the known automatic winding equipment contemplates program speed reduction at the end of each layer to alleviate the transition process which is quite costly in labor as well as resulting in production time loss and need for floor space for the extra equipment required.
There are other known systems that operate on a vision principle in which a light beam, such as a laser, tracks the winding filament and on detecting variations from norm shuts down the winding operation to enable correcting inconsistencies. Such a system is disclosed in copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/669,251, BOBBIN WINDING CONTROL by B. F. Berlin et al. filed Mar. 14, 1991 and assigned to the same assignee as the present application. This vision system offers prospects of being highly effective in use even though it utilizes relatively expensive equipment, the cost of which may be prohibitive under certain circumstances.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,604,647, MACHINE FOR WINDING BOBBINS by George W. LeCompte et al. and assigned to the same assignee as the present application discloses wire winding apparatus having a freely oscillating arm mounted on a reversing plate. The wire on leaving a pulley located on the outer end of the arm is wound onto a bobbin with the arm freely pivoting to follow the winding as it is formed on a layer. Solenoids alternately move the reversing plate to each of two limits as a layer is finished.

Filament autowinder with fault detection


The present invention relates to a tube-type cosmetic container for discharging liquid contents in a droplet form, the container having a sealing member, which is coupled to the inside of an overcap and has a sealing protrusion for closing a discharge hole of a contents discharge tube, and pulling a sealing cap downward by the tensioning of an elastic supporting body so as to maintain a state in which the sealing protrusion further comes in close contact with the inner wall of the content discharge tube, when the overcap rotates such that the sealing member is coupled to a discharge part, thereby enabling the leakage of contents to be efficiently prevented regardless of an injection deviation and an assembly deviation between components.

Generally, liquid medicine and artificial tears which are dripped in the eyes for use are contained in a tube-type container and are provided. When a user pressurizes the tube-type container, liquid contents are uniformly discharged in a form of droplet.
As described above, a tube-type cosmetic container for discharging liquid contents in a form of droplet is disclosed in Korean Utility Model No. 20-0310084 (hereinafter, referred to as the Patent Document 1).
The Patent Document 1 is configured in a way that a tube-type cosmetic container in which a discharge part 2 formed on the front end of a tube container 1 is coupled to a discharge part coupling cap 3 with a discharge hole 3a being formed and a cover 4 is coupled to thereon, wherein a first discharge tube 5 in which a discharge hole 5a is formed is inserted into the discharge part coupling cap 3, and an intermediate outlet tube 6 having a straight line cutout 6a formed at an upper portion thereof and made of a rubber material is inserted into the first discharge tube 5; at an inner side of the intermediate outlet tube 6 a flange 7b is formed at a lower portion so as to be caught by a round jaw 2a formed in the discharge part 2 of the tube container 1, and at a center thereof a tube frame type outlet tube 7 having a discharge hole 7c communicating with in the tube container 1 is inserted.
In the Patent Document 1, when the tube container 1 is pressurized by a certain force, contents inside the container move through the discharge hole 7c of the tube frame type outlet tube 7 and collect in a space 9. At the same time, the cutout 6a of the intermediate outlet tube 6 surrounding the tube frame type outlet tube 7 spreads out, and thus a straight-line gap is generated. In this case, liquid contents collected in the space 9 are converted into a form of droplet while being discharged through the discharge hole 5a of the first discharge tube 5 to the outside. However, since the structure of Patent Document 1 for discharging contents in a form of droplet is complicated, the manufacturing time and cost increase, thereby causing a cost burden of a user.
"A tube-type cosmetic container for discharging liquid contents in a form of droplet" for solving the above problems is disclosed in Korean Utility Model No. 10-1554189 (hereinafter, referred to as the Patent Document 2).
Since the Patent Document 2 is capable of discharging liquid contents in a form of droplet through a simple contents discharging structure that becomes gradually wider from a lower portion to an upper portion thereof, thereby reducing user's cost burden in accordance with shortening of the manufacturing time and reducing the manufacturing cost.
However, the patent document 2 is a method in which a contents discharge tube is assembled to a tube neck, and an injection deviation and an assembly deviation may occur such that a space is generated between a discharge hole of the contents discharge tube and a closing rod of an overcap, resulting in leakage of contents.
In addition, as the contents discharge tube is made of hard materials such as hard plastic and glass, if used continuously, there is a problem in that the leakage of the contents occurs when the sealing cap of the overcap is broken and thus sealing function is deteriorated.


A controls stage, a hopper stage, and a pneumatic stage are arranged to govern the movement of particulate additives from a hopper through a receptacle that communicates with a delivery tube with the particles exiting the delivery tube via an outlet and contacting products or commodities such as food products. Embodiments include those wherein the use of air flow through the delivery tube is responsible for ushering particulate additives out of the delivery tube, with or without a secondary air flow to facilitate movement of particulate additives into the delivery tube, and a notched disc controlling the opening and closing of a valve to allow or restrict particulates from passing, wherein the size and quantity of notches affects the frequency at which particulate additives move from the hopper into the delivery tube.

