A molecular drag compressor includes a rotor disk coupled to a drive shaft for rotation about an axis, a stator disposed about the rotor disk, the stator defining a tangential flow channel, an inlet to the tangential flow channel and an outlet from the tangential flow channel, and a stationary baffle disposed in the tangential flow channel adjacent to the outlet. The baffle and the rotor disk have a gap between them. A surface of the baffle facing the rotor disk has cavities configured to produce turbulent gas flow through the gap between the baffle and the rotor disk and to thereby reduce leakage.

Conventional turbomolecular vacuum pumps include a housing having an inlet port, and interior chamber containing a plurality of axial pumping stages, and an exhaust port. The exhaust port is typically attached to a roughing vacuum pump. Each axial pumping stage includes a stator having inclined blades and a rotor having inclined blades. The rotor and stator blades are inclined in opposite directions. The rotor blades are rotated at high speed to provide pumping of gases between the inlet port and the exhaust port. A typical turbomolecular vacuum pump may include 9 to 12 axial pumping stages.
Variations of the conventional turbomolecular vacuum pump, often referred to as hybrid vacuum pumps, are known in the prior art. In one prior art configuration, one or more of the axial pumping stages are replaced with molecular drag stages which form a molecular drag compressor. This configuration is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,238,362, issued Aug. 24, 1993 to Casaro et al. A hybrid vacuum pump including an axial turbomolecular compressor and a molecular drag compressor in a common housing is sold by Varian, Inc. Other hybrid vacuum pumps are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,074,747 issued Dec. 24, 1991 to Ikegami et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,848,873 issued Dec. 15, 1998 to Schofield; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,135,709 issued Oct. 24, 2000 to Stones.
Molecular drag compressors include a rotor disk and a stator. The stator defines a tangential flow channel and an inlet and an outlet of the tangential flow channel. A stationary baffle, often called a stripper, is disposed in the tangential flow channel and separates the inlet and the outlet. As known in the art, the momentum of the rotor disk is transferred to gas molecules within the tangential flow channel, thereby directing the molecules toward the outlet. The rotor disk and the stator of the molecular drag compressor are separated by a small gap, typically on the order of 0.005 inch, selected to permit unrestricted rotation of the disk, while limiting leakage through the gap.
Prior art vacuum pumps which include an axial turbomolecular compressor and a molecular drag compressor provide generally satisfactory performance under a variety of conditions. Nonetheless, improvements are desired. One source of performance degradation that occurs in the molecular drag stages is backward leakage through the gaps between the rotor disk and the stator. In a specific example, gas may leak from the outlet of the molecular drag stage through the gap between the stationary baffle and the rotor disk to the inlet, thus reducing the achievable pressure ratio of the pumping stage. Leakage can be reduced by reducing the dimension of the gap between the stationary baffle and the rotor disk. However, a reduction in gap dimension requires increased precision and thereby increases cost. Furthermore, very small gaps increase the risk of undesired contact between the rotor disk and the stator during operation.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved molecular drag vacuum pumps which have a low level of backward leakage.

Baffle configurations for molecular drag vacuum pumps


An apparatus comprising a first partition and a second partition. The first partition has a first file system comprising (i) a plurality of first clusters configured to store data having accesses faster than a first worst case data transfer rate and (ii) a dedicated space not used by the plurality of first clusters. The second partition has a second file system comprising a plurality of second clusters (i) configured to store data having accesses faster than a second worst case data transfer rate and (ii) occupying the dedicated space.

As multiple functions are combined within the same system, the storage media within such a system needs to support a more diverse spectrum of applications. This is especially true of home media devices such as personal video recorders and other devices that have constrained processor and memory resources. Other consumer products are also beginning to contain mass storage technology such as hard discs and optical discs. At least three basic application groups can be identified. Each group has different needs that need to be met by the same storage media. High data transfer rate applications, such as video playback and recording, have hard real time constraints. Medium data transfer rate applications, such as audio playback and recording, have hard real time constraints. Low data transfer rate applications, such as static graphic elements, mail/WWW data and other miscellaneous data, have soft real time constraints.
The number and size of the stored files associated with an application typically follows a related pattern (i) a small number of large size files (e.g., video programs), (ii) a medium number of medium size files (e.g., audio programs), and (iii) a large number of small size files (e.g., static graphic elements, mail/WWW data and other miscellaneous data). For efficient operation, each of these applications uses storage space on the media that needs to be managed by different file systems each optimized for the particular application.
Current storage management solutions from desktop PC and workstation environments partition storage space into one or more partitions. Each partition allocates a fixed portion of the total storage space dedicated to the applications of an associated file system. FIG. 1 illustrates such a partition configuration.
With the implementation shown in FIG. 1, a number of individual partitions (partition 1, partition 2 and partition 3) are each allocated to a different file system. The partitions 1–3 are typically fixed when the storage media is formatted/initialized. If an application using a particular one of the partitions 1–3 uses all of the storage space within the particular partition, the only way the size of the particular partition can be increased is by a re-partition and/or a re-format operation that effects all of the partitions in the system. Re-formatting is time consuming, results in loss of existing stored data and cannot be done while the partitions 1–3 are being used.
There are a number of conventional solutions to these problems. A single partition can be implemented with a general-purpose file system. However, such a general-purpose file system is not optimized for any particular application. Without optimization, such a file system operates inefficiently for one or more of these applications.
A single partition with a general-purpose file system can be implemented to bypass the file system after initialization by using the storage space directly. However, any bypassing of the file system must ensure that the integrity of the file system is not compromised and that synchronization is maintained.
A single partition with a general-purpose file system can be implemented that superimposes a second customized storage management method upon the file system. The superimposition of some other storage management solution to bolster the efficiency of the general purpose file system results in problems similar to fixed partitioning (e.g., the need to re-format and/or re-initialize the partition).
Multiple fixed partitions may be implemented to accept the space restrictions of each application as a system constraint. With such a system, the end user is exposed to an undesirable constraint in the operation of the product dependent on how each fixed partition is used in any particular circumstance.
It would be desirable to implement a method and/or apparatus for dynamically partitioning storage media to support mixed applications with diverse file systems.

Dynamic partitioning of storage media for mixed applications


In a wall panel wall system for a building with a plurality of wall panels, each wall panel having an exterior weather surface, an interior plenum exposed surface, and panel side edges extending the preselected thickness of the panels from the exterior weather surface to the interior plenum surface for abutment to similar said panels to form a continuous building exterior wall, and means affixed to the panels for supporting the panels from a structural member of the building. The panels as supported from the building abut to form at least one horizontal or diagonal joint at the side edges between the panels and at least one vertical joint between the panels. A caulking system is provided for the joints between the panels. The caulking system has an elastic gutter support member for forming a barrier between said horizontally or diagonally abutted panels. The gutter support member has a backing portion having wedged placement between said horizontally or diagonally abutted panels and an attached gutter portion extending along a bottom edge of said joint from the backing portion along a preselected thickness of said panels towards and beyond an interior plenum exposed surface of said panels to dispose beyond the plane of the plenum exposed portion of said panels an upwardly exposed gutter edge. The caulking system has at least one weep tube communicated to drain said gutter bottom at one end and extending along said vertical joint to and toward the weather exposed surface of said panels at the other end for discharging water from the interior of said gutter to the exterior weather exposed surface of said panels.

Buildings are frequently covered at the exterior by panels of stone, masonry, or even glass reinforced concrete. In such paneling, the panel typically includes a fastened supporting member. This supporting member extending from the panel is fastened to a structural member of the building.
Typically, the building panels are supported from the building so as to be juxtaposed one to another at their side edges so as to define narrow abutting juxtaposed edges between adjacent panels. Typically, the juxtaposed edges run either horizontally or diagonally and vertically. In order to render the building water proof, caulking of such panels is required at these joints between the panels.
Caulking for such panel is known. Typically, a backing rod is forced into the interstitial spatial interval defined at the groove between adjacent panels. Thereafter, a caulking compound is inserted to the joint to occupy the interval between the backing rod and the weather exposed portion of the joint. The caulking compound is chosen so that it is elastic. Further, the caulking compound typically adheres to the material of the panel--but not the backing rod. There hopefully results a substantial water tight seal between the building exterior and the building interior.
Unfortunately, such panel systems with their caulked joints are far from perfect. First, and because the outside of a building typically contains many lineal feet of such caulked joints, the joints contain intermittent and unpredictable leaks. These leaks can be in the caulking and panels as originally installed--or can develop as the building ages in exposure to the elements. Aging of caulked joints caused by thermal expansion and contraction at the caulked joints can aggravate the leakage problem.
Further, the building panels themselves can leak. Cracks in the panels can provide for the entry of moisture. Furthermore condensation can form on the inside walls of such panels--and can constitute a significant source of moisture.
Finally, the natural tendency of the walls to leak can be aggravated by both atmospheric air currents as well as heating, ventilation, and air conditioning interior of the building. For example, under many wind conditions, it is common for buildings to develop effective vacuums in their interior. The presence of such a vacuum aggravates the tendency of the building to leak at any given caulking or panel imperfection. Water from the exterior surface of the building can be literally "sucked" into the interior surface of the building along any panel or caulking imperfection.
In short, the exterior paneling system of any building will inevitably leak.

