A fluid-tight electrical coupling for a medical device fully implantable in the body of a recipient, such as an implantable defibrillator, is disclosed. The fluid-tight coupling is mounted on a hermetically sealed casing. The coupling comprises a housing having receptacles for receiving an electrical conductor plug. Terminal blocks are provided within the housing and define a pin opening for receiving the pins of the electrical conductor plug. The terminal block is electrically connected to the exterior of the housing. The terminal block also includes a cylindrically shaped boss extending from a face of the terminal block. The boss is externally and internally threaded for receiving a sealing cap and a retaining member respectively. The retaining member comprises a hexagonal socket head set screw. The sealing cap seals off the interior of the housing. The sealing cap is secured to the terminal block to seal off the housing opening by means of a screwdriver that is adapted to retain the sealing cap thereto. Also disclosed is a maximum torque wrench to prevent overtightening of the set screw.

This invention relates to a fluid-tight electrical coupling system for implantable medical devices, such as implantable defibrillators.
Great strides are presently being made to develop an automatic, fully implantable defibrillator. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. Re. 27,652 and Re. 27,757, where the first concept of the automatic implantable ventricular defibrllator is described. Recent advances have also been made in enhancing the reliability of fibrillation detectors. In this latter regard, see co-pending U.S. patent applications Ser. Nos. 878,005 and 878,006, each filed on Feb. 15, 1978 and now U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,202,340 and 4,184,493 respectively. Furthermore, as outlined in co-pending U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 801,300, filed on May 27, 1977, and now U.S. Pat. No. 4,164,946, steps have been taken to improve the reliability of the implanted defibrillator by the provision of circuitry which interrogates the implanted electronics to verify proper operation before a defibrillating shock is delivered.
In co-pending U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 53,797, filed on July 2, 1979, entitled "Implantable Defibrillator Package" incorporated herein by reference, an implantable defibrillator package is disclosed having an implantable casing, or housing, and a lid portion hermetically sealed to the casing to form a hermetic seal. An epoxy housing is provided on the lid portion for receiving electrode leads having plugs, the electrodes leads also implantable in the body of a recipient. Terminal blocks within the epoxy housing receive portions of the plugs, and electrical conductors interconnect the terminal blocks with feed-through electrical terminal pins extending into the epoxy housing, and through the lid portion, for electrical communication with circuitry disposed in the casing.
It is highly desirable that the plugs be physically secure within the terminal block, and yet be fully explantable for replacement. Moreover, fluid seepage into the terminal block area must be prevented to ensure corrosion-free contact between the terminal block and the plug, thus assuring electrical integrity of the connection and easy removal of the plug from the terminal block for replacement.
It is thus essential that any openings in the epoxy housing be sealed to prevent leakage into the housing interior. Sealing elements are known which included caps which either snap into the device to be sealed or have a bayonet-type connection.
The present invention is directed toward filling the needs expressed above.


A disc stabilizer for use in a spin-stand tester having a spindle motor for rotating a disc is provided. The spin-stand tester is capable of positioning a transducing head adjacent a first surface of the disc. The disc stabilizer includes a vacuum plate coupled to a spindle of the spindle motor. The vacuum plate has a top surface and a bottom surface opposite the top surface. At least one of the top and the bottom surfaces is a grooved surface including multiple vacuum channels. The grooved surface is substantially in contact with a second surface of the disc. Vacuum distributed through the multiple vacuum channels of the grooved surface is applied directly to the second surface of the disc, thereby holding the disc in place.

The present invention is related to disc drive testing. More specifically, the present invention is related to a disc stabilizer for use in a spin-stand tester.
In a computer disc drive, data is stored on a computer disc in concentric tracks. In many drives, the data is stored using a write head that changes a physical property of the disc. The data is read from the disc by positioning a read head over a desired track and sensing the physical properties of the disc along the track. For example, in a magnetic disc drive, the read head senses magnetic moment boundaries along the disc.
The process for producing a read head or a write head varies depending upon the type of read head or write head being produced. Nonetheless, all head manufacturing methods share common characteristics, such as high degree of manufacturing complexity, small feature sizes, and a susceptibility to manufacturing errors. Because of this, each production method generates some heads that do not meet specifications. In order to detect faulty heads accurately, the transducing heads must be tested over a disc surface. In particular, each transducing head must be flown over a disc surface while it performs writing and/or reading operations. Early in the disc drive manufacturing art, this type of testing was performed after the head was assembled in a complete disc drive. However, this in-drive testing proved to be unacceptable because the disc drive had to be rebuilt if the head was found to be faulty.
To overcome the ineffectiveness of in-drive testing, the art developed a xe2x80x9cspin-standxe2x80x9d which allowed the head to be tested before it was placed in a disc drive. In general, a spin-stand includes a spinning computer disc and a mounting support that supports the head and moves the transducing head to a desired position over the spinning disc. The spin-stand allows a series of tests to be performed on the transducing head including, for example, error-rate testing, pulse widthxe2x80x94fifty testing, track average amplitude testing and track scan testing.
Tester to tester variation and variation within a tester should be small so that properly functioning heads are not classified as xe2x80x9cfailedxe2x80x9d and defective heads are not classified as xe2x80x9cgoodxe2x80x9d. One component of tester variation is the stability of the head position over the data tracks on the disc. Several tests such as track scan and bit error rate rely on the head being at a known location with respect to a given track centerline. Test integrity is degraded if there is undesired cross-track head movement during the test.
A head-gimbal assembly (HGA) which includes a head, a suspension assembly for positioning the head, and a flexible circuit that carries electrical signals between the head and drive electronics is the first subassembly where the head can be tested under conditions similar to those in a hard disc drive. Electrical tests on HGAs, performed using conventional spin-stand testers in which the disc is clamped to a shaft of a spindle motor, have shown that heads that pass measurement at inner diameter (ID) tracks on the disc can fail when tested at outer diameter (OD) tracks. This is because the disc is only supported by the shaft at the ID. Other measurements have shown that positional relationship between a read/write head and a written data track is less stable at OD tracks on the same type tester. Because OD testing has become important for many HGA products, it is possible that good HGA assemblies will be failed because of instabilities in the tester, resulting from inadequate support at OD tracks of the disc, and not because of head performance characteristics.
The present invention addresses these problems, and offers other advantages over the prior art.
The present invention relates to a disc stabilizer for use in a spin stand tester with the disc stabilizer including a vacuum plate that supports the disc, thereby addressing the above-identified problems.
A disc stabilizer for use in a spin-stand tester having a spindle motor for rotating a disc is provided. The spin-stand tester is capable of positioning a transducing head adjacent a first surface of the disc. The disc stabilizer includes a vacuum plate coupled to a spindle of the spindle motor. The vacuum plate has a top surface and a bottom surface opposite the top surface. At least one of the top and the bottom surfaces is a grooved surface including multiple vacuum channels. The grooved surface is substantially in contact with a second surface of the disc. Vacuum distributed through the multiple vacuum channels of the grooved surface is applied directly to the second surface of the disc, thereby holding the disc in place.
These and various other features as well as advantages which characterize the present invention will be apparent upon reading of the following detailed description and review of the associated drawings.

Vacuum plate disc stabilizer for a spin-stand tester used for testing a head-gimbal assembly


An apparatus and method for installing wicking in a formed candle body; the apparatus comprising a bore forming station, a clean out station, a feeding station, and conveying means for moving a candle body from one station to the next station in the process of inserting a wick therein. A novel candle product is also disclosed.

It is known in the art to manufacture candles by molding, and wherein a candle body is molded by casting the wax in a mold having a wick inserted therein. Maintaining the wicks centrally in the mold during such operation is a rather difficult procedure, with offset wicking in a candle usually causing uneven burning of the latter.
It is also known in the art to mold a candle body with an opening therein, and then insert a wick therein, such as shown for instance in U.S. Pat. No. 3,907,487. Such prior art mechanisms have generally been unduly large and occupy considerable space, and furthermore do not always operate in a manner resulting in high production of finished candles.

Apparatus and method for installing wicking in candles


A method for the preparation of optically active 3-hydroxypyrrolidine derivatives is disclosed, which comprises the steps of: hydrolyzing a mixture of (R)- and (S)-N-benzyl-3-acyloxypyrrolidine by the use of microorganisms or enzymes with stereospecific esterase activity; and separating optically active N-benzyl-3-hydroxypyrrolidine and optically active N-benzyl-3-acyloxypyrrolidine from the hydrolysate obtained in the foregoing step.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method for the preparation of optically active 3-hydroxypyrrolidine derivatives (i.e., both enantiomers of optically active N-benzyl-3-hydroxypyrrolidine and also of optically active N-benzyl-3-acyloxypyrrolidine), which are useful as intermediates for the syntheses of pharmaceutical products, agricultural chemicals, and the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As a method for the preparation of (S)-N-benzyl-3-hydroxypyrrolidine, a synthetic process that uses L-malic acid as a raw material is known (Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 61-63652). However, in that process, a portion of the product is racemized, and therefore, optical resolution with use of D-mandelic acid must be done to improve the optical purity of the product. Another method is known that comprises the step of reducing N-benzyl-3-pyrroline with (+)-Diisopinocampheylborane, used as an asymmetric reducing agent [J. Am. Chem. Soc., 108, 2049 (1986)]. Moreover, there is a method for the derivation of (S)-3-hydroxypyrrolidine without a benzyl group at the N-position from L-glutamic acid [Synthetic Communication, 16, 1815 (1986)]. A method for obtaining (R)-3-hydroxypyrrolidine by the decarboxylation of trans-4-hydroxy-L-proline is known (Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 60-23328). Therefore, optically active N-benzyl-3-hydroxypyrrolidine can also be obtained by benzylation of these 3-hydroxypyrrolidine products. However, all of these methods require many steps and special reagents, and therefore do not permit the production of N-benzyl-3-hydroxypyrrolidine on an industrial scale.