Food is a commodity produced in a number of different steps in manufacturing facilities. Some foods are made using a conveyor system that transports the food materials through a series of processing steps. A particular step in the production system may involve the addition of particulate additives to the food commodity. Such a step may occur at any point in the food commodity production steps, but commonly occurs after the solid food pieces have been formed so that particulate additives are applied to the food. The production of many different types of food can benefit from an improved delivery system for applying particulate additives, or, simply, particulates.
Generally, particulate additives are lightweight particles that can be moved through air using an air-driven force, i.e., pneumatic. Various kinds of probiotics are in the form of low-density particles that can be driven along with pneumatic force. Other particulate additives include various nutrients, spices, preservatives, and other solid particulates that a food commodity producer may wish to apply on a surface of the food.
Present embodiments are directed to a delivery system for applying particulate additives to a food commodity. A food commodity might include, without limitation, human food, pet food, grain, wheat, vegetables, tea, spices, flavorings, peanuts, coffee beans, soybeans, and other agricultural products. Pharmaceutical products, consumer products, and health products like multivitamins and supplements are non-limiting examples of other commodities.
Various delivery systems—manual and automatic—exist already. A common limitation for currently available delivery systems is the difficulty in regulating the amount of particulate additives applied to the food commodity. Generally, a given fan speed setting results in the same amount of particulate additives being applied regardless every time the machine is used. Changing the fan speed setting to meet the particular needs of a manufacturing process is a time-consuming endeavor marked by much trial and error. In a plant, fan speed changes create additional inefficiencies when a line processes a variety of products, each having unique manufacturing specifications. Instead of constantly setting new fan speeds, an option that provides greater flexibility and reliability is disclosed herein in which the rate at which the particulate additives move from the hopper is controlled.
A consistent and more efficient manner of applying particulate additives with a pneumatic system is needed. Greater flexibility is needed to be able to vary the quantities of particulate additives applied to a food commodity or other commodities at a given fan speed or range of fan speeds. A system that allows a user to insert and remove pieces in relation to the delivery system to achieve variation in the amount and speed of application would provide significant benefits to the relevant industries. Accordingly, a more efficient delivery system that better meets current needs is described herein.


An exemplary method includes determining whether real-time vehicle location information deviates from at least one of historical real-time vehicle location information or scheduled vehicle location information. The exemplary method further includes generating scheduling information for a user based on user data and the public transportation data, determining that the real-time vehicle location information deviates from at least one of the historical real-time vehicle location information or the scheduled vehicle location information by more than a threshold deviation, and updating the scheduling information for the user based on the user data, the public transportation data, and the determined deviation.

Transportation information can be used for planning trips. For example, a user can refer to a published route schedule of a transportation system when determining which route to use. Determining which route to take, however, can be challenging for users of transportation systems, for example, when two users try to coordinate with each other to meet using a transportation system. Schedules of transportation systems are often inaccurate compared to actual transportation system performance. Furthermore, transportation systems can fail to alert the user to changes, interruptions, or other situations that affect a planned trip.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Transportation information systems and methods


If a cartridge moves to a complete loading position which is inward of a device by a loading device, a sliding plate moves in Y2 direction in accordance with the loading device. At this moment, because a control convex portion engages a concave portion of a door setting portion by moving from a convex portion of the manipulating member, the manipulating member is pulled by a fourth biasing member and rotates in an α2 direction. Therefore, a control pin moves inside a manipulating groove and sets a door in a closed position. Also, the door is set in the closed position as well even after the cartridge is drawn out of the device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording medium loading device for loading a recording medium with connectors of a removable hard disk or the like, more particularly to a recording medium loading device including an auto loading device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, with the rapid spread of broadband connection of networks, cost reduction in high performance PCs, and the use of digital still cameras and digital video cameras in every household, information such as video, music and picture data are being digitalized in wide spread scale. Information processing machines such as PCs capable of recording TV programs, television•phones accessible to the Internet are currently going through a new transition surpassing a conventional category including information equipment and electric home appliances.
Recently, in the area of AV devices, a 3.5 inch type fixed hard disk drive is being used as a recording medium for recording a large amount of information, but the technology of the 3.5 inch type fixed hard disk drive has a difficulty in responding to a rapidly increasing need for vast amounts of information.
In this regards, 2.5 inch type and 1.8 inch type removable hard disk drives (RHDD; Removable Hard Disk Drive) have been recently developed by a high-density technology.
In such a removable hard disk drive, a drive device for rotating a disk or a magnetic head for recording and playing back is built therein. Therefore, signals between a removable hard disk and an external device (recording medium loading device) for loading the removable hard disk can be generally carried out via connectors alone.
Therefore, when the removable hard disk is loaded into the recording medium loading device, a connector on the removable hard disk side needs to be connected to a connector on the recording medium loading device side. When the removable hard disk is removed, the connector on the removable hard disk side needs to be disconnected from the connector on the recording medium loading device side. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication NO. 04-47554 is an example of the related art mentioned above.
However, a magnetic recording device disclosed in the Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication NO. 04-47554 has problems which will be described as follows.
(1) An ejecting device for ejecting the removable hard disk to outside is incorporated in the Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication NO. 04-47554. However, in case that the removable hard disk needs to be inserted, users must manually operate the removable hard disk, which is cumbersome.
(2) The removable hard disk is loaded in the device via an insertion opening formed on the device side. However, when the removable hard disk is taken out, the insertion opening stays open, such that dust and foreign materials get into the device.
(3) A loading device needs to be formed to improve convenience of use, and a door needs to be formed at the insertion opening to prevent dust and foreign particle from entering the device. Here, the two needs are closely related to each other. Thus, the operation of the loading device and the opening and closing operation of the door can be interconnected. However, if the operation of the loading device and the opening and closing operation of the door are interconnected, the device becomes larger, and the assembling process becomes complicated.