Back drainage system for exterior panels


The invention relates to dosage forms which contain preparations of poorly water-soluble substances in a polymer matrix of polyether copolymers, said polyether copolymers being obtained by the radically initiated polymerization of a mixture from 30 to 80% by weight of N-vinyl lactam, 10 to 50% by weight of vinyl acetate and 10 to 50% by weight of a polyether, and at least one poorly water-soluble polymer, the poorly water-soluble substance being present in the polymer matrix as an amorphous substance.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to solid pharmaceutical preparations of polyether copolymers, which are obtained by polymerization of vinyl acetate and N-vinyllactams in the presence of a polyether, and slightly water-soluble active substances, in combination with further polymers which are capable of influencing the stability of the formulation and/or the release of the biologically active substance. Furthermore, the invention relates to processes for the production of these preparations and the use thereof.
The corresponding polyether copolymers act as solubilizers for the slightly water-soluble biologically active substances.
Background Information
In the production of homogeneous preparations, in particular of biologically active substances, the solubilization of hydrophobic, i.e. slightly water-soluble, substances has become very important in practice.
Solubilization is to be understood as meaning the imparting of solubility to substances which are slightly soluble or insoluble in a certain solvent, in particular water, by surface-active compounds, the solubilizers. Such solubilizers are capable of converting poorly water-soluble or water-insoluble substances into transparent, at most opalescent aqueous solutions without the chemical structure of these substances undergoing a change thereby (cf. Römpp Chemie Lexikon, 9th edition, vol. 5. page 4203, Thieme Verlag, Stuttgart, 1992).
In the solubilizates prepared, the poorly water-soluble or water-insoluble substance is present as a colloidal solution in the molecular associates of the surface-active compounds which form in aqueous solution, such as, for example, hydrophobic domains or micelles. The resulting solutions are stable or metastable single-phase systems which appear optically transparent to opalescent.
In the case of pharmaceutical preparations, the bioavailability and hence the action of drugs can be increased by the use of solubilizers.
A further desirable requirement regarding solubilizers is the ability to form so-called "solid solutions" with slightly soluble substances. The term "solid solution" designates a state in which a substance is dispersed in colloidal form or ideally dispersed in molecular form in a solid matrix, for example a polymer matrix. Such solid solutions, for example when used in solid pharmaceutical administration forms of a slightly soluble active substance, lead to improved release of the active substance. An important requirement regarding said solid solutions is that they are stable even on storage over a relatively long time, i.e. that the active substance does not crystallize. Furthermore, the capacity of the solid solution, in other words the ability to form stable solid solutions having active substance contents which are as high as possible, is also important.
In the formation of solid solutions, the hygroscopicity of the solubilizers also plays an important role in addition to the basic ability of the solubilizers to form solid solutions. Solubilizers which take up too much water from the surrounding air lead to deliquescence of the solid solution and the undesired crystallization of the active substances. Excessively high hygroscopicity can also lead to problems during the processing to give administration forms.
Many known polymeric solubilizers have the disadvantages that they do not form stable solid solutions, in particular when the active substance is present above the saturated concentration in the polymer. As a result, the system is kinetically controlled and the active substance is crystallized in the course of storage. This presents a major problem.
In addition, the known solubilizers and formulations still leave room for improvements, which relates to the solubilization in aqueous systems, in particular biological systems. The oral bioavailability is frequently not increased to the extent which would be desirable in order to achieve a uniform, reproducible action without side effects. Regarding the processability, too, some of the known solubilizers have disadvantages owing to their tendency to become tacky, since they are not sufficiently flowable powders.
A further problem in the case of pharmaceutical preparations of slightly water-soluble active substances is the control of the release. Frequently, it is not the excipient that controls the release in the case of such forms but the crystal properties of the active substance. This means that variations in the particle size of the active substance, differences in the crystal modification and differences in the particle shape have a considerable influence on the dissolution. Since these parameters are difficult to establish exactly, different release rates result. In the case of water-soluble active substances, this problem is not present since the dissolution process of the active substance is considerably faster than the diffusion process which is controlled by a retardant polymer.
With regard to the release, a distinction should be made between instant release (fast-releasing) forms, enteric release (gastric resistant) forms and sustained release (delayed, slowly releasing) forms. Forms which release at least 75% after 1 h are designated as instant release forms. In the case of enteric release forms, slight release takes place in gastric juice (<10% as a rule) but fast release in intestinal fluid.
Sustained release forms have a slow release both in gastric juice and in intestinal fluid. The term sustained release form is used when the release is slower than 75% after 3 h.
The slightly water-soluble polymers are to be understood as meaning polymers which are slightly soluble over the entire pH range or at least in a certain pH range. These include so-called sustained release polymers (insoluble as a rule from pH 1 to 14), acidic, gastric resistant polymers (slightly soluble in the acidic pH range), and basic, reverse enteric polymers (slightly soluble in the neutral to basic pH range). See further below for a definition of solubility.
EP-A 876 819 describes the use of copolymers of at least 60% by weight of N-vinylpyrrolidone and amides or esters having long-chain alkyl groups.
EP-A 948 957 describes the use of copolymers of monoethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acids, such as, for example, acrylic acid, and hydrophobically modified comonomers, such as, for example, N-alkyl- or N,N-dialkylamides of unsaturated carboxylic acids having C8-C30-alkyl radicals.
DE-A 199 350 63 discloses polyalkylene oxide-containing graft polymers based on vinyllactams and vinyl acetate and the use thereof as gas hydrate inhibitors.
EP-A 953 347 discloses the use of polyalkylene oxide-containing graft polymers as solubilizers. The graft polymers which are described there and comprise vinyl acetate and polyalkylene oxides are frequently not powders but viscous tacky liquids, which is a disadvantage in use.
WO 2007/051743 discloses the use of water-soluble or water-dispersible copolymers of N-vinyllactam, vinyl acetate and polyethers as solubilizers for pharmaceutical, cosmetic, food, agrotechnical and other technical applications. It is stated therein very generally that the corresponding graft polymers can also be processed in the melt with the active substances.
WO 2009/013202 discloses that such graft polymers of N-vinyllactam, vinyl acetate and polyethers can be melted in an extruder and mixed with pulverulent or liquid active substances, the extrusion at temperatures substantially below the melting point of the active substance being described.
However, a satisfactorily high and simultaneously stable active substance loading cannot be achieved by mixing the molten graft polymers with pulverulent or liquid active substances. In particular, the achievement of a stable X-ray amorphous state of the active substance is not always possible to satisfactory degrees.

Solid pharmaceutical preparations containing copolymers based on polyethers combined with poorly water-soluble polymers


