The present invention relates to compositions including peroxyacetic acid and peroxyoctanoic acid and methods for preventing microbial growth in aqueous streams including the step of applying a composition of the invention to the stream. The compositions and methods can control microbial growth in aqueous streams used for transporting or processing food products.

One method of handling a large volume of foods, such as, for example, fruits and vegetables, is after selection, to transport these various food stuffs by an aqueous medium to transport the food stuffs through various cleaning, handling, and processing steps and environments. For example, in specific applications, fresh fruits and vegetables can be transported through water streams by food handling equipment used at a processing plant. After picking, fruits and vegetables are introduced into a flume system wherein water acts as a transport medium and a cleaning medium. Water can be used to support and transport the fruits or vegetables from an unloading site to a final storage or packing or processing location. During the transport, water can take a food item from an initial location through a series of somewhat separate stages to a final station where the produce is removed from the water and packed. The water within each stage may carry a varying degree of organic load in the form of any number of sediments and soluble materials. This water is generally recycled.
Water can also be used in some of processing stages to further clean, cool, heat, cook, or otherwise modify the food in some fashion prior to packaging. Process water as defined above can sometimes be used once and discarded. However, often times a major portion of this process water is re-used and is, therefore, subject to organic and microbial contamination. In some stages this process water stream is also used to transport the food. In other stages, the process water can be a separate stream and is recycled apart from the transport water. In either situation, the process water becomes contaminated with organic matter from the food, providing nutrients for microbial growth in the water.
Given the nature of the food as well as the presence of sediments and soluble materials, the water, flume, and other transport or processing equipment may be subject to the growth of unwanted microorganisms. Water that is untreated and recycled during transport or processing accumulates debris and increased microbial populations. Left untreated, recycled water tends to clean produce early in a shift but contaminates produce later in the shift. In fact, flume water has been identified as a potential source of coliform, E. coli and Salmonella contamination or cross contamination during cider production. These and other microorganisms are generally undesirable to the food, the water, the flume and can cause buildup on all water contact surfaces of slime or biofilm, which requires frequent cleaning to remove.
Microbial contamination or cross contamination of fruits and vegetables via water continues to be a major concern for produce packers, processors and end users. Although washing fresh produce with water can reduce potential contamination, the wash water can also serve as a source of contamination or cross contamination. If pathogenic microorganisms in water are not removed, inactivated or otherwise controlled, they can spread to surrounding produce, potentially contaminating them. Further, handling or processing steps that pool many individual fruits or vegetables tend to increase the risk that a single contaminated item may contaminate the entire lot. Immersing or spray-washing fruits and vegetables in fresh water can help reduce surface populations of microorganisms. However sterilization by repeated washing, even with sterile water, cannot be achieved because microorganisms within tissues of produce remain in place.
The addition of antimicrobial agents to recycled handling or process water can inactivate most vegetative cells in water, helping avoid cross contamination. Ideally, an antimicrobial agent or compound used in such a system will have several important properties in addition to its antimicrobial efficacy. The compound or agent should have no residual antimicrobial activity on the food. Residual activity implies the presence of a film of antimicrobial material which will continue to have antimicrobial effect which may require further rinsing of the food product. The antimicrobial agent preferably should also be odor free to prevent transfer of undesirable odors onto food stuffs. If direct food contact occurs, the antimicrobial agent should also be composed of food additive materials which will not effect food if contamination occurs, nor affect humans should incidental ingestion result. In addition, the antimicrobial agent should preferably be composed of naturally occurring or innocuous ingredients, which are chemically compatible with the environment and cause no concerns for toxic residues within the water.
In the past, transport and process water apparatus have generally been treated with sodium hypochlorite and chlorine dioxide. Generally, these materials are effective in preventing the unwanted growth of microorganisms. However, the use rate of these chlorine-based antimicrobials is very high because they tend to be rapidly consumed by the high organic load included in both the fruits or vegetables and soil. Further, upon consumption, compounds such as chlorine dioxide decompose producing byproducts such as chlorites and chlorates, while hypochlorite produces trichloromethanes which may be toxic in very low concentrations. Lastly, chlorine dioxide is a toxic gas with an acceptable air concentration limit of 0.1 ppm. Exposure to ClO2 often leads to headaches, nausea, and respiratory problems, requiring expensive and intricate safety devices and equipment when it is used.
Further, the efficacy of these common antimicrobial agents on the surface of fruits and vegetables is often limited. For example, some workers have reported that chlorine dioxide effectively controlled microbial build-up in the cucumber hydrocooling water but had little effect on microorganisms on or in the fruit. Other workers showed that chlorine treatment had little effect on surface microflora of tomatoes and oranges during a packing operation. Another group concluded that commonly used antimicrobial agents have only minor effects and should not be relied upon to eliminate microorganisms from produce. Washing raw produce with chlorinated water is effective in reducing the microbial load, as long as the proper amount of residual chlorine is maintained.
An antimicrobial agent being used more commonly in fresh produce transport or process water is peroxyacetic acid. The EPA approved a peroxyacetic acid-based composition in 1996 for controlling microbial growth and reducing biofilm formation in fruit and vegetable transport or process waters. From a historical perspective, peroxyacetic acid has been used for food contact surface sanitizing, aseptic packaging and medical device cold-sterilization, among other things. In addition to its biocidal properties, the environmentally-friendly decomposition byproducts and good stability in the presence of vegetable debris helped gain acceptance of this technology among fruit and vegetable packers, handlers, and processors.
Nevertheless, there remains a need for improved antimicrobial compositions for treating waters used for transporting or processing fruits or vegetables.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and composition for inhibition of microbial growth in aqueous food transport and process streams


A magnetic element including: a core including magnetic powders of volume occupancy within the range of 60-volume % to 80-volume % with respect to the whole volume, including a binder resin of volume occupancy of 12-volume % or more with respect to the whole volume and further including vacancy of volume occupancy of 8-volume % or more with respect to the whole volume; and a coil which is formed by winding a conductive wire and concurrently, which is buried into the core.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnetic element and a manufacturing method of the magnetic element.
Description of the Related Art
For example, as a magnetic element of an inductor or the like, there exists such a type as shown in Patent Document 1 (Japanese unexamined patent publication No. 2007-081305). The type of the magnetic element shown in the Patent Document 1 is provided with an air-core coil and a core containing this air-core coil in the inside thereof in which the core is constituted by a mixture of magnetic powders and a resin. In addition, terminal-ends of the air-core are connected electrically to terminal electrodes.

Magnetic element and manufacturing method of the magnetic element


Composition for making up and/or caring for keratinous substances containing a block copolymer and a nonvolatile hydrocarbon ester oil.

Compositions for making up and/or for caring for the skin and/or lips conventionally comprise a film-forming polymer known for improving the hold of these compositions on keratinous substances and in particular, where a lipstick is concerned, the hold of the lipstick on the lips.
However, such film-forming polymers are generally conveyed in volatile oils (it being possible for the latter to be used, for example, as polymerization solvent for the film-forming polymer) which can present feelings of discomfort on application and can be harmful to the gloss of the deposited layer of lipstick. Furthermore, the presence of this volatile oil involves constraints in terms of the preparation process, in particular for the preparation of lipsticks comprising solid fatty substances, such as waxes, having a high melting point, for which it is necessary to heat to a temperature generally greater than that of the flash point of the volatile oil.
Furthermore, these compositions comprising a volatile oil have to be packaged in a packaging in order to protect from any evaporation of the solvent (that is to say of the volatile oil) from the composition during storage. This constraint on the packaging represents an additional cost.
The documents EP 1 411 069 and EP 1 882 709 disclose cosmetic compositions comprising block polymers conveyed in a volatile oil having a flash point of less than 80° C. (such as, for example, isododecane).
These block polymers are in particular synthesized in the presence of isododecane. In point of fact, the block polymer, conveyed in a volatile oil having a flash point of less than 80° C., such as isododecane, can only be formulated with cosmetic additives not requiring a stage of heating at a temperature greater than that of the flash point of the volatile oil.
Thus, for example, the introduction of a solid fatty substance, such as a wax or a pasty fatty substance, exhibiting a flash point greater than the flash point of the volatile oil cannot be carried out; this is because it would be necessary to heat the mixture of polymer, volatile oil and solid fatty substance to a temperature greater than the flash point of the volatile solvent.
In addition, the presence of a large amount of volatile oil having a flash point of less than 80° C. is harmful to good cosmetic properties being obtained for a cosmetic composition to be applied to the lips or skin. This is because a high content (that is to say of greater than 10%) of volatile oil brings about a feeling of dryness and tightness on the lips or skin (feeling of discomfort) and a reduction in the gloss of the deposited layer formed after application of the composition to the lips or skin.