Recording medium loading device having rotation cam which drives door opening/closing device


A compact optical system for imaging an array of light emitters, particularly an individually addressable laser diodes array, onto a recording surface, whereby the image of each emitting region is spread in the cross direction to a width approximately equal to its length dimension. The system consists of a main non-anamorphic imaging lens assembly and a single cylindrical lens disposed between the array and the imaging lens assembly, with its focal line parallel to the array's centerline. There will occur a spread of the short dimension of the imaged emitting regions due to defocusing at the recording surface. Also, the numerical aperture of the emitted beams in the transverse axis is reduced prior to entry into the imaging lens assembly.

The present invention relates to a printhead for an electrooptical plotter and, more particularly, to a printhead that produces a multiplicity of light spots on a surface to be plotted, such as that of a printing plate in a plate imagesetter.
In a laser imagesetter, the light from one or more laser sources is focused onto the surface of a light sensitive film or plate. For brevity, this surface (whether of a film or a plate) will be referred to hereunder as the film. The plotting rate is generally limited by the power of the laser beam and by the speed at which it can be made to sweep the surface of the film. The power limitation is particularly problematic in plate imagesetters, owing to the inherently low light sensitivity of current printing plates. In order to achieve a high plotting rate, it is known to employ a multiplicity of laser sources, usually laser diodes (LDs), operating in parallel and producing a multiplicity of traces on the film when scanning it. A practical device for such a purpose is an individually addressable laser diode array (IALDA), which consists of a single bar of semiconducting material, such as GaAs, in which a linear array of addressable lasing sections has been formed. It is noted that such an IALDA device is distinct from a non-addressable laser diode array device, which has been used in imagesetters as a light source to illuminate an array of light modulators. The advantages of IALDA over an array of discrete LDs are much lower costs and the closer achievable spacing of the individual lasing sections, although they still cannot be contiguous. One possible disadvantage of IALDA is that at high power output any one section may fail, which would render the whole device useless for plate plotting. Recently, however, practical IALDA devices of sufficient power and reliability have become available.
Two important characteristics of any laser diode, or lasing section in an LD array device, particularly in the case of multi-mode LD (which serves for high power applications, such as that addressed by the present invention), are that (1) the light emitting region has a very elongated shape, typically 1 micron across and 50 to 200 microns along, and (2) the beam divergence in the cross direction is relatively high--typically 45 degrees FWHM, corresponding to a numerical aperture (NA) of 0.4--while in the length direction it is relatively low--typically 12 degrees FWHM, corresponding to a NA of 0.1.
In one common type of light projection system of prior art, employed inter alia in imagesetters, the light beams emitted by an IALDA device, or a linear array of laser diodes, is simply focused by an objective lens onto the film, thus forming on the film an array of projected spots, which is the image of the array of lasing regions, as is illustrated in FIG. 1. The film travels in a certain direction 44, causing the light spots to record parallel traces 46 on the film, as shown. Now, if the light emitting regions on the array, and consequently also the projected spots, were essentially contiguous, the array would be oriented so that the length axis 42 of its image is normal to the direction of travel 44. Since, however, the spots are generally not contiguous, the device or the array is usually turned, in a plane parallel to the film, so that length axis 42 becomes oriented by an angle .alpha. with respect to the direction normal to the direction of travel 44, and thus traces 46 become closer together. If the pitch of the spots, i.e. the distance between the centers of adjacent spots, is p, then, clearly, the pitch of the traces will be p'=p*cos .alpha.. The individual laser sources are modulated so that the resultant intensities along each trace 46 vary according to the picture being plotted, the relative timing of modulation among the various sources being adjusted so that resultant features of the picture become properly aligned on the film. Angle .alpha. is chosen so that the pitch of the traces, p', assumes a desired value. Ideally, the projected width of each spot, in a direction normal to the trace, is equal to the pitch, p'. In the case of discrete LDs, each LD would be oriented