Method for the preparation of optically active 3-hydroxypyrrolidine derivatives

Kanegafuchi Kagaku Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha


An image reading apparatus for separating and conveying documents from a bundle of documents, causing the document to pass through a reading position, and reading an image from the document, includes: a reading translucent plate; a rotation member capable of rotating around a shaft; and a rotation driver that rotates the rotation member, wherein in the rotation member, each of: a cleaning member; a white reference area; and an end portion detection area is formed partially with regard to a circumferential direction, the cleaning member and the end portion detection area are arranged adjacent to each other, the rotation driver is arranged so that the end portion detection area faces an opposing surface, and the rotation member is rotated in a paper interval period from when a trailing edge of the document passes the reading position to when a leading edge of a subsequent document reaches the reading position.

Technological Field
The present invention relates to an image reading apparatus for separating and conveying documents one by one from a bundle of sheet-like documents, and reading images from these documents. Furthermore, the present invention relates to an image forming apparatus equipped with the image reading apparatus.
Description of the Related art
Examples of a conventional image reading apparatus and a conventional image forming apparatus include those described in JP 2011-010050 A. In the apparatus of JP 2011-010050 A, documents separated one by one are conveyed by a "reading entrance roller 16" and a "reading exit roller 23". The document passes over a "translucent member 21" while the document is conveyed, and the image is read at that time (paragraphs [0034] to [0036], FIG. 4 of JP 2011-010050 A). JP 2011-010050 A further includes "cleaning means 301". The "cleaning means 301" is provided with a "cleaning member 305", a "white plate 303", and a "black plate 304" (paragraph [0058] of JP 2011-010050 A). The "cleaning member 305" cleans the upper surface of "translucent member 21". The "white plate 303" and the "black plate 304" are provided to detect foreign materials.
However, the above-described conventional technique has a problem in that the reading speed cannot be increased to a sufficiently high speed. In the apparatus of JP 2011-010050A, it is necessary to completely retract the "cleaning means 301" from the reading position when the document to be read passes the reading position. From this state, between a gap between documents (between sheets), it is necessary to bring the "black plate 304" of the "cleaning means 301" to the reading position and retract the "black plate 304" of the "cleaning means 301" back to the original position again. Therefore, it is impossible to shorten the space between the documents to a narrow distance. It may also possible to use the "black plate 304" to detect the end portions in the width direction of the reading document, but it is actually impossible to do so. This is because the document is not configured to pass between the "black plate 304" and the "translucent member 21".

Image reading apparatus and image forming apparatus


Microwave devices incorporate at least one photosensitive baffle that is selectively illuminated changing the baffle's electronic characteristic from being transparent to being reflective of microwave energy. The baffle serves as a gate, tuning element, reflector and the like. Various forms of photosensitive baffles and microwave devices are presented.

Many electronic devices incorporate baffles to produce known electrical effect within the associated device. Examples are found in resonant microwave cavities, terminations and deflectors in waveguides and other such transmission lines, and in transmit-receive protectors in radars. Baffles are usually adjusted or changed manually or mechanically to adjust an electronic characteristic of the associated device. However, there are circumstances in which a remotely controlled and rapidly changeable baffle should prove a more significant and highly desirable asset.
The frequency of a Klystron tube, commonly used in radars to generate or amplify microwave signals, may be rapidly changed by altering the size of its tuning cavity using a movable baffle. That effect was earlier recognized by Klotz in U.S. Pat. No. 3,471,811, granted Oct. 7, 1969, which describes tuning a microwave cavity using an electrically operated piezoelectric mechanism to physically position a metal wall, by Perkins et al in U.S. Pat. No. 3,478,246, granted Nov. 11, 1969 and also by Hull in U.S. Pat. No. 3,478,247, granted Nov. 11, 1969, wherein a coaxial magnetron tube incorporates a piezoelectric mechanism to rapidly mechanically position a cavity wall to provide frequency tuning of the magnetron. Although electronic in nature, at a more microscopic view, such tuning is somewhat mechanical in nature in that an electrically conductive metal coating or layer is physically moved by the piezoelectric mechanism. An advantage to tunable microwave cavities that incorporate the present invention is that microwave cavities may be tuned without mechanical movement of the tuning element.
Radar TR switches are another example. When the transmitter and receiver are connected to a common antenna, as is typical for many radars, the highly sensitive receiver must be protected from the high power RF that is generated by the transmitter during transmission of that RF power to the antenna. That protection is provided by a transmit-receive protector, an electronic device generally referred to simply as a TR switch, and which acts as an electronic gate. In operation, when the radar transmitter generates RF, the TR switch short circuits the antenna inputs to the receiver, effectively closing the gate to the receiver. In the intervening periods when the transmitter is not applying RF to the antenna, the TR switch opens the RF signal path to the receiver, allowing any low power RF received at the antenna to propagate to the receiver.
Typical TR switches are formed of either a solid state switching device or a gas tube, which is connected in shunt of the receiver's input. With the gas tube, when the transmitter is generating RF, the voltage on the line from the transmitter is high, and the gas in the tube consequently ionizes and conducts current, thereby short circuiting the receiver input and protecting the receiver. The present invention provides a new form of TR switch that requires neither gas tubes or semiconductor switches.
Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide a new form of electronic baffle for use in microwave devices.
Another object of the invention is to provide improved electronic tuning for microwave devices that may be easily controlled by remotely located controls.
Still another object is to provide an improved TR switch for radar systems that does not use gas tubes or semiconductor switches.
And an ancillary object of the invention is to provide an improved RF transmitting antenna that minimizes the generation of side and back lobes.

Electronic baffle and baffle controlled microwave devices


Disclosed is a grinding tool, which includes a first disk having an installation hole in a center portion thereof such that the grinding tool is installed on a grinder, a second disk forming a discharge passage with partitions on a bottom surface of the first disk, wherein air intaken from a central lower portion of the grinding tool is discharged to an outside thereof through the discharge passage, and a ring-shaped shank disposed under the second disk and including grinding tips to grind a target.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a grinding tool for grinding a target, and more particularly, to a grinding tool adapted to collect grinding particles produced while grinding a target.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a grinding tool is used to grind various materials (hereinafter, referred to as grinding targets) such as granite, tiles, bricks, and concrete blocks, and grinding parts thereof may be variously shaped, such as having a wheel or planar shape, to grind inner and outer surfaces of a grinding target.
A grinding wheels is a typical grinding tool.
Such a grinding wheel includes a shank having a circular plate shape, and grinding tips provided on the shank to substantially perform a grinding operation.
In this case, the grinding tips are provided in the form of a sintered body that includes diamond, carbon nitride (CBN), or a typical abrasion material (hereinafter, referred to as an abrasion material in general) mixed with powder (hereinafter, referred to as a bond) formed of metal, resin, or ceramic to hold the abrasion material and continually ensure the performance thereof.
The grinding tips are attached to the shank through a process such as welding, soldering, or bonding, and is rotated together with the shank to grind a target.
Typical grinding tools such as grinding wheels produce a large amount of grinding particles while grinding a grinding target. These grinding particles may be re-introduced into a working site where the grinding target is ground, so as to degrade grinding efficiency, or may be discharged to the area surrounding the working area to thereby contaminate it. Furthermore, grinding particles are harmful to the human body. Thus, decreasing the amount of such grinding particles discharged during a grinding operation is constantly required.
To this end, a vacuum suction device may be disposed at a side of a grinding wheel to remove grinding particles. Recently, a method of collecting grinding particles by using power of power tools has been introduced.
FIG. 1 is a plan view illustrating a grinding wheel in the related art. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the grinding wheel of FIG. 1. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a grinding wheel 10 includes: a shank 12 in the central portion thereof, which is installed in a power tool such as a grinder (not shown) and which has an installation hole; and a plurality of grinding tips 20 disposed on the shank 12 to substantially grind a target.
The grinding tips 20 are arrayed around the shank 12, and the shank 12 is installed on the grinder. The grinding tips 20 contact a target, and rotate to grind the target. The grinding tips 20 may be provided in various forms, and may be arrayed in various formations, e.g., by using single, double, and turbo attachment methods.
The shank 12 is provided with holes 14 for removing or intaking particles generated during a grinding operation. Intake efficiency of the shank 12 may depend on a shape, orientation, or arrangement of the holes 14.
As the shank 12 rotates, particles generated during a grinding operation are intaken through the holes 14.
The grinder includes a dust cover (not shown) for collecting grinding particles intaken through the holes 14, and a particle collector for providing suction force.
However, a large amount of particles produced from a grinding target may not be intaken into the particle collector, and may be discharged to the outside of the grinding wheel 10 by centrifugal force, which degrades particle collecting efficiency and usage efficiency of the grinding wheel 10.
Moreover, as the size or rotation speed of grinding wheels increases, the amount of grinding particles discharged without being intaken into a particle collector increases. Thus, research and development of efficiently collecting grinding particles is needed.

