Compounds which are useful as substrates for enzymes are disclosed. An enzyme-controlled process is provided for generating a colored species from an initially substantially colorless material as a result of enzymatic attack. The process can be exploited to provide an enzyme-amplified diagnostic assay method to detect an analyte of interest present in a test sample.

The present invention relates to enzyme controlled processes and products and, more particularly, to an enzyme controlled system for generating a fluorescent species as a result of enzyme oxidation of an oxidizable group.
Compounds and processes for detecting an analyte of interest in a sample fluid utilizing enzyme-labeled species are known in the art. The enzyme-labeled species can be made to interact with a substrate to cause a change in the color or fluorescence of the substrate and in this manner allow the enzyme label to be detected and to provide a quantitative determination of the analyte of interest. New substrate materials for use in such systems are of continuing interest.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an enzyme controlled system for generating a colored species from an initially substantially colorless material.
Another object is to provide a method for generating a colored species as a result of enzymatic oxidation of an oxidizable group.
Still another object is to provide a method for generating a colored species as a result of enzymatic oxidation of a hydroquinonyl group.
A further object is to provide an enzyme-amplified immunoassay system for detecting an analyte in a test sample.

Enzyme controlled processes and products


A power supply circuit relating to the present invention comprises a differential amplifier for feeding out a voltage as a control voltage in accordance with a difference between a feedback voltage commensurate with an output voltage and a reference voltage, an output current control element for feeding out an output current in accordance with the control voltage fed thereto from the differential amplifier, an output line by way of which the output current is supplied to a load, a feedback line by way of which a voltage on the output line is fed back as the feedback voltage to the differential amplifier, the feedback line connected to the output line, and a sink current generating circuit, connected between the feedback line and ground, for generating a sink current by which the control voltage fed to the output current control element is raised to a predetermined value.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power supply circuit for supplying a predetermined voltage to a load. More particularly, the present invention relates to a power supply circuit having a function of suppressing fluctuations in output voltage thereof caused by load fluctuations.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram of an n-channel FET driver 200 included in a conventional power supply circuit. In this n-channel FET driver 200, a positive side of a reference voltage source 2 is connected to a non-inverting input terminal (+ terminal) of a differential amplifier 1 by way of a line L3, and a feedback line L2 is connected to an inverting input terminal (− terminal) of the differential amplifier 1. A negative side of the reference voltage source 2 is grounded. Moreover, a gate of an n-channel FET 3 (hereinafter FET 3), i.e., an output current control element, is connected to an output terminal of the differential amplifier 1 by way of a line L4.
A drain of the FET 3 is connected to a first power supply E1 by way of a line L6, and a source of the FET 3 is connected to an output line L1. The feedback line L2, while being connected to the inverting input terminal (− terminal) of the differential amplifier 1, is also connected to the output line L1. One side of a capacitor 4 and one side of a load 5 are connected to this output line L1 respectively. Another side of the capacitor 4 and another side of the load 5 are connected to ground respectively.
The differential amplifier 1 converts a difference between a reference voltage Vref fed to the non-inverting terminal (+ terminal) thereof from the reference voltage source 2 and a feedback voltage Vb fed to the inverting terminal (− terminal) thereof through the feedback line L2 into a current according to a voltage-current conversion efficiency defined by a mutual conductance (or gain) Gm of the differential amplifier 1. The current thus converted is fed to the gate of the FET 3 through the line L4. This differential amplifier 1 is also connected to a second power supply E2 through a power supply line L7 and to ground through a grounding line L8.
Described hereinafter is how the n-channel FET driver 200 configured as above operates.
The differential amplifier 1 converts the difference between the reference voltage Vref fed to the non-inverting terminal (+ terminal) thereof from the reference voltage source 2 through the line L3 and the feedback voltage Vb fed to the inverting terminal (− terminal) thereof through the feedback line L2 into a current at the conversion efficiency in accordance with the mutual conductance Gm of the differential amplifier 1. The output current thus converted is fed to the gate of the FET 3 through the line L4. Accordingly, the FET 3 passes a source current thereof in accordance with the gate current thereof through the output line L1. Then, a voltage resulted from the source current is supplied to the load 5 as an output voltage Vo that also appears on the feedback line L2 as the feedback voltage Vb.
For example, assume that the load 5 changes from a heavy load to no load. Then, as shown in FIG. 5A, an output current (load current) Io becomes zero during a period T1 in which no load is applied. When the load 5 becomes a heavy load again after the period T1, the level of the output current Io becomes that under the heavy-load condition. The output voltage (load voltage) Vo changes according to changes of the output current Io as shown in FIG. 5B. In addition, a gate voltage Vg of the FET 3 changes as shown in FIG. 5C. All of these are the results of the operations described below.
When the load 5 changes from a heavy load to no load and the output current Io becomes zero, the output voltage Vo starts rising at a time point t1 and onward due to a transient phenomenon. The output voltage Vo increases by a voltage V2 at a time point t12 and returns to a predetermined voltage at a time point t8. The gate voltage Vg that is fed to the gate of the FET 3 from the differential amplifier 1 drops at the time point t1 and turns off at a time point t10 so as to curb the increase of the output voltage Vo. Thereafter, the gate voltage Vg is held at an L-level until a time point t3 during which the FET 3 remains off.
In other words, when the load 5 changes from a heavy load to no load, the output current Io becomes zero at the time point t1. However, the output voltage Vo is raised by a depth of the voltage V2 due to a transient phenomenon after the time point t1. Here, the voltage V2 is relatively high, and individual periods from the time point t1 to the time point t12 and from the time point t1 to the time point t8 are also relatively long.
Next, at the time point t3, the load 5 changes from no load to a heavy load. Then the output current Io starts flowing through the load 5. Furthermore, the output voltage Vo starts descending at the time point t3 and onward due to a transient phenomenon and drops by a voltage V2′ at the time point t13. Thereafter, the output voltage Vo starts rising so as to return to the predetermined voltage at a time point t9. The voltage V2′ is large in depth, and individual periods from the time point t3 to the time point t13 and from the time point t3 to the time point t9 are relatively long.
However, in the conventional power supply circuit configured as above, when the load 5 changes from a heavy load to no load or to a light load, the larger the capacitance of the capacitor 4 is, the longer time it takes for the output voltage Vo to return to its predetermined voltage from its raised position. Because of this reason, fluctuation values of the output voltage Vo become larger, and thereby the transient response required for quickly stabilizing the output voltage Vo is worsened.
Furthermore, when the load 5 changes from no load or a light load to a heavy load as described above, the gate voltage of the FET 3 must respond and rise from a low voltage. Therefore, the response of the FET 3 is delayed according to the gate voltage thereof, which worsens the transient response on start-up of the load 5. In the conventional power supply circuit configured in this way, the slow transient response does not cause any serious harm when the load fluctuating frequency is low. However, when the load fluctuating frequency is high, it becomes impossible to stabilize the output voltage Vo quickly, because the FET 3 is unable to respond to that high frequency.
In addition, there is another type of conventional power supply circuit in which a current in the order of a few mA is drawn into the differential amplifier also under no-load condition so as to suppress fluctuations of the output voltage caused by fluctuations in the load by reducing an impedance component or the like of an output feedback resistor. However, because the output feedback resistor is used, also in this case, the larger the capacitance of a capacitor connected in parallel to the load becomes, the longer time it takes for the output voltage to return to its predetermined voltage from its raised position when the load changes from a heavy load to no load or to a light load. Because of this reason, fluctuations of the output voltage become larger, and thereby the transient response required for quickly stabilizing the output voltage is worsened.
A semiconductor device and a supply voltage generating circuit disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H08-190437 uses a p-channel FET as an output current control element. In this configuration, an input voltage required for the p-channel FET should be set higher, which worsens its output efficiency. This disclosure also has a shortcoming in which two resistor elements are used for suppressing the amplitude of an output signal fed from a comparator circuit, thereby causing unnecessary power consumption.


A LDO and a switching regulator are connected in parallel with each other. The power supply device selects and actuates either of the LDO or the switching regulator in accordance with a switching signal from the outside. When making the switch from the LDO to the switching regulator so as to be actuated, the power supply device causes operation periods of the LDO and the switching regulator to overlap each other. At least during the period in which the operation periods overlap each other, the power supply device makes current drive performance of a synchronous rectification transistor of the switching regulator lower and makes the same return to a normal state after the LDO stops its operation.