so that the long dimension of each emitting region remains normal to trace direction 44; angle .alpha. and the projection parameters can then be chosen so that trace contiguity is maintained. However, in the case of an LD array device, such as an IALDA, the length axis of each lasing region fixedly coincides with the long axis of the array. As a result, the length axis of each projected spot forms an angle .alpha. with the normal to trace direction 44 and consequently the effective trace width, w', becomes narrower than the actual spot width, w, along its length axis. The relation, again, is w'=w*cos .alpha.. It is noted that the ratio of the effective trace width, w', to the trace pitch, p', is equal to the ratio of the spot width, w, to the array image pitch, p, and thus remains constant regardless of the value of angle .alpha..
The second characteristic, namely the anamorphic beam divergence, may cause a difficulty in designing light efficient projection optics, since the numerical aperture of the objective lens must then be very large. It is noted that usually the length of each projected spot need to be in the range of 10-30 microns and thus--much smaller than the length of each emitting region. This requires the projection optics to effect minification, which further increases the necessary NA on their exit side, if they are to accommodate the entire beam.
the aforementioned difficulties may be overcome by employing anamorphic projection optics, such that have a large numerical aperture in the cross direction only and such that will create an as nearly circular spot image as possible.
One general configuration of such optics is an a focal arrangement, which consists of a collimating objective lens, or group, a focusing lens, or group, and an anamorphic modification. One method of such a modification, employed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,520,471 and 4,932,734, is to interject between the two lens groups (which by themselves are generally spherical) a pair of cylindrical lenses that act as a beam expander, or as a modifier of beam expansion, in one axis. Another method, employed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,541,951 and 5,594,752 (FIGS. 1-3), is to compose the objective assembly out of cylindrical lenses of different powers in each axis. It is noted that in both of the last mentioned patents, it is aimed to produce a single spot out of the multiple light sources and therefore there is an array of objective cylindrical lenses in one axis. It is further noted that in the '951 patent, the order of the cylindrical lenses in the two axes is such as to allow the beams to greatly expand in the cross axis and thus more fill the aperture of the focusing lens. It is also further noted that in the '752 patent (FIGS. 4-5) there is provision for a multiplicity of writing spots, whereby each spot is created by an individual focusing lens (each obtaining a collimated beam as described for FIGS. 1-3).
A different anamorphic configuration is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 5,521,748, which generally addresses the task of illuminating an array of light modulators (LM) by means of a non-addressable LD array (an alternative arrangement for imagesetters, mentioned hereabove, with which the present invention is not concerned). Here a certain optical configuration that includes cylindrical lenses in the longitudinal axis, images all light sources onto all the elements of the LM, while another, single cylindrical lens focuses the light sources onto the LM in the cross axis; there is little concern, if any, with the anamorphic ratio or other relationships between the two axes, since there is no reference to a projected spot shape.
A serious disadvantage of anamorphic configurations of prior art, such as described hereabove, is their relative complexity, which results in undue fabrication costs.
In another type of LD array light projection system of prior art, exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 5,168,288 and also commonly employed in imagesetters, the light emitted by each source is coupled into a corresponding optical fiber; the other ends of all such fibers are arranged in close proximity along a line and projected together by an objective lens onto the film. Such a system overcomes the difficulties arising from both characteristics mentioned with respect to the lasing region, since essentially the entire beam is coupled into its corresponding fiber and since the light emission from each fiber has an essentially circular cross-section. It, however, shares the cost disadvantage of the first type, described hereabove, in that it is difficult to precisely assemble the fibers into the desired arrangement.
There is thus a widely recognized need for, and it would be highly advantageous to have, an anamorphic optical system that projects light from an individually addressable laser diode array as an array of rounded spots, which is simple and inexpensive to fabricate.