Composition containing a block polymer and a nonvolatile ester oil


A nozzle arrangement comprising a triangularly shaped distributor having a stem which is attachable to a discharge tube of an aerosol can. The distributor has a slot through which shaving cream is evenly spread onto a user. A lip is arranged across the distal edge of the distributor, adjacent the orifice, to permit a flat, even distribution of the cream discharged onto the user's skin.

(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to dispensing apparatus, and more particularly, to nozzle dispensers for discharging shaving cream from a pressurized can of foam.
(2) Prior Art
Shaving cream application to one's face or legs has historically been done by hand smearing with a brush which leaves the cream wasted and unevenly spread.
Brushes dipped in cups of foam were used by shavers for many years. The brushes have since been adapted to pressurized cans.
One brush dispenser of a shaving cream is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,981,597 to Cohn. This is a somewhat complicated brush arrangement, however, requiring a number of components, in addition to multiple bristles.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,603,992 to Kavoussi shows another bristle array disposed about an aerosol nozzle, directly around its longitudinal axis.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,753,547 to Dodero shows a further brush foam discharge arrangement with the nozzle and brush at an angle from the longitudinal axis of the foam container.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,089,609 to Gring et al, shows a combination applicator and closure cap for a shaving cream container.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,636,102 to Drake shows a snap on applicator with angled brush attachable to an aerosol can, in a bulky disposal arrangement.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,961,729 to Grimm shows a brush attachment which has a groove on its proximal base to permit it to be snapped onto the rim of a can for storage, and moved for reattachment adjacent the nozzle.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a simple attachment to the discharge port of an aerosol can, which provides a more even distribution of a strip of shaving cream on a user's skin.
It is a further object of the present invention, to provide an easily cleanable dispersal attachment for aerosol shaving cans.
It is yet a further object of the present invention, to provide a distributor nozzle which provides a way for economical, even distribution of a strip of shaving cream on a user's skin.


The disclosure provides apparatus and methods of use pertaining to an adaptive, multi-functional exercise device. In one embodiment, the exercise device includes a split carriage formed of separate carriage platforms that may optionally be used in a unified mode, in which the carriage platforms move in unison, or in a split mode, in which the carriages move independently. The device also includes at least one set of ropes that are tied to the carriage platforms such that they translate the resistance of the carriage platforms when manually manipulated. The device further includes split hand and/or foot rests that may be adjusted in multiple directions depending on the demands of the particular exercise in practice. Other embodiments are also disclosed.

Pilates is a physical fitness system developed in the early 20th century by Joseph Pilates. The method seeks to develop controlled movement from a strong core. Today tens of thousands of instructors instruct millions of Americans in this popular and effective exercise discipline.
Originally developed as a series of mat exercises, the Pilates method quickly evolved to take advantage of several pieces of equipment. Each piece of equipment is configured for particular exercises, and many utilize springs or other biasing elements to provide resistance training. Resistance may be "progressive resistance," in which resistance increases as the biasing element is stretched or compressed, or "linear resistance," in which the resistance remains constant as the biasing element is manipulated.
The most widely used Pilates apparatus has long been the reformer. Reformers are made in a variety of styles and materials. For example, some reformers are made of wood, while others are formed of metal. Some reformers sit low to the ground, while others are elevated upon pedestals or legs. Despite this variety, reformers existing in the prior art have many commonalities, as shown in FIGS. 1-3, which illustrate a typical example of a reformer 50. Reformer 50 includes a frame 52, a foot/hand bar 54, a unified carriage 56 to support the body of a user, generally in a sitting, lying, or kneeling position, a set of springs (not shown) that may be adjusted to achieve a desired resistance, a headrest 60, shoulder blocks 62 to stabilize the user as the carriage is moved, and a set of straps 64 that tie to carriage 56 through a set of elevated pulleys 66.
Pilates is generally practiced in a studio environment under the direction of a certified instructor. This business model introduces a number of practical, logistical, and financial concerns relating to how Pilates equipment can and should function. For instance, studio-quality Pilates equipment is sturdy equipment that consumes a great deal of space within a studio. Each piece of equipment is an investment, with reformers reaching several-thousand dollars apiece. Under these types of space and economic constraints, it is desirable for each piece of studio equipment to provide a maximum range of exercises, thereby allowing the studio to maximize the range of classes offered, while minimizing its investment in equipment and making the most efficient and economically advantageous use of its studio space.
While existing reformers may be used to complete a variety of exercises, they are often supplemented with several other types of equipment, such as chairs, barrels, towers, and, more recently, the CoreAlign® system. As shown in prior art FIG. 4, a CoreAlign® system 100 utilizes a frame 102 that fully encloses two separate tracks 104 and two separate carts 106. Carts 106 move independently within tracks 104 using resistance created by elastic tubes (not shown) suspended between each cart 106 and one or both ends of the frame 102. Unlike reformers, which, as discussed above in reference to FIGS. 1-3, feature a unified carriage instead of two separate carts, the CoreAlign® system allows for split or scissor-type movement of the legs and/or other body parts. Like reformers, each CoreAlign® system costs thousands of dollars and consumes a substantial real-estate imprint.
To achieve the array of exercise offerings that customers demand and studio owners and instructors desire to provide, many studios invest in both reformer and CoreAlign® equipment, which requires not only a significant capital outlay, but also substantially increases cash flow requirements in the form of ongoing maintenance expenses and expenses to lease or buy sufficient studio square footage. In addition, the need to use two sets of standing, non-portable equipment to achieve a full array of desired exercises reduces a studio's flexibility in terms of class offerings and/or instructor scheduling. To make both types of equipment available during any given class, half of the equipment must be free for a portion of the time. That is, instead of twenty customers taking a class in which they utilize a single piece of equipment, a class maxes out at ten customers who each utilize two pieces of equipment over the duration of the class. Thus, the studio's expenses increase while profits decrease, an objectionable combination.
While the above discussion focuses on the studio environment, it should be noted that some individual practitioners have the resources and do purchase Pilates equipment such as the reformer and/or CoreAlign® system for home use. That said, these consumers have similar concerns to studio operators in that they must purchase and maintain multiple pieces of equipment and have the space available to keep these non-portable devices exercise ready in order to get the complete workout desired.
Equipment manufacturers, unlike studio owners and instructors, are disincentivized to innovate in the arena of multifunctional equipment that can perform the functions of multiple systems because there is a ceiling on what any given apparatus can cost, and fewer machines on offer results in lower sales. The concerns of the individual practitioner or practice provider differ, however, and demand visionary equipment that can fulfill multiple roles.

Adaptive split carriage exercise reformer


A microencapsulation and electrostatic processing (MEP) device is provided for forming microcapsules. In one embodiment, the device comprises a chamber having a filter which separates a first region in the chamber from a second region in the chamber. An aqueous solution is introduced into the first region through an inlet port, and a hydrocarbon/polymer solution is introduced into the second region through another inlet port. The filter acts to stabilize the interface and suppress mixing between the two immiscible solutions as they are being introduced into their respective regions. After the solutions have been introduced and have become quiescent, the interface is gently separated from the filter. At this point, spontaneous formation of microcapsules at the interface may begin to occur, or some fluid motion may be provided to induce microcapsule formation. In any case, the fluid shear force at the interface is limited to less than 100 dynes/cm.sup.2. This low-shear approach to microcapsule formation yields microcapsules with good sphericity and desirable size distribution. The MEP device is also capable of downstream processing of microcapsules, including rinsing, re-suspension in tertiary fluids, electrostatic deposition of ancillary coatings, and free-fluid electrophoretic separation of charged microcapsules.

A. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an apparatus for making microcapsules, encapsulating pharmaceutical compounds in microcapsules, microcapsules, microcapsule encapsulated pharmaceutical compositions and products, and methods of using the same.
B. Description of the Related Art
Many drugs and enzymes (e.g. cytotoxins or bioactive compounds) cannot be injected intravenously. Others can be injected, but rapidly degrade before reaching the target tissue. Some drugs and enzymes are cleared from the blood by the liver or kidneys so quickly that their biological half-life is too short to be of therapeutic value. Still other drugs are insoluble in aqueous solutions. Since intravenous injection in hydrocarbon solvents is not well tolerated by patients, such drugs are difficult to administer.
These limitations can be overcome by encapsulating the drugs inside small spheres or capsules which can be transported in the blood to the target and which can then release the drug directly to the target by diffusion. Properly designed microcapsules can provide unique methods of direct delivery by injection, nasal inhalation and dermal administration for sustained release of important bioactive drugs.
Solid matrix microspheres may also be used for transporting adsorbed drugs within the matrix. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,492,720 to Mosier disclosed methods for making microspheres to deliver chemotherapeutic drugs (including Cis-Platinum) to vascularized tumors. This method of preparing microspheres is accomplished by liquid encapsulation and solid-phase entrapment wherein the water-soluble drug is dispersed in a solid matrix material. The method involves dissolving the aqueous drug and the matrix material in an organic solvent, in which they are mutually soluble, then dispersing this mixture in a second organic solvent to form an emulsion that is stable enough for intravascular injection.
Other solid-matrix approaches have utilized copolymers such as polyvinyl chloride/acrylonitrile dissolved initially in organic solvents to form microparticles containing aqueous enzyme solutions. U.S. Pat. No. 3,639,306 to Sternberg et al. discloses a method of making anisotropic polymer particles having a sponge-like inner support structure comprising large and small void spaces and an outer, microporous polymer film barrier. A multiple-step batch process is used which entails removal of the organic solvents used to dissolve the polymers prior to addition of aqueous components.
Solid-matrix microspheres, however, are often not perfect spheres thereby limiting the packing density. Additionally, many drugs cannot be trapped or adsorbed in these systems at effective concentrations and drug-release rates are typically cyclic due to higher diffusion rates from the surface than from the matrix core.
Microcapsules may provide encapsulation of higher concentrations and improved drug-release rates. "Microcapsule", as used herein, is a general term which can include any spherical liquid-filled microscopic vesicle surrounded by a semipermeable outer membrane, including, micelles, inverted micelles, bilayer vesicles, and multi-lamellar (multilayered) microcapsules which comprise at least two layers, one of which is innermost and is substantially completely enclosed within the other.
The size and shape of the microcapsules is critical. Microcapsule distribution and drug delivery behavior in the tissues is very sensitive to these parameters. Typically, microcapsules of roughly 1-20 micron diameter are optimum for intravenous administration, whereas, 30-300 micron diameter microcapsules are used for intraarterial delivery and 300 micron or greater for intraperitoneal administration.
Certain current methods of forming microcapsules (such as liposomes) are based on chemical characteristics of certain phospholipids that self-assemble into bilayers when dispersed in an excess of water. Most liposomes carry pharmaceuticals dissolved in the entrapped water. Drugs that are insoluble or that have only limited solubility in aqueous solvents pose problems for incorporation into liposomes. Such organic-soluble drugs are usually limited in liposomal formulations to those that bind inside the hydrophobic region of the liposome bilayer. Some drugs are so insoluble that they do not associate with the bilayer and, therefore, have very low encapsulation efficiencies. Certain liposomal drug formulations, including anti-tumor liposomes containing dexorubicin [Gabizion et al. 1992] or muramyltripeptide have been studied extensively in clinical trials. Many conventional therapeutic liposome microcapsules have natural phospholipid outer skins (usually in combination with cholesterol and fatty amine) and therefore are subject to elimination by immune cells. Other conventional methods use sialic acid and other coatings on the lipid bilayer to mask the liposomes from detection by the scavenging immune cells in the reticuloendothelial system (RES).
Conventional methods of forming microcapsules are based on liquid--liquid dispersions of aqueous drugs and organic solvents. The dispersion methods often require emulsification of the aqueous phase into organic carrier solutions by shear, bubbling or sonication. These methods typically produce water-in-oil (W/O) type liposomes, for which a second requisite step is the removal of the organic solvent (typically by evaporation) to form reverse-phase evaporation vesicles or stable plurilamellar vesicles. The size distribution for these vesicles is quite heterogeneous.
These methods are limited because the density-driven phase separation results in the need to use multi-step, batch processing including mechanical mixing and solvent evaporation phases. Each batch step suffers losses which reduce overall efficiencies. Typically, in order to generate multilamellar vesicles, film casting with organic solvents, hydration and sizing using filtration through inert membrane filters is required [Talsma and Crommelin 1992]. Sophisticated, multi-step emulsion technology is required and yields of uniform type and size are often very low.
For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,855,090 to Wallach, discloses a method of making a multilamellar lipid vesicle by blending an aqueous phase and a nonaqueous lipophilic phase using a high shear producing apparatus. The lipophilic phase is maintained at a high temperature (above the melting point of the lipid components) and is combined with an excess of the aqueous phase, which is also maintained at a high temperature. U.S. Pat. No. 5,032,457 to Wallach discloses a paucilamellar lipid vesicle and method of making paucilamellar lipid vesicles (PLV). The method comprises combining a nonaqueous lipophilic phase with an aqueous phase at high temperatures and high shear mixing conditions, wherein the PLVs are rapidly formed in a single step process. U.S. Pat. No. 4,501,728 to Geho et al. discloses the encapsulation of one or more drugs or other substances within a liposome covered with a sialic acid residue for masking the surface of the membrane from scavenging cells of the body utilizing techniques known for the production of liposomes. In one embodiment, additional tissue specific constituents are added to the surface of the liposome which cause the liposome thusly treated to be attracted to specific tissues. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,013,556 to Woodle et al. provided methods for making liposomes with enhanced circulation times. Liposomes created by this method contain 1-20 mole % of an amphipathic lipid derivatized with a polyalkylether (such as phosphatidyl ethanolamine derivatized with polyethyleneglycol). U.S. Pat. No. 5,225,212 to Martin et al. discloses a liposome composition for extended release of a therapeutic compound into the bloodstream, the liposomes being composed of vesicle-forming lipids derivatized with a hydrophilic polymer, wherein the liposome composition is used for extending the period of release of a therapeutic compound such as a polypeptide, injected within the body. Formulations of "stealth" liposomes have been made with lipids that are less detectable by immune cells in an attempt to avoid phagocytosis [Allen et al. 1992]. Still other modifications of lipids (i.e., neutral glycolipids) may be affected in order to produce anti-viral formulations (U.S. Pat. No. 5,192,551 to Willoughby et al. 1993). However, new types of microcapsules are needed to exploit the various unique applications of this type of drug delivery.
Processes and devices are needed for forming spherical multilamellar microcapsules having alternating hydrophilic and hydrophobic liquid layers, surrounded by flexible, semi-permeable hydrophobic or hydrophilic outer membranes which can be tailored specifically to control the diffusion rate. In particular, devices for making such microcapsules are needed which do not rely on batch processes involving mechanical mixing and solvent evaporation phases. Moreover, there is clearly a need for methods, devices, and compositions which allow for larger and somewhat uniformly sized microcapsules which have the ability to carry larger amounts of drug and/or more than one drug within a semi-permeable outer membrane, possibly dissolved in different solvent phases within the outer membrane. Such improved microcapsules would be particularly useful in the delivery of pharmaceutical compositions.

Microencapsulation and electrostatic processing device

The United States of America as represented by the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration


An optical recording medium which comprises a light reflective layer, a light transmissive layer and a light absorptive layer, the material comprising the light transmissive layer has a melting, sublimation or decomposition temperature at least 300.degree. C. less than that of the material comprising the absorptive layer. Information is recorded as openings in both the light transmissive and absorptive layers or as bubbles in the absorptive layer. These storage mechanisms produce topographical features which are suitable for replication, thus allowing direct replication of the recorded information.

Spong, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,097,895, which issued June 27, 1978, has disclosed an ablative optical recording medium for use in an optical recording system, which medium comprises a light reflective material which is coated with a layer of a light absorptive organic material. A focused, modulated light beam, such as a light beam from an argon ion laser, when directed at the recording medium, vaporizes or ablates the light absorptive layer, leaving an opening in this layer and exposing the light reflecting material. The thickness of the light absorptive layer is chosen so that the reflectivity of the recording medium is reduced.
Bell, in a co-pending application, Ser. No. 054,437 filed July 3, 1979, which is a continuation of Ser. No. 782,032 filed Mar. 28, 1977, now abandoned, has disclosed an improved ablative trilayer optical recording medium for use in the Spong optical recording system. The trilayer optical recording medium comprises a light reflective material, a layer of a light transmissive material overlying the light reflective material, and a layer of light absorptive material overlying the light transmissive layer. The thickness of the light absorptive layer is so related to the thickness of the light transmissive layer and the optical constants of the light reflective material and the transmissive and absorptive layers, so as to reduce the optical reflectivity of the recording medium. A maximum fraction of light impinging on the recording medium from a focused, modulated light beam, is then absorbed and converted to thermal energy in the light absorbing layer. The thermal energy ablates or melts the light absorptive layer producing an opening in the layer and thus exposing the underlying light reflecting layer through the light transmissive layer.
The reflectivity in the area of the opening of the light absorptive layer is essentially that of the light reflective layer and is much greater than that of the surrounding unexposed region. During readout this difference in reflectivities is detected optically and converted into an electrical signal representative of the recorded information.
The trilayer recording medium of Bell can be formed of aluminum as the light reflective material, a silicon dioxide light transmissive layer and a titanium metal light absorptive layer typically about 2 to 12 nanometers thick. This recording medium has good archival properties and signal-to-noise performance upon readout of information recorded at powers well above the threshold power for recording but has a comparatively low recording sensitivity. Replacement of the titanium layer with a tellurium layer increases the recording sensitivity but degrades the archival performance of the recording medium. Thus for archival purposes, a layer comprised of a material such as titanium is preferred.
It would also be desirable to reproduce the recorded medium so that multiple copies could be obtained. However, because the absorptive layer is so thin, openings in this layer are difficult to replicate to form a master from which copies can be made.
Thus, it would be desirable to be able to record information using the recording medium of Bell because of its desirable recording and readout features, while at the same time being able to replicate the recorded information.