1. Field of the Invention
This disclosure relates to a power supply device that switches and outputs either of the output voltage of a LDO (Low Dropout) converter (hereinafter referred to as LDO) serving as a linear regulator or that of a switching regulator, depending on a load current so as to lower current consumption at light load, thereby making it possible to reduce overall power consumption, and to an operations control method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a known method for outputting an input voltage after converting it into a predetermined voltage in a power supply device, there has widely been employed one that converts power with high conversion efficiency by the use of a switching regulator. In this case, high power conversion efficiency can be obtained at heavy load, but current consumption of the switching regulator itself is increased at light load, resulting in lowering overall conversion efficiency. Therefore, a LDO with low current consumption is used at light load to achieve low current consumption, while a switching regulator is used at heavy load to achieve high efficiency. Furthermore, since an overshoot or an undershoot occurs in an output voltage when an LDO and a switching regulator are switched with each other, there is a necessity to reduce the overshoot and the undershoot in the output voltage occurring at the switching in consideration of the method and the timing of switching between the LDO and the switching regulator.
Accordingly, there has been disclosed a method which sets a simultaneous operating period at the switching from an LDO for constantly controlling an output voltage to a switching regulator, which switches the drive performance of P-ch transistors and N-ch transistors constituting the driver unit of the switching regulator to a low performance mode during the simultaneous operating period, and which switches to a normal mode after stopping the operation of the LDO (see, e.g., Patent Document 1).
Patent Document 1: JP-A-2005-130622
With this method of switching from the LDO to the switching regulator, however, the drive performance of the P-ch transistors constituting the driver unit of the switching regulator is reduced during the period in which operation sections of the LDO and the switching regulator overlap each other in consideration of the timing of switching from the LDO to the switching regulator. Therefore, the loss portion caused by on-resistance of the P-ch transistors is not negligible when a load current flows. As a result, the drop of an output voltage or the like occurs, thereby making it difficult to supply a steady voltage.

Power supply device and operations control method thereof


A filtration device has a particulate filter element and a sorbent filter element having different flow properties. When viewed in cross section, the particulate filter element has inner and outer legs that form generally the shape of a W and define a space between the outer legs. The sorbent filter element is disposed in the space within the first filter element.

This invention relates to a filtration device equipped with a plurality of filter elements having different filtering characteristics. More particularly but not exclusively, it relates to a filtration device for removing particulate matter and odors from air, such as the air in a cabin of an aircraft.
Filters for use in certain working environments need to be designed for minimum total pressure drop across the filter. This is particularly true in the case of filters for use in aircraft cabins. A low total pressure drop across such a filter is desirable because the lower the total pressure drop, the smaller are the size and the weight of the air flow equipment, such as blowers, necessary for passing air through the filter, permitting a decrease in the weight of the aircraft or an increase in the cargo that can be carried.
The air in an aircraft cabin contains a large variety of contaminants which it is desirable to remove, such as fibers from clothing, carpets, and seat cushions, cigarette smoke, odors from the galley and lavatories, and human body odors. Fibers and a certain amount of the tar in cigarette smoke can be effectively removed by a particulate filter, which employs a mass of fibers to entrap particulate contaminants. Minute aerosol particles and odors, on the other hand, are usually removed from air or rendered innocuous by what is referred to as a sorbent filter. A sorbent filter normally employs an adsorbent, such as activated charcoal, which adsorbs odor-causing hydrocarbons and other chemicals from air passing through the filter. The air which leaves the sorbent filter has a lower concentration of the substances responsible for the odors, so the air is less odorous.
In an aircraft it is generally desirable to install a particulate filter and a sorbent filter in series in close proximity. One reason for this manner of installation is to save space inside the aircraft, which is always at a premium. Another reason is that a sorbent filter usually does not have a large external surface area, so unless the air entering the sorbent filter is free of fibers, the external surface of the sorbent filter can soon become clogged with fibers, resulting in a high pressure drop across the filter. Therefore, it is desirable to install a particulate filter just upstream of a sorbent filter. However, because the airflow characteristics are quite different for a particulate filter and a sorbent filter, conventional arrangements have not resulted in a minimal total pressure drop and have not made optimal use of space.


There is provided Ceramic matrix composites comprising fibers, BN coating applied to the fibers, the BN coating being composed of BN and one of Y.sub.2 O.sub.3, Sc.sub.2 O.sub.3, ZrO.sub.2 and lanthanoid family oxide or combinations thereof, and matrices interposed between the fibers. There is also provided Ceramic matrix composites comprising, fibers, BN coating applied to the fibers, the BN coating is composed of BN and coated with one of Y.sub.2 O.sub.3, Sc.sub.2 O.sub.3, ZrO.sub.2 and lanthanoid family oxide or combinations thereof, and matrices interposed between the fibers. The ceramic matrix composites in accordance with the present invention is capable of being used at 1000 degrees centigrade or greater in air.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to ceramic matrix composites including BN coated fibers and matrices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Ceramics has been used as heat-resistive material, but has shortcomings such as high brittleness caused by inherent characteristics thereof and low reliability with respect to strength. Hence, there has been developed fiber-reinforced ceramics toughened by incorporating fibers into ceramics matrices. In particular, there has been developed ceramic matrix composites manufactured by coating fibers with carbon (C) or boronanitoride (BN), and then bonding the fibers to ceramics. For instance, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,869,943 and 4,885,199 have suggested ceramic matrix composites having BN interface by coating fibers with BN.
An upper limit in ambient temperature at which ceramic matrix composites having BN interface can be used is about 1000 degrees centigrade. Beyond 1000 degrees centigrade, BN is remarkably oxidized. As oxidized B.sub.2 O.sub.3 has a melting point of about 500 degrees centigrade, bonding force between fibers and matrixes is weakened at 1000 degrees centigrade or greater in air, resulting in that it is impossible for the ceramic matrix composites to keep a certain strength thereof. However, there has been long desired ceramic matrix composites which can be used at 1000 degrees centigrade or greater, preferably up to about 1400 degrees centigrade.

Ceramic matrix composites with BN interface

Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co., Ltd.


A distributed system hosts a plurality of programming interfaces managed according to a hierarchy of security policies. In response to receiving a request from a client to invoke one of the programming interfaces, the system determines whether the client is authorized to call the programming interface by mapping from an attribute of the client to a location in the hierarchy. The system calls the interface in response to determining that the client is authorized to call programming interfaces associated with the location. The programming interface implements the security policy that corresponds to the location.

Data security involves the use of security controls to prevent the unauthorized disclosure or modification of information. Examples of security controls include user authentication procedures, access restriction mechanisms, and auditing features. Although security controls are effective, they may be difficult to manage, particularly in distributed systems and multi-user environments. This is particularly true for systems that implement fine-grained control over access to data.

Secure programming interface hierarchies


A computer-implemented method according to one embodiment includes identifying a block size used by an application, where the block size is a power of two, constructing, utilizing a plurality of instances of a first array code, a single instance of a second array code having a symbol size that matches the block size used by the application, where the symbol size of the second array code is always a power of two, and implementing the second array code within the application.

The present invention relates to data recovery, and more specifically, this invention relates to implementing array codes for target applications.
Array codes are commonly used to provide data recovery services during data transmission and/or storage. However, current array code implementations have various constraints. For example, the shape of current array codes is not convenient for use, as current array codes are based on prime numbers, and commonly used data storage and transmission formats utilize sizes conforming to powers of two. This results in wide array codes that do not allow many erasure recoveries, as well as codes with very large symbol sizes.

Composing array codes for power of two and variable block sizes

International Business Machines Corporation


A piezoelectric ceramic composition in which 0.1 to 8 mole % of a Pb atom in lead titanate zirconate is replaced with at least one of Ba, Sr and Ca, and which contains 0.5 to 1.9% by weight of at least one of Sb, Nb and Ta when respectively converted into Sb.sub.2 O.sub.3, Nb.sub.2 O.sub.5 and Ta.sub.2 O.sub.5, contains 0.1 to 0.8% by weight of at least one of Cr, Fe and Mn when respectively converted into Cr.sub.2 O.sub.3, Fe.sub.2 O.sub.3 and MnO.sub.2, and contains 0.001 to 0.25% by weight of at least one of Si and Ge when respectively converted into SiO.sub.2 and GeO.sub.2.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a piezoelectric ceramic composition used as a material for a piezoelectric ceramic element such as a ceramic filter, a ceramic oscillator or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a piezoelectric ceramic used for a ceramic filter or the like, a piezoelectric ceramic mainly composed of lead titanate zirconate (Pb (Ti.sub.X Zr.sub.1-X) O.sub.3) has been widely used, and a piezoelectric ceramic to which small amounts of various additives are added so as to improve the piezoelectric characteristics thereof has been used.
Particularly as a piezoelectric ceramic for a ceramic filter having flat group delay time (GDT) characteristics and causing low phase distortion, one having a small mechanical quality factor Qm has been required. As this piezoelectric ceramic having a small Qm value, a piezoelectric ceramic in which niobium oxide, antimony oxide, tantalum oxide and the like are added as additives to lead titanate zirconate (Pb (Ti.sub.X Zr.sub.1-X) O.sub.3) has been known.
However, many examples of the above described conventional piezoelectric ceramic composition having a small Qm value are those having a piezoelectric d constant increased for an actuator and those having an electromechanical coupling factor K increased for a wide band filter, so that they are insufficiently heat proof. Consequently, the conventional piezoelectric ceramic composition has the disadvantage in that where it is used as a surface mounted type ceramic filter element, if it is exposed to high temperatures in the reflow soldering process, the electromechanical coupling factor K thereof is significantly lowered, so that the filter characteristics thereof are largely degraded.
Furthermore, the above described piezoelectric ceramic composition having a small Qm value has the disadvantage in that it generally has low mechanical strength, so that it is liable to be cracked or chipped in the process of processing as a filter element.