A jet propulsion system is provided for a water craft in which the secondary flow channel allows water to flow around the impeller region and bypass the impeller blades under certain conditions. The bypass feature provided by the secondary flow channel decreases static inlet pressure and improves the operation of the marine propulsion device at high speeds. In addition, the secondary flow channel increases the total mass flow of water through the steering rudder and therefore improves steering when the propulsion system is being rapidly decelerated, such as during sudden stopping conditions. The secondary flow channel can incorporate one or more individual conduits that bypass the impeller region of the propulsion system or, alternatively, can comprise an annular channel completely surrounding the impeller region.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally related to marine propulsion systems that incorporate a jet pump and, more particularly, to a water jet propulsion system that, under certain conditions, incorporates one or more bypass channels that allow water to flow through a secondary channel to avoid passing through the impeller region of a primary flow channel.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many different types of water jet propulsion systems are known to those skilled in the art. Some are mounted with an inlet opening formed in the hull of a boat. Others are mounted on the driveshaft housing of an outboard motor. All of the known water jet propulsion systems incorporate an inlet passage through which water is received, an impeller region where the water is accelerated by the blades of a rotating impeller, and a discharge region that can incorporate a nozzle. In some applications, the nozzle is moveable about a vertical axis to facilitate steering of a marine vessel incorporating the water jet propulsion system.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,123,867, which issued to Broinowski on Jun. 23, 1992, discloses a jet propulsion unit for a marine craft. A stream of water is induced in a converging inlet section and delivered as a steady laminar shaped flow regime to an impeller section where an impeller/diffuser vane combination and a converging annular volume enables operation of the vessel over a wide range of speeds and sea conditions without cavitation. Acceleration of water energized by the impeller through an interchangeable nozzle provides additional thrust and maneuverability. The propulsion unit additionally incorporates an arm-hole duct in the inlet housing for easy clean-up of any fouling and a bypass valve positioned upstream from the impeller to eliminate balling and drag caused thereby.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,004,541 which issued to Onal on Jan. 25, 1977, describes a pump which is used to propel the boat by means of a jet of water created by the pump. The pump includes a housing which is mounted exterior to the hull. A drive shaft and an impeller are mounted to rotate within the housing. The drive shaft extends through the transom of the boat and may be coupled directly to a gas turbine engine or other power generating device. The impeller is of the double suction type and includes ports for equalizing pressures on either side of the impeller at the suction positions thereof. The housing provides a double volute to receive the effluent from the impeller and direct it aft to a nozzle. Nozzle mechanisms are disclosed which provide easy steering and boat trim control under high thrust loads. A thrust reversal system is employed which directs the jet of water forward for stopping and reversing. A new scoop design is also included which reduces the possibility of air entrapment and loss of suction and increases the ram jet pressure for higher pump efficiency.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,073,257, which issued to Rodler, Jr. on Feb. 14, 1978, discloses a marine propulsion system for boats in which the thrust force center line is below the boat reaction center line to urge the propulsion system thrust line to tilt downwardly. The tilting of the propulsion system line downwardly lifts the stem of the hull to create a suitable vertical vector. As a consequence thereof, the boat is urged into a planing position for the reduction of drag on the boat in the lower speed range. At the higher speeds, dynamic water pressure reacts on the intake to urge the tilting of the thrust force center line upwardly toward a horizontal position to reduce the depth of the bow of the boat submerged in water for reducing the drag on the boat. A tension spring controls the angle of the tilting of the thrust force center line to attain the changeover at a selected speed for optimum operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,231,315, which issued to Tachibana et al on Nov. 4, 1980, describes a water jet propulsion unit for a personal watercraft. The propulsion unit is used for vessels which includes a water duct having an inlet and outlet portion and an impeller disposed in the water duct. The outlet portion has a variable outlet nozzle which can discharge water downwardly when desired to produce a lift force for lifting the stem of the vessel. The arrangement provides an improved rolling stability under a stationary condition and is also effective to decrease a drag force under the hump condition.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,700,170, which issued to Mataya on Dec. 23, 1997, discloses a variable diameter jet propulsion unit. An apparatus alters the diameter of the nozzle of a jet boat and thereby allows a user to maximize acceleration, top speed, fuel economy, or other factors. The apparatus allows a user to adjust the nozzle diameter opening, while the boat is moving, by an elastic annular hydraulic bladder that reduces the cross sectional area of a cone formed by a plurality of cone plates. The apparatus is compatible with steering and trim adjustment devices, and is located rearward of them. The apparatus is also compatible with existing jet boats, and provides a bowl adapter that may be attached to the impeller bowl of an existing jet. A steering collar attaches to the bowl adapter by two vertical pins in order to allow rotation to the left and right. Two horizontal pins on the steering collar support a nozzle front lock plate in a manner that allows vertical trim adjustment. The nozzle cone plates are mounted in a hinged manner to the nozzle front lock plate and the nozzle housing support. A spline assembly forces the nozzle cone plates to act in a symmetrical manner, and bridges the gap between adjacent nozzle cone plates when the nozzle is opened. This prevents the bladder from entering the gaps. An elastic block biases the nozzle cone plates radially outwardly, and opens the nozzle when the hydraulic bladder is not engaged.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,797,447, which issued to Stubblefield on Mar. 19, 1974, describes an inboard propulsion system for a boat. The system utilizes a water jet propulsion characterized by a pair of spaced nozzles which are each provided with individually controlled deflecting hoods to enable providing both a reverse thrust for backing the boat and to selectively reverse the water jet in a single nozzle to provide a turning force for steering the boat. Preferably, each of the nozzles is provided with a servo system which varies the effective opening of the nozzle in response to changes in the pressure differential between the intake pressure to the main impeller unit and the discharge pressure to the impeller unit to attempt to maintain a constant quantity flow from the nozzles independent or regardless of any variations in the intake pressure of the impeller unit.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,925,408, which issued to Webb et al on May 15, 1990, describes an intake and pump assembly for an aquatic vehicle. The intake and pump assembly includes an intake housing, a pump body, and a discharge nozzle. The intake housing is provided with an intake grill and flow director. The impeller is surrounded by a wear ring. A vane in integrally formed within the pump body. The drive shaft assembly is provided with couplers and ball guides of resilient material which interconnect the component parts of the drive shaft assembly and absorb shock and misalignment. Stacked washers are provided for adjustment purposes.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,943,876, which issued to Kiekhaefer on Mar. 16, 1976, discloses a water jet boat drive. The water jet is mounted rigidly entirely outboard of the boat and driven from an inboard engine by an interconnecting shaft through the transom. The tail nozzle is mounted concentric of and spaced from the pump chamber of the jet and extends rearwardly therefrom and axially thereof. A butterfly trim vane is pivotally mounted on a transverse horizontal axis in the tail nozzle and is adapted to close the nozzle for blocking the jet and compelling a reverse flow of the water from the pump through passages between the pump chamber and tail nozzle. A steering vane is mounted on a vertical axis rearwardly of the tail nozzle and carries a rudder disposed beneath the jet steering vane for steering during reversal of the jet. The engine exhaust is introduced to the jet stream within the tail nozzle and has a bypass operable during reversing of the jet stream.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,476,401, which issued to Peterson et al on Dec. 19, 1995, describes a compact water jet propulsion system for a marine vehicle. It incorporates an unconventional and compact design which includes a short, steep, hydrodynamically designed inlet duct that is adapted for mounting to the surface of the vehicle hull and extending internally thereof, a water jet pump having an inlet end attached to the outlet end of the inlet duct, a motor for rotating the pump impeller, a drive shaft located completely outside of the flow path connecting the motor with the pump impeller, a flow passage for discharging accelerated flow received from the pump in a generally rearward direction, and a steering and reversing mechanism pivotably mounted about a substantially vertical axis to the aft portion of the vehicle hull for redirect accelerated flow received from the outlet nozzle so as to provide maneuvering capability to the vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,421,753, which issued to Roos, on Jun. 6, 1995, describes a marine jet drive which has improved operations, especially with regard to having efficient adaptation to propulsion engine and hull design. It has a drive shaft with a flexible coupling at each end, internal to the jet drive. It also has a through-the-nozzle engine exhaust and a simplified combined means of steering and reversing. In incorporates a controllable nozzle aperture and trim control with a combination reverse flow deflector and trim plate. It also comprises a means to disengage the engine from the jet to obtain a true neutral condition. The jet drive has protection from and removal of debris in the water intake duct and generally provides for fewer overhauls, easier serviceability and lighter weight.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,004,541, which issued to Onal on Jan. 25, 1977, discloses a jet boat pump. The centrifugal pump is used for a boat and is used to propel the boat by means of a jet of water created by the pump. The pump includes a housing which is mounted exterior to the hull. A drive shaft and an impeller are mounted to rotate within the housing. The drive shaft extends through the transom of the boat and may be coupled directly to a gas turbine engine or other power generating device. The impeller is of the double suction type and includes ports for equalizing pressure on either side of the impeller at the suction positions thereof. The housing provides a double volute to receive the effluent from the impeller and direct it aft to a nozzle. Nozzle mechanisms are disclosed which provide easy steering and boat trim control under high thrust loads. A thrust reversal system is employed which directs the jet of water forward for stopping and reversing. A scoop design is included which reduces the possibility of air entrapment and loss of suction and increases the ram jet pressure for higher pump efficiency.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,536,187, which issued to Nanami on Jul. 16, 1996, discloses an outboard jet drive for watercraft. It is intended for use with a jet propelled watercraft which has an outboard motor type of jet propulsion unit. The propulsion is disposed in substantial part forwardly of the transom and beneath the undersurface of the hull for improving its pumping efficiency. The jet propulsion unit is driven by a transmission including a drive shaft having a pivotal joint. The jet propulsion unit is pivotal relative to the engine about an axis containing the axis of the universal joint so that the water inlet opining may be swung inwardly through an opening in the undersurface of the hull which is above the water level for clearing foreign objects from the jet propulsion unit water inlet opening.
Most jet propulsion systems known to those skilled in the art exhibit two characteristics which can be disadvantageous under certain conditions. First, they tend to experience high inlet pressures at high boat speeds. The increase in inlet pressure has a deleterious effect on the efficiency of the jet pump at higher speeds. A second characteristic of known jet propulsion systems is that they can lose their ability to steer the marine vessel when the throttle is suddenly reduced. It would therefore be significantly beneficial if a jet propulsion system could be provided in which these two disadvantageous characteristics are significantly reduced or eliminated. In other words, a jet propulsion system which does not exhibit significantly decreased efficiency at high speed and which does not lose steering authority when the throttle is suddenly reduced to idle speed when the boat is moving would represent a significant improvement in the art of marine propulsion systems that incorporate jet drives.