Grinding tool adapted to collect grinding particles


A system and method for performing compound computational experiments include an experiment having at least one input. The experiment includes a process controllable by a computer and responsive to the input to produce at least one output, the output capable of being stored on a medium readable by the computer. The system includes a generator capable of running on the computer. The generator automates the performance of a plurality of experiments and automatically varies the inputs for the experiments. An outcome store of the system stores the outputs on the computer-readable medium. The system also includes a display capable of running on the computer. The display presents an interpretation of a set of the outputs extracted from the outcome store. The display is responsive to user input to alter the interpretation, to present an interpretation of a different set of outputs, or to cause the generator to perform a plurality of experiments.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to computer-assisted reasoning. More specifically, the invention provides a system and method for exploring solutions to complex problems by automatically generating multiple series of experiments, by permitting users to visualize outcomes of experiments, and by allowing users to easily generate additional series of experiments using differing input dimensions or solution strategies.
2. Description of the Related Art
People increasingly use computer-based calculations to help reason about complex problems in many fields, from scientific research to engineering design to business operations and planning. Yet, despite enormous improvements in computer capabilities over past decades, people still generally use computers to support the same style of quantitative reasoning they used before computers existed.
Even so, existing computer applications often perform calculations which produce results not obvious to the computer user. Such calculations can be considered experiments. The following are examples of experiments: a simulation model which projects the future course of the economy, a spreadsheet which combines disparate accounts into a profit and loss statement, a statistical routine which finds a pattern in a large database of chemical reaction outcomes (data mining,) a search over networked databases or the World Wide Web, and computer controlled physical experiments such as combining two chemicals to measure their reactivity. In contrast, a word processing program that displays keystrokes and places them into a computer file or a numerically controlled machine are not experiments.
Some computer applications perform several iterations of an experiment. For instance, many optimization routines can be used to make repeated calls to a simulation model in order to find the inputs which give the most desirable output. To date, however, users generally use computers to conduct iterations of experiments that are simple to specify analytically, such as by an optimization routine.
Recent studies suggested that a number of important, very difficult, and previously intractable problems can be approached by conducting a series of experiments directed to the problem. Such series of experiments, or compound experiments, can be extremely difficult and time-consuming to design and build. Thus, it has been exceedingly difficult to exploit the power of compound experiments, and the benefits have been difficult to perceive. Because of the prohibitive costs, it is simply not recognized how profoundly systematic compound experiments can enhance the analysis of previously intractable problems.
For example, computer models of the future economy and climate have been developed to answer questions phrased as optimization problems, such as, "what is the most cost-effective policy response, assuming we can accurately characterize the future behavior of the climate and economy over the next century." While these models contain much useful information, they unfortunately lack the power to make accurate predictions in the face of numerous uncertainties and overwhelming complexity. Moreover, such direct policy questions may have no resolvable answer.
On the other hand, compound experiments can be used to devise robust policies that provide reasonably good results, no matter what predictions of the future turn out to be true. This sort of approach has produced useful results in isolated cases for various business and public policy problems.
Compound experiments are a crucial tool for supporting the reasoning that can lead to understanding very complex systems. To date, however, the great cost in time and human labor to construct compound experiments has largely limited their use to only the simplest problems. Moreover, there has simply been no support for conducting large numbers of experiments automatically driven by the needs of a specific reasoning strategy.
What is needed is a general-purpose mechanism that allows the construction of a wide variety of systems that support reasoning about complex and uncertain problems using compound experiments.

System and method for performing compound computational experiments


Apparatus for and method of long-term control of the temperature within a refrigerated space, such as the cargo compartment of a refrigeration truck. The technique employs sensors which monitor both discharge and return air. A control algorithm uses the multiple sensors to control modes of a refrigeration unit capable of supplying cooled or heated air. This causes the temperature within the refrigerated space to remain within a narrow range about a target temperature. The target is chosen to provide maximum safety for the cargo. If the target temperature is too high, the cargo is needlessly exposed to spoilage. If the target temperature is too low, the cargo is subject to the risk of damage from freezing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally related to systems for the control of the temperature within a refrigerated space, and is more particularly related to a refrigeration temperature control system utilizing multiple sensors.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known in the art to control the temperature of a space used to store or transport perishable materials, such as foodstuffs. In controlling temperature in such a space, it is most difficult when the space is used to transport the perishable materials such as with refrigeration trucks.
Much of the difficulty arises because of the change in thermal loading caused by large changes in the ambient with respect to time of day, geographical location, and weather conditions. If the temperature within the refrigerated space becomes too high, the cargo is exposed to excess risk of spoilage. If the temperature within the refrigerated space becomes too low, portions of the cargo may be destroyed from freezing.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,715,190 discusses a rudimentary temperature control system. An advanced microprocessor based temperature control system is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,663,725, issued to Truckenbrod et al., and incorporated herein by reference. The Truckenbrod et al., system employs temperature sensors for the return and discharge of air. A fault recovery algorithm permits the system to switch between sensors. U.S. Pat. No. 4,589,060, issued to Zinsmeyer, also discusses a microprocessor based temperature control system.
Techniques for control of the refrigeration process are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,742,689 and 4,934,155, issued to Lowes. These Lowes references show control of temperature through the use of hot gas bypass of the compressor in an attempt to maintain a more constant compressor speed.
A highly sophisticated system for temperature control is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,918,932, issued to Gustafson et al., and incorporated herein by reference. This system uses an integrated average of the outputs of a discharge sensor and a return sensor to control the refrigeration apparatus.

Refrigeration temperature control system


A plurality of processors each includes a central processor unit for processing programs at predetermined synchronization priority levels and a cache memory. A memory shared by all of the processors includes an synchronization level table which identifies a processor operating at each synchronization priority level. A common bus interconnects the processors and the memory. When a processor is to execute a program, it adjusts its synchronization priority level to a predetermined synchronization priority level by accessing the synchronization level table over the common bus to determine whether the level is accessible and, if so, places an entry in the table to indicate that the synchronization priority level is occupied. If the synchronization priority level is not accessible, the processor continually monitors the entry in the table over the common bus to determine when it is accessible by monitoring its cache, which contains a copy of the table entry associated with the synchronization priority level. When the synchronization priority level becomes accessible, the cache copy is invalidated so that the processor then has to use the table.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to the field of digital data processing systems, and more specifically to mechanisms for controlling access to code and data which may be shared in a digital data processing system including multiple processors.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A digital data processing system includes three basic elements, namely, a processor element, a memory element and an input/output element. The memory element stores information in addressable storage locations. This information includes data and instructions for processing the data. The processor element fetches information from the memory element, interprets the information as either an instruction or data, processes the data in accordance with the instructions, and returns the processed data to the memory element for storage therein. The input/output element, under control of the processor element, also communicates with the memory element to transfer information, including instructions and data to be processed, to the memory, and to obtain processed data from the memory.
Typically, an input/output element includes a number of diverse types of units, including video display terminals, printers, interfaces to the public telecommunications network, and secondary storage subsystems, including disk and tape storage devices. A video display terminal permits a user to run programs and input data and view processed data. A printer permits a user to obtain processed data on paper. An interface to the public telecommunications network permits transfer of information over the public telecommunications network.
To increase processing speed, digital data processing systems have been developed which include multiple processors. Such multi-processing systems are generally organized along two paradigms for controlling operations within a system In one paradigm, called "master-slave", one processor operates as a master processor, essentially assigning jobs to the other processors, which operate as slave processors. The master processor may also perform similar jobs as a slave processor while it is not performing its assignment functions. Control is simplified in systems designed along the master-slave paradigm since a single processor, namely, the master processor, is responsible for assigning the jobs. However, in such systems, if the master processor malfunctions, the entire system may be inoperative. In addition, under heavy processing loads, the master processor may become overloaded, which will slow down assignments of jobs to the slave processors.
Problems with systems designed along the master-slave paradigm do not arise in systems designed along the second paradigm, in which assignment of work is handled in a more homogeneous manner. In this paradigm, jobs are identified in a list stored in memory which may be accessed by any processor in the system. When a processor becomes available, it may retrieve an item from the job list for processing. Loading items onto the job list is, itself a job which can be performed by any of the processors, thus control of the job list is also decentralized among all of the processors. Since all of the processors can perform these control functions, if any of them malfunctions the system can remain operative, although at a reduced processing speed.
While decentralization of the control functions in a multiple processing system provides some advantages over systems employing master-slave control, decentralized systems can also have problems if the operating system, the program which controls the processors and job scheduling, does not provide good coordination and communication among the processors. It is necessary, in a decentralized system, to ensure that, for example, two processors do not attempt to execute the same critical section or region at the same time. A critical region is a portion of a program in which memory shared among the processors is accessed [see, for example, A. Tanenbaum, Operating Systems: Design and Implementation, (Prentice-Hall, 1987), at page 53]. If two processors attempt to execute a critical region of a program at the same time, they may access data in the same storage location in an overlapping, rather than sequential, manner, which will result in an erroneous result. This problem can occur if the system does not provide good synchronization among critical regions.
Typically, flags are used to provide synchronization of access to critical regions of programs and of shared data structures processed thereby. The flags, which comprise storage locations in memory which are shared among processors in the system, can be used to indicate the status of a critical region that is, whether or not a critical region, is being executed. When a processor wishes to execute a critical region, it can set the flag associated with the critical region to inform other processors that the critical region is being executed. If another processor wishes to execute the same critical region, it determines the condition of the flag, and, if the flag does not indicate that the critical region is being executed by another processor, may itself execute the critical region, first conditioning the flag to indicate that the critical region is being executed. On the other hand, if the flag does indicate that the critical region is being executed by another processor, the processor wishing to execute the critical region delays, continuing to test the flag until it is changed to indicate that the critical region is not being executed by another processor.
The use of flags to control access to a shared critical region does create several problems. One problem, termed a "race" condition, may occur if two processors request the same critical region at the same time. If neither is able to condition the flag to indicate that the critical region is being executed before the other tests the condition of the flag, both may execute the critical region. Another problem, termed "deadlock" occurs when two processors need to execute the critical region currently being processed by the other. Since neither can release the critical region each is executing, neither can begin executing the other critical region. As a result, both processors are deadlocked.
To alleviate race and deadlock problems, more sophisticated control mechanisms, known as semaphores, have been developed. A semaphore manages control of the synchronization flags and gives permission to one processor if several request access to the same critical region at the same time. When a processor finishes execution of a critical region, it informs the semaphore, which is responsible for conditioning the flags. A problem arises, however, since, if a processor is denied access to a critical region, it may continually attempt to obtain permission from the semaphore until it gives permission to the processor to execute the critical region. If this occurs with sufficient numbers of the processors in the multiple processor system, the communications system in the digital data processing system may be so overloaded with requests that no other communication can take place. At this point, the system is effectively unable to perform processing work.