Plotting head with individually addressable laser diode array


A parallel computer system which divides the entire space of facilities into a plurality of small divisions; assigns a plurality of processors thereof to the divisions, respectively, the lower stream processors receiving data on a boundary condition from the upper stream processor by communication to determine a condition for the continuity of the adjacent divisions, the processors carrying out parallel analytical operations for the analysis of the data on the corresponding divisions so as to meet the received boundary condition; and collects data obtained by the parallel analytical operations of the processors in a host computer to obtain analytical data on the large-scale facilities. The lower stream processors assigned to the lower stream divisions receive boundary conditions provided by the upper stream processors assigned to the upper stream divisions in order starting from the lowermost stream processor assigned to the lowermost steam division upward, and the processor to receive data gives a data transmission request signal to the processor to transmit data, and the latter processor transmits data to the former processor after receiving the data transmission request signal given thereto by the former processor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a parallel computer system capable of providing integral data on large-scale facilities by analyzing the condition of the large-scale facilities through the analytical operations of a plurality of processors, and collecting data obtained by the analytical operations of the processors in a host computer, and a method of communication between the processors of such a parallel computer system.
2. Description of the Related Art
A parallel computer system for parallel operations of a MIMD (multiple information multiple data stream) system having a plurality of processors each provided with a communication means and an individual storage device is one of parallel computer systems provided with a plurality of processors and capable of carrying out parallel analytical operations of data on large-scale facility.
When designing large-scale facilities including an atomic energy plant, very frequent large-scale computation, for example, for the estimation of the behavior of radioactive rays when designing a shielding structure and for the estimation and analysis of the performance of a reactor core when designing the reactor core are required. The computing speed of the parallel computer system must greatly be enhanced to meet such a computation requirement. Recently, there has been developed a parallel computer system comprising a plurality of processors each provided with a communication means and an individual storage device and capable of carrying out analytical operations at a high computing speed. This parallel computer system is able to carry out analytical operations at a very high computing speed at which a computer provided with only a single processor cannot operate.
When solving a problem to develop, for example, a differential equation for analyzing information about a space of a huge, complex construction by using a parallel computer system having a plurality of processors, the space is divided into a plurality of small divisions, and the processors are assigned to the divisions, respectively. Then, each processor needs to carry out only small-scale, simple operations. Conditions for continuity between the divisions can be taken into consideration by transferring boundary condition data from one to another of the processors. In a parallel computer system of the MIMD system, processors exchange data and, at the same time, the flow of operations of the processors of the parallel computer system is controlled.
Referring to FIG. 7 showing the configuration of a parallel computer system by way of example, the parallel computer system has one host computer 1 and eight processors 2-1 to 2-8. The host computer 1 is provided with a storage device 3 and a communication device 4. The processors 2-1 to 2-8 are provided with individual storage devices 5-1 to 5-8 and communication devices 6-1 to 6-8, respectively. The communication devices 4 and 6-1 to 6-8 are interconnected by a communication cable 7.
For example, input data on large-scale facilities or the like given to the host computer 1 is transmitted by the communication device 4 through the communication devices 6-1 to 6-8 to the processors 2-1 to 2-8. The processors 2-1 to 2-8 operate information about divisions of the facilities allocated thereto and, if necessary, the processors 2-1 to 2-8 exchange data with each other. Data obtained by the parallel analytical operations of the processors 2-1 to 2-8 are sent to and integrated into analytical data on the facilities by the host computer 1.
It is unusual that a plurality of processors are able to operate perfectly independently for parallel computation without communication between the processors. Usually, the processors exchange a large amount of data frequently during computation.
When the improvement of the accuracy of computation is necessary, for example, an object space or an object time of operation is divided into smaller meshes, which, however, is accompanied by increase in the amount of data to be exchanged between the processors. Although the computing speed of the parallel computer system can be enhanced by increasing the number of the processors, increase in the number of processors entails increase in the frequency of communication between the processors. In some cases, increase in the frequency of communication between the processors and in the amount of data resulting from the complication of problems to be solved by the parallel computer system is a significant impediment to the enhancement of the computing speed of parallel computation.
In some cases, each processor 2 needs to transfer data to the rest of the plurality of processors 2 to complete one step of computation. In such a case, a plurality of sets of one-to-one communication between the processors are carried out. For example, the processor 2-1 receives data obtained by analytical computation from the two processors 2-2 and 2-3 by the following steps.
Step 1
Operation for data transfer from the processor 2-2 to the processor 2-1
Step 2
Operation for data transfer from the processor 2-3 to the processor 2-1
The processor 2-2 must complete computation before the processor 2-3 to carry out those operations sequentially. Generally, it is impossible to estimate the time computation is to be completed and it is possible that the processor which receives data completes computation before the processor which sends data. Therefore, data is transferred in the following manner to avoid confusion.
Step 1
Operation for data transfer from the processor 2-2 to the processor 2-3
Step 2
Operation for data transfer from the processor 2-3 to the processor 2-1
Data is transferred from the processor 2-2 to the processor 2-3 after the processor 2-2 has completed computation in step 1, and the processor 2-3 transfers the data received from the processor 2-2 together with data produced by the processor 2-3 to the processor 2-1 in step 2. Although the confusion of operations for sending out and receiving data can be avoided if data is transferred as mentioned above, the data produced by the processor 2-2 requires additional communication steps.
In parallel computing utilizing pipeline control, the data obtained by the analytical operation of a processor 2-n is used as an initial condition for the analysis by an adjacent processor 2-(n+1). For example, when solving a problem of heat transfer from a fluid flowing through a passage, the passage is divided into a plurality of divisions, the divisions are allocated to a plurality of processors 2 to solve problems of heat transfer in the divisions 1, 2, . . . respectively by the processors. Since the condition of the fluid at the exit of a division n is the condition of the fluid at the entrance of a division n+1, the data obtained by the analytical operation of the processor 2-n must be transferred from the processor 2-n to the processor 2-(n+1).
The data obtained through the analysis of a boundary condition, such as a temperature distribution or a flow velocity distribution, can be transferred from the upper stream processor to the lower stream processor in a cascaded mode, such as from the processor 2-1 to the processor 2-2, and then from the processor 2-2 to the processor 2-3 as shown in FIG. 8. In FIG. 8, parenthesized numerals indicate data receiving order.
When the data obtained through analysis is transferred in the cascaded mode, data obtained through the analytical operation of one processor and data received by the same processor from another processor must be stored in different memory cell arrays, respectively, even if those data are the same in physical category. Therefore, each processor is provided with a memory cell array for storing received data to prevent the destruction of the data obtained by the operation thereof. For example, a temperature distribution (i, j) received from the adjacent processor 2-(n-1) is stored temporarily in a buffer B(i, j), and the contents of the buffer B(i, j) is transferred to the temperature distribution (i, j) for calculation after sending out the temperature distribution (i, j) obtained by the processor 2-n to the adjacent processor 2-(n+1).
If data is transferred and stored by this data storage method, additional computational procedures (procedures for transferring data from a buffer array) increases with the increase of the amount of data and hence additional storage devices for storing received data are necessary.