An embodiment of a photomultiplier device is formed by a base substrate of insulating organic material forming a plurality of conductive paths and carrying a plurality of chips of semiconductor material. Each chip integrates a plurality of photon detecting elements, such as Geiger-mode avalanche diodes, and is bonded on a first side of the base substrate. Couplings for photon-counting and image-reconstruction units are formed on a second side of the base substrate. The first side of the base substrate is covered with a transparent encapsulating layer of silicone resin, which, together with the base substrate, bestows stiffness on the photomultiplier device, preventing warpage, and covers and protects the chips.

As is known, positron-emission tomography (PET) is widely used, i.e., in the medical sector for the detection of structures and formations in human tissues, and consists in supplying a tracer isotope bound to an active molecule to tissues to be examined. The decay of the isotope in the tissues causes generation of positrons that are annihilated with electrons and give rise to gamma rays, which can be detected by a layer of inorganic crystals (scintillator) where a flash is created, which is in turn detected by a photomultiplication structure arranged adjacent to the layer of inorganic crystals.
For example, FIG. 1 shows a typical detector ring 1 present in a PET machine. As may be noted, the detector ring 1 is formed by a plurality of detector blocks 2, circumferentially arranged around the ring, each with radial extension. Referring to FIG. 2, each detector block 2 includes an array of inorganic crystals or scintillators 3 adjacent to an array of photomultipliers 4.
Traditionally, the photomultipliers 4 are formed by photomultiplier tubes (PMTS); however, in the last few years, the use of silicon photomultipliers (SiPms) has been proposed, thanks to the high efficiency that can be obtained (see, for example, "Silicon Photo-multipliers as Photon Detector for PET", by R. Pestotnik et al., 2008 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record, which is incorporated by reference).
The proposed SiPms are formed as arrays of individual photomultiplier cells, each made up of a plurality of elements for detecting individual photons, typically Geiger-mode avalanche diodes (GMAPs), made, for example, as described in US 2009-0184317 and US 2009-0184384, which are incorporated by reference. In particular, the avalanche diodes operate at reverse biasing voltages that are a few volts higher than the breakdown voltage, and each avalanche diode detects an individual photon. In fact, as shown in FIG. 3, each avalanche diode 5 is coupled to the supply Vb through a respective quenching resistor 6, disposed (e.g., integrated) in series, and forms with the latter a pixel 7. In each pixel 7, the quenching resistor 6 is able to quench the avalanche current and reset only the relevant avalanche diode 5 after detection of a photon. In a photomultiplier cell 8, the pixels 7 are coupled in parallel to one another so that the currents detected by each of the individual pixels 7 are added together. The intensity of the total current of the photomultiplier cell 8 is thus given by the analog superposition of the signals (binary signals in an embodiment) produced by all activated pixels 7, which is, in turn, proportional to the number of incident photons (to a first approximation, if multiple hits on different pixels 7 are neglected).
Thus, in case of weak flows of photons, a photomultiplier cell 8 of SiPm diodes behaves as an analog or proportional device, whereas the individual pixels operate in digital or Geiger mode. For this reason, silicon photomultipliers are also frequently represented as digital-to-analog conversion devices.
Currently, in general, each photomultiplier cell is manufactured in a chip with dimensions of approximately 4×4 mm2, or, at the most, approximately 5×5 mm2, and the various chips are arranged near each other so as to form more extensive detection surfaces. In particular, the chips are bonded to an intermediate substrate (generally a die of semiconductor material), which is, in turn, bonded to a base substrate, which is larger and is generally obtained from a printed circuit board (PCB) or from PCB material. The group formed by the base substrate, the intermediate substrate, and the array of cells is then bonded to the array of scintillators 3, for example, with the interposition of an optical grease (see, for example, "Evaluation of Arrays of Silicon Photomultipliers for Beta Imaging", E. Heckathorne, L. Tiefer, F. Daghighian, M. Dahlborm, 2008 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record, which is incorporated by reference).
However, arranging the cells near each other typically requires the presence of free areas for providing the connections (paths, pads for the connection wires, etc.). In at least some known devices, for example, the active areas represent approximately 50-60% of the total area. Consequently, there are "dead" or "blind" areas with no pixels, where, consequently, photons are lost. This entails a reduction in the theoretical resolution of the PET, and may entail a lengthening of the times for carrying out the medical examination.
This problem may increase when the single chips that integrate a cell are bonded to an own intermediate substrate, on account of the tolerance of bonding the intermediate substrates.
Attempts at directly bonding the chips to the base substrate have not solved the problem since the structure tends to undergo deformation and to lose planarity (i.e., warp), because of the large dimensions of the base substrate, of the layer of cement used, and of the bonding process, thus preventing proper contact between the photomultipliers and the photomultiplier cells, and thus worsening the detection efficiency.
It is also possible to reduce the dead spaces by providing through silicon vias (TSVs) through the base substrate and through the intermediate substrate, when present, but this solution typically does not solve the problem of warpage, and may be costly.
On the other hand, the creation of the array of cells in a single integrated device, for example, of approximately 32×32 mm2, gives rise to problems of yield, and also devices of these dimensions tend to undergo considerable deformation due to stress. In addition, also in this case it would probably be necessary to create through vias through the base substrate, with all the problems highlighted above.
On the other hand, the lack of an effective protection of the chips is a problem since bonding the array of photomultiplier cells to the array of scintillators is generally performed in a plant remote from the site where the photomultiplier devices are produced.

Encapsulated photomultiplier device of semiconductor material, for use, for example, in machines for performing positron-emission tomography


A protective body armor garment shell is disclosed which has a front panel and a back panel made of a lightweight material and having features simulating a uniform shirt such that the garment shell can be worn over or in place of a standard uniform shirt and maintain a professional appearance while concealing the fact that body armor is being worn. The back panel is attached to the body utilizing a belt which firmly retains the garment to the body even when the front panel is loosely draped across the chest. The drapable feature allows a person wearing the garment to loosen the front panel to provide ventilation while maintaining the garment on the body, to maximize comfort.

Protective body armor panels, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,660,223 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 421,077 filed Oct. 13, 1989 titled "Improved Body Armor Insert", both commonly assigned herewith, are used to prevent injury from fire arms. Such panels either have various shoulder straps or belt portions to fasten the body armor to the body or are disposed in a vest like garment shell which includes the straps or belts.
Typically, there are two types of protective body armor worn by police officers. One type is for entering known hazardous situations where the armor is worn over the officer's uniform together with other protective gear. The second type of body armor is worn doing routine duties such as patrolling, with the armor panels providing protection in unexpectedly hazardous situations. The second type of body armor is worn beneath the officer's uniform shirt to conceal it from individuals which the officer may confront. This concealment is an advantage in many situations. However, once the body armor is in place, it cannot be taken off or loosened until the officer's shift is completed.
The concealed types of body armor panels can become particularly uncomfortable in warm weather as the panels prevent ventilation of the body and restrict moisture removal. Since the body armor may not be worn in hot weather to avoid discomfort, this may place an officer at risk. Consequently, a need has arisen for concealable body armor which is convenient to wear, has a professional appearance and allows ventilation during performance of routine duties.


In a virtual computing machine, a system and method that dynamically patches the interrupt mechanism (in interrupt vector space) of a host computing architecture with guest mode software. Significant increases in performance are achieved without depending on the host code. A patching mechanism evaluates the operating system version, processor, and code to be patched. If patchable, low-level interfaces are created dynamically; a dispatcher is written into an unused location in vector space, and instructions copied from each interrupt vector to be patched to a guest interrupt vector. For an interrupt, the new, patched instructions branch to the dispatcher, which then branches to the appropriate patched interrupt guest code. If the processor is operating as a virtual machine, the guest interrupt code handles the interrupt, otherwise the original copied instructions are replayed, followed by execution at the original host instruction in vector space that exists after the copied and patched instructions.

The concept of virtual computing is based on software that allows a user to run multiple operating systems simultaneously on one physical computing device. As a result, application programs written for one platform can be run on a different type of computing device. Thus, for example, Microsoft Corporation's "Virtual PC for Mac" software is a Macintosh application program that emulates a Windows®-based personal computer and allows Windows®-based programs to be run under the Macintosh Operating system and underlying hardware. Running with the device's regular operating system is often referred to as running in host mode, while running with the software that performs the emulation is often referred to as running in guest mode.
However, a significant problem with virtual computing is the noticeably slow performance that exists when emulating one platform on another. Contemporary emulation solutions have heretofore depended on the manufacturer of the computing device to provide interfaces in the host operating system code to facilitate virtual computing. In a number of situations, these interfaces are responsible for the slow performance, (the system may take many such exceptions per second that require usage of the interfaces, resulting in the system being anywhere from three to twenty times too slow to meet performance objectives), but there is no straightforward way for the manufacturer to improve the interfaces. What is needed when running virtual machines is a way to lessen the dependency on the device manufacturer's host operating system code while achieving significant performance gains in the guest operating system.