Marine propulsion system with bypass eductor


In an electronic mail system, a user's actions with an application for managing electronic content are monitored. Based on the user's actions and/or on the actions of other users in the system, a relevance analysis module determines a relevance to the user of a piece of electronic content based on a likelihood of interest of the electronic content piece to the user and/or a measure of a level of significance the user has to another entity associated with the electronic content piece.

Electronic mail is perhaps the most common form of modern communication among individuals and entities. Virtually anyone with access to a computer network (e.g., the Internet) can send and receive email. To a large degree, the use of email has replaced reliance on more traditional forms of communication, such as telephone and postal mail. In fact, for many corporations and organizations, email is now a mission-critical tool, the failure of which can greatly hinder, or altogether stop, the operations of the corporation or organization. Further, although email is already a primary form of communication as described above, the volume of email continues to considerably grow at a fast rate and merits the close attention of email administrators.
Given the heavy use of electronic mail, many email users receive hundreds of different emails a day. Oftentimes, much of the email received by an individual is irrelevant (or more colloquially, is "junk") and serves as a nuisance that the individual must navigate through. In other situations, while a certain set of received emails may all be at least somewhat relevant to the recipient, the recipient must still take the time to go through those emails to determine which ones are more important than others.
As email is received and sent over time, the recipient's "inbox" and "sent folder" becomes a vast store of information. For many corporations and organizations, email might be the most comprehensive and up-to-date repository of knowledge possessed by the corporation or organization. However, despite the potential richness of information in stored email, typical email applications are resigned to providing unintelligent mechanisms (e.g., keyword, sender, recipient, and/or date range searches) for mining through email.

Determining relevance of electronic content


A pressure-sensitive balloon catheter includes a material that undergoes a visible color change when exposed to the pressures experienced in an angioplasty or a stent placement procedure. By removing the balloon catheter and verifying the color change and the patterns of colors on the balloon, a physician can verify that proper amounts of pressure were applied to all portions of a patient's artery or a stent within a patient's artery.

Heart disease currently is a leading cause of death and disability among adults. One type of heart disease, atherosclerosis, is particularly common. Atherosclerosis, a disease of the coronary arteries, is characterized by a thickening of the lining of the coronary arteries, from the deposit of fatty substances such as cholesterol. When this occurs, the inner diameter of the coronary arteries is reduced, and so is the blood flow to the heart. This can cause an insufficient amount of oxygen to reach the heart, particularly during periods of exercise or other exertion. Atherosclerosis can reach a relatively advanced stage before its presence is indicated by symptoms in the patient. However, when symptoms occur, they can be extremely serious. Atherosclerosis can result in angina, or heart pain, or in the most severe circumstances, a heart attack.
There are several widely-accepted treatments for atherosclerosis. One treatment, which is rather invasive, is a coronary bypass. In this procedure, a less-damaged portion of artery, or a segment of synthetic material, is inserted into the patient's coronary artery system to bypass the clogged portion. This typically involves open-heart surgery, which can be extremely traumatic to the patient. Moreover, this type of surgery has a number of serious risks. Finally, such an operation typically requires an extended recovery period.
Another treatment for atherosclerosis is angioplasty, which has been practiced for the last approximately thirty years. Formally known as "percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty," or "PTCA," angioplasty involves the insertion of a catheter through an incision in the patient's skin, and advancement of the catheter into the vascular system and toward a blocked coronary artery. When the target is reached, a balloon structure at the distal end of the catheter is inflated and deflated, once or several times, to compress the plaque on the artery wall and stretch the blood vessel, thereby enlarging the diameter of the artery. The enlargement is usually maintained after completion of the procedure by a regulated amount of damage having been done to the elastin and collagen in the vessel.
Angioplasty has some notable disadvantages, however. In many cases, the patient's artery will eventually narrow again. This occurrence is known as restenosis. And in a relatively small percentage of patients, the opened artery will reclose almost immediately after the angioplasty is performed. In such cases, further procedures must be undertaken to reopen the patient's artery; these procedures might include further angioplasty, but when angioplasty has proven to be unsuccessful, open-heart surgery (such as a coronary bypass operation) may become necessary.
It has been found, however, that using an optimum amount of pressure against the artery during the angioplasty procedure will result in the smallest incidence of complications. However, although it may be possible to determine the total amount of pressure being applied to the entire artery wall (for example, by examining the fluid pressure required to inflate the balloon), it is difficult to determine how much pressure has been applied to any particular portion of the blockage.
A treatment related to angioplasty that has become popular within the last three years involves the placement of a reinforcing member known as a "stent" into the damaged coronary artery. A stent is usually a metallic tube-shaped structure that serves as scaffolding, preventing the artery from closing down to its previous size after the procedure is performed. After the procedure is complete, the stent is left in place.
Typically, in a stent implantation operation, a PTCA procedure is performed first, to enlarge the diameter of a clogged portion of a coronary artery. Then, a stent is inserted over a balloon catheter, maneuvered into place, and the balloon is inflated to expand the stent and anchor it into place.
Although many different stent types and configurations are available, a typical stent known as a "Palmaz" stent is formed from a metallic mesh that is deformable to expand and maintain a desired diameter.
Although the placement of a stent may, in many cases, reduce the incidence of acute artery reclosing, and may also reduce the difficulties of restenosis, there are other difficulties and side-effects that can occur when a stent is implanted. First, the stent may perforate the blood vessel if an improper or inconsistent amount of force is applied to inflate the balloon catheter and expand the stent. Second, the position of a stent is difficult to adjust after placement, and it may migrate somewhat in the time shortly after its placement (but typically not later, as the lining of the artery tends to grow over the stent within a period of weeks). Thus, it is particularly important to properly locate and expand the stent when it is first implanted. Third, the existence of a stent in a patient's coronary arteries may result in thrombosis, or the creation of undesired blood clots.
However, it has been found that the accurate placement and deployment of a stent will reduce the incidence of many complications. For example, the inadequate expansion of a stent may cause turbulent blood flow around the stent, resulting in thrombosis. Moreover, in such a case, there would also be additional exposure of the stent material to the blood stream, and any inherent thrombogenicity, or tendency to cause blood clots, of the stent material might be enhanced. Finally, ensuring that the proper amount of pressure is applied to expand the stent will reduce the incidence of perforation. Unfortunately, it is difficult to tell via angiographic fluoroscopy (i.e., X-rays), whether a stent is accurately located and sufficiently expanded with respect to a particular identified blockage.
Consequently, there is a need for a balloon catheter system that permits the accurate determination of whether a sufficient amount of pressure has been applied to adequately expand all parts of the treated coronary artery, or to properly locate and expand a coronary stent. Such a system would reduce the "guesswork" that otherwise is necessary in angioplasty and stent-placement procedures.