This disclosure enables high-productivity fabrication of semiconductor-based separation layers (made of single layer or multi-layer porous semiconductors such as porous silicon, comprising single porosity or multi-porosity layers), optical reflectors (made of multi-layer/multi-porosity porous semiconductors such as porous silicon), formation of porous semiconductor (such as porous silicon) for anti-reflection coatings, passivation layers, and multi-junction, multi-band-gap solar cells (for instance, by forming a variable band gap porous silicon emitter on a crystalline silicon thin film or wafer-based solar cell). Other applications include fabrication of MEMS separation and sacrificial layers for die detachment and MEMS device fabrication, membrane formation and shallow trench isolation (STI) porous silicon (using porous silicon formation with an optimal porosity and its subsequent oxidation). Further the disclosure is applicable to the general fields of Photovoltaics, MEMS, including sensors and actuators, stand-alone, or integrated with integrated semiconductor microelectronics, semiconductor microelectronics chips and optoelectronics.

Crystalline silicon (including multi- and mono-crystalline silicon) is the most dominant absorber material for commercial photovoltaic applications. The relatively high efficiencies associated with mass-produced crystalline silicon solar cells, in conjunction with the abundance of material, garner appeal for continued use and advancement. But the relatively high cost of crystalline silicon material itself limits the widespread use of these solar modules. At present, the cost of "wafering," or crystallizing silicon and cutting a wafer, accounts for about 40% to 60% of the finished solar module manufacturing cost. If a more direct way of making wafers were possible, great headway could be made in lowering the cost of solar cells.
There are different known methods of growing monocrystalline silicon and releasing or transferring the grown wafer. Regardless of the methods, a low cost epitaxial silicon deposition process and a high-volume, production-worthy low cost method of release layer formation may be prerequisites for wider use of silicon solar cells.
Porous semiconductor (PS) formation is a fairly new field with an expanding application landscape. The viability of this technology in solar applications may hinge on the ability to industrialize the process to large scale (at low cost), requiring development of very low cost-of-ownership, high-productivity porous silicon manufacturing equipment.
PS has been used in MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical systems) and related applications, where there is a higher tolerance for cost per unit area of the wafer than solar PV. The microelectronics industry achieves economy of scale through obtaining greater yield by increasing the number of die (or chips) per wafer, scaling the wafer size, and enhancing the chip functionality (or integration density) with each successive new product generation. In the solar industry, economy is achieved through the industrialization of solar cell and module manufacturing processes with low-cost, high-productivity equipment. Further economies are achieved through price reduction in raw materials through reduction of materials used per watt output of solar cells.
Some typical precursor chemistries for PS are: HF (49% in H2O typically), IPA (and/or acetic acid) and DI H2O. IPA (and/or acetic acid) serves as a surfactant and assists in the uniform creation of PS. Additional additives may be used to enhance the electrical conductivity of the electrolyte, thus reducing its heating through ohmic losses. Mixtures of HF and chemicals other than IPA can be readily employed by those skilled in the art.
In order to achieve the necessary economy for solar, process cost modeling is studied to identify and optimize equipment performance. Three categories of cost make up the total cost picture: fixed cost (FC), recurring cost (RC) and yield cost (YC). FC is made up of items such as equipment purchase price, installation cost and robotics or automation cost. RC is largely made up of electricity, gases, chemicals, operator salaries and maintenance technician support. YC may be interpreted as the total value of parts lost during production.
To achieve the cost-of-ownership (CoO) numbers required by the solar field, all aspects of the cost picture must be optimized. The qualities of a low cost process are (in order of priority): 1) high productivity, 2) high yield, 3) low RC, and 4) low FC.
Designing highly productive equipment requires a good understanding of the process requirements and reflecting those requirements in the equipment architecture. High yield requires a robust process and reliable equipment, and as equipment productivity increases, so too does yield cost. Low RC is also a prerequisite for overall low CoO. RC can impact plant site selection based on, for example, cost of local power or availability of bulk chemicals. FC, although important, is diluted by equipment productivity.
With the above said, in summary, high productivity, reliable, efficient manufacturing equipment may be a prerequisite for low cost solar cells.
Achieving low RC requires efficient use of chemicals. In wet processes, "drag out" or chemical carried out of the reaction chamber, must be rinsed off the wafer. With a greater amount of "drag out," a correspondingly greater amount of rinse water is required to clean the wafer. Both of these factors add to CoO. Moreover, one must minimize the aging of chemicals so that they can be reused and/or recycled over an extended period.

High-productivity porous semiconductor manufacturing equipment


A triple papermaking fabric, having at least one fabric repeat unit which comprises: a set of sixteen warp yarns or MD yarns, which extend in machine direction and are subdivided into eight top MD yarns eight bottom MD yarns; three top CMD yarns interwoven only with the top MD yarns form a top fabric layer; three bottom CMD yarns interwoven only with the bottom MD yarns to form a bottom fabric layer; three binding yarns interwoven with both the top MD yarns and the bottom MD yarns so as to bind the top layer to the bottom layer; the fabric has a ratio between weft yarns and warp yarns of 3:1.

The traditional Fourdrinier papermaking process substantially includes three subsequent steps, carried out in corresponding sections of the papermaking machine: forming section, pressing section, drying section.
In the forming section, an aqueous pulp of cellulose fibers (and possibly other components) is arranged on a so-called forming fabric, loop-closed and supported by rollers. The removing of water from the pulp through the forming fabric leads to the gradual formation of a wet paper material web with still relatively high water content. Further removing of water takes place in the pressing section, in which the paper material is pressed passing through one or more pairs of rollers. The paper material is then sent to the drying section for removing the remaining moisture. The paper thus formed is ready for the subsequent steps of finishing and packaging.
Hereinafter, as customary in the papermaking industry, the terms "machine direction" (abbreviated "MD") and "cross machine direction" (abbreviated "CMD") are used to indicate a direction aligned with the feeding direction of the forming fabric in the papermaking machine and a direction parallel to the surface of the fabric and crosswise (orthogonal) to the feeding direction, respectively. The direction or orientation of the warp and weft yarns of the forming fabric are also indicated with reference to machine direction and cross machine direction.
Furthermore, again as customary in the industry, the surface of the forming fabric in contact with the cellulose pulp (i.e. with the paper material being formed) is the top surface of the fabric and the opposite side facing the machine is the bottom surface. This reference will be adopted also to describe the vertical spatial arrangement of the yarns in the forming fabric.
Some features of the papermaking fabrics are particularly important, such as the supporting capacity and the filtering capacity, especially in the forming section.
Furthermore, papermaking fabrics must have excellent stability also when moved at high speed, high permeability for reducing the amount of water withheld in the pulp when it is transferred to the pressing section and a low energy consumption for moving them.
Although various types of papermaking fabrics, are known, in particular for use in the forming section, there still appears to be margin for improvement in the industry, e.g. in terms of mechanical strength, stability, durability, draining capacity and quality of the formed paper.