Method and system for dynamically patching an operating system's interrupt mechanism


The invention relates to novel paranmycin compounds that have activity against gram positive and gram negative bacteria, preferably bacteria that are resistant to other antibiotics. Paranmycins are of the general formula

Aminoglycoside antibiotics have long been used as bactericidal drugs.1 Unlike many antibiotics that are active only against gram positive bacteria, aminoglycosides have broad spectrum activity against both gram positive and negative bacteria. However, their clinical usage has often been limited only to serious infections due to the prevalence of aminoglycoside resistant bacteria1c,2 and the high cytotoxicity of aminoglycosides.3 In an effort to revive the effectiveness of aminoglycoside antibiotics against resistant bacteria, we have been working on modification and synthesis of novel aminoglycosides.
Over expression of aminoglycoside modifying enzymes from resistant bacteria is the most commonly encountered mode of resistance.2 Various aminoglycoside modifying enzymes have been identified that catalyze a wide range of modifications including acetylation, phosphorylation, and adenylation.
Aminoglycosides with deoxygenation at 3′-OH have been demonstrated to be effective against APH(3′) as reported by Umezawa1b,6 and others.7 The concept has led to the syntheses and discovery of tobramycin,8 arbekacin,9 and other similar aminoglycosides.1b Despite the fruitful results from these studies, there are several shortcomings. First, most of the research uses carbamate-type protecting groups for the protection of amino groups on the aminoglycoside, resulting in the formation of polycarbamate compounds with low solubility in organic media. The poor solubility of these compounds poses difficulties in their purification and characterization. Second, most of the syntheses begin with the kanamycin scaffold. There are very few examples of deoxygenation on neomycin class antibiotics.7d Third, the reported syntheses of both classes of antibiotics usually derive from kanamycin or neomycin, which limits the options for introducing novel structural motifs at other desirable places of aminoglycosides. Therefore, we have invented novel pyranmycin compounds with activity against resistant strains equipped with aminoglycoside modifying enzymes.


Provided is a semiconductor device for a spread spectrum radar apparatus which suppresses spurious signals resulting from non-linearity of active elements. The semiconductor device as the inverse spread spectrum modulation unit for the spread spectrum radar apparatus has a coupled line of two lines and another coupled line of two lines. The semiconductor device includes: an unbalanced to balanced transforming circuit which converts a received signal inputted as an unbalanced signal into a balanced signal pair; a switch circuit having one or more transistors; and a balanced inverse spread spectrum circuit which obtains as differential signal PN signals belonging to the same sequence code as a PN code which is used to generate an original signal of the received signal, also obtains the balanced signal pair from the unbalanced to balanced transforming circuit, and performs inverse spread spectrum modulation on the balanced signal pair by the switch circuit using the PN codes inputted as the differential signal.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to semiconductor devices which are used and embedded in spread spectrum radar apparatuses employing a spread spectrum scheme, and more particularly to a semiconductor device which is used in such spread spectrum radar apparatuses and suppresses spurious signals caused by non-linear components of active elements.
(2) Description of the Related Art
In recent years, radar apparatuses have been equipped in vehicles to detect preceding vehicles, obstacles located backward, and the like. This provides significant achievements, including safety improvement such as collision avoidance, enhancement of driving convenience represented by reverse driving support, and the like. In accordance with the achievements, various technologies regarding radar apparatuses equipped in vehicles (hereinafter, referred to as "in-vehicle radar apparatuses") have been proposed. One example of such technologies is a radar apparatus using a spread spectrum scheme (hereinafter, referred to as a "spread spectrum radar apparatus") (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 7-12930, for example).
For such an in-vehicle radar apparatus, it is critical to suppress influence of radio waves transmitted from same- or similar-type radar apparatuses equipped in other vehicles. In order to achieve this, the spread spectrum radar apparatus transmits radio waves which are received and suppressed by different-type radar apparatuses using different code sequences or different schemes. Thereby, the spread spectrum radar apparatuses do not much affect radar apparatuses of different types. Moreover, the spread spectrum radar apparatuses do not have any serious troubles for their object detection ability, even if undesired radio waves are transmitted from other spread spectrum radar apparatuses or radio communication apparatuses using the same frequency band.
This is because, in the spread spectrum radar apparatuses, the radio waves whose frequency is spectrum-spread over a wider band using pseudo noise codes (hereinafter, referred to as "PN codes") are transmitted. Further, since radio waves are spectrum-spread over a wider band, power consumption per unit frequency is reduced and the influence to other radar apparatuses is decreased. Furthermore, by adjusting a chip rate and a code period of the PN code, a relationship between distance resolution and the maximum detectable distance is set flexibly and the radio waves are thereby transmitted continuously, so that peak power is not increased.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a structure of the conventional spread spectrum radar apparatus. The conventional spread spectrum radar apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 1 includes a clock signal generation unit 11, a PN code generation unit 12, a code delay unit 13, a signal source 21, a spread spectrum modulation unit 22, a transmitting unit 23, a transmission antenna 24, a receiving antenna 31, a receiving unit 32, an inverse spread spectrum modulation unit 33, and a signal processing unit 34. Here, it is assumed that the spread spectrum radar apparatus 10 uses a M-sequence code as the PN code. As shown in FIG. 1, it is assumed that the conventional spread spectrum radar apparatus 10 uses autocorrelation characteristics that a M-sequence code has a single peak. Using the autocorrelation characteristics, a delay time period is varied to detect the delay time period during which the single peak is obtained, thereby measuring reflection intensity at an object and a distance to the object.
In the spread spectrum radar apparatus 10, the signal source 21 generates a narrow-band signal, and the spread spectrum modulation unit 22 performs spread-spectrum modulation on the narrow-band signal using a PN code generated by the PN code generation unit 12, in order to generate a broad-band signal. Then, the spread spectrum modulation unit 22 outputs the resulting broad-band signal to the transmission antenna 24 via the transmitting unit 23. The transmission antenna 24 transmits the obtained broad-band signal as detection radio waves.
Moreover, in the spread spectrum radar apparatus 10, the receiving antenna 31 receives reflected waves of the detection radio waves which have been transmitted and then reflected at an object. The receiving antenna 31 provides, as received signal, the reflected waves to the inverse spread spectrum modulation unit 33 via the receiving unit 32. The inverse spread spectrum modulation unit 33 performs inverse spread-spectrum modulation on the received signal, using a PN code which is delayed by the code delay unit 13. Then, the inverse spread spectrum modulation unit 33 provides the resulting signal to the signal processing unit 34.
Here, it is examined the case where the signal provided by the inverse spread spectrum modulation unit 33 has the same frequency components as the narrow-band signal generated by the signal source 21. In this case, the signal processing unit 34 determines the time period which is delayed by the code delay unit 13, as a time period during which the detection radio waves have been transmitted and returned (hereinafter, referred to as a "reciprocating propagation time period"). In addition, a distance corresponding to the determined reciprocating propagation time period is determined as a distance to the object.
On the other hand, it is examined the case where the signal provided by the inverse spread spectrum modulation unit 33 does not have the same frequency components as the narrow-band signal generated by the signal source 21. In the case, the signal processing unit 34 changes a time period delayed by the code delay unit 13.
Here, the inverse spread spectrum modulation unit 33 generally includes a Binary Phase Shift Keying modulator (BPSK modulator) such as a balanced mixer.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a circuit configuration of the inverse spread spectrum modulation unit (semiconductor device) of the conventional spread spectrum radar apparatus. As shown in FIG. 2, the inverse spread spectrum modulation unit 33 of the conventional spread spectrum radar apparatus includes a balanced inverse spread spectrum circuit 61 and an unbalanced to balanced transforming circuit 62. The unbalanced to balanced transforming circuit 62 includes a current power circuit which supplies bias currents to operate transistors included in the balanced inverse spread spectrum circuit 61. The balanced inverse spread spectrum circuit 61 includes transistors Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4, resistors R1 and R2, a power source Vc, output terminals OUT1 and OUT2, and pseudo-noise (PN) code terminals PN1 and PN2. The unbalanced to balanced transforming circuit 62 includes transistors Q5, Q6, and Q7, capacitors C1 and C2, resistors R3, R4, and R5, a received signal terminal RF, and power sources Vb1 and Vb2. The balanced inverse spread spectrum circuit 61 and the unbalanced to balanced transforming circuit 62 are connected with each other via a balanced line 51 including a line 51a and a line 51b. The inverse spread spectrum modulation unit 33 is well-known as a Gilbert cell. The inverse spread spectrum modulation unit 33 is designed so that delay does not occur between a pair of a balanced signal consisting of a positive signal and a negative signal (hereinafter, referred to also as "balanced signal pair).
In more detail, in the inverse spread spectrum modulation unit 33, a base of the transistor Q5 is connected to the received signal terminal RF via the capacitor C1, and a base of the transistor Q6 is connected to ground at high frequency via the capacitor C2. A collector of the transistor Q5 is connected the line 51a, and a collector of the transistor Q6 is connected to the line 51b. When an unbalanced signal is inputted from the received signal terminal RF, the inputted unbalanced signal is converted into a balanced signal pair which is then outputted to the balanced line 51.
Furthermore, in the inverse spread spectrum modulation unit 33, bases of the transistors Q1 and Q4 are connected to the PN code terminal PN1, and bases of the transistors Q2 and Q3 are connected to the PN code terminal PN2. Collectors of the transistors Q1 and Q3 are connected to the output terminal OUT1, and collectors of the transistors Q2 and Q4 are connected to the output terminal OUT2. Emitters of the transistors Q1 and Q2 are connected to the line 51a, and emitters of transistors Q3 and Q4 are connected to the line 51b. When the balanced signal pair is inputted via the balanced line 51 to a switch circuit which includes the transistors Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4, polarities of the inputted balanced signal pair is reversed depending on the PN codes which are inputted as a differential signal from the PN code terminals PN1 and PN2. The positive and negative signals in the pair whose polarities are reversed are outputted from the output terminals OUT1 and OUT2, respectively.
Unfortunately, following problem is encountered in the conventional technology. Here, it is assumed that the detection radio waves have been transmitted for a predetermined time period and then the transmitted detection radio waves have been reflected at a plurality of objects, so that the receiving antenna 31 receives plural kinds of reflected waves having respective different reciprocating propagation time periods. Then, a plurality of different received signals are inputted into the inverse spread spectrum modulation unit 33, and thereby the signals outputted from the inverse spread spectrum modulation unit 33 have distortion, which results in a problem that spurious signals occur where signals do not exist originally.
This problem is caused by the following reasons. Regarding the transistor Q5 to which the plurality of received signals are inputted, a collector current (IC) is exponentially varied depending on a collector-to-emitter voltage (VCE), as obvious from the characteristics (IC-VCE characteristics) between the collector current (IC) and the collector-to-emitter voltage (VCE). Thereby, the signals outputted from the transistor Q5 include high-order components of the inputted signals, and these high-order components occur as the distortion.
More specifically, the high-order components cause components generated by multiplication operations among the plurality of the received signals. By shift additivity of M-sequence codes, the generated components become a signal that is equivalent to the signal which is generated by spread-spectrum modulation using the same M-sequence code and which has the third delay amount different from the delay amount of each of the received signals. Thereby, in the signals outputted from the inverse spread spectrum modulation unit 33, a spurious signal occurs as if a reflecting object is located at a position which corresponds to the third delay amount and at which such an object is not located actually. As a result, inconvenience occurs.
Note that the shift additivity of M-sequence codes means characteristics that, when an EXCLUSIVE-OR operation is performed on two M-sequence codes which have different delay amounts but are generated by the same M-sequence code generator, a M-sequence code is generated which has the third delay amount different from the delay amounts of the former M-sequence codes.
Furthermore, the conventional technology encounters another problem. Since only a base of the transistor Q6 is connected to ground at high frequency, the transistors Q5 and Q6 are operated in an unbalanced state. In such a state, the balanced signal pair outputted from the transistors Q5 and Q6 has even-order components which are originally suppressed in a differential circuit. Thereby, undesired signals resulted from the shift additivity of M-sequence codes are generated, so that the signals outputted from the inverse spread spectrum modulation unit 33 include spurious signals.