An articulated vehicle comprising a first vehicle portion attached to a second vehicle portion by a joint assembly. The joint assembly preferably comprises a bearing assembly that is pivotally attached to the first vehicle portion such that the bearing assembly can pivot relative to the first vehicle portion about a substantially horizontal axis that is substantially transverse to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle. The bearing assembly is also preferably pivotally attached to the second vehicle portion such that the bearing assembly can pivot relative to the second vehicle portion about a substantially vertical axis. The bearing assembly is preferably constructed to enable the first vehicle portion to rotate about the longitudinal axis relative to the second vehicle portion.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to mobile vehicles and, more particularly, is directed to articulated material handling vehicles used in underground mining operations.
2. Description of the Invention Background
In mining operations, especially in the underground mining of coal and the like, a variety of conveying apparatuses are used to transport the mined material from the mining machine to a final destination wherein they can be transported from the mine. During the early stages of mine development, main haulageways are created within the mine and often support stationary belt conveyors for transporting the mined material from the mine or a remote collection area. A variety of different conveying systems and apparatuses have been developed for transferring the mined material from the mining machine to the main belt conveyors or staging areas.
One type of apparatus that is used to transport mined material within a mine between a mining machine or staging area and a conveyor network which ultimately transfers the material out of the mine is known as a shuttle car. In the past, conventional shuttle cars typically comprised wheeled vehicles that were equipped with material-receiving containers. The car was usually electrically powered through cables attached to a remote power source and steered by an operator that rode on the vehicle.
The utility of those early cars was often limited due to their inability to negotiate "tight" corners between the intersecting passages cut within the mine. Thus, the overall size (i.e., width and length) of the car was confined to dimensions that would permit the car to travel between intersecting passages. Therefore, the payload capacity of such a shuttle car was limited.
In more recent years, articulated cars have been developed in an effort to increase the hauling capacity of the car while improving its maneuverability. Early articulated shuttle cars typically included a front tractor portion that housed batteries and supported the operator and a rear container portion that was attached to the tractor portion by an articulated joint arrangement. Examples of such cars are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,826,387 to Galis, U.S. Pat. No. 3,827,721 to Coval, U.S. Pat. No. 4,011,957 to Bendtsen, U.S. Pat. No. 4,212,365 to Curry, U.S. Pat. No. 4,245,714 to Kersey and U.S. Pat. No. 4,890,684 to Simmons.
To enhance the vehicle's maneuverability within a mine where uneven floor conditions are typically present, it is desirable for the vehicle portions to freely rotate relative to each other about the vehicle's longitudinal axis. Also, to enable the vehicle to traverse undulations in the mine floor, it is desirable for the vehicle portions to be capable of pivoting about an axis that is transverse to the longitudinal axis. Furthermore, to enable the vehicle to negotiate relatively sharp corners within a confined space such as an underground mine, it is desirable for the vehicle portions to be capable of being selectively pivotable relative to each other about a vertical axis.
Some prior vehicles have some of the above-mentioned capabilities. However, due to their particular joint construction, such variable articulation is somewhat limited. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,826,387 to Galis discloses an articulated haulage vehicle that has a hopper portion that is pivotally attached to a prime mover portion such that the two portions are capable of selective pivotal motion about a vertical axis by a pair of hydraulic cylinders. The vehicle is not equipped to "roll" about a longitudinal axis or pivot about a horizontal axis.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,827,721 to Coval discloses an articulated haulage vehicle that has a front portion and a rear portion that are connected together by spherical bearing arrangements that permit the vehicle sections to pivot about a plurality of axes in response to undulations in the mine floor. Such spherical bearing arrangements, however, are typically not well-suited for the rigors of underground mining and often fail prematurely and/or require frequent maintenance or repair.
Another articulated material handling vehicle is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,011,957 to Bendtsen and includes a rear trailer unit that is pivotally attached to a front tractor unit by a hitch assembly. The hitch assembly includes a vertically arranged pivotal coupling that permits the trailer and tractor portions to be pivoted about a vertical axis by a pair of jacks. The hitch assembly also includes a horizontally arranged pivotal coupling that enables the tractor and trailer to pivot about a longitudinal axis of oscillation. This joint arrangement, however, does not permit the tractor and trailer to pivot relative to each other about a transverse horizontal axis.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,212,365 to Curry discloses a pivot connection and a tilt mechanism for interconnecting portions of an articulated vehicle together. The pivot connection is provided between the vehicle portions to enable them to turn relative to each other. The tilt mechanism includes a horizontal pivot connection between the two vehicle portions so that vertical movement of at least a portion of one vehicle adjacent to the horizontal pivot connection will move a portion of the other vehicle adjacent to the pivot connection in the same direction and cause the other vehicle to pivot about the axis of its wheels. This joint arrangement, however, does not permit the vehicle sections to pivot about a longitudinal axis.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,245,714 to Kersey discloses an articulated mining vehicle that includes front and rear vehicle portions connected by a "floating" connector member. The connector member has upper and lower vertically aligned pivot connections attached to the rear vehicle portion and horizontally aligned front and rear pivot connections attached to the front vehicle portion. This joint arrangement utilizes a plurality of spherical bearings which tend to fail under normal service loads.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,890,684 to Simmons discloses an articulated vehicle with a hinged joint that enables the portions of the vehicle to pivot relative to each other about three axes extending at right angles to each other. A hydraulically operated strut extends between the two vehicle sections and is universally pivoted at its ends to the two vehicle sections to control the relative pivoting of the two vehicle sections about a transverse axis while enabling the middle of the vehicle to be raised or lowered for various reasons. The vehicle is steered by a pair of hydraulically operated steering struts. The hydraulically actuated struts are connected to the vehicle sections by spherical bearing arrangements that are susceptible to failing under normal operating loads.
Other joint arrangements for articulated vehicles are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,610,902 to Tomlinson, U.S. Pat. No. 3,773,129 to Anderson, U.S. Pat. No. 2,179,955 to Rawnsley and U.S. Pat. No. 3,035,654 to Nuttall, Jr. et al. However, none of those patents disclose a joint arrangement that enables the vehicle sections to pivot relative to each other about a longitudinal axis, a vertical axis and a transverse horizontal axis and that is reliable and easy to maintain.
Accordingly, there is a need for a joint arrangement for an articulated vehicle that enables the vehicle portions to pivot relative to each other about a longitudinal axis, a vertical axis and a transverse horizontal axis that is capable of withstanding the abuse commonly encountered during underground mining operations and that is easy to access for maintenance purposes.


An optically bistable element is described. The optically bistable element has an arrangement of nano-particles configured to propagate localized plasmon-polaritons (LLPs). The optically bistable element may act as switch. A computing structure is also described, where the computing structure comprises one or more of the optically bistable elements acting as switches.

In optical bistability two resonant transmission states are possible and stable, depending on the optical input. Optical bistability in certain materials has been demonstrated. For example, optical bistability in Na vapor, or in semiconductor materials, such as InSb, has been demonstrated.
While optical bistability has been demonstrated in certain material systems, such bistability has not been shown in nano-particle systems based on LPPs.

Optical bistable-switching in localized plasmon-polaritons chain nanoparticles—for logic, memory and nano-computing applications


In a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) a rotodynamic blood pump (10) is powered by a brushless DC motor (12). A power supply (14) supplies power to the motor (12). Three feedback channels, one for each of voltage, current, and motor speed lead to a microcontroller or microprocessor (18). The three feedback waveforms are analyzed, and from these waveforms, motor input power, patient heart rate, current pump flow rate, and systemic pressure are determined. The microprocessor (18) then calculates a desired flow rate proportional to the patient heart rate. The microprocessor communicates a new power output to a commutation circuit (16), which regulates power to the motor (12). The pump (10) also includes safety checks that are prioritized over desired pump flow. These include prevention of ventricular suction, low pulsatility, minimum and maximum pump speed, minimum speed-relative pump flow, minimum absolute pump flow, minimum and maximum motor input power.

The present invention relates to the medical arts. It finds particular application in cardiac assist technologies using, for example, rotodynamic blood pumps, also known as left ventricular assist devices (LVAD) in assisting patients with failing hearts and will be described with particular reference to a centrifugal blood pump. It is to be appreciated that the present invention is also applicable to other types of pumps, such as axial flow pumps, and is not limited to the aforementioned application.
Electrically driven rotodynamic pumps (axial flow, mixed flow and centrifugal) have prospective applications in cardiac assist technologies. A typical cardiac assist system includes the blood pump itself, electrical motor (usually a brushless DC motor integrated into the pump), drive electronics, microprocessor control unit, and an energy source, such as rechargeable batteries. These pumps are used in fully implantable systems for chronic cardiac support. In this case the whole system is located inside the body and there are no drive lines penetrating the skin. For temporary support, and as well as for the bridge-to-transplant application, the pump itself is also located inside the body. However some system components including drive electronics and energy source may be placed outside the patient body.
Both chronic and temporary patient support require controlling the pump performance to satisfy the physiologic needs of the patient while maintaining safe and reliable system operation.
The primary goal for cardiac assist control is to provide an adequate blood pump flow rate for the patient that may depend on various physiological and psychological factors. Prior systems have pressure sensors, or ECG sensors external to the pump to determine the heart rate and blood pressure of the patient. These systems require extra hardware inside the patient and increase the risk of complication.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,888,242 to Antaki et al. discloses a rotodynamic ventricular assist pump that uses current measurements and pump rotations per minute (rpm) measurements to test and identify a maximum rpm that will not cause ventricular collapse. The invention described in this patent monitors for a current spike indicative of ventricular collapse, and in response decreases the pump speed. It does this iteratively to achieve a maximum average flow rate. This approach puts unnecessary strain on the heart by continuously depending on this dangerous situation to optimize pump flow.
The present invention provides a new and improved method and apparatus that overcomes the above referenced problems and others.

Chronic performance control system for rotodynamic blood pumps


Embodiments of the present invention provide devices and methods for treating various target sites, such as vascular abnormalities. For example, a medical device according to one embodiment includes at least one layer of a fabric of braided strands having proximal and distal ends and a central axis extending therebetween. The medical device has an expanded configuration a generally frustroconical shaped portion at each end. The medical device is configured to be constrained to a reduced configuration for delivery through a diagnostic catheter and to at least partially return, when unconstrained, towards the expanded configuration.