Parallel computer system and method of communication between the processors of the parallel computer system


A probe assembly includes plural capacitive contacts that are separate from each other and a conductive depletion gate disposed between and separating the contacts from each other. The depletion gate is configured to receive a direct electric voltage to deplete regions of a sample under test of electrons. The contacts are configured to be placed in close proximity to a buried conducting layer in the sample under test without engaging the buried conducting layer, thereby capacitively coupling to the buried conducting layer. A first subset of the capacitive contacts is configured to apply an alternating electric current to a portion of the sample under test and a second subset of the capacitive contacts is configured to sense an alternating voltage response of the portion of the sample under test to characterize one or more electrical properties of the sample under test without the capacitive contact with the buried conductive layer.

A probe assembly and/or method for characterizing electrical conductivity of a conducting layer that is buried below an insulating layer, such as in transistor substrates in semiconductor industry, is provided herein. Alternatively, one or more embodiments described herein may be used for other types of substrates or devices.
Diffused metal contacts are used for some known four-point electrical characterization methods for buried (e.g., not exposed) conducting layers. These methods, however, may require the use of alloyed ohmic contacts with the buried conducting layers, which can be problematic. Such ohmic contacts may be problematic in low-density systems (e.g., samples under test or examination that have relatively low carrier density in a semiconductor body or layer in which the buried conducting layer is disposed) and can take considerable time to fabricate. Additionally, such contacts may require different alloy recipes for the ohmic contacts used in n- and p-type doped systems (e.g., n- and p-type doped semiconductor or insulator samples). For some relatively new materials (e.g., recently developed materials) used in the samples having the buried conducting layers, the recipes for creating alloy recipes for the ohmic contacts may have not yet been developed yet. Moreover, alloyed ohmic contacts can be permanent such that, once a sample is used for characterization purposes, the sample cannot be reused. The sample may be destroyed or otherwise altered in such a manner to provide the ohmic contacts with the buried conducting layer that the sample may not be able to be reused for one or more other (e.g., intended) purposes.
Some known probe stations can be used for four-point electrical characterization methods of semiconductor or nonconducting samples having the buried conducting layers, but these stations may require pre-fabrication processing of the sample in order to expose the buried conducting layer engagement with the probes of the station. Additionally, the sample may not be reused after characterization due to scratching of the sample with the probes during examination of the sample. Moreover, the probes can eventually wear down due to the repeated physical contact with the samples.

Probe assembly and method for contactless electrical characterization of buried conducting layers