The present invention aims at providing a controlling apparatus and a controlling method for a wavelength division multiplexing optical amplifier to reduce the controlling error due to the affection of noise light included in the monitoring light to be used for controlling the wavelength division multiplexing optical amplifier, to thereby realize precise controlling of the optical amplifier. To this end, the controlling apparatus for a wavelength division multiplexing optical amplifier according to the present invention: branches, by a photocoupler, a portion of WDM signal light amplified by a light level controlling part; and separates the thus branched light into groups of even-numbered channel components and odd-numbered channel components making use of a wavelength channel separate filter. Further, monitor signals corresponding to the light powers of the even-numbered group and odd-numbered group, respectively, are generated by respective photoelectric converting parts and LPF""s. Moreover, that one of the monitor signals, which corresponds to one of the even-numbered group and the odd-numbered group, is selected by a monitor signal selecting/controlling part and then sent to a comparator. The controlling apparatus conducts feedback controlling in accordance with the output signal of the comparator, so that the light level controlling part conducts to ALC (automatic level control) operate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a controlling apparatus and a controlling method for controlling a wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) optical amplifier for collectively amplifying wavelength division multiplexed signal light beams to be used in optical communications, and particularly to a controlling apparatus and a controlling method for a wavelength division multiplexing optical amplifier, capable of reducing errors due to the affection of noise light to thereby realize a controlling operation with high precision.
2. Related Art
Attention has been recently directed to an optical wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) transmission system, as a technique adapted to drastically increase a transmission capacity per one thread of optical fiber transmission path, and as a basic technique leading to a lightwave network constitution. On the other hand, optical amplifiers are able to linearly amplify optical signals without once converting them into electrical signals, to thereby largely improve regenerating and repeating intervals. Thus, optical amplifiers are widely used particularly in a main line transmission system. Further, since the optical wavelength division multiplexing transmission system is also able to collectively amplify a plurality of optical signals, so that the advantage of optical amplifiers can be effectively utilized.
In a conventional optical transmission system adopting optical amplifiers, it is impossible to obtain transmission channel information by monitoring such as overheads of electrical signals at an optical amplifying-repeating device (linear repeating station). Thus, as alternative means therefor, there is known a method for wavelength division multiplexing optical supervisory channel signal light (hereinafter called xe2x80x9cOSC signal lightxe2x80x9d) into main signal light. This OSC signal light is generated such as by a WDM terminal equipment at a transmission side and terminated at an optical amplifying-repeating device, and necessary information is again multiplexed into the OSC signal light, to be transferred to a WDM terminal equipment at a receiving side.
Level controlling systems for optical amplifiers to be used in the aforementioned optical transmission system include one for keeping constant the output level of an optical amplifier (hereinafter called xe2x80x9cALC [automatic level control] systemxe2x80x9d) and another for keeping constant the gain (a difference between input and output levels) of an optical amplifier (hereinafter called xe2x80x9cAGC [automatic gain control] systemxe2x80x9d).
FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing an exemplary constitution of a general ALC system. In the ALC system such as shown in FIG. 10, there is monitored a portion of output signal light output from light level controlling means including such as an optical amplifier and an optical attenuator, and such as the gain of the optical amplifier and the loss of the optical attenuator are feedback controlled so as to keep constant the averaged level of the output signal light.
FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing an exemplary constitution of a general AGC system. In the AGC system such as shown in FIG. 11, there are monitored a portion of input signal light into light level controlling means and a portion of output signal light output from light level controlling means, and the light level controlling means is feedback controlled so as to keep constant the difference between the averaged levels of the input light and output light.
In case of utilizing an optical amplifier in optical wavelength division multiplexing transmission, when the number of wavelength channels is changed while keeping a reference signal in FIG. 10 at a constant value under the control of ALC system, there is caused fluctuation in wavelength channel levels as shown in FIG. 12. Namely, if the number of wavelength channels is changed to 4 channels when the system is ALC operating with a setting that the number of wavelength channels is 2 channels, the light level controlling means is feedback controlled such that the averaged level of the whole of the output signal light at 2 channels and that at 4 channels are constant because the reference signal of a comparator is constant, resulting in the respective wavelength channel levels being lowered after changing the number of wavelength channels. As such, it is also necessary in the ALC system to change the reference signal corresponding to the number of wavelength channels being used. In this respect, it is possible to obtain the information about the number of wavelength channels being used, such as via the OSC signal light transmitted from the WDM terminal equipment at the transmission side to the optical amplifying-repeating device.
Meanwhile, when the optical amplifier is AGC operating, the levels of respective wavelength channels are kept constant as shown in FIG. 13 even if the number of wavelength channels is changed. Namely, since the difference between the averaged levels of the input light and output light is kept constant even if the number of wavelength channels is changed from 2 channels to 4 channels, the respective wavelength channel levels are controlled to be constant before and after the change of the number of wavelength channels.
However, in the conventional controlling method for an optical amplifier for optical wavelength division multiplexing as described above, there has existed a problem of a controlling error due to the affection of noise light called amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) light to be caused upon linearly amplifying optical signals.
FIG. 14 shows an example of a spectrum of an optical wavelength division multiplexed transmission signal, where the number of wavelength channels is 8 channels. In FIG. 14, what can be seen at the lower side of spectrum peaks of respective wavelength channels, is ASE light caused upon linearly amplifying optical signals.
The spectrum shape of ASE light is determined by the amplification band of an optical amplifier, optical amplifiers having wider amplification bands (i.e., capable of amplification of many wavelength channels) have wider noise bands, and the ASE light is accumulated whenever the linear amplification is repeated. Concerning the optical signal to be monitored when conducting the level control of an optical amplifier, the light powers of respective wavelength channels are not individually monitored, but the whole of the light output of the optical amplifier is monitored such as by a PD (photodetector). This results in the inclusion of the aforementioned ASE light, leading to an error upon conducting the level control of wavelength channel light. The controlling error due to ASE light becomes more apparent, when an optical amplifier having a wide band is to be used at a smaller number of wavelength channels, for example, when an optical amplifier having a wavelength band corresponding to 32 channels is used at 1 channel.
Further, the purpose of the ALC operation of a WDM optical amplifier is to suppress the drift of an input signal level such as due to the loss fluctuation of a transmission path, to thereby ensure a stable transmission quality. As such, it is also desired to ALC operate the optical amplifier when a wavelength channel(s) is(are) added or subtracted. However, in the conventional controlling method, it has been required to once stop the ALC, when adding/subtracting wavelength channel(s).
Further, when an optical amplifier is AGC operating, it is required that the amplitude and speed of level fluctuation to be caused by addition or subtraction of wavelength channels are within a range of the AGC operation response, such that the change of the number of wavelength channels does not affect the light levels of respective wavelength channel lights. However, the response speed of AGC by the conventional controlling method has not been necessarily at a sufficient level.
Still referring to FIG. 14, the ratio between the level of wavelength channel light and that of the noise light is called an optical signal to noise ratio (hereinafter called OSNR) which is an important parameter in evaluating the quality of optical transmission signals. To accurately measure the OSNR, it is necessary to measure the spectrum of optical signals, which requires a spectrum analyzer having a wide dynamic range. However, from the standpoint of simplification of the constitution of an optical amplifying-repeating device, it is not necessarily advisable to provide a spectrum analyzer in each optical amplifying-repeating device for the purpose of measuring the OSNR.
The present invention has been carried out in view of the conventional problems as described above, and it is therefore a first object of the present invention to reduce the controlling error due to the affection of noise light to thereby realize precise controlling of an optical amplifier. It is a second object to realize controlling of an optical amplifier capable of suppressing the drift of an input signal level such as due to the loss fluctuation of a transmission path, even when a wavelength channel(s) is(are) added or subtracted. It is a third object to realize controlling of an optical amplifier capable of reducing the aforementioned restriction of the AGC operation when adding or subtracting a wavelength channel(s). Further, it is a fourth object to realize a controlling method capable of readily monitoring the OSNR without measuring the spectrum of optical signals.
To achieve the above object, one aspect of the present invention provides a controlling apparatus for controlling an operation of a wavelength division multiplexing optical amplifier to collectively amplify wavelength division multiplexed signal light including a plurality of channel lights of different wavelengths, comprising: optical separating means for separating the wavelength division multiplexed signal lights into a plurality of wavelength groups; light power measuring means for measuring a light power per each of the plurality of wavelength groups separated by the optical separating means; and controlling means for controlling the operation of the wavelength division multiplexing optical amplifier based on the light power of one of the plurality of wavelength groups measured by the light power measuring means.
According to such a constitution, the wavelength division multiplexed signal light is divided into a plurality of wavelength groups, and the light power per each of the plurality of wavelength groups is measured by the light power measuring means. Further, one of the measured light powers of the respective wavelength groups is selected, and the operation of the wavelength division multiplexing optical amplifier is controlled by the controlling means based on the selected light power of the pertinent wavelength group. In this way, there is reduced the ratio of the noise light component included in the monitoring light to be used for controlling the optical amplifier, so as to reduce the controlling error due to the affection of noise light to thereby realize a controlling operation with high accuracy.
Further, the aforementioned controlling apparatus may further comprise: optical branching means for branching a portion of the wavelength division multiplexed signal light amplified by the wavelength division multiplexing optical amplifier, and for outputting the branched portion to the optical separating means; wherein the optical separating means has a transmission wavelength characteristic which periodically varies corresponding to the wavelength channel intervals of the wavelength division multiplexed signal light, and separates the portion of the wavelength division multiplexed signal light branched by the optical branching means into an even-numbered group including even-numbered channel lights and an odd-numbered group including odd-numbered channel lights; wherein the light power measuring means measures the respective light powers of the even-numbered group and the odd-numbered group separated by the optical separating means; and wherein the controlling means controls the operation of the wavelength division multiplexing optical amplifier, based on one of the light power of the even-numbered group and the light power of the odd-numbered group measured by the light power measuring means.
According to such a constitution, the optical branching means branches a portion of the wavelength division multiplexed signal light to be dealt with the wavelength division multiplexing optical amplifier, the thus branched portion of the signal light is separated into the even-numbered group and the odd-numbered group by the optical separating means, and the light powers of the respective groups are measured by the light power measuring means. Further, one of the measured light powers of the even-numbered group and odd-numbered group is selected, and the operation of the wavelength division multiplexing optical amplifier is controlled by the controlling means based on the thus selected light power of the pertinent group.