1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to medical devices and, in particular, to devices for treating a target site within the body, such as a vascular abnormality.
2) Description of the Related Art
A wide variety of intracardiac prosthetic devices are used in various medical procedures. For example, certain intravascular devices, such as catheters and guide wires, are generally used to deliver fluids or other medical devices to specific locations within the vascular system of a patient, such as a selective coronary artery. Other devices are used in treating specific conditions, such as devices used in removing vascular occlusions or for treating septal defects and the like. For instance, devices have been developed for treating abnormalities, such as an Atrial Septal Defect (ASD), a Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD), a Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA), a Patent Foramen Ovale (PFO), as well as conditions that result from previous medical procedures such as Para-Valvular Leaks (PVL) following surgical valve repair or replacement.
However, the ability to deliver these devices to particular areas of the vasculature or for particular patients may be limited by their bulkiness. Previous devices typically require a 6-10 French introducing catheter, which generally makes it difficult to treat children affected with congenital defects with these devices. With respect to a PDA, a smaller, lower profile device potentially allows treatment of pre-mature infants with a PDA. Moreover, some of these devices are used to occlude a patient's vessel or abnormality, such as to stop blood flow through an artery to a tumor or other lesion. Despite the general ability to occlude a vessel or abnormality, reducing the time needed to occlude the vessel or abnormality is desired so that the device may be accurately and effectively positioned and fixated within the vessel.
Furthermore, before delivering these devices, a diagnostic catheter is typically used to inject contrast and then to visualize, by use of angiography, the target site dimensions for proper device selection. Once a device has been selected, the diagnostic catheter is removed from the body and the medical device and delivery catheter are introduced through the vasculature. Thus, conventional medical devices are incapable of being delivered through a diagnostic catheter such that exchanging the diagnostic catheter is required in order to deliver the medical device to the target site.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a medical device that is deployable through a diagnostic catheter and that may be accurately placed within a target site. In addition, there exists a need for a collapsible medical device for occluding various target sites which provides rapid occlusion following delivery and placement thereof. Moreover, there is also a need for a medical device that may be effectively fixated within a target site.

Medical devices for treating a target site and associated method

St. Jude Medical, Cardiology Division, Inc.


The present invention is directed to an apparatus for securing an electronic component in a chassis. The apparatus includes a frame including a pair of spaced apart brackets for accepting a component therein. A securing device is mounted to at least one of the frame and a cover for providing access to the internal components. Suitable securing devices include a biased pin, and a generally arcuate lever including a pin or protrusion extending therefrom. The securing device and cover are arranged and configured such that the securing device engages an accepted component when the cover is secured to the frame and the device is released from the component when the cover is opened, therefore facilitating manufacture and repair.

Electronic devices are configured to accept a wide variety of components. The ability to accept a wide range of electronic components allows for greater standardization, which may reduce manufacturing costs, thus allowing high quality products while minimizing cost. For example, computer manufacturers wish to utilize chassis capable of accepting a wide variety of components, such as drives (i.e., floppy drives, hard drives, CD ROM drives, DVD drives), and the like within an electronic device chassis. Manufacturing concerns must also be balanced with user demands. For instance, a user may wish to have the ability to upgrade media drives, minimize the effort required to replace a damaged or defective component, and the like. In order to accommodate both manufacturing and consumer demands, devices utilized to assemble the components into a working device should be cost effective, minimize the effort required to assemble or exchange constituent parts, and allow intuitive assembly.
Consistently, electronic device manufacturers, and in particular computer manufacturers, need to restrain components securely within a chassis. Typically, manufacturers rely on thumb screw type fasteners to positively secure components in the chassis. Drawbacks to the use of screws include the additional labor or machinery needed to secure the screw, screws may become lost, be difficult to secure and the like (both for manufacturers and consumers alike).
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide an apparatus for automatically securing an electronic component in a chassis without the need for a screw-type fastener.


The present invention provides a highly reliable multilayered glass panel and an encapsulating material for achieving the highly reliable multilayered glass panel. The encapsulating material includes lead-free low melting glass particles containing vanadium oxide and tellurium oxide, low thermal expansion filler particles, and glass beads as a solid content. A volume fraction of the glass beads in the solid content is not less than 10% to not more than 35%, and a volume fraction of the lead-free low melting glass particles in the solid content is larger than a volume fraction of the low thermal expansion filler in the solid content.

In recent years, window glass with much higher thermal insulation than conventional multilayered glass windows has been required. In order to achieve this, high thermal insulation by high vacuum in the interior of a multilayered glass window is essential. In order to spread it worldwide, it is necessary to advance development with due consideration for manufacturing costs, etc. of a multilayered glass window.
When trying to achieve high vacuum in the interior of a multilayered glass window panel, it is necessary to increase the number of spacers to secure a space inside the panel. A cylindrical metal is generally used for the spacers. Since metal has high thermal conductivity, however, a possible arising inconsistent problem is that if the number of spacers is increased, thermal insulation will be reduced even if the degree of vacuum is increased.
It is conceivable to use ceramics or glass having lower thermal conductivity than metal for spacers. Ceramics or glass, however, is a material harder than metal. Panel glass therefore may be damaged and a vacuum insulated multilayered glass panel may be destroyed.
Resin has low thermal conductivity and hence is effectively applied to spacers instead of metal, ceramics, and glass. On the other hand, since resin has a lower thermal resistance than metal, ceramics, and glass, however, it is necessary to apply hermetic sealing at a low temperature lower than a heatproof temperature. When resin is used for spacers therefore, it is difficult to apply a conventional lead-based low melting glass or bismuth-based low melting glass having a high sealing temperature.
Further, for prevention of damage due to high vacuum, safety, crime prevention, etc., application of a tempered glass that hardly breaks by applying an air-cool tempering treatment or the like to a panel glass is required. The tempered glass achieves high strength by forming a compression strengthened layer over the surface. However, a strengthened layer of the conventional lead-based low melting glass or bismuth-based low melting glass reduces gradually at a heating temperature of about 320° C. or higher and disappears at about 400° C. or higher. With the conventional lead-based low melting glass or bismuth-based low melting glass having a sealing temperature of 400° C. or higher, therefore, it is difficult to apply the tempered glass to the panel glass.
As stated above, in order to achieve high vacuum in the interior of a panel and high thermal insulation of the panel in a vacuum insulated multilayered glass panel, it is very important to lower a sealing temperature.
PTL 1 discloses a lead-free low melting glass composition including Ag2O of 10% to 60% by mass, V2O3 of 5% to 65% by mass, and TeO2 of 15% to 50% by mass when the components are represented by oxides, in which: a total content of Ag2O, V2O3, and TeO2 is not less than 75% by mass to less than 100% by mass; and the balance includes at least one kind of P2O3, BaO, K2O, WO3, Fe2O3, MnO2, Sb2O3, and ZnO of more than 0% by mass to not more than 25% by mass. The Ag2O—V2O5—TeO2-based lead-free low melting glass has a softening point in the temperature range of 268° C. to 320° C., and softens and fluidizes at a much lower temperature than a conventional lead-based or bismuth-based low melting glass.
PTL 2 discloses a glass sealing material including vanadium-based (V2O5—P2O5-based) low melting glass (vanadium phosphate glass) and filler particles, the low melting glass being applicable as a sealing material of a glass panel for a flat panel display, not devitrifying during a sealing process, and being able to obtain a high bond strength. The glass sealing material further includes glass beads of 0.1% to 1.0% by volume. Here, the glass beads function as an aggregate for attaching two panel glasses at equal intervals.

Sealing material and multilayered glass panel using same


The present invention relates to a method or system of generating a surrogate key using cryptographic hashing. One embodiment of the method of the present invention may have steps such as selecting a field or group of fields that is or are unique among all records in the database and for each record, extracting the data from the fields; concatenating the extracted data into an input message; running the input message through a hash generator, either in batches or one at a time, for testing purposes perhaps; and outputting a surrogate key.

A surrogate key in a database is a unique identifier for either an entity in the modeled world or an object in the database. The surrogate key is not derived from application data. The problem is to deterministically generate a fixed length surrogate key without collisions. A collision or clash is a situation that occurs when two distinct pieces of data have the same hash value, checksum, fingerprint, or cryptographic digest. A cryptographic digest is a deterministic procedure that takes an arbitrary block of data and returns a fixed-size bit string, the cryptographic digest, such that an accidental or intentional change to the data will change the hash value. The data to be encoded is often called the "message", and the hash values are sometimes called the message digest or, simply, digest.
The ideal cryptographic hash function has four main properties:                it is easy to compute the hash value for any given message,        it is infeasible to find a message that has a given hash,        it is infeasible to modify a message without changing its hash, and        it is infeasible to find two different messages with the same hash.
Collisions may be unavoidable whenever members of a very large set (such as all possible person names, or all possible computer files) are mapped to a relatively short bit string.
Prior art systems and methods tend to use variable length keys and may not be deterministic. That is, for sequential solutions of the prior art to the surrogate key problem, a key generated for two identical records may create two separate keys.
Therefore, there is a need to solve the problems associated as described above.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Unique surrogate key generation using cryptographic hashing

International Business Machines Corporation


An instrument and method is provided that conveniently allows rapid amplification of nucleic acids.