An alkylhalosilane is prepared by charging a reactor with a contact mass comprising a metallic silicon powder and a copper catalyst, and feeding an alkyl halide into the reactor whereby the silane is formed by direct synthesis. The use of a metallic silicon powder having a specific particle size distribution ensures effective fluidization whereby the alkylhalosilane of quality is formed at a high selectivity and in high yields.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method for preparing an alkylhalosilane by direct synthesis using metallic silicon powder and alkyl halide, and more particularly to a method for preparing an alkylhalosilane of quality at a high formation rate and a high selectivity and in high yields.
2. Prior Art
With respect to the synthesis of alkylhalosilanes, Rochow first disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,380,995 direct synthesis reaction between metallic silicon and an alkyl halide in the presence of a copper catalyst. Since then, there have been reported a number of research works relating to various co-catalysts used together with copper catalysts, various copper catalysts and treatment thereof, reactors, additives used during reaction, and the like.
The direct synthesis process involves activating a mixture (often referred to as a contact mass) comprising metallic silicon, a copper catalyst and a co-catalyst, and introducing an alkyl halide into the activated contact medium for accomplishing gas-solid direct contact between metallic silicon and alkyl halide, thereby producing alkylhalosilanes. A fluidized bed reactor is generally used in industrial practice. If a uniform fluidized state is not established within the reactor, the formation rate of alkylhalosilanes will have a profile within the reactor and the rate of heat removal from within the system ceases to be uniform within the reactor. The loss of uniformity often causes the catalyst particles to be sintered and segregate from the contact mass and hot spots above the average temperature in the reactor to develop, giving rise to many problems including deactivation of the catalyst, decomposition of the alkyl halide and the alkylhalosilanes formed, impurity carbon build-up, a selectivity decline and a yield decline. Because of these problems, long-term continuous operation becomes difficult. Local deceleration of alkylhalosilane formation in the reactor undesirably results in a lowering of the overall formation rate of alkylhalosilanes.
For establishing a uniformly fluidized state, the particle diameter and particle size distribution of the contact mass powder are important factors. In general, a contact mass having a smaller mean particle diameter tends to invite a poorly fluidized state because particle agglomeration and a channeling phenomenon are likely to occur. For example, Kunii and Levenspiel, "Fluidization Engineering," Second Edition, 1991, describes that particles having a diameter of less than about 30 .mu.m, divided into a particle group designated "Geldart C," are difficult to fluidize because of a strong force between particles.
It was believed that the metallic silicon powder in the reactor should preferably have a mean particle diameter of greater than 30 .mu.m in order to establish a relatively good fluidized state. JP-A 202892/1990 corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 5,015,751 discloses that the metallic silicon powder used in the synthesis of alkylhalosilanes should preferably have a mean particle diameter of up to 1,000 .mu.m, especially up to 500 .mu.m and that best results are obtained when the metallic silicon powder used has a mean particle diameter of 100 to 150 .mu.m and a particle size distribution of 30 to 300 .mu.m. Also, JP-B 5396/1991 corresponding to (U.S. Pat. No. 4,554,370) discloses that the silicon used in the fluidized bed should preferably have a particle size of up to 700 .mu.m, a mean particle size of 20 to 300 .mu.m, and a mean diameter in the range of 100 to 150 .mu.m.
However, from the reaction point of view, as opposed to the establishing of a well fluidized state, it is usually preferred that the metallic silicon powder have a smaller particle diameter. The reason is that a smaller particle diameter ensures rapid and uniform reaction on account of the effective heat transfer between particles and the greater surface area of particles participating in the reaction. From this point of view, JP-A 188258/1995 corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 5,312,948 discloses that the metallic silicon powder used in the direct synthesis reaction should preferably have a particle diameter in the range of 1 to 85 .mu.m. Allegedly, strictly maintaining the metallic silicon powder within the above particle diameter range improves the selectivity of dialkyldihalosilane and the yield thereof from the starting reactant without detracting from fluidity. However, since particles having a diameter of less than 1 .mu.m falling outside that range have a very large reactive surface area, the exclusion of these particles significantly reduces the reactive surface area, resulting in a drop of reactivity.
Therefore, it is an industrially important task to those skilled in the art that a metallic silicon powder satisfying both reactivity and fluidity can be utilized in the preparation of alkylhalosilanes.


Method, systems, and techniques for determining the age of an underground space are provided. In some embodiments, determining the age of an underground space comprises taking soil samples from a plurality of surface locations within a second underground space, analyzing the soil samples from the plurality of surface locations to determine an amount of a chemical compound for each soil sample, and determining an age of the second underground space using one or more relationships based on amounts of the chemical compound measured in a plurality of soil samples taken over a period of time in a first underground space and a baseline amount of the chemical compound at one or more locations remote from both the first underground space and the second underground space.

Underground spaces are used for a variety of purposes. For example, an underground tunnel may be used for military purposes, for transportation, for utility/water supplies, and/or for smuggling contraband such as weapons, drugs, or even people. Many tunnels are located along the southwest border of the United States and are used for drug trafficking.
It is often desirable to know when an underground space was created. For example, when law enforcement discovers a drug trafficking tunnel and shuts it down, it is useful to know who owned and occupied the land when the tunnel was constructed. Accordingly, there is a need for improved systems, methods, and techniques for determining the age of a tunnel.


A security management system comprises a key management sub-system, an asset/workload management sub-system, and an event management sub-system. The event management sub-system detects events. The asset/workload management sub-system correlates events (irrespective of type) with the assets that generate them, and the key management sub-system uses the event-asset associations determined by the asset/workload management sub-system to automatically orchestrate the necessary key management activities (e.g., key creation, revocation, refresh, etc.) across the impacted components in the information technology and operational realms to ensure data security. In one use case, a security event detected by the event management sub-system triggers one or more actions within the asset/workload management sub-system. Service configuration records are identified from this scan, and assets defined in those records are identified. An event-asset association is then supplied to the key management sub-system, which uses this information to determine a key management operation.