Controlling requests for access to resources made by multiple processors over a shared bus


An Osteospermum plant particularly distinguished by its violet flower color and tendency to hold flowers open later in the evening.

Genus and species: Osteospermum fruiticosum.
Variety denomination: xe2x80x98Kakegawa AU8xe2x80x99.
The present invention originated in 1994 from an F1 selection of Osteospermum fruiticosum. The female parent was known as breeding line No. 375 and possessed large, white flowers. The male parent was known as line No. 471 and possessed large flowers that would stay open later into the evening than most Osteospermums. Line No. 375 originated from a hybridization made in 1991 between an F5 selection from a cross between a pink flowered line and a white with blue eye line, and a dwarf habit breeding line with flowers that stayed open late. Line No. 471 originated from a hybridization made in 1993 between a dwarf, rose flowered line with flowers that stayed open late and a dwarf, pink flowered line. The origin of these lines dates back to crosses made by the inventor in 1984. The original selection made in 1995 was vegetatively propagated again in 1996 and stability was confirmed in 1997. The line was established as xe2x80x98Kakegawa AU8xe2x80x99, and determined to have its characteristics firmly fixed.

Osteospermum plant named xe2x80x98Kakegawa AU8xe2x80x99


An analysis process device processing a first physiological signal to generate an analysis result and including a sensing unit, a separation unit, a comparing unit, and a reconstruction unit is provided. The sensing unit detects the first physiological signal to generate a sensing signal. The separation unit separates the sensing signal to generate a plurality of intrinsic characteristic signals. The comparing unit compares each of the intrinsic characteristic signals with a reference signal and generates a plurality of comparing results. The reconstruction unit divides the intrinsic characteristic signals into a first group and a second group according to the comparing results and generates the analysis result according to the intrinsic characteristic signals of the first group.

Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an analysis process device, and more particularly to an analysis process device for physiological signals.
Description of the Related Art
As technology develops, many medical apparatuses are not only providing original medical operations, but they also have remote-control and monitoring operations. Additionally, many mobile medical apparatuses such as wearable monitoring devices have gradually appeared on the market. However, physiological signals from the human body are non-stable and non-linear signals. If physiological signals are analyzed by conventional methods, medical workers may make errors in their estimations based on conventional analyses.


Several embodiments of watercraft hulls propelled by dual jet propulsion units. The jet propulsion units are either received within a common tunnel or a pair of separate tunnels of the watercraft hull and are moveable for servicing and to bring the jet propulsion units out of the water when the watercraft is not being operated but still is in the body of water.

This invention relates to a watercraft and more particularly to an improved watercraft powered by a pair of jet propulsion units.
It is well known that jet propulsion units have a number of advantages for use in watercraft, particularly for certain types of applications and environments. However, like conventional propeller units, there is a practical limit to the size which a jet propulsion can be constructed. Said another way, there are certain advantages in providing pairs of propulsion units rather than a single large propulsion unit. However, watercraft of the type previously proposed have not lent themselves to propulsion by a pair of jet propulsion units.
It is, therefore, a principal object of this invention to provide an improved watercraft construction that permits propulsion by a plurality of jet propulsion units.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a watercraft propelled by a plurality of jet propulsion units.

Watercraft with a couple of water jet propulsion units


The present disclosure provides a display substrate, a display device and a method for recognizing a positioning mark. The display substrate includes a substrate, and a first pattern and a second pattern formed on a first side of the substrate; the second pattern is disposed between the first pattern and the substrate, and the first pattern has a first through hole directly facing the second pattern; the first pattern and the second pattern are formed of materials having different reflectances, and the first through hole serves as a positioning mark on a first side of the substrate for positioning the first side of the substrate.

Currently, in the production process of the display device, positioning marks are need to be set respectively on the upper side and lower side of the display substrate to carry out grinding, inspection, pasting Pol and other processes. Since a mark Mark in the related art needs to be designed to locate in a blank region, the blank region where the Mark is located will have a light leakage after a backlight is installed in the panel. In order to prevent the light leakage, the region has to be processed at later steps. Therefore, the production process of the display device becomes complicated, the cost increases, and the product quality is not high.
In addition, reserving a blank region for the mark on the substrate does not conform to the development trend that the display device has a narrow frame or even the display device has no frame.
It should be noted that, information disclosed in the above background portion is provided only for better understanding of the background of the present disclosure, and thus it may contain information that does not form the prior art known by those ordinary skilled in the art.

Display substrate, display device and method for recognizing position mark

BEIJING BOE DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


An architecture and a method for a cryptography acceleration is disclosed that allows significant performance improvements without the use of external memory. Specifically, the chip architecture enables “cell-based” processing of random-length IP packets. The IP packets, which may be of variable and unknown size, are split into fixed-size “cells.” The fixed-sized cells are then processed and reassembled into packets. The cell-based packet processing architecture of the present invention allows the implementation of a processing pipeline that has known processing throughput and timing characteristics, thus making it possible to fetch and process the cells in a predictable time frame. The architecture is scalable and is also independent of the type of cryptography performed. The cells may be fetched ahead of time (pre-fetched) and the pipeline may be staged in such a manner that attached (local) memory is not required to store packet data or control parameters.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of cryptography, and more particularly to an architecture and method for cryptography acceleration.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many methods to perform cryptography are well known in the art and are discussed, for example, in Applied Cryptography, Bruce Schneier, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (1996, 2nd Edition), herein incorporated by reference. In order to improve the speed of cryptography processing, specialized cryptography accelerator chips have been developed. For example, the Hi/fn™ 7751 and the VLSI™ VMS115 chips provide hardware cryptography acceleration that out-performs similar software implementations. Cryptography accelerator chips may be included in routers or gateways, for example, in order to provide automatic IP packet encryption/decryption. By embedding cryptography functionality in network hardware, both system performance and data security are enhanced.
However, these chips require sizeable external attached memory in order to operate. The VLSI VMS118 chip, in fact, requires attached synchronous SRAM, which is the most expensive type of memory. The additional memory requirements make these solutions unacceptable in terms of cost versus performance for many applications.
Also, the actual sustained performance of these chips is much less than peak throughput that the internal cryptography engines (or "crypto engines") can sustain. One reason for this is that the chips have a long "context" change time. In other words, if the cryptography keys and associated data need to be changed on a packet-by-packet basis, the prior art chips must swap out the current context and load a new context, which reduces the throughput. The new context must generally be externally loaded from software, and for many applications, such as routers and gateways that aggregate bandwidth from multiple connections, changing contexts is a very frequent task.
Recently, an industry security standard has been proposed that combines both "DES/3DES" encryption with "MD5/SHA1" authentication, and is known as "IPSec." By incorporating both encryption and authentication functionality in a single accelerator chip, over-all system performance can be enhanced. But due to the limitations noted above, the prior art solutions do not provide adequate performance at a reasonable cost.
Thus it would be desirable to have a cryptography accelerator chip architecture that is capable of implementing the IPSec specification (or any other cryptography standard), that does not require external memory, and that can change context information quickly.