The invention is useful in the field of health care, where reliable analysis of samples for components contained therein is needed. Chemical reactions needing heating are well known, for example from molecular diagnostics, where nucleic acids are known to denature, i.e. to become single stranded from a hybrid of two strands, by applying heat above the melting temperature of the hybrid.
A method that uses reaction cycles including such denaturation step is the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). This technology has revolutionized the field of nucleic acid treatment, particularly the analysis of nucleic acids, by providing a tool to increase the amount of nucleic acids of a particular sequence from negligible to detectable amounts. PCR is described in EP 0 201 184 and EP 0 200 362.
An instrument for performing thermocycles in controlled manner on samples in tubes using heating and cooling an extended metal block is disclosed in EP 0 236 069.
Methods for heating a composition of matter are also known. For example in US 2002/0061588 there is described a method for heating a nucleic acid by attaching it to a nanoparticle and applying energy to this nanoparticle. By the heat, nucleic acid hybrids on the surface of the modulator are denatured and one of the strands can dissociate into the surrounding liquid. However, this method is quite inefficient regarding heating and amplification.
Heating of PCR mixtures is presently mainly done using Peltier elements with active heating and cooling. Those require complex electronics compared to systems with active heating and passive cooling.
In US 2004/0129555 there is described a method for heating a mixture containing a dye using a pulsed LASER.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,633,785 there is described a method for heating a micro-tube using either resistance heating or inductive heating.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,602,473 there is disclosed a microfabricated reaction chamber made from silicon. The device has inlet and outlet ports and can be used to conduct PCR reactions when inserted into an instrument. The system does not allow sensitive and quick temperature control.
In WO 98/39487 there is described an apparatus for holding a device having a chamber, said apparatus comprising heating or cooling plates arranged on opposite side walls of a flat device in case the device is inserted into said apparatus.
The temperature changes provided by the prior art instruments were relatively slow. Thus, there was a need to provide faster amplification of nucleic acids.


Embodiments of the present disclosure include a bowfishing slide arrangement for use with an archery bow. In certain embodiments, the arrangement includes a slide member having a sliding portion configured to slide along an arrow shaft and a flexible strand to which fishing line is configured to be attached. The flexible strand is engaged with and extends from the sliding portion. The arrangement further includes a stop used in cooperation with the slide member. The stop is arrangeable on the arrow shaft in a manner to prevent the slide member from sliding off of the arrow shaft. Additionally, the flexible strand creates a loop configured to extend beyond the end of the arrow shaft when the sliding portion contacts the stop.

In bowfishing, a fishing line is attached to the arrow that is projected at a target, allowing the arrow and any connected targets to be retrieved after firing. In certain arrangements, the line is attached to the arrow by an arrow slide arrangement that helps prevent the line from interfering with or becoming tangled with parts of the bow while the arrow is being drawn and released.


According to the present invention makes, even if two of mobile communication terminal apparatuses such as a wireless key apparatus and a mobile telephone terminal apparatus or the like are utilized in various possessing states, it is made possible to maintain a stable distance detection accuracy. In a communication apparatus in which A distance to a connection partner terminal is detected according to a certain parameter and in a case when the distance exceeds a predetermined value, a function limitation or notification to a user is carried out, it is identified that the two of the mobile communication terminals lie in a predetermined appropriate distance according to a manual or automatic method and the proper distance identification information and further receiving state and transmission power at that time if they are necessary are communicated mutually and a parameter used for a distance detection is adjusted.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relate, for example, to a communication system constituted by a communication terminal apparatus such as a mobile telephone terminal or a wireless key apparatus restricting the operation of the mobile telephone terminal and to a communication terminal apparatus constituting the communication system.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a mobile telephone terminal which is one of communication terminal apparatuses a user always taking along in possession has a trend such that various functions other than wireless telephone functions of primary functions are built-in so as to contain multi functions.
For example, there exists such a terminal in which a camera function carrying out a filming of a still picture and a moving picture, a recording and reproducing function of music data, a viewing and listening function of television broadcast or the like is built-in.
In addition, there has been developed a mobile telephone. terminal in which a function as a non-contacting IC card which has been prevailing rapidly in recent years is built-in. This non-contacting IC card is utilized as a boarding ticket of transport facilities, a membership card, an employee ID card, a card for price settlement means at a shop or the like where an authentication process is carried out by performing wireless communication between adjacent reader and writer, so that it is easy-to-use as compared with a magnetic card or the like. It should be noted in a case when an IC card function unit is mounted in a mobile terminal that the IC card function unit is not always necessarily to have a card type shape.
And now, it is preferable for the mobile telephone terminal having multi functions in this manner to be carried out with a process in order to secure some kind or another security for preventing various functions provided in the terminal from being abused when the terminal is lost. In particular, utilization in personal authentication, settlement or the like is assumed in case of a terminal equipped with an IC card function and there is a dangerous possibility that personal information stored in a memory of an IC chip is read out unjustly or unjust settlement or the like is carried out, so that the necessity for a function for is preventing the unjust use thereof is high. There are descriptions, for example, in Japanese Jap. laid-open patent publication No. 2001-352579 or No. 2001-358827 that a wireless card which forms a pair with respect to the mobile telephone terminal is prepared and authentication request is wireless-transmitted periodically from that wireless card such that the functions of mobile telephone terminal is made to be restricted in a case when collation with respect to the authentication request cannot be taken.
More specifically, in a case when the mobile telephone terminal and the wireless card exchange ID (identification information) inherent therein periodically and a favorable communication state is maintained, that is, in a case when the ID exchange is realized, the mobile telephone terminal carries out a normal operation. On the contrary, when it is a state where the ID cannot be exchanged, that is, when the communication state is deteriorated or the communication is cut off, the use of partial function in the mobile telephone terminal is to be limited. In other words, it is possible to execute function limitation after presuming a distance between the mobile telephone terminal and the wireless card by utilizing wireless communication characteristics such that a favorable communication is possible when communication distance between the mobile telephone terminal and the wireless card is short and the communication state becomes deteriorated when the communication distance becomes long.

Communication terminal apparatus and communication system

Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications Japan, Inc.


A fluid dynamic bearing design featuring a shaft, a first and second conical bearing affixed, respectively, to a first and second end of the shaft, and asymmetric seals on each bearing. The asymmetric seals pump fluid into reservoirs on the first and second conical bearings.

Disk drives are capable of storing large amounts of digital data in a relatively small area. Disk drives store information on one or more recording media, which conventionally take the form of circular storage disks (e.g. media) having a plurality of concentric circular recording tracks. A typical disk drive has one or more disks for storing information. This information is written to and read from the disks using read/write heads mounted on actuator arms that are moved from track to track across the surfaces of the disks by an actuator mechanism.
Generally, the disks are mounted on a spindle that is turned by a spindle motor to pass the surfaces of the disks under the read/write heads. The spindle motor generally includes a shaft mounted on a base plate and a hub, to which the spindle is attached, having a sleeve into which the shaft is inserted. Permanent magnets attached to the hub interact with a stator winding on the base plate to rotate the hub relative to the shaft. In order to facilitate rotation, one or more bearings are usually disposed between the hub and the shaft.
Over the years, storage density has tended to increase, and the size of the storage system has tended to decrease. This trend has lead to greater precision and lower tolerance in the manufacturing and operating of magnetic storage disks. The bearing assembly that supports the storage disk is of critical importance. One bearing design is a fluid dynamic bearing. In a fluid dynamic bearing, a lubricating fluid such as air or liquid provides a bearing surface between a fixed member of the housing and a rotating member of the disk hub. In addition to air, typical lubricants include gas, oil, or other fluids. Fluid dynamic bearings spread the bearing surface over a large surface area, as opposed to a ball bearing assembly, which comprises a series of point interfaces. This is desirable because the increased bearing surface reduces wobble or run-out between the rotating and fixed members. Further, the use of fluid in the interface area imparts damping effects to the bearing, which helps to reduce non-repeat run-out. Thus, fluid dynamic bearings are an advantageous bearing system.
A common fluid dynamic bearing design incorporates dual conical shaped bearings mounted on each end of a fixed shaft. The bearings further typically employ internal pathways for the re-circulation of fluid around the cones, as well as grooved surfaces disposed on an axial surface between the cones that pump fluid into capillary seals. However, as the size, height, and power consumption of fluid dynamic bearing motors is decreased, several problems become more prominent with this particular design. This is largely due to the fact that reduction in feature size is the preferred method of reducing overall motor power consumption. For one, the reduction in the diameter of the cones leaves less room available for re-circulation paths. Providing a re-circulation path is even more difficult when a cone is formed as an integral part of the shaft, because there is no space in between the cone and shaft for fluid re-circulation. Additionally, as motors overall become shorter, the axial spacing between the conical bearings is reduced, making it impractical or unfeasible to include pumping grooves on the surface therebetween.
Therefore, a need exists for a fluid dynamic bearing design that accommodates current size, height, and power consumption demands without compromising the functionality of the bearings.