In the aforementioned controlling apparatus, the optical branching means may include an output side branching part for branching a portion of the wavelength division multiplexed signal light output from the wavelength division multiplexing optical amplifier; and the controlling means may include a constant-output-level controlling part for controlling the operation of the wavelength division multiplexing optical amplifier such that the output light level is constant, based on one of the light power of the even-numbered group and the light power of the odd-numbered group measured by the light power measuring means.
According to such a constitution, the output side branching part branches, as monitoring light, a portion of the wavelength division multiplexed signal light amplified by the wavelength division multiplexing optical amplifier, and the thus branched portion is separated by the optical separating means into the even-numbered group and odd-numbered group. Further, the wavelength division multiplexing optical amplifier is controlled to ALC operate by the constant-output-level controlling part, based on one of the light power of the even-numbered group and the light power of the odd-numbered group measured by the light power measuring means. In this way, it becomes possible to reduce the monitor level error of ALC due to the affection of noise light, thereby enabling realization of the ALC with high accuracy.
In addition, in the aforementioned controlling apparatus, the optical branching means may include an input side branching part for branching a portion of the wavelength division multiplexed signal light input into the wavelength division multiplexing optical amplifier, and an output side branching part for branching a portion of the wavelength division multiplexed signal light output from the wavelength division multiplexing optical amplifier, the optical separating means may include: an input side separating part for separating the portion of the wavelength division multiplexed signal light branched by the input side branching part into the even-numbered group and the odd-numbered group; and an output side separating part for separating the portion of the wavelength division multiplexed signal light branched by the output side branching part into the even-numbered group and the odd-numbered group, the light power measuring means may include: an input side light power measuring part for measuring the respective light powers of the even-numbered group and the odd-numbered group separated by the input side separating part; and an output side light power measuring part for measuring the respective light powers of the even-numbered group and the odd-numbered group separated by the output side separating part, and the controlling means may include a constant-gain controlling part for controlling the operation of the wavelength division multiplexing optical amplifier such that the level difference of the input light and output light of the wavelength division multiplexing optical amplifier is constant, based on one of the light powers of the even-numbered groups and the light powers of the odd-numbered groups measured by the input side light power measuring part and the output side light power measuring part, respectively.
According to such a constitution, the input light into and the output light from the wavelength division multiplexing optical amplifier are monitored, respectively, and the wavelength division multiplexing optical amplifier is controlled to AGC operate by the constant-gain controlling part based on one of the light powers of the even-numbered groups and the light powers of the odd-numbered groups as measured by the input side light power measuring part and the output side light power measuring part, respectively. In this way, it becomes possible to reduce the monitor level error of the AGC due to the affection of noise light, thereby enabling realization of the AGC with high accuracy.
The aforementioned controlling means of the controlling apparatus may include a selecting part for selecting, in accordance with a selection signal from the outside, one of the light power of the even-numbered group and the light power of the odd-numbered group measured by the light power measuring means, to control the operation of the wavelength division multiplexing optical amplifier based on the light power selected by the selecting part. Concretely, the controlling means preferably conducts the controlling, by selecting the light power of the odd-numbered group by the selecting part when the even-numbered channel is to be added or subtracted, and by selecting the light power of the even-numbered group by the selecting part when the odd-numbered channel is to be added or subtracted.
According to such a constitution, it becomes possible to select from the outside as to which of the monitoring values of the even-numbered group and odd-numbered group is to be used for controlling the optical amplifier. Further, when a wavelength channel is to be added or subtracted, there is selected the monitoring value of the wavelength group which does not include the wavelength channel to be added or subtracted. Thus, the operation of the optical amplifier can be continuously controlled without any interruption, even when adding or subtracting wavelength channels.
Another aspect of the present invention further provides a controlling apparatus for controlling an operation of a wavelength division multiplexing optical amplifier to collectively amplify wavelength division multiplexed signal light including a plurality of channel lights of different wavelengths, comprising: optical branching means for branching a portion of the wavelength division multiplexed signal light; optical separating means having a transmission wavelength characteristic which periodically varies corresponding to the wavelength channel intervals of the wavelength division multiplexed signal light, and separating the portion of the wavelength division multiplexed signal light branched by the optical branching means into a signal component including the channel lights of respective wavelengths and noise lights around the channel lights and a noise component including the noise lights existing in wavelength bands between the respective wavelength channel lights; light power measuring means capable of measuring the light power of the signal component separated by the optical separating means; and controlling means for controlling the operation of the wavelength division multiplexing optical amplifier based on the light power of the signal component measured by the light power measuring means.
According to such a constitution, the optical branching means branches a portion of the wavelength division multiplexed signal light to be dealt with the wavelength division multiplexing optical amplifier, the thus branched portion of the signal light is separated into the signal component and the noise component by the optical separating means, and at least the light power of the signal component is measured by the light power measuring means. Further, the operation of the wavelength division multiplexing optical amplifier is controlled by the controlling means based on the measured light power of the signal component. In this way, there is reduced the ratio of the noise light component included in the monitoring light to be used for controlling the optical amplifier, so as to reduce the controlling error due to the affection of noise light to thereby realize a controlling operation with high accuracy.
In the aforementioned controlling apparatus, the optical branching means may include an output side branching part for branching a portion of the wavelength division multiplexed signal light output from the wavelength division multiplexing optical amplifier; and the controlling means may include a constant-output-level controlling part for controlling the operation of the wavelength division multiplexing optical amplifier such that the output light level is constant, based on the light power of the signal component measured by the light power measuring means.
According to such a constitution, the output side branching part branches, as monitoring light, a portion of the wavelength division multiplexed signal light amplified by the wavelength division multiplexing optical amplifier, and the thus branched portion is separated by the optical separating means into the signal component and the noise component. Further, the wavelength division multiplexing optical amplifier is controlled to ALC operate by the constant-output-level controlling part based on the light power of the signal component measured by the light power measuring means. In this way, it becomes possible to reduce the monitor level error of ALC due to the affection of noise light, thereby enabling realization of the ALC with high accuracy.
In the aforementioned controlling apparatus, the optical branching means may include: an input side branching part for branching a portion of the wavelength division multiplexed signal light input into the wavelength division multiplexing optical amplifier; and an output side branching part for branching a portion of the wavelength division multiplexed signal light output from the wavelength division multiplexing optical amplifier, the optical separating means may include: an input side separating part for separating the portion of the wavelength division multiplexed signal light branched by the input side branching part into the signal component and the noise component; and an output side separating part for separating the portion of the wavelength division multiplexed signal light branched by the output side branching part into the signal component and the noise component, the light power measuring means may include: an input side light power measuring part capable of measuring the light power of the signal component separated by the input side separating part; and an output side light power measuring part capable of measuring the light power of the signal component separated by the output side separating part, and the controlling means may include a constant-gain controlling part for controlling the operation of the wavelength division multiplexing optical amplifier such that the level difference of the input light and output light of the wavelength division multiplexing optical amplifier is constant, based on the light powers of the signal components measured by the input side light power measuring part and the output side light power measuring part, respectively.
According to such a constitution, the input light into and the output light from the wavelength division multiplexing optical amplifier are monitored, respectively, and the wavelength division multiplexing optical amplifier is controlled to AGC operate by the constant-gain controlling part based on the light powers of the signal components measured by the input side light power measuring part and the output side light power measuring part, respectively. In this way, it becomes possible to reduce the monitor level error of the AGC due to the affection of noise light, thereby enabling realization of the AGC with high accuracy.
In addition, in the aforementioned controlling apparatus, the light power measuring means may be capable of measuring the light powers of the signal component and the noise component separated by the optical separating means, and the controlling apparatus may further comprise OSNR calculating means for calculating an averaged value of OSNR""s of the wavelength division multiplexed signal light, making use of the light powers of the signal component and the noise component measured by the light power measuring means, respectively, and making use of channel information concerning used wavelengths.
According to such a constitution, the averaged value of the OSNR""s of the wavelength division multiplexed signal light can be readily calculated by the OSNR calculating means, making use of the light powers of the signal component and the noise component to be monitored for controlling the optical amplifier.
Still another aspect of the present invention provides a controlling method for controlling an operation of a wavelength division multiplexing optical amplifier to collectively amplify wavelength division multiplexed signal light including a plurality of channel lights of different wavelengths, comprising: an optical separating step for separating the wavelength division multiplexed signal light into a plurality of wavelength groups; a light power measuring step for measuring a light power per each of the plurality of wavelength groups separated by the optical separating step; and a controlling step for controlling the operation of the wavelength division multiplexing optical amplifier based on the light power of one wavelength group, measured by the light power measuring step.
Yet another aspect of the present invention further provides a controlling method for controlling an operation of a wavelength division multiplexing optical amplifier to collectively amplify wavelength division multiplexed signal light including a plurality of channel lights of different wavelengths, comprising: an optical separating step for branching a portion of the wavelength division multiplexed signal light, and separating the thus branched portion into a signal component including the channel lights of respective wavelengths and noise lights around the channel lights and a noise component including the noise lights existing in wavelength bands between the respective wavelength channel lights; a light power measuring step for measuring the light power of the signal component separated by the optical separating step; and a controlling step for controlling the operation of the wavelength division multiplexing optical amplifier based on the light power of the signal component measured by the light power measuring step.
Further objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Controlling apparatus and controlling method for wavelength division multiplexing optical amplifier