Security chip architecture and implementations for cryptography acceleration


An apparatus stores and dispenses biologic drug compositions. The apparatus is an automated device that stores a biologic drug under the desired conditions. When authorized, the automated device processes the stored biologic drug by performing the desired processing steps to prepare the biologic drug for administration to a patient. The automated device includes a computing system to transmit patient information to a remote location and receive authorization from a remote location.

Automated devices such as vending machines have been used for dry goods, refrigerated foods and/or frozen foods for a long time. The vending machines are placed in locations convenient to the consumer. When the consumer desires the product, he or she physically deposits cash or a credit card into the machine, makes a selection and receives the product.
More recently, automated devices have been used for conveying regulated pharmaceuticals. In acquiring regulated pharmaceuticals, a consumer in addition to providing payment must also provide documentation in some manner that they are eligible and permitted to receive the product. In this case also, the consumer physically interacts with the automated device to provide payment and permission for obtaining the product. These pharmaceuticals generally include dry or liquid pharmaceuticals and are regulated in order to prevent fraud and/or abuse.

Automated device for biologic drug distribution


A method and system for performing trust evaluation for a mobile software agent on a trusted computing platform are disclosed. A sending entity, which includes a mobile software agent, verifies if a receiving entity is trustworthy before transferring the mobile software agent to the receiving entity. The receiving entity may verify the state and details of the mobile software agent and/or the state of the sending entity, and receive the mobile software agent if the state of the mobile software agent and the sending entity are trustworthy. The mobile software agent may include its own virtual trusted platform module (TPM) which is tied to an agent's identity. The agent's virtual TPM is part of the agent and transferred along with the mobile code when the mobile code is transferred.

Mobile software agents at the basic level contain code, state information and data. Mobile software agents are similar to any other software program, with the exception that they can move from one system to another and execute locally on a remote system. A mobile software agent may be executed on many systems during its life cycle. In some instances, mobile software agents may work under the control of a central entity that provides inputs to the agents. In other instances, the agents may be autonomous and independently make decisions.
Conventional software agents have some long-standing problems. When an agent is moved to a remote system, there is currently no mechanism for the agent to decide if the remote system is trustworthy. There are some solutions that make use of digital certificates to verify the identity of the remote system. However, there is no mechanism for verifying the trustworthiness of the remote system.
When a computer accepts a mobile software agent, it has to make sure that the code of the mobile software agent is not malicious in nature. A conventional approach involves a signed code that the remote entity can use to verify that the code is authentic. However, no mechanism exists for verifying whether the state of the agent and the data transmitted along with the agent are trustworthy.
When a computer downloads a mobile software agent, it has to make sure that the system that it needs to interact with to import a code is not malicious in nature. Conventional solutions used to ensure that the agent and the platform are trustworthy use digital certificates and limit the resources available to the agent on the remote system, (e.g., sandboxing). Use of digital certificates will help identify the code and the platform, but does not provide any indication of how trustworthy the platform is at the given point in time. Restricting access to resources will help make the receiving entity more secure, but it limits the functionality that the agent can support. In addition, this does not prevent a malicious code from being imported or operating on the remote system, but it merely reduces the extent of the potential damage a code may do after it is imported. Moreover, this method reduces but does not quite eliminate the possibility that the imported code damages a receiving system.
Trusted Computing Group (TCG) is an organization established with an aim of enhancing security of the computing environment in disparate computer platforms. TCG has adopted specifications developed by the trusted computing platform alliance. At the root of the TCG specifications is a tamper resistant security hardware device embedded in the platform, which is called the trusted platform module (TPM). The TPM acts as a "root of trust" for the platform, and has integrated cryptographic functionality providing integrity, creation and use of digital signatures and privacy protecting mechanisms. A platform configuration register (PCR) is a 20-byte storage area, internal to the TPM, which contains a cumulative digest of a number of measured values, typically consisting of embedded data. The TCG specification mandates that there be at least sixteen PCRs within a TPM.
Integrity reporting may be used to determine a platform's current configuration. FIG. 1 shows a conventional attestation procedure 150 for a system 100 having a TPM 106. A challenger 102 requests one or more PCR values from a platform agent 104 (step 152). The platform agent collects stored measurement log (SML) entries, which are integrity measurement values (step 154). The platform agent 104 requests PCR values from the TPM 106 (step 156). The PCR values are measurement digests of the integrity measurement values, (i.e., signed hash of the integrity measurement values). The TPM 106 signs the PCR values using an attestation identity key (AIK) (step 158), and sends it to the platform agent 104 (step 160). The platform agent 104 also collects credentials that vouch for the TPM 106 from the repository 108 (steps 162, 164). The platform agent 104 sends the signed PCR values, the SML entries and the credentials to the challenger (step 166). The challenger 102 then verifies the platform configuration (step 168). For the verification, the challenger 102 computes a measurement digest from the received SML entries and compares the computed measurement digest with the PCR values. The challenger 102 also evaluates the platform credentials and checks signatures.
Recently, methods to virtualize the functions of a physical TPM have been proposed. Using these methods, a single physical TPM can be used on systems where multiple operating systems are running concurrently or multiple software and hardware sub-entities on the system can take on functions of 'virtualized', 'instantiated' TPM using the single physical TPM on board. TPMs typically provide singular instances of features, such as endorsement and storage root key pairs, TPM owner, one set of PCRs and other singletons, with existing TPM-based security architectures having been built around these features.
From its inception, the current TPM was not designed to be accessed by multiple systems at the same time. Therefore, a virtual TPM that can work with multiple operating systems on the same machine would need extended command sets that are new to the current TPM v1.2 commands.
In one proposed virtual TPM model, each created instance of a TPM holds an association with a virtual machine (VM) throughout its lifetime on the platform. As modern hypervisors also allow for the migration of operating system VMs from one physical machine to another, a virtual TPM implementation must support migration of the TPM state. Prior art methods allow, (using extended virtual TPM command sets), TPM state migration such that the complete state of the TPM is secured throughout the transition, based on migratable storage keys that are shared between the involved systems.

Trust evaluation for a mobile software agent on a trusted computing platform


An actuator assembly for an electromagnetically-actuated, spring-loaded positioning system in displacement engines, such as for lifting valves in internal combustion engines. The positioning mechanism comprises a three-spring system and two electrically-operated, opposed actuating solenoids, by means of which the actuator may be moved therebetween, and held at, two discreet, mutually-opposite operating positions. The actuator assembly further comprises an anchor plate having integrally attached upper and lower stems, wherein the lower stem engages the upper flanged end of a valve stem and, upon reciprocation of the anchor plate, transfers movement to the valve stem which moves the valve from a closed to an open position, or vice-versa. The actuator assembly is symmetrically biased by upper and lower halves of the three-spring system. The upper spring system includes a first spring disposed to engage the upper stem and stressed to force the actuator assembly to the open position of the valve head. The lower spring system comprises: A second spring disposed to engage the lower stem and stressed to move the actuator assembly to the closed position of the valve head; and A third spring disposed to engage a stamp flange on the upper end of the valve stem which spring is stressed to assist the second spring in moving the actuator assembly to the closed position of the valve head. Spring constants of each spring are selected to provide a constant neutral point of the spring system over the service life of the actuator assembly.