Semiconductor device for spread spectrum radar apparatus


A caged nut fastener (100) is provided that features a first arm (6) in overhanging substantially parallel spaced-apart relationship to a base portion (4) defining a cage therebetween. Arm (6) has an opening (20) therethrough having a breadth "B" through which is received a tubular end portion (18) and a portion of a frusto-conical projection (16) extending from a base (14) having a planar surface (15) in facing sliding engagement with base portion (4). The breadth of the frusto-conical projection (16) within opening (20) is sufficiently less the breadth (B) to enable the nut member to move substantially the same distance in any direction transverse to a central rotational axis ("C") extending through a threaded bore (22) in portion (18) of the nut member.

Caged nut fasteners are well known in the art and provide a useful function in that they are able to hold the threaded nut at locations in a frame that are difficult or in some cases impossible to reach and thus in many applications operate as what is known in the art as "blind fasteners".
Some early examples of caged nut fasteners are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,631,634; 2,649,126; 2,695,046 and 2,717,622, assigned to the assignee of the present invention and the disclosure of which are included herein by reference.
Other examples of caged nut fasteners are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,192,823; 3,217,772; 3,373,789; 4,015,650; 4,826,374; 4,863,327; 4,875,816; 5,022,804 and 5,096,350, the disclosures of which are included herein by reference.
In all of the caged nut fasteners disclosed in the above patents, the nut member features either a square or rectangular configured base portion that is generally restricted from moving in at least one direction transversely relative the central rotational axis of the threaded portion of the nut member thus reducing the alignment possibilities with a threaded member such as a bolt or screw. The caged nut fastener of the present invention overcomes such directional movement limitation heretofore placed upon nut members of caged nut fasteners by being configured to enable movement of the nut within the cage substantially the same distance in any direction that is generally transverse to the central rotational axis of the threaded portion of the nut to enhance alignment between the threaded portion of the nut and a threaded member such as a bolt or screw.


A method for multiplexing DOCSIS data into an MPEG data stream includes synchronizing an MPEG system clock and a DOCSIS system clock, multiplexing a DOCSIS data stream into an MPEG Transport Stream while preserving the accuracy of a number of MPEG program clock reference (PCR) values, transmitting the multiplexed Transport Stream, receiving the multiplexed Transport Stream in a receiving device, recovering the MPEG PCR values, and generating a DOCSIS clock based on the MPEG PCR values.

In its classic form, a cable television system carries information in only one direction, from the cable system headend to the individual user. The user's interface to the system generally includes a receiver, for example a television or a stereo. During operation, the head end transmits television or stereo channels simultaneously. In general, the user has no influence on what is transmitted and could only choose among the channels the headend was transmitting.
More recently, data communication between a cable headend unit and a subscribing set-top box has been used for a number of two-way communication functions including ordering pay-per-view programming. Additionally, cable television networks have become available for the transmission of data. A typical cable television system can carry many television stations, which are the equivalent of a large amount of data (high bandwidth), simultaneously. Because of the increasing availability of cable television infrastructure, using television cables as the medium for computer data networks has the potential for giving users high bandwidth at a reasonable cost. However, a cable network typically requires a number of enhancements such as a cable modem and a network protocol to assure that each user receives the information they require without interference from other users.
While the addition of a cable modem to each set-top box effectively facilitates two-way communication between a set-top box and a headend unit, the added cost of a cable modem to a set-top box is often prohibitive. Moreover, consumers already own a number of set-top boxes that are not equipped with cable modems.

Method and system for multiplexing DOCSIS data into an MPEG transport stream


A first device in a wireless communication system is provided. The first device discovers a second device using a first application, and transmits to the second device information to request launch of a second application by the second device.

With rapid advances in network technologies and multimedia technologies, various types of devices have been developed and convergence between those devices has been accelerated. In line with this, various devices such as digital televisions (TVs), home theaters, computer devices, mobile terminals, and the like often transmit and receive data and provide converged services in a network environment. To provide the converged services, there is an increasing need for a structure for controlling mutual operations between devices or a structure for performing operations that are mutually related between the devices.
The above information is presented as background information only to assist with an understanding of the present disclosure. No determination has been made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the above might be applicable as prior art with regard to the present disclosure.

Method and apparatus for executing application in wireless communication system


An apparatus for preparing a brewed beverage includes a device for heating and delivering water, a brewing chamber, into which the heated water is introduced, a positioning device for positioning a capsule, with contents for brewing the beverage, at a lateral opening of the brewing chamber, and an outlet with a switchable valve on an underside of the brewing chamber, wherein an inlet for introducing the hot water is provided on an upper side of the brewing chamber. A method is also described for preparing a brewed beverage.

EP 2 119 385 discloses a brewing unit for brewing a capsule, in which a capsule is fixed to retaining elements via a closure mechanism. The capsule is pierced during the brewing process and then brewed under pressure. Such brewing units are not capable of producing tea because the brewing unit operates with high pressure and no infusion time is provided.
An apparatus for producing a brewed beverage has therefore been disclosed in EP 2 159 167, in which the capsule is arranged adjacent to a brewing chamber in which the brewed beverage can remain for a specific infusion time. The capsule is pierced on the rear side for the brewing process and a liquid is then injected via a needle, which can then flow through a screen on a side of the capsule into the brewing chamber. This brewing apparatus can operate in a substantially pressureless manner and can also be used for producing tea. It is disadvantageous however that the capsule is damaged by being piercing and leakage flows can occur at a specific filling level. Furthermore, tea can adhere to the tip protruding into the capsule, which soils the brewing chamber and optionally the brewing beverage for the next brewing process.

Method and an apparatus for preparing a brewed beverage


Methods and systems are provided for regenerating an exhaust particulate filter based on a projected vehicle drive cycle and catalyst ammonia storage level. In one example, a method may include scheduling a PF regeneration during a regeneration window to maintain a threshold ammonia level in an exhaust catalyst, at the end of the drive cycle.