Non-recirculating conical fluid dynamic bearing for an electric motor


Photovoltaic (PV) cell structures having an integral light scattering interface layer configured to diffuse or scatter light prior to entering a semiconductor material and methods of making the same are described.

There is no admission that the background art disclosed in this section legally constitutes prior art.
It would be advantageous to fabricate a light diffusion layer in thin-film solar cells in order to improve the light absorption in extremely thin absorber layers. Thin-film solar cells made using such methods permit the use of much thinner absorber layers and thus facilitate faster manufacturing and less use of expensive absorber layers, thus lessening possible adverse environmental impacts.

Photovoltaic structures having a light scattering interface layer and methods of making the same


A light fixture having a light source, first and second heat sinks with corresponding first and second thermal interfaces having complementary curved surfaces, and a linkage having cams, and springs to create contact pressure between the thermal interfaces when the light fixture is in an operation mode and to permit movement between the thermal interfaces when the light fixture is in an adjustment mode. When the light fixture is in operation mode, the first and second heat sinks work in combination to provide a highly effective heat dissipation system. When the light fixture is in adjustment mode, the separation created permits the light source to move along an adjustment path to change the angular direction of the light emitted and to rotate about a rotational axis, providing a full range of directional lighting orientations.

Recessed lighting is very popular in residential and commercial buildings given its unobtrusive and aesthetically pleasing appearance. Recessed lighting removes from view all electric hardware and wiring, placing everything behind a wall or ceiling. However, recessed light fixtures, specifically those with an LED light source, generate heat when the light source is illuminated. This heat can become substantial and can cause certain components of the light fixture to fail or can cause even more significant emergencies, such as fires.
As such, there is a need in the art for effective heat dissipation systems for light fixtures employing LED light sources. It is further desirable for the light fixture to provide adjustable orientations of the light source to direct the light emanating from the light fixture. Optimally, this can be accomplished by providing angular adjustment in combination with rotation about an axis, permitting a full range of angled directional lighting about a rotational axis.
It is therefore desired to provide a light fixture that combines a heat dissipation system with a full range of angular and rotational orientation options for the light emission direction, especially for a recessed light fixture employing one or more LEDs as a light source. Because heat dissipation systems can be large and somewhat unwieldy, there is a need in the art for an effective system that can be used in a recessed light fixture while retaining the desired flexibility of light emission orientations.

Light fixture with tilting light and fixed heat sink


A method for operating a hearing device including an ambient microphone, a signal processing unit, a receiver and an ear canal microphone. The method includes steps of filtering the audio signal processed by the signal processing unit with a filter having a transfer function including a transfer function from an output of the receiver to an input of the ear canal microphone when the hearing device is turned on and being worn in an ear canal of the user, computing a difference between the audio signal picked up by the ear canal microphone and the filtered signal, and detecting a presence of own-voice of the user based on the difference. Furthermore, a hearing device including an own-voice detection unit is provided, which is adapted to perform the proposed method.

A frequent complaint of users of hearing devices, especially when they start wearing them for the first time, is that the sound of their own voice is too loud or that it sounds like they are talking into a barrel. Both effects are particularly pronounced when the ear canal (commonly also referred to as the auditory canal) is sealed, e.g. by an otoplastic. Accordingly, there exists the need to identify the presence or activity of the own voice of the user of a hearing device to be able to process the user's own voice in a different way than sound originating from other sources.
Methods for own-voice detection are commonly based on quantities that can be derived from a single microphone signal measured at an ear of a user, such as for example overall level, pitch, spectral shape, spectral comparison of auto-correlation and auto-correlation of predictor coefficients, cepstral coefficients, prosodic features, or modulation metrics. However, the degree of achieving reliable own-voice detection is rather poor when using methods based on such measures.
EP 1 956 589 A1 discloses a method for identifying the user's own voice by assessing a direct-to-reverberant ratio between the signal energy of a direct sound part and that of a reverberant sound part of at least a portion of a recorded sound. It is stated that this allows a very reliable own-voice detection. However, to achieve this a rather complex signal analysis is required.
WO 2004/077090 discloses a method for detection of own voice activity in a communication system which seeks to improve detection reliability. Hereto, own-voice detection is based on a combination of a number of individual detectors, each of which may be error-prone, whereas the combined detector is asserted to be robust. A signal processing unit is utilised to receive signals from at least two microphones worn on the user's head, which are then processed so as to distinguish as well as possible between sound from the user's mouth and sounds originating from other sources. The distinction is based on the specific characteristics of the sound field produced by own voice, which are due to the fact that the microphones are in the acoustical near-field of the hearing device user's mouth and in the far-field of the other sources of sound, and that arise because the mouth is located symmetrically with respect of the user's head. The combined detector then detects the presence of own-voice when each of the individual characteristics of the signal are in respective ranges. This method too has a relatively high complexity.
Alternatively, a transducer which picks up vibrations within the ear canal caused by vocal activity of the user can be employed.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,041,129 discloses a hearing aid which uses an accelerometer or other rigid body motion sensor attached to the surface of the hearing aid at a point where it most closely comes in contact with the solid portion of the auditory canal. In this way, the accelerometer can sense directly the conductive sound waves created by the user's own voice. Such sound waves can then be either amplified or attenuated, and subsequently mixed with air-borne sound detected by the microphone depending on the user's needs.
US 2007/0009122 A1 discloses a method of own-voice detection achieved by providing a microphone in the auditory channel whose signal level is compared with that of an external microphone.

Method for operating a hearing device and a hearing device


A system and method for providing protection of ownership rights of digital content files while also providing distribution of the content files to consumers that are authorized to receive the digital content files. A system and method for preventing or deterring the unauthorized distribution of digital content files. Several possible protection schemes include, for example, proactive protections such as encryption, SSL or VPN technologies, and reactive protections such as watermarking, PKI, piracy watch systems, or legal action management.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of digital content file distribution. Additionally, the invention relates to protecting the ownership rights in digital information, providing for authorized distribution of the digital information to consumers, and protecting against unauthorized distribution.
2. Description of the Related Art
The use of the Internet and the World Wide Web as tools for content delivery and e-commerce has increased dramatically in recent years. As a consequence, the delivery of digital content materials, for example music, videos, software, books, multi-media presentations, images, and other electronic media, over a network to one or more consumers has likewise increased dramatically. Users may download such digital content files legitimately from a content provider, for example a record label such as Sony Records or Capitol Records, or inappropriately from one of the content download services without the permission of the copyright owner. Using a network such as the Internet, users may, and quite frequently do, transfer digital media files they have downloaded, whether legitimately or otherwise, to others.
In this way, consumers of digital content information may simply and freely distribute such media information over a public network such as the Internet without the permission of the copyright owner (or other property rights owners). Such consumers who inappropriately distribute copyright material over public networks cannot currently be positively identified, if they can even be tracked down at all. Therefore, these consumers can quite often successfully deny culpability.
A prevalent concern within the media publishing and/or distribution business is that the supply vs demand equation that drives the economics of valuable goods and services no longer applies to digital content. Since a digital media file such as a music or movie file can be duplicated essentially an unlimited number of times and distributed at virtually no cost, the economics for providing such digital materials to the public is not viable. In order to return the supply versus demand equation back to the digital media domain, individual digital media files must be configured in such a way as to give them properties similar to physical objects. With such physical properties, these files can be handled and monitored in ways that are similar to physical objects, thus allowing the return of the necessary economic incentives and viability.
Although encryption schemes have provided solutions to other problems involving digital media content, it is not a viable answer to the problem of identifying and monitoring content files. Consumers might possibly have embraced encryption of digital media files had it been introduced on a large scale before the Napster file-sharing model. Consumers generally will learn to accept models that add a level of complexity if these models are in fact the only models available. However, the complexities that content distributors would like to introduce into the market with encryption will arrive after the superior model has been introduced. This will likely result in media content file protection schemes such as encryption and copy protection disappearing over time.

Method and system for protecting ownership rights of digital content files