Examples of electromagnetically operated adjusting devices for gas exchange valves of this type are shown in EP-A 0 197 357, DE-OS 35 13 105 and DE-OS 23 35 150.
These known examples disclose an anchor plate which is caused to oscillate back and forth between and engage the pole surface associated with a pair of opposed electromagnets. Each electromagnet has disposed therein a solenoid which, when energized, provides current flow through the electromagnet and attracts the anchor plate to its corresponding pole surface. The anchor plate includes an extension member adapted to transfer movement to a valve stem of a gas exchange valve such that the contact of the anchor plate with a pole surface of either electromagnet results in either a closed or open position of the gas exchange valve. A spring system comprising a first spring disposed above the anchor plate and located about the central axis of the actuator assembly and a second spring disposed below the anchor plate and also located about the central axis of the actuator assembly, is provided to assist the movement of the anchor plate towards the pole surface of the opposing electromagnet as the associated solenoid is de-energized. The neutral or dead point of this spring system is located at about the central position of the anchor plate between the two opposing electromagnets.
During operation, if the anchor plate is in contact with one of the two electromagnets, then the spring system moves the anchor plate away from the pole surface of the contacted electromagnet as the solenoid associated with that electromagnet is de-activated. This permits the spring system to oscillate the anchor plate out past the dead point to the opposite electromagnet. If the opposite electromagnet is then excited by current (i.e., its solenoid is energized), the anchor plate gets caught and engages the pole surface of the opposing electromagnet. The change of position of the anchor plate activates the gas exchange valve to switch from an open to a closed position, or vice-versa.
DE-A 35 13 105 and EP-A 0 197 357 also disclose valve systems wherein the anchor plate is stressed symmetrically at both ends. Symmetrical stressing is provided by a pair of springs or packs of springs such that when either electromagnet is energized, the dead point of the spring system sits in the middle between the opposed electromagnets, thus making possible a symmetrical opening or closing of the gas exchange valve. One side of the symmetrical spring system presses directly against a structured piece (stem) that forms a unitary part of the anchor plate or against the anchor plate itself, while the opposite spring system presses against the valve tappet which in turn presses against the anchor plate, moving it again into its middle position. Difficulties arise in such systems from the aging of the springs and general wear and tear, so that after a certain period of operation the position of the mid-point of the system is no longer assured.
Therefore there is a definite need in the art to provide an improved spring system in electromagnetically operated adjusting devices for use in gas exchange valves for internal combustion engines which do not fatigue or weaken or undergo changes over a long operating lifetime.

Electromagnetically operated adjusting device


Disclosed is a vehicular headlamp, which has a reflecting surface curved outward, a lens covering the front of the reflecting surface and a filament disposed at a predetermined position at the reflecting surface, whereby the light emitted from the filament is reflected at the reflecting surface to irradiate a low beam. This headlamp further has an auxiliary reflecting surface provided at a position out of the region which extends from the filament and covers the effective reflecting surface of the reflecting surface. The auxiliary reflecting surface is positioned substantially horizontal and substantially parallel to the irradiation direction. The vehicular headlamp with the above structure can therefore produce beams to illuminate overhead signs from the light reflected at the auxiliary reflecting surface while emitting no dazzling light to an approaching vehicle from the auxiliary reflecting surface. Further, this headlamp does not deteriorate the designability of the lens.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a novel headlamp for vehicles, and, more particularly, to a novel vehicular headlamp which can emit a beam that illuminates so-called overhead signs, which are placed over an expressway or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Drivers have no particular problems recognizing overhead signs, which are written by luminous paint or the like, at night, but may overlook non-luminous overhead signs at night unless sufficient light is around.
To cope with the above situation, some beams from the headlamp may be used to illuminate overhead signs.
FIG. 1 shows the luminous intensity distribution a of a low beam, which should illuminate a region b of about 2 to 5 degrees above the horizontal line.
To fulfill the requirement, a prism d which refracts light upward may be formed at the inner wall of a lens c at a position above the center thereof, as shown in FIG. 2. Parts e' of light beams e which travel nearly parallel to or slightly downward to the optical axis x--x are refracted upward by this prism d to illuminate overhead signs.
The structure using the prism d formed on the inner wall of the lens c to provide beams to illuminate overhead signs raises several problems.
First, the portion of the lens c where the prism d is formed becomes too thick, causing the deterioration of the designability of such lenses.
There is another problem concerning the dazzling light to approaching vehicles from opposite direction. If light is irradiated to the region g between the aforementioned region b and the cut line f of the low beam a, it will dazzle the driver of an approaching vehicle so that no beams should be irradiated in this region g. According to the structure shown in FIG. 2, however, the prism rising portion h at the upper end portion of the prism d refracts the incident beams e to yield upward beams i which may dazzle the driver of an approaching vehicle.


3R-carboxylate enantiomer derivative of formula (III) can be prepared easily and selectively by the method of the present invention, and a highly pure D-erythro-2,2-difluoro-2-deoxy-1-oxoribose derivative can be prepared efficiently from the compound of formula (III) as an intermediate.

D-erythro-2,2-difluoro-2-deoxy-1-oxoribose is an important intermediate used in the preparation of gemcitabine of formula (A), an agent for treating non-small cell lung cancer.

Since gemcitabine is an erytliro enantiomer having the 3-hydroxy moiety oriented down (opposite to the 5-hydroxy group with respect to the place of the tetrahydrofuran ring), it is important in the preparation of gemcitabine to develop a method for preparing 1-oxoribose erythro compounds having the 3-hydroxy group oriented down.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,526,988 discloses a method for preparing an erythro 1-oxoribose compound via alkyl 2,2-difluoro-3-hydroxy-3-(2,2-dialkyldioxoran-4-yl)propionate, a 3:1 mixture of 3R-hydroxy enantiomer of formula (B) and 3S-hydroxy enantiomer of formula (B′)

wherein,
R4 and R5 are each independently C1-3 alkyl.
However, such a method involves an uneconomical step of isolating only the 3R-hydroxy enantiomer of formula (B) from the mixture of the compounds of (B) and (B′) in order to selectively prepare the desired erythro 1-oxoribose derivative, because the compounds of (B) and (B′) produce an erythro compound of formula (C) and a threo compound of formula (C′), respectively, as shown in Reaction Scheme A and B.

Further, the method also has the problem that it takes a long reaction time, almost four days at room temperature.
Meanwhile, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,965,374; 5,223,608; and 5,434,254 disclose a method for obtaining an erythro enantiomer of formula (D), as shown in Reaction Scheme C, by (i) hydrolyzing and azeotropically distilling a 3-benzoyloxypropionate ester of formula (E) (a 3:1 mixture of 3R- and 3S-enantiomers) to obtain a lactone compound of formula (F); (ii) protecting the 5-hydroxy group of the compound of formula (F) with benzoyl to obtain a 3,5-dibenzoyloxy compound of formula (G); and (iii) cooling the compound of formula (G) to −5˜10° C. to precipitate only the erythro enantiomer of formula (D).

wherein, Bz is benzoyl.
However, the above method is uneconomical due to its overall low yield of about 25% and the use of an expensive and toxic trifluoroacetic acid in an excess amount in the hydrolyzing process.
Further, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,428,176 and 5,618,951 teach a method of preparing a 2,2-difluoro-β-silyloxy-1,3-dioxolane-4-propionic acid ester of formula (H) having a high 3R-silylhydroxy enantiomer content by reacting a 2,2-difluoroketene silyl acetal with a glyceraldehyde derivative in a solvent such as 1,3-dimethylpropylene urea (DMPU), as shown in Reaction Scheme D.

wherein, R6 to R9 are alkyl; and R11 and R11 are C1-3 alkyl.
However, this method also requires an uneconomical column chromatography process for isolating the 3R-enantiomer from the mixture of the enantiomers.
Accordingly, the present inventors have endeavored to develop an efficient method for selectively preparing 1-oxoribose compounds having an erythro structure, and have unexpectedly found an efficient, novel method for preparing highly pure 2,2-difluoro-2-deoxy-1-oxoribose having an erytiro structure.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method for the preparation of D-erythro-2,2-difluoro-2-deoxy-1-oxoribose derivative


A novel method and system for clock and data recovery in high speed serial transceiver applications allowing for fast bit lock acquisition and small data tracking error is presented. The clock and data recovery method utilizes a variable bandwidth loop filter to generate a phase adjustment signal used by a phase interpolator in generating a clock signal at the same frequency and phase as the incoming digital data stream. The loop filter bandwidth may be adjusted to correspond with a plurality of clock and data recovery operating modes. In particular, the filter bandwidth may be set to either a high or a low value depending on whether the phase difference between the recovered clock signal and the incoming digital data stream is above or below a programmed threshold value.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to serial data communication networks and, in particular, to a clock and data recovery method and system for use in serial data communication networks allowing for fast bit lock acquisition and small data tracking errors.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Modern high-speed serial transceivers have received wide application in cross-chip and serial data communication networks. In contrast to their parallel counterparts, high-speed serial transceivers have the capability of extracting a clock signal encoded within a received data stream, allowing for network synchronization over a single data channel. This capability has subsequently eliminated the requirement of sending data and synchronization clock signals over multiple channels. In addition, several parallel data channels may be multiplexed and transmitted through a single serial data channel, increasing data transmission rates. These methods eliminate the stringent requirements on skew control between clock and data signals present in parallel data communication networks, and greatly simplify overall system design.
Designing reliable clock and data recovery ("CDR") methods and systems, having the capability of extracting clock and data information contained within a transmitted serial data stream, proves crucial in the implementation of high-speed serial transceiver systems. A CDR system implemented in a high-speed serial transceiver may have multiple operating modes that depend on the state of an incoming input data stream. For example, during serial data link initialization before payload data is transmitted, data received by the serial transceiver may contain a CDR training data stream pattern. The training data stream may contain a synchronization clock signal embedded within rich data transitions in the data stream. By aligning an internal sampling clock to the embedded clock signal, the internal clock of the serial transceiver can be synchronized with the embedded clock signal. This process is called bit lock acquisition. Once bit lock is achieved, the serial transceiver may begin payload data transmission. Accordingly, due to inherent data transfer latencies during bit lock acquisition, reducing the time needed to achieve bit lock is a primary consideration in CDR system design.
During the transmission of payload data, the serial receiver must track minor phase changes in the incoming data. These minor phase changes are caused by a number of factors including system clock jitter and lane-to-lane interference. When left untracked by the CDR system, input data jitter can cause eye closure at sampling points and result in the overall degradation of system performance due to an increased bit error rate ("BER"). FIG. 1 illustrates the relationship between eye closure and BER graphically in graph 100. Two ideal digital pulses pdf(x) 104 without data jitter are shown centered one unit interval 110 apart. As illustrated in FIG. 1, one unit interval 110 represents the temporal spacing between adjacent bit intervals. A function illustrating the distribution of digital pulses with data jitter Cdf(x) 102 is also shown. The relationship between the distribution function Cdf(x) 102 and an ideal data pulse 104 is described by the relationship Cdf(0.1)=25, wherein as illustrated, 25% of pulse zero crossings will deviate from the ideal position by 0.1 unit intervals due to data jitter 108. As previously described, data jitter causes eye closure on both the left 106 and right 114 sides of the ideal digital pulse. A minimum eye opening 112 can be defined corresponding to a target BER. Thus, for a target BER, the total acceptable data jitter may be no greater than the sum of the left and right eye closures 106, 114 as shown. Accordingly, reducing tracking errors and BER is another primary consideration in designing CDR systems.
Therefore, in light of the foregoing description, it is desirable to develop novel and improved CDR systems with fast bit lock acquisition and small tracking error.