Emission control devices, such as particulate filters (PF) and selective catalytic reduction (SCR) catalysts, may reduce the amount of soot and NOx emissions from an engine by trapping soot particles and reducing NOx to nitrogen and water, respectively. For reduction of NOx, the presence of a reducing agent such as ammonia is desired. Particulate filters may be regenerated during operation of the engine, to decrease the amount of trapped particulate matter. Regeneration may be achieved by raising a temperature of the PF to a predetermined level, maintaining the temperature at the predetermined level, and ensuring that exhaust gas entering the PF is of a certain composition in order to burn or oxidize the particulate matter.
Various approaches are provided for opportunistic regeneration of particulate filters. In one example approach, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 9,732,646, a method may include determining initiation of regeneration, termination of regeneration, and a degree of regeneration based on information from a lead vehicular network and navigation information in order to reduce a regeneration fuel penalty. By opportunistically performing regenerations by taking in to account information from external networks, the frequency of premature regeneration terminations may be reduced, and efficiency of partial regeneration opportunities may be identified and improved.
However, the inventors herein have recognized potential disadvantages with the above approach. As one example, during a PF regeneration, due to increased PF temperature, there may be reduction in ammonia storage capacity at a SCR catalyst (located upstream or downstream of the PF) which may affect the catalyst's NOx reduction capabilities during the current the drive cycle. Due to the decreased ammonia storage capacity, there may be increased possibility of ammonia slip at the initiation of PF regeneration. If the PF regeneration is scheduled to be terminated at the end of a current drive cycle, a lower than desired amount of ammonia may remain in the SCR catalyst during an immediately subsequent engine start, thereby adversely affecting emissions quality. The higher exhaust temperature during PF regeneration may result in increased urea injector temperatures which may cause degradation of the injectors.
The inventors herein have recognized that the issues described above may be addressed by an engine method comprising: selectively regenerating a diesel particulate filter (DPF) coupled to an exhaust passage based on a soot load, a predicted time to reach a destination, and a predicted ammonia level at a selective catalytic reduction (SCR) catalyst at the predicted time of reaching the destination. In this way, by opportunistically scheduling initiation and termination of PF regeneration based on predicted vehicle operating conditions and ammonia storage level, catalyst functionality and emissions quality may be improved.
As one example, a control system of the vehicle may be coupled to external networks (cloud) including each of a vehicle navigation system linked to a global positioning system providing travel route information and location information, and a vehicle-to-vehicle network including a group of vehicles travelling ahead of the target vehicle and within a threshold distance. The upcoming route during the current drive cycle and a time to reach the destination may be predicted based on information received from the external networks. In response to a soot load greater than a threshold amount, opportunistic regeneration parameters including a regeneration factor and a PF fill factor under current vehicle operating conditions may be determined. The regeneration factor may be based on fuel consumption costs during DPF regeneration whereas the PF fill factor may be based on fuel consumption costs associated with increased exhaust back pressure with an increase in PF soot load. In response to the cost of regeneration decreasing below the cost of filling, a plurality of possible PF regeneration initiation times may be estimated. A weighted PF regeneration factor associated with regeneration of PF starting at a possible PF regeneration initiation time may be estimated based on the effect of PF soot load on engine operation, fuel consumption, and emissions quality during the regeneration. PF regeneration may be initiated at a time corresponding to a lowest estimated weighted PF regeneration factor. An ammonia storage level may be predicted at the end of the drive cycle, and if the predicted ammonia storage level is lower than a calibrated threshold, regeneration may be terminated prior to the end of the drive cycle. Also, if a temperature of a urea injector coupled upstream of an exhaust catalyst increases to above a threshold temperature during or immediately after the PF regeneration, the regeneration may be terminated. Further, prior to initiation of PF regeneration, one or more of an injection limit of the urea injector and an ammonia storage set point of the exhaust catalyst may be adjusted.
In this way, by adjusting PF regeneration timing based on ammonia content in an exhaust SCR catalyst, emissions quality may be improved during and prior to the PF regeneration, and also during an immediately subsequent engine start. By adjusting one or more of a urea injection limit and an ammonia storage set point prior to initiation of PF regeneration, NOx reduction at the SCR catalyst prior to the regeneration may be increased and also the possibility of ammonia slippage during PF regeneration may be reduced. The technical effect of initiating PF regeneration at a time corresponding to a lowest weighted PF regeneration factor is that fuel efficiency, and emissions quality may be improved during the PF regeneration. By terminating PF regeneration in response to a modeled urea injector temperature increasing to a threshold temperature, hardware of the urea injector may be protected from degradation. Overall, by opportunistically timing the PF regeneration based on a predicted drive cycle duration, ammonia storage level, and PF temperature, engine efficiency, system robustness, and emissions quality may be improved.
It should be understood that the summary above is provided to introduce in simplified form a selection of concepts that are further described in the detailed description. It is not meant to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, the scope of which is defined uniquely by the claims that follow the detailed description. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any disadvantages noted above or in any part of this disclosure.

Systems and methods for particulate filter regeneration


An example system for distributing a workload of an application includes a class identifier that identifies a remotely instantiable class in an instruction. Execution of the instruction includes processing a workload. The example system also includes a distributor that selects a remote node to process a portion of the workload, sends a message to the selected remote node to cause (i) the selected remote node to instantiate the remotely instantiable class and (ii) the selected remote node to process the portion of the workload by invoking a method of the instantiated class, and receives a result of the processed portion of the workload.

A distributed computation may be performed on distributed computing devices. Certain computations (e.g., parallel processing or parallel programming) may benefit from using the distributed computing devices. For example, a complex computation may run faster if the computation is divided into portions and the portions are run on a number of processing devices. A node executing an application may determine how the application should be divided and what application portions go to which distributed computing systems. The distributed computing systems may receive instructions and/or data from the node and may return a result to the node.

Dynamic object oriented remote instantiation


A system for transporting articles. The transport system includes a conveyor system which includes a transport device for carrying articles between workstations and a drive rail and a support rail for supporting the transport device. The drive rail includes a drive system for propelling the transport device between workstations. At least one shoe carried by the transport device rides on the support rail for movably supporting the transport device on the support rail. The transport system also includes a protective container including a housing having an interior compartment for supporting a plurality of articles. The bottom surface of the housing is configured to engage the drive system such that actuation of the drive system propels the housing along the drive and support rails. At least one shoe carried by the housing is configured to ride on the support rail of the conveyor system to movably support the housing on the support rail. The transport system also includes the method of transporting articles including the steps of providing a transport device for holding at least one article and having at least one shoe, positioning the transport device with the base of the device supported on a drive rail and the shoe supported on a support rail, and actuating a drive system carried by the drive rail to propel the transport device along the drive rail and support rail.

The present invention relates in general to a system of transporting articles between stations and, more particularly, to a transport system for safely moving delicate or valuable articles between work stations.
In various fields, delicate or valuable articles must be safely transported between work stations and the like without damaging or destroying the articles. Articles requiring careful handling include, but are not limited to, pharmaceuticals, medical systems, flat panel displays, computer hardware as for example disc drive systems, modems and the like, and semiconductor wafers.
In general, integrated circuits are manufactured by forming a plurality of layers on a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer. A variety of processing machines are used to form the individual layer, with the wafer typically being delivered to several different machines before the integrated circuits are completed. In addition to equipment for depositing films on the wafer, the semiconductor wafer may also be cleaned or conditioned at various stages by suitable equipment. With advances in technology, integrated circuits have become increasingly complex and typically include multiple layers of intricate wiring. The size of the integrated circuits has decreased, greatly increasing the number of such devices on a single wafer. As a result of the increased complexity and decreased size of the integrated circuits, the value of the semiconductor wafer increases substantially as the wafer progresses through the various processing stages. The standard size of the semiconductor wafers will increase from 200 mm to 300 mm in the next few years, further increasing the number of integrated circuits which may be formed on a single wafer and therefore the value of each wafer. Considerable care must be taken in handling the semiconductor wafers, particularly during the later processing stages, since a damaged wafer could result in considerable monetary losses. The semiconductor wafers must be retained in a clean room environment, substantially free of particulate contamination, to preserve the purity of the layers deposited on the wafer. The requirement of a clean room environment places additional constraints on the handling of the semiconductor wafers.
For additional protection against contaminants, the semiconductor wafers are typically retained in sealed transport pods as they are moved throughout the manufacturing facility to minimize any exposure to the environment outside of the processing machines. The manufacturing facility is usually organized into a plurality of bays each including several processing machines. After the wafers in a pod have been treated at one or more of the machines, the pod leaves the bay and is transported to the next processing bay. Thus, there are essentially two types of transport loops in the manufacturing facilityxe2x80x94the inter-bay loop in which the pods are moved between the bays, and the intra-bay loop in which the pods are moved between the processing machines of a single bay. A system which may be used to conveniently, safely and efficiently handle and transport the pods is desirable. A pod transport system which maximizes the utilization of the machines in the processing bay is also desirable.
Various conveying systems have been employed to transport the pods from bay to bay along the inter-bay loop of a manufacturing facility. Because of the amount of traffic in the inter-bay loop of the manufacturing facility, inter-bay transport is typically accomplished via overhead conveyor systems. The pods are delivered to a robotic storage house, often referred to as a xe2x80x9cstockerxe2x80x9d, which receives the pods and automatically delivers the pods to the intra-bay loop. With some systems, the inter-bay conveyor system is coupled to the intra-bay conveyor system for direct transfer between the systems. However, direct transfer may be obtained only when a compatible, overhead conveyor system is used in the intra-bay loop.
Within the bays, the transport pods must be carried from machine to machine and delivered to a position where the wafers may be unloaded from the pod by the machine for processing. The machine entrance is often provided with a load port where the wafers may be automatically removed from the transport pod in a protected environment. Transferring the pods to the load port requires greater precision and control over the pod than moving the pods between the inter-bay conveyor and the bays. Various methods are employed to move the transport pods between the different processing machines in a bay. For example, many systems rely upon human workers to transfer the transport pods from port to port using a cart. The worker may manually lift the pod to the port. Alternatively, the worker may actuate a manual robotic link or other lifting device to move the pod to the port and, after processing has been completed, to return the transport pod to the cart. The worker then moves the cart to the next machine and repeats the process. Relying on human workers to transport the pods from machine to machine is time consuming and inefficient. Often, the worker will not be on hand to position a pod of fresh wafers in the load port and the machine will sit in a stand-by mode reducing the time during which the machine is operating and the overall efficiency of the processing factory. Moreover, care must be taken to ensure the lifting device is properly aligned with the load port as dropping the pod or exposing the pod to sharp jolts may damage the wafers and could cause up to millions of dollars of damage. A means of automatically moving the transport pods between machines is desirable.
Another system of intra-bay transport relies upon automatic guided vehicles (AGVs) which carry the pods between the machines and move the pods into the load port. Using AGVs reduces the need for a worker in the bay and may increase the speed at which the pods are moved through the bay. However, the size of the bay limits the number of AGVs which may operate in a single bay, leaving the machines in a stand-by mode waiting for the AGV to remove the pod of processed wafers and deposit a pod of fresh wafers in the transfer bay. An automated system which may be used to rapidly deliver pods to and remove pods from the processing machines without leaving the machines in a stand-by mode is desirable.
Overhead monorail systems are also used to transport pods along the intra-bay loop. Hoists or similar devices are used to lower the pods onto the load port of the processing machine. In order to successfully transfer the pod from the monorail to the machine, the pod must be precisely aligned with the load port and lowered onto the port in a controlled manner such that any swing of the pod is minimized. After processing, the pod is raised and transported to the next machine. Repeatedly raising and lowering the pod is challenging. An automated conveyor system which positions the pod for direct, efficient transfer to the load port is desirable.
Conveyor systems for transporting materials are well known. Examples of standard conveyors include conveyor belt systems and roller systems where the articles are transported across a plurality of rotating rollers. While these systems provide a useful means of transport in most circumstances, they are not suitable for transporting pods in a clean room environment. Moreover, these systems do not offer precise control over the acceleration and deceleration of the pod which is required to prevent shifting of the wafers within the pods.
Another type of conveyor system which may be adapted for clean room use includes a pair of spaced rails each having a drive system for supporting an article and propelling the article along the rails. The competition between the two drive systems may cause the article to shimmy as it moves along the rails. A modification of this conveyor system includes a drive system on one rail and guide wheels on the other rail to allow the article to move freely along the rails. Unless the drive system, guide wheels and features of the transport pod are in exact, horizontal alignment, the guide wheels may cause the article to tip slightly such that each guide wheel imparts a slight impact on the article. While these adverse effects may be a minor inconvenience for most articles, the vibrations can have adverse effects on the delicate, expensive semiconductor wafers carried by the transport pod. A conveyor system for safely and protectively transporting semiconductor wafers is desirable.
It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a system for transporting articles such as semiconductor wafers.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a system for transporting articles in a clean room environment.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a conveyor system which may be used to automatically move a plurality of articles between a number of processing machines.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a conveyor system which may be used to automatically move a plurality of articles between a number of processing bays.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a conveyor system which provides precise control over the movement of the articles along the conveyor system.
A more general object of the present invention is to provide a conveyor system which may be efficiently constructed, operated and maintained.
In summary, the present invention provides a system for transporting articles, including a conveyor system, a transport device and a method of transporting the articles. The conveyor system includes a transport device which carries the article between workstations. The transport device may carry a container such as a transport pod which houses the articles, or the transport device may be part of the container. The conveyor system also includes a drive rail and a support rail for supporting the transport device. The drive rail includes a drive system for propelling the transport device between workstations. At least one shoe, such as a wheel, is carried by the transport device. The shoe is configured to ride on the support rail for movably supporting the transport device on the support rail.
The transport system also includes a protective container for carrying a plurality of articles along the conveyor system. The container includes a housing having an interior compartment and a bottom surface which is positionable on the drive and support rails of the conveyor system. The bottom surface of the housing is configured to engage the drive system such that actuation of the drive system propels the housing along the drive and support rails. The interior compartment is configured to retain a plurality of articles, for example semiconductor wafers. At least one shoe is carried by the housing. The shoe is configured to ride on the support rail of the conveyor system to movably support the housing on the support rail.
The method of the invention includes the steps of providing a transport device for holding at least one article and having a base and at least one shoe, and positioning the transport device with the base of the transport device supported on a drive rail and the shoe carried by the transport device supported on a support rail of a conveyor system. The method also includes the step of actuating a drive system carried by the drive rail to propel the transport device along the drive rail and support rail.
Additional objects and features of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description and appended claims when taken in conjunction with the drawings.

Integrated roller transport pod and asynchronous conveyor


A method for measuring at least one property of an earth formation and transmitting information through the earth formation may include positioning at least one sensor downhole, circulating a wellbore fluid downhole, and transmitting a first signal from the sensor to at least one modulator.

Drilling operations often employ a number of techniques to gather information such as the depth and inclination of a borehole and the types of rocks through which a drill pipe and drill bit are drilling. For this purpose, techniques called Logging-While-Drilling (LWD) and Measurement-While-Drilling (MWD) were developed in the oil exploration and production industry, which enable the collection of data in real-time. LWD collects logging information similar to the conventional wireline logging, while MWD also enables a driller to determine the position and orientation of the drill bit and direction of a borehole during the drilling operation so that the driller can more accurately control the drilling operations.
MWD permits data to be transmitted in complex wells, such as directional and horizontal drills. MWD is achieved by incorporating MWD tools into a module in the steering tool of the drill string. These MWD tools collect real time drilling information, and transmit this data as pulses through the mud column. This data is transmitted to the surface and can be used for real-time data acquisition, geosteering, and formation evaluation.
Common to MWD techniques is the problem of transmitting data from the bottom of a borehole to a point on the surface where it can be collected and processed. One technique for this type of data transmission is mud pulse telemetry. During the drilling operation, drilling mud is pumped from a mud pump downward through the drill pipe and emerges near the drill bit at the bottom of the drill hole. This mud cools and lubricates the drill bit, carries rock cuttings to the surface where they can be analyzed and prevents the walls of the borehole from collapsing.
In mud pulse telemetry, a transmission device, or "pulser," such as an electro-mechanical pulser or a mud siren near the drill bit generates an acoustic signal that is transmitted upward to the surface through the downward traveling column of mud. Modern mud sirens, for example, are capable of generating a carrier pressure wave of 12 Hz. A transducer, generally at the surface, receives the signal and transmits it to a signal processor. The signal processor then decodes and analyzes the signal to provide information about the drilling operation to the driller.

Methods and systems of increasing signal strength of oilfield tools


A biological indicator for testing the efficacy of sterilization or disinfection processes of closed environments or confined spaces, the biological indicator comprising a carrier; biological material supported on or embedded in the carrier; and a carrier container comprising a body and a cap. The carrier is fixed within an inner space of the cap, the cap being able to be placed in an open position completely exposing the carrier and the biological material to the closed environment or confined space to be disinfected. A method for determine the efficacy of a process of sterilization or disinfection of closed environments or confined spaces, preferably by means of an enzyme and a fluorescence compound, using said biological indicator.

There is extensive bibliography on sterilization devices, processes and methods to test their efficacy. "Sterilization" is understood as the complete elimination of microorganisms, including structures such as viruses, bacteria and their spores. The devices available on the market are aimed at determining the efficiency of sterilization. Sterilization is mainly used in decontamination processes on instruments and materials for medical use, as well as on equipment used in the pharmaceutical industry and the food industry among others. Determining sterility is vital for various fields, such as those of health care and aerospace science and technology, to mention a few. In general, these sterilization processes are based on cycles that consist in introducing the material to be sterilized in a chamber and subjecting it to a selected sterilization agent. Among these sterilization agents, the following can be mentioned: steam, hydrogen peroxide, formaldehyde, ozone, tetrasilver tetraoxide and ethylene oxide. These processes include a vacuum stage in which the air from the chamber is extracted, so that said chamber is subsequently filled with the sterilizing agent. This step enables the sterilizing agent to penetrate into the most hidden spaces of the materials to be sterilized. Consequently, most devices used to measure sterilization efficacy contain biological samples hidden or with interferences in the pathway of the sterilization agent. This feature, added to the fact that the biological indicators generally include as the biological sample the most resistant microorganism to the sterilization agents, enhances the accuracy of the obtained results.
Biological and chemical indicators used to determine the efficacy of sterilization are well known in the art. Regarding conventional biological indicators, a test organism which is many times more resistant to sterilization process than most organisms likely to be present due to natural contamination, is coated on a carrier and placed in a sterilizer together with the items to be subjected to sterilization. When the cycle of sterilization is complete, the carrier is incubated in a nutrient medium to determine if any of the test organisms survived the procedure of sterilization.
It is also known that when an enzyme is subjected to sterilization conditions, sufficient to decrease the population of test microorganisms by about 6 logs, no residual activity remains. However, the biological indicator has a residual signal, which is equal to the "background". When the enzyme is subjected to inappropriate sterilization conditions, sufficient to decrease the population of test microorganisms only in the range of 1-6 logs, the enzyme has an activity greater than the background. This activity is measured as the result of the reaction of the enzyme with a substrate system. The enzyme substrate system is a substance or mixture of substances, which interacts with the enzyme to produce a detectable enzyme-modified product, e.g. a fluorescent or colored product. Thus the enzyme activity is measured by the amount of detectable product. Generally, the selected enzymes have sufficient activity, following sterilization conditions insufficient to decrease the population of the test microorganism by 6 logs, to react with the substrate and produce a detectable amount of product preferably within two hours or less.
Usually, the enzyme activity is 2-10% greater than background after sterilization conditions that are insufficient to decrease the microorganism population by 6 logs.
When a microorganism is used as the source of active enzyme, the monitoring process may include a step of incubating the microorganism, following the completion of the sterilization cycle, with an aqueous nutrient medium. The inclusion of this step allows confirming by conventional techniques whether the sterilization conditions had been sufficient to kill all the microorganisms in the biological indicator, showing that the sterilization conditions had been sufficient to sterilize all the items inside the sterilizer. If growth of the microorganism is used in a conventional manner to confirm the results of the enzyme test, the microorganism should be one which is conventionally used to monitor sterilization conditions. These conventionally used microorganisms are generally many times more resistant to the sterilization process being employed, than most organisms present in natural contamination. Bacterial spores are recognized as the most resistant microbial form of life. Spores from Bacillus and Clostridia species are most commonly used to monitor sterilization processes utilizing saturated steam, dry heat, gamma irradiation, hydrogen peroxide and ethylene oxide.
It is known that a plurality of enzymes and/or microorganism species could be used together. A single biological material indicator may contain several species of microorganisms, for instance one species being resistant to heat, a second species being resistant to gaseous sterilizing agent and a third species being resistant to radiation.
Several technologies to determine the efficacy of sterilization, have been disclosed in patent documents such as: WO 2014/149379 U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,326,562, 5,770,393, EP 2654808, U.S. Pat. No. 8,975,067. Said patent documents describe containers of biological indicators that interfere in the pathway of the sterilizing agent; i.e. they require vacuum or low pressure in the sterilization chamber for the sterilizing agent to penetrate and act more efficiently; therefore, they are not suitable for the assessment of disinfection of rooms, closed environments and confined spaces. Biological indicators for test disinfection of rooms, closed environments and confined spaces need a special physical design.
On the other hand, biological indicators have been disclosed to contribute to the assessment of decontamination in open or confined spaces such as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,856,118 and 8,765,398, but they do not guarantee sterility and they require manipulation and transfer for their development, which may result in "false positive" readings. In addition, the disclosed indicators do not include a culture medium, which must be supplied separately from the system. Complex mechanisms that might meet the requirements for determining the efficacy of disinfection have also been disclosed, such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,969,029, which are expensive devices and require dedicated incubators.
The disinfection of rooms such as isolated chambers, operating rooms, food processing and pharmaceutical manufacturing areas is widely used nowadays, and there is a need of low-cost systems designed for a rapid determination of disinfection efficacy in the state of the art.
The present invention addresses this need by providing a biological indicator specially designed for a rapid determination of the efficacy of disinfection or sterilization processes in closed environments and confined spaces.

Biological disinfection or sterilization indicator


A seat mounting structure having a seat rail for supporting a seat of a motorcycle includes seat rail members having front end portions thereof supported by an intermediate portion of a vehicle body frame. Each of the seat rail members extends rearwardly from the intermediate portion of the vehicle body frame. Each of the seat rail members has a slotted opening formed thereon at a rear portion thereof. The slotted openings are formed inwardly and upwardly from an outer portion of the seat rail members in a vehicle width direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a seat mounting structure for a motorcycle, and to a motorcycle incorporating same. More particularly, the present invention relates to seat mounting structure including a seat rail having a slotted opening formed therein.
2. Description of the Background Art
There are several known seat mounting structures having seat rail members supporting a seat of a motorcycle. The seat rail is provided at a rearward portion of a vehicle (motorcycle) body, and is configured to support a seat thereon. The seat rail is extended rearwardly from a rear of a main frame of the motorcycle. The main frame forms a front half of the body of the motorcycle. The seat rail generally includes right and left seat rail members.
An example of such known seat mounting structure for a motorcycle is disclosed in Japanese Patent document JP 2706956.
According to Japanese Patent document JP 2706956, a seat frame for motorcycle includes a right and left seat frames. Each of the right and left seat frames has a grip 9, for securing a hand of a user, provided on rear side portions thereof. The grip 9 protrudes downwardly, and portions thereof which are open upwardly and each section of U-shaped grips 9 are integrated with rear halves of the left and right seat frames 5, 6 with the portions thereof protruding sidewardly (see FIGS. 1 and 4 of the Japanese Patent document JP Patent No. 2706956).
The grips of the seat frames of the Japanese Patent document JP Patent No. 2706956, have problems because: they protrude on both sides of the seat frames; width between the seat frames may be widened since they are U-shaped and are directed upwardly; the semi-cylindrical outside faces each section swollen downwardly are gripped when a passenger seating on the rear of the seat grasps the grips, and accordingly, it is difficult to grasp the grips. Also, when the sides of the grips are covered with a rear fender and a rear cowl because of appearance, the difficulty of grasping the grips is increased.
The present invention has been made to overcome such drawbacks. Accordingly, it is one of the objects of the present invention to provide a seat mounting structure for a motorcycle having seat rail members which can be easily and securely grasped when a portion for securing a hand is provided to right and left seat rail members, in which an increase of vehicle width is restricted (inhibited) even if the portion for securing a hand is provided, and in which the appearance quality can be satisfactorily held while providing the portion for securing the seat rail members by user's hands.

Seat mounting structure for motorcycle, and motorcycle incorporating same


The present invention provides method and system for managing communication in an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) system using segments in an OFDMA frame. The method includes setting at least a first segment in the OFDMA frame as a high power segment for a plurality of base station in the OFDMA system. Further, communication is established between at least one base station and at least one communication device in the OFDMA system, in response to setting the at least first segment as a high power segment. The method further includes assigning a region of the first segment to a set of base stations in the OFDMA system. The assigned region can be used by the set of base stations at high power level to communicate with communication devices located in overlapping areas. A method for coordinating uplink transmission in the OFDMA system for reducing uplink interference is also provided.

Communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication such as voice, data, and so on, for a number of users. These communication systems are based on code division multiple access systems (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), or Orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA).
In a typical communication system, a network is divided into a plurality of cells, such that each cell area of a cell is serviced by a base station. Specifically, a communication device located in a cell area associates with a base station servicing that cell area. The base station, then, enables the communication device to communicate with other communication devices in the communication system. The communication device can also be associated with two or more base stations at the same time. This, usually, happens when the communication device is located in an overlapping portion of the cell areas of the two or more base stations.
In an OFDMA system, a base station communicates with a communication device using a frame. The frame is divided into a downlink sub-frame and an uplink sub-frame. The base station transmits data to the communication device on the downlink sub-frame and receives data from the communication device on the uplink sub-frame.
Further, in an OFDMA mode of IEEE 802.16d/e or WiMAX, the frame comprises three segments, each with a different portion of a given frequency. In order to use a single frequency in the network, a group of adjacent base stations in the OFDMA system use different segments at high power level at different time slots for communication so as to minimize downlink and uplink interference. Thus, each base station can use one segment at a high power level and two segments at a low power level and no adjacent base stations, that share a portion of an overlapping area, use the same segment simultaneously at a high power level. A segment that is used at a high power level can service communication devices in the overlapping area of the cell area and the segments used at a low power level can service only the communication devices in a non-overlapping area of the cell area. The overlapping area can be defined as a portion of the cell area which has a possibility of overlapping with a neighboring cell area. Similarly, the non-overlapping area can be defined as a portion of the cell area which has very less possibility of overlapping with a neighboring cell area.
In existing OFDMA systems, when a communication device located in the overlapping area of a base station carries out an uplink transmission on a segment, the uplink transmission may interfere with another uplink transmission on the same segment in a non-overlapping area of a neighboring base station as the communication devices transmit at full power.
Further, for a multi-base station MBS communication, two or more base stations are required to transmit data simultaneously on the downlink transmission to a communication device in an overlapping area using the same sub channels of a segment. However, conventionally, the overlapping area is serviced by neighboring base stations using different segments at the high power level. Thus, even for communication devices in overlapping area, MBS communication cannot be facilitated by two or more base stations simultaneously, resulting in a single-base station MBS communication.
Also, the existing OFDMA systems do not facilitate macro diversity handover (MDHO). MDHO is a handover mechanism where a communication device receives same data from two or more base stations at the same time, so that the signals merge and a strong effective signal is obtained.
In addition, the existing OFDMA systems provides limited scalability as a base station can communicate with a communication device located in the overlapping area using only one segment, which is at a highest power. Thus, if the number of communication devices in the overlapping area is more than the number of regions in the segment that can be allocated, some of the communication devices may experience transmission interruptions.

Method and system for managing communication in an OFDMA system