A compound of Formula (I) or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof:

Synthetic drugs for treating tuberculosis (TB) have been available for over half a century, but incidences of the disease continue to rise world-wide. In 2004, it is estimated that 24,500 people developed active disease and close to 5,500 died each day from TB (World Health Organization, Global Tuberculosis Control: Surveillance, Planning, Financing. WHO Report 2006, Geneva, Switzerland, ISBN 92-4 156314-1). Co-infection with HIV is driving the increase in incidence (Williams, B. G.; Dye, C. Science, 2003, 301, 1535) and the cause of death in 31% of AIDS patients in Africa can be attributed to TB (Corbett, E. L.; Watt, C. J.; Catherine, J.; Walker, N.; Maher D.; Williams, B. G.; Raviglione, M. C.; Dye, C. Arch. Intl. Med., 2003, 163, 1009, Septkowitz, A.; Raffalli, J.; Riley, T.; Kiehn, T. E.; Armstrong, D. Clin. Microbiol. Rev. 1995, 8, 180). When coupled with the emergence of multi-drug resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MDR-TB), the scale of the problem is amplified. It is now more than a decade since the WHO declared TB "a global health emergency" (World Health Organization, Global Tuberculosis Control: Surveillance, Planning, Financing. WHO Report 2006, Geneva, Switzerland, ISBN 92-4 156314-1).
The limitations of tuberculosis therapy and prevention are well-known. The current available vaccine, BCG was introduced in 1921 and fails to protect most people past childhood. Patients who do become infected with active disease currently endure combination therapy with isoniazid (INH), rifampin, pyrazinamide and ethambutol for two months and then continue taking isoniazid and rifampin for a further four months. Daily dosing is required and poor compliance drives the emergence and spread of multi-drug-resistant strains, which are challenging to treat. A recently-published detailed review discusses many aspects of TB such as pathogenesis, epidemiology, drug discovery and vaccine development to date (Nature Medicine, Vol 13(3), pages 263-312).
Shorter courses of more active agents which can be taken less frequently and which present a high barrier to the emergence of resistance, i.e. agents which are effective against multi-drug resistant strains of TB, are urgently required. There is therefore a need to discover and develop new chemical entities to treat TB. Recent synthetic leads are reviewed in: Ballell, L.; Field, R. A.; Duncan, K.; Young, R. J. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 2005, 49, 2153.
Lipid metabolism is especially important for the genus Mycobacterium and it represents a well-validated target for the development of selective antitubercular agents. The enzyme which is denoted "InhA" is an NADH-dependent (dependent on the reduced form of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide), 2-trans enoyl-ACP (acyl carrier protein) reductase of the type 2 fatty acid synthesis (FASII) pathway in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. There is a strong body of evidence indicating that InhA is the primary target of the frontline antitubercular drug isoniazid (INH). Clinical isolates as well as laboratory modified mycobacteria over-expressing InhA show resistance to INH. The drug inhibits InhA enzymatic activity inducing an accumulation of saturated C24-C26 fatty acids and blocking the production of longer molecules, including mycolic acids. This inhibition correlates with mycobacterial cell death.
The essentiality of InhA has also been demonstrated by the use of temperature-sensitive mutants of InhA in Mycobacterium smegmatis, where a shift to the non-permissive temperature results in rapid lysis and cell death.
INH is a bactericidal drug, showing specific activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and is part of the first-line drug combination regimen for antitubercular therapy. INH is activated within the mycobacterial cell by the KatG catalase. The activated form is thought to react covalently with NADH within the InhA active site to form an inhibitory adduct. X-Ray structures of InhA bound to several inhibitors are available and are being used to design new inhibitors.
In vitro-activated INH forms adducts with NAD(P) cofactors which bind to and inhibit InhA and other enzymes like DHFR (dehydrofolate reductase); the physiological relevance of these interactions in vivo is clear in the case of the enoyl-reductase, but it has been shown to be almost irrelevant in the case of DHFR; the potential role of other possible targets of INH in the antitubercular activity of the drug seems minimal or non-existent.
Resistance to INH has been associated with at least five different genes (KatG, InhA, ahpC, kasA, and ndh); 60-70% of resistant isolates can be directly linked to defects in the KatG gene (often with compensatory mutations in other genes) and less commonly in the InhA structural gene and upstream promoter region.
It is anticipated that a drug targeted at InhA, not requiring activation by KatG, would interact with the enzyme in a different way from the complex NAD-INH, would also have a different pharmacological profile from INH, would kill the majority of the current INHR (isoniazid-resistant) strains and would replace INH in the existing therapy against Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
PCT Patent Application No. PCT/EP2010/002265 discloses a class of compounds which are targeted at InhA and do not require activation by KatG, and which exhibit activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv.

3-amino-pyrazole derivatives useful against tuberculosis

Abstract: Wherein: Het is a 5 to 10-membered heteroaromatic ring; Either X is N and Y is CR5; or X is C and Y is S; Z is selected from N and CH; R1 is selected from H and C1-2alkyl; R2 is selected from H, C1-2alkyl, OH, —CH2OH and C1-2alkoxy; Each R3 is independently selected from OH, C1-3alkyl, F, Cl, Br, NH2, and C1-3alkoxy; R4 is selected from C1-3alkyl and haloC1-3 alkyl; R5 is selected from H, C1-3alkyl and haloC1-3alkyl; R6 and R7 are either i) each independently selected from H, C1-3alkyl and C1-3alkoxy; or ii) R6 and R7 together with the ring to which they are attached form a 9-membered bicylic ring; p is 0-3; and RA is selected from H and C1-3alkyl, compositions containing them, their use in therapy, for example in the treatment of tuberculosis, and methods for the preparation of such compounds, are provided.