Method for binary clock and data recovery for fast acquisition and small tracking error


A device for clamping and cutting the rear or lower thread in an embroidering machine having a stitch plate with a stitch hole, a shuttle guide and a shuttle displaceably mounted in the shuttle guide. The clamping and cutting device which are arranged in the region of the stitch hole include a thread cutting device having a cutting blade and a thread clamping device having a thread clamping gap. The cutting device conveys the rear or lower thread into the clamping gap of the clamping device, where the thread is clamped before being cut. The cutting device does not take part in the clamping of said thread. Subsequent movements of the cutting device do not affect already clamped threads.

This invention relates to apparatus for clamping and cutting the rear or lower thread in an embroidery machine having a stitch plate having a stitch hole, a shuttle guide, a shuttle displaceably mounted in the shuttle guide, a slidable thread clamping device and a thread cutting device. Such a machine is disclosed, for example in German patent specification No. 20 65 264, which is incorporated herein by reference.
In that machine a thread clamping and cutting device associated with each shuttle of the machine is driven so as to be displaceable by a rotary mechanism, vertically with respect to the conveying direction of the shuttle.
Each thread clamping and cutting device must have its own individual drive mechanism, in order to ensure separate control thereof, such separate drives being uneconomical of space. Such an arrangement can not be used in a conventional shuttle embroidering machine having a 4/4 ratio, because the space needed for the separate drives is unavailable.
Also, the length of the cut thread is such that the appearance of the embroidery is impaired on the reverse side of the embroidered material and the consumption of thread is unduly high.
Further, the clamping and cutting device is arranged in the region of the shuttle guide, whereby the path of the rear or lower thread is impaired, especially since the known clamping and cutting device penetrates the shuttle carrier.
In the known machine the cutting blade of the cutting device, itself initiates clamping of the thread, and the clamping of the thread depends directly upon the cutting process itself. Thus after the cutting of the rear or lower thread has bean completed, the thread is clamped between a clamping surface of a plate spring and the cutting blade itself. Thus when a new cutting operation is to be carried out the clamping of the thread is stopped and the cut rear or lower thread is released. At embroidery sites which are put out of operation on the needle side, the severed and free-hanging rear or lower thread runs up and down with the shuttle and so is rubbed. Thus, when such an embroidery site is operated again, breakage of the thread or dropped stitches may occur.

Thread clamping and cutting apparatus for the rear or lower thread of an embroidering machine


A distributed system uses a consensus protocol to maintain a data set shared by nodes of the distributed system. When a change is proposed to the data set, the change must pass multiple tests, including a test regarding the validity of the proposed change according to the consensus protocol and a test regarding the validity of the proposed change according to an application that utilizes the data set. As a result, poison pills that could harm operation of the distributed system are prevented from being accepted, regardless of whether such poison pills would satisfy any conditions of the consensus protocol.

In distributed systems, different nodes of the distributed system (e.g., computer systems in a network) may operate in connection with the same set of data. Such nodes may operate relatively independently and, generally, the operation of a node can cause changes to data used by other nodes. In distributed systems, numerous issues can arise, such as node failure, erroneous operation, simultaneous or near simultaneous changes to data made by different nodes, and the like. Consensus protocols allow for data consistency in such distributed systems to protect and/or mitigate against such issues. While consensus protocols provide significant advantages for distributed systems, their use can have adverse effects. For instance, errors in data (often referred to as "poison pills") may, by implementation of a consensus protocol, propagate throughout a distributed system. While the data may be valid from the point of view of a consensus protocol, the data may be invalid from the perspective of an application that utilizes the data. Depending on the nature of such data, such propagation of erroneous data can have adverse effects, such as by rendering a distributed system unreliable and, in some cases, inoperable.

Poison pill prevention for consensus protocols


A distributed Rivest Shamir Adleman (RSA) signature generation method in an ad-hoc network and a signature generation node are provided, including steps for distributing key information to a plurality of nodes using an RSA parameter and a maximum distance separable (MDS) code, in a dealer node, generating a partial signature using the key information and transmitting the generated partial signature to a signature generation node, in the plurality of nodes, and generating an RSA signature using the partial signature, in the signature generation node, wherein the RSA signature is generated using the partial signature, received from a fewer number of nodes than the entire plurality of nodes.

1. Field of the Invention
The following description relates to a distributed Rivest Shamir Adleman (RSA) signature generation method in an ad-hoc network and a signature generation node. More particularly, the following description relates to a distributed RSA signature generation method which can use an RSA signature without interaction among nodes in a distributed RSA signature which distributes a function of a dealer node of a necessary certification authority for management of keys on the ad-hoc network, and a signature generation node.
2. Description of Related Art
Ubiquitous networking indicates that various networks are united based on an Internet Protocol (IP) to provide a seamless networking service to a user. When a ubiquitous service is desired to be realized by using wideband wireless network techniques in the present infrastructure base, there may be problems in that, as users  increase, a cell range decreases, and expansion of the network infrastructure is naturally required to overcome the decreases of the cell range. Subsequently, costs may be increased to maintain the network infrastructure and to build further network infrastructure. Also, there may be other problems in that, an entire network may be paralyzed when the network infrastructure is broken due to disasters such as war, fire, flooding, and so forth.
Mobile ad-hoc networks are required to reduce the costs for building the network infrastructure and to realize infrastructure-less wireless networking. Features of the mobile ad-hoc networks are as follows:                1. Self-organization: All nodes perform functions of a terminal and a router, and voluntarily configure a network;        2. Dynamic Topology: Topology of a network dynamically changes due to frequent movements of wireless terminal nodes;        3. Lack of Central Authority: There is neither a node functioning as a backbone, nor a node functioning as a certain node exist;        4. Lack of Association: It is not easy to control a network due to the lack of central authority feature, resulting in difficulties in controlling a node join and protection against malicious nodes;        5. No Synchronous Communication: Synchronous communication is impossible due to features of the dynamic topology. That is, synchronous communication is impossible when all nodes are simultaneously connected to a network; and        6. Bandwidth and Power Constraints: There is a limitation of network resources since the network is configured with wireless mobile devices.
Basically, security requirements on the ad-hoc network are similar to security requirements on other networks. Conversely, in the case of an ad-hoc wireless network in a distributed computing environment such as a fully wireless ad-hoc network, it is inevitable to use encryption keys in unreliable circumstances. Therefore, a probability of relying on the encryption keys is increased. Accordingly, it is important to build a reliable relation between the encryption keys, and to distribute the encryption keys to the entire ad-hoc network. A distributed signature scheme based on a public key is one of the solutions that can solve the above problem.
In the distributed signature scheme, a message is encrypted using a secret key from a reliable certification authority, and the encrypted message is decrypted using a public key of the reliable certification authority, and a validity is verified.
However, all nodes on the network are required to perform a function of the reliable certification authority since the reliable certification authority does not exist in the ad-hoc network. The distributed signature scheme is based on secret sharing. Namely, the secret sharing indicates that secret information such as a secret key is shared based on a mathematical algorithm, and the secret information is restored using the shares. A Shamir method is one of the representative methods based on a polynomial interpolation for the secret sharing.
The polynomial interpolation is a type of algorithm. A unique 't-1'-degree polynomial can be defined when 't' number of different points exist in a two-dimensional space, that is, after the 't-1'-degree polynomial is defined and points in the 't-1'-degree polynomial are distributed. When at least 't' number of points are collected, an original polynomial can be found. The polynomial interpolation is suitable for the secret sharing. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a distributed RSA  signature method in the conventional art.
Specifically, among the nodes of an ad-hoc network, a signature generation node 100 requests neighbor nodes 101 and 102 for secret shares of the neighbor nodes 101 and 102. The neighbor nodes 101 and 102 then transmit their own secret shares to the signature generation node 100. Subsequently, the signature generation node 100 may generate the RSA signature using the secret shares of the neighbor nodes 101 and 102.
However, in the conventional art, the Shamir's distributed RSA signature generation method has a problem in that, at least 't' number of points, that is, at least 't' number of nodes, are required to simultaneously exist when using the polynomial interpolation which means communication among shareholders having the 't' number of points may occur, that is, interaction among the shareholders occur. Subsequently, a leak of information about the shareholders may occur.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example for describing the interaction in the Shamir's distributed RSA signature method in the conventional art.
In order to communicate with a plurality of nodes of an ad-hoc network 200, that is, for an RSA signature, a new node 201 communicates with nodes 202 through 204 of the plurality of nodes. This is considered as essential communication, however, this is not considered as the interaction. The nodes 202 through 204, having received the request for the signature from the node 201, collect a partial signature generated by using the nodes' 202 through 204 own shares to generate a public key. Generally, identification (ID) information of the nodes 202 through 204 is required when generating the partial signature.
However, the conventional distributed RSA signature method has problems in  that, additional communication, such as collecting information of other nodes to generate the partial signature, may occur, that is, an interaction 205 may occur. This may cause a security problem. There is another problem in that, all nodes are required to simultaneously exist in an environment where topology frequently changes, similar to the ad-hoc network 200.
Accordingly, to address the above and other problems, a non-interactive distributed RSA signature method is required.