Technical Field
This disclosure relates generally to securing information in an industrial or other environment (e.g., in a next generation power grid) and, in particular, to improved techniques for key management to protect end-to-end data security in such an environment.
Background of the Related Art
The recent evolution of the smart grid brings about a convergence of electrical power-engineering improvements, networks, and communications and computing technology to transform the one-way power flow value-chain into a fabric of two-way power and information sharing infrastructure. To this end, modern electrical power devices (typically used in transmission and distribution domains) of the power grid today have a collection of sensing, computing, communication and control elements. For example, advanced metering infrastructures are now being put into place to remotely read electrical meters, to manage and control electric substation devices, and to control power switching. The data collected from these field devices often is used for different purposes, such as billing, distribution control, and energy management. The collected data often is aggregated and then analyzed by business analytics and optimization sub-systems to bring new models of pricing operational efficiency and consumer service offerings. In addition, energy-optimization practices, such as electrical demand-response initiatives, need to send commands down to these devices for maintenance, calibration and control. Consequently, these business systems, as well as the field devices, often depend heavily on the integrity of the data collected and the integrity of the control commands sent. In addition, confidentiality of data elements is needed to preserve the behavioral and personally identifiable information (PII) of the customer. Further, many of these field equipment and systems are classified as critical cyber assets, with associated government regulations (e.g., NERC-CIP and FERC) being applicable thereto, making data security even more vital. This data security can be achieved by proper design and deployment of a cryptographic infrastructure to coexist along with the data flow components.
Key management is the management of cryptographic keys for a cryptosystem. Key management typically involves the generation, exchange, storage, use, and replacement of keys. Key management often becomes the most challenging aspect of deploying a crypto infrastructure.
The National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST) has published guidelines (NIST Interagency Report 7628: Guidelines for Smart Grid Cyber Security) to act as a framework and roadmap describing security standards that are applicable (or are likely to be applicable) to the smart grid. This report suggests that a key management scheme be used to protect cryptographic materials, as well as to provide sufficient key diversity. Further, the report suggests that symmetric cipher systems (and thus symmetric keys) be used provided that adequate coordination among the key producer and the key consumers can be enforced.
Despite the importance of data security in this model, there are serious challenges and inhibitions that have prevented end-to-end data security from being implemented effectively in the smart grid. There are numerous reasons why this is the case. Many devices lack the processing power and sufficient random-number generation resources to handle cryptographic key generation. Also, many devices have yet to be enhanced with communication elements that can respond to remote commands, or to collect data and transfer it remotely. While there are new vendors that have begun to provide auxiliary components that can perform such functions and provide basic key storage, these additional components are not supplemented with robust key management schemes and typically do not have connectivity to crypto-key servers, certificate authorities, or other resources (e.g., OCSP servers). Where devices do include native security features, typically the authentication operations are based on asymmetric keys embedded in the devices. While asymmetric cipher systems provide good security, they are computationally-intensive. Moreover, unlike conventional Internet-based secure transactions, the connectivity between smart grid devices and business applications may be long-standing and sometimes persistent, and this necessitates more robust and strategic key management schemes to protect data. Further, third party service providers also may create additional privacy concerns because they provide value-added services (e.g., consumer energy management) that generate detailed information about behavioral patterns and profiles. Another problem is that current practices often expect business application-layer software assets to build data security and key management solutions between just a pair of communicating entities (namely, the endpoint devices and themselves). Data, however, often is shared between and among multiple business systems; thus, care must be taken while provisioning all the keys involved. This requirement becomes especially cost-prohibitive as this overhead is multiplied several times for each security association. Thus, the scalability of key management schemes for data in motion, and data at rest within systems, becomes very difficult and intractable to manage.
Indeed, key management schemes, when implemented, are provisioned in a vacuum, typically within individual vendor-supplied subsystems, with little or no integration across other operational systems. A more robust and integrated solution is necessary.
The subject matter of this disclosure addresses these and other deficiencies of the prior art.

Event-driven, asset-centric key management in a smart grid

International Business Machines Corporation


A method for performing stripe placement within a storage system is disclosed. After a set of failure domains within a storage system has been identified, the failure domains are then organized to form a hierarchy of failure domains. A failure domain is defined as a group of one or more disks that are more likely to fail together because a common component is shared by that group of disks. Stripe placement is performed across all active failure domains within the storage system using a greedy algorithm.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to redundant array of independent storage device systems in general, and in particular to a flexible method for distributing data and redundancy information across the storage devices to improve the reliability and availability of the system when a pre-defined group of storage devices fail together.
2. Description of Related Art
Redundant Array of Independent Disk (RAID) is a data storage virtualization technology that configures and manages multiple storage devices to improve the reliability, availability, and performance of storing and retrieving data in a storage system. RAID storage systems employ error-control coding techniques appropriate to the reliability of the underlying storage devices and hardware subsystems that control and package the storage devices, such as enclosures, drawers, blades and power subsystems. Example error detection and correction techniques include n-fault-tolerant Reed-Solomon erasure codes and (n+1)-way replication, both of which can correct n faults or erasures in stored data.
Historically, RAID systems have used fixed algorithmic techniques to place data and error correction redundancy information and to reserve spare space (for reconstructing data after faults) on storage devices. Regardless of the RAID level being employed, individual strips constituting the whole of a data stripe are typically spread across different independent disk drives. With data stripes being distributed, the subsequent loss of one or more strips, up to the maximum recoverability of the redundancy, will still allow the whole of the data strip to be reconstructed from the other strips that are present on non-failed disk drives. For example, in a RAID 5 redundancy encoding where a parity strip is lost due to a failed disk drive, the whole of the data strip may be reconstructed by applying well-known recombination techniques of the RAID erasure code against the surviving stripes to reconstruct the whole of the data stripe.
The present disclosure provides an improved method for performing strip placements within a storage system.

Failure domain based storage system data stripe layout