In this telephone answering device, a new outgoing announcement can be recorded under remote control via the telephone line. To accomplish this, the user calls his own number. During the incoming message record portion of the resultant answering cycle, the user sends a coded signal over the telephone line. As a result, the message tape is stopped, and the announcement tape is driven. As the user then speaks the new announcement, it is amplified and recorded onto the announcement tape instead of onto the message tape. Switching circuitry is minimized since the amplifier already is conditioned for operation in the incoming message record mode. In addition, the prior announcement is erased, and generation of the audio tone which normally occurs at the end of the outgoing announcement is inhibited.. When the new announcement has been recorded, the device automatically returns to the announcement transmit portion of the answering cycle. The new message is played out for verification. The device completes the answering cycle and shuts down in readiness for the next call.. Another answering device is disclosed in which the outgoing announcement is contained in digital format in a read only memory. When a call is answered, the memory is read out and the contents are converted to audio by a speech synthesizer or a microprocessor that is programmed to decode speech compression encoded signals.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a telephone answering device in which the user can record a new outgoing announcement under remote control via the telephone line.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A conventional telephone answering device responds to an incoming call by initially transmitting a prerecorded outgoing announcement. This announcement typically informs the caller that the user is out, and invites the caller to leave a message which is then automatically recorded. The user later can retrieve these messages by playback of the message tape, either at the device itself when the user returns to his home or office, or if the device is so equipped, by remote controlled playout over the telephone line.
The usefulness of such a device is enhanced if the outgoing announcement can easily be changed. For example, if the user is leaving for a certain length of time, he can record a new answering message indicating the time or date when he still return. Altenatively, the new message may state that the user is at another location, and may give the telephone number for that place so that the user can be reached immediately. As another example, the user can leave a specific message intended for a certain person whose call is expected.
Most prior art telephone answering devices do have built-in facilitates for recording a new outgoing announcement. For example, the answering apparatus disclosed in the inventor's U.S.Pat. No. 3,780,226 includes facilities for recording a new message on the outgoing announcement tape loop using the local telephone handset as the microphone. Other prior art devices utilize a built-in microphone for this purpose. However, such prior art devices require that recording of the new message be carried out where the answering apparatus is located. By contrast, an object of the present invention is to provide a telephone answering device in which a new outgoing announcement can be recorded over the telephone line by remote control from a distant location.
The present invention thus permits the user to call back to his home or office and change the outgoing announcement, for example, to indicate his present whereabouts and the telephone number where he can presently be reached. The invention is particularly useful in a telphone answering device which also is capable of remote controlled playout of previously recorded messages. In that instance, e.g., the intitial outgoing announcement may inform the caller that if he leaves a message requesting additional information, he should call back at a later time for an answer. Meanwhile, the user can obtain this message by remote controlled playout, and then employ the present invention to record a new outgoing announcement which contains an answer to the question posed by the previous caller. The caller will receive this answer when he later again calls the user's number.
One prior art telephone answering device in which the outgoing announcement can be changed from a remote location is shown in the Japanese Pat. No. 40-27442 to Yasuma Mata. In that apparatus, a large number of relays are used to control the operational mode. For remote recording of a new outgoing announcement, the user calls his own number. The device answers the call. During announcement playout, the user sends a first beep tone which sets a latching circuit that in turn energizes a first set of relays which condition the device for recordation. When a conductive strip on the outgoing announcement tape loop next shorts a pair of contacts, a second latch circuit is set which energizes a second set of relays. These enable continued tape loop motion, and connect the output of a single amplifier to the tape loop record head. The user then speaks the new announcement, which is recorded on that tape loop.
An object of the present invention is to facilitate the remote controlled recordation of a new outgoing announcement in a telephone answering device, without the use of relays. A further object is to implement this function by utilizing circuitry already present in the telephone answering device, thereby minimizing the number of additional components required and reducing the cost. Accordingly, another object is to minimize the latching and control circuitry necessary to enable both remote controlled recordation of a new outgoing message, and automatic playback of that message to verify its correctness. When implemented in a telephone answering device with remote controlled playout of recorded incoming messages, the same remote control signal or "beep" tone can be used at different times during the answering cycle to condition either remote playout or new announcement recordation.
A different object of the present invention is to provide a telephone answering device in which the outgoing announcement is stored in digital format in a programmable read only memory. In prior art telephone answering devices, the outgoing announcement is stored on a recording medium which requires a mechanical driving arrangement. By storing the outgoing announcement digitally in a read only memory (ROM) and using appropriate readout and speech synthesizer circuitry, the need for a mechanical drive system is completely eliminated. Similarly, time compression encoding of the announcement may be used, together with a microprocessor to decode the compressed speech. The ROM and synthesizer or speech compression decoder all may be implemented in a single integrated circuit chip. So configured, the cost may actually be less than that of a mechanical drive system, with none of the shortcomings inherent in a mechanical device which is subject to misadjustment or malfunction as a result of repeated wear.

Remote recording of new outgoing announcement in a telephone answering device


A woodworking bench includes a table made of granite and mounted on a base of a woodworking machine. A table extension is mounted to a side of the table and made of granite. The side of the table includes two first tracks mounted therein. The table extension includes a side having two second tracks mounted therein and respectively aligned with the first tracks of the table. Two supporting rods each has a first end slidably received in one of the first tracks and a second end slidably received in one of the second tracks. At least one adjusting member is mounted to the second end of each supporting rod for adjusting coplanarity of a top face of the table and a top face of the table extension.

The present invention relates to a woodworking bench and, more particularly, to a woodworking bench that is made of granite and that allows adjustment of coplanarity between a table and a table extension of the bench.
People's taste of living environment changes due to a significant increase in living standards. Taking televisions as an example, conventional CRT type televisions have been replaced by desk liquid crystal televisions, flat panel televisions, and plasma televisions. To provide an aesthetically pleasing appearance, strips representing wood grain are bonded to a metal television casing. Also, televisions with wooden casings are also proposed to blend in the living environment.
Many families in the United States love do-it-yourself projects and are willing to buy tools and machines for processing lumber, including band-saw machines, circular saw machines, planers, etc., which can be classified into either a desk type or a floor type. Yet, all of such machines include a bench or table for processing lumber. The table is generally made of metal such as cast iron.
Taiwan Utility Model Publication No. 586488 discloses a band saw table and a table extension mounted by two connecting rods to a side of the band saw table to increase the working area. Retaining screws are mounted to a bottom side of the table to tighten the connecting rods. The distance between the table extension and the table can be adjusted when the retaining screws are loosened. The table and the table extension cannot blend in the living environment of a person as a matter of taste, as the table and the table extension are made of metal and give a hard, cold impression. Furthermore, the table and the table extension are generally made of cast iron, which, when impacted, is liable to have scratches on the surface, leading to adverse affect to the coplanarity between the table and the table extension.
Furthermore, the table and the table extension made of cast iron having a high conductivity factor are susceptible to temperature and moisture while having poor abrasive resistance and being apt to rust. Regular maintenance is required to avoid poor precision, leading to high maintenance costs. Further, the retaining screws cannot provide effective retaining effect for the table extension. Specifically, in a case that the work piece to be cut on the table extension is heavy, the table extension moves together with the work piece during movement of the work piece. Further, the connecting rods are pushed upward by the retaining screws, resulting in upward inclination of the table extension. Thus, the upper face of the table extension may not be coplanar with the upper face of the table, leading to adverse affect to cutting.
It is, therefore, a need for a woodworking bench that is durable and that requires less maintenance.


A holding structure for holding a device on a fuel tank can be manufactured by small man-hours, and is simple in construction and excellent in vibration isolating performance. The holding structure holds a device (11) inserted in a fuel tank (10) on the fuel tank (10). The holding structure includes a holding tube (19) formed integrally with the fuel tank (10) so as to surround an opening (18) formed in the fuel tank (10), an elastic boot (21) put on the holding tube (19) so as to be in close contact with the outer circumference (19a) of the holding tube (19) and the outer circumference (15a) of a part of the device (11), extending outside from the holding tube (19), and a fastening device (22, 23) for fastening the elastic boot (21) to the respective outer circumferences (19a, 15a) of the holding tube (19) and the device (11).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a holding structure for holding a device, such as a fuel pump, on a fuel tank mounted on a water craft or a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
A fuel tank mounted on, for example, a water craft is formed of a resin in recent years with a view to forming the fuel tank in a lightweight structure and facilitating work for mounting the fuel tank on the water craft. FIG. 5 shows a conventional holding structure for holding a fuel pump on a fuel tank of a resin. When forming a fuel tank 30, a reinforcing metal ring 39 is embedded in the brim of a pump receiving hole 38 formed in the fuel tank 30 by an insert molding method. A flange 32 welded to the outer circumference of a fuel pump 31 is fastened to the brim of the pump receiving hole 38 with screws 40 screwed in internal thread of the metal ring 39. A rubber sealing ring 41 is placed between the flange 32 and the brim of the pump receiving hole 38. A prior art holding structure for holding a device on a tank is disclosed in, for example, JP-U No. Sho 62-497.
This holding structure, however, is complicated and increases steps of a molding process for forming the fuel tank 30 because the metal ring 39 must be embedded in the brim of the pump receiving hole 38. Consequently, the holding structure is costly. Since the holding structure is rigid, vibrations generated by an engine and transmitted through the hull of the water craft to the fuel tank are transmitted easily to the fuel pump 31.
The present invention has been made in view of the aforesaid problems and it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a holding structure for holding a device on a fuel tank, capable of being fabricated by small man-hours, having simple construction and excellent in vibration isolating performance.
To achieve the object, the present invention provides a holding structure for holding a device inserted in a fuel tank on the fuel tank of a resin, comprises: a holding tube formed integrally with the fuel tank so as to surround an opening formed in the fuel tank; an elastic boot put on the holding tube so as to be in close contact with the outer circumference of the holding tube and the outer circumference of a part of the device inserted through the opening in the fuel tank, extending outside from the holding tube; and a fastening device for fastening the elastic boot to the respective outer circumferences of the holding tube and the device.
The holding structure of the present invention does not increase man-hours necessary for forming the fuel tank, is simple in construction and can be manufactured at a low cost. Since the elastic boot holds the device on the fuel tank, the vibrations of the fuel tank are absorbed and damped by the elastic boot and are propagated hardly to the fuel pump.
Preferably, a main case of the device is provided with a flange, a cap closing one end of the main case is provided with a flange, the flanges are joined together to connect the main case and the cap, and the flange of the main case rests on the end surface of the holding tube. Thus, the holding structure facilitate correctly locating the device on the fuel tank.

Holding structure for holding device on fuel tank