Distributed Rivest Shamir Adleman signature method and signature generation node


An electronic circuit is described for providing a low current DC supply at increased voltage with high efficiency and minimal hardware complexity. In performing its function, the circuit preferably utilizes a plurality of CMOS voltage-controlled solid state switches in conjunction with a sequenced clock pulse train to implement a compact capacitive-type multiplier. Thus, capacitors are charged in a predetermined order and the charges stacked upon one another to ultimately charge an output storage capacitor to a voltage level which is substantially a desired multiple of the supply voltage applied to the circuit. For descriptive purposes, the present inventive techniques are applied herein to the design for an octupler.

DC voltage multiplication has been implemented by various types of DC-to-DC converters. The classic approach to such multiplication involves the use of an oscillator for converting the DC voltage to an alternating one, which is then stepped-up by a transformer and rectified to produce the higher DC level. An alternate method of multiplication in common use utilizes an oscillator and a diode-capacitor voltage multiplier. Each of these methods has deficiencies. The transformer type is adapted to higher power levels but tends to be bulky, costly and inefficient at light loads. The capacitive type, which may be designed for efficiency at light loads, has inherently poor regulation and limited power-handling capability. In general the well known voltage multiplier requires a plurality of capacitors and diodes, each equal in number to the degree of multiplication. For example, a voltage doubler requires two capacitors and two diodes, a tripler, three of each component. When considering higher levels of multiplication, such as an octupler, the component count becomes prohibitively large.
The availability of low-resistance CMOS voltage-controlled solid state switches and of low power digital circuits, including microprocessors, makes possible the mechanization of more compact capacitive type multipliers. At the same time, the low operating voltages of such digital circuits, typically of the order of five volts, creates a need for voltage multiplication when significant output energy is needed for interfacing with certain utilization devices. For example, electroexplosive devices are commonly initiated by discharge of a capacitor through a bridge wire surrounded by a heat-sensitive compound. It is desirable that the energy be delivered as rapidly as possible to minimize heat loss, that is, the RC time constant of the wire and storage capacitor should be as small as possible. This condition dictates the use of a small capacitor charged to a relatively high voltage. Furthermore, with relation to the capacitive storage of energy, any increase in voltage results in a much more sizeable decrease in the value of the required capacitance. Since the capacitor provides a reservoir of energy deliverable at a high rate, the voltage multiplier can operate at a very low current rate, that is, a rate sufficient to supply capacitor leakage current.
The present invention provides circuit means for charging a storage capacitor and maintaining the charge thereon, in a highly efficient manner and with a minimal component count. For example, in the octupler, chosen for purposes of disclosure hereinafter, the theoretical eight-fold multiplication of the supply voltage is achieved with four capacitors and four diodes, including the output storage capacitor. It should be understood however, that the basic techniques described herein are directly applicable to other levels of multiplication.

DC Voltage multiplier using phase-sequenced CMOS switches


A U-shaped sheet metal brazing shim for disposition within a groove in a drill bit body to encircle the edge area of a plate-type cutting insert. Brazing alloy is provided to form bonds between the shim and opposed surfaces on the cutting insert and drill bit body. Closely spaced holes extend across essentially the entire surface of the metal sheet to provide thermal stress relief within the brazed joint. Border areas of the sheet are left unperforated so that edges of the sheet are relatively smooth and free of sharp projections that could cut into a person's hand while the shim is being handled or repositioned.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to coal mine roof drilling tools, and particularly to a brazing shim locatable between a drill bit body and a plate-type cutter insert to facilitate a brazing operation between the drill bit body and cutter insert.
2. Description of Prior Developments
U.S. Pat. No. 4,817,742 to H. Whysong shows a drilling tool wherein a U cross-sectioned butterfly shim is interposed between a plate-type cutter insert and a drill bit body to facilitate a brazing operation between the bit body and cutter insert. The shim is formed out of a flat metal sheet, as shown in FIG. 13 of the patent. Prior to the sheet being bent into its U cross-sectional configuration a series of perforations are punched through the sheet surface. The perforations extend through a central region of the sheet from one edge of the sheet to an opposite edge of the sheet, leaving side regions of the sheet unperforated. Perforations at edge areas of the sheet give the sheet edge a sharp jagged profile that can be a problem for a person handling and manipulating the shim during the process of positioning the shim between the bit body and the cutter insert. The sharp jagged edges can puncture or cut into the person's fingers.
The personal injury problem is aggravated by the fact that in some real time situations the entire surface area of the shim is perforated. In such cases the entire edge surface is sharp and jagged.


The invention relates to a method and to a packaging plant which allows for a high degree of automatization of the packaging of individual product packages into shipment containers of different sizes and which is at the same time highly reliable and according to this method, each one of the product packages is assigned a conveyance tracking clock information, including information about the type of product package, its respective conveyance track, its conveyance speed, and its predetermined position and orientation within the shipment container for the specific shipment order.

In many industries the prices of products, such as, for example, mass consumer goods, medicines, ophthalmic articles including contact lenses, etc., are affected to a non-negligible extent by the costs for their packaging for distribution to retailers, pharmacies, opticians, etc. In many cases packaging and logistics still involves a large amount of manual labor. Manual packaging and logistic processes of products and customer shipments usually is arduous, monotonous and involves a certain risk of mistakes. Mistakes lead to additional efforts for remedy and in particular for medicines or ophthalmic articles including contact lenses, they should be completely avoided.
Therefore, considerable attempts have been made to automate the packaging of products and product packages into shipment containers for distribution. These attempts have resulted in the introduction of pick-and-place robots in packaging lines. While such more or less automated packaging lines with pick-and-place robots have proven quite reliable for the packaging of large numbers of like products or product packages, they encounter considerable problems when shipment containers of different sizes must be loaded with different types of products and product packages. This is the case, for example, when an order of medicines must be prepared for shipment to a pharmacy or to a consumer. The problems also occur with orders related to ophthalmic products including contact lenses. For example, an order from an ophthalmologist or an optician may include a plurality of contact lenses having different parameters, such as refraction power of the lens, base curve, toricity, etc. Thus, each shipment container usually must be individually packaged with a specific selection of contact lenses having different parameters in accordance with the respective order. Taking further into account that each type of contact lens having the same set of parameters is not only provided in single lens packages but is typically also available in packages comprising multiple contact lenses of the respective type, it is apparent that the task of packaging a shipment container for distribution in accordance with a respective order is quite complicated to perform. Nevertheless, in view of the high volumes of shipments per day which typically must be completed by a distribution center, there exists a strong desire for an automatization of the packaging process.

Method and packaging plant for placing product packages into shipment containers


A target detection assembly includes a detection member adapted to generate a first input signal, and an emulator module is removably secured to the detection member. The emulator module includes an emulator housing assembly removably secured to the detection member and a selection portion is disposed on the emulator housing assembly. The selection portion is configured to be oriented in a first and second selection mode. In the first selection mode, a first emulation circuit disposed within the emulator housing assembly receives the first input signal, processes the first input signal, and outputs a first output signal that is different than the first input signal. In the second selection mode, a second emulation circuit disposed within the emulator housing assembly receives the first input signal, processes the first input signal, and outputs a second output signal that is different than the first input signal and the first output signal.

Control valves are used in process control systems to control conditions such as flow, pressure, temperature, and/or liquid level by fully or partially opening or closing in response to a signal received from one or more valve controllers. Typically, a valve controller is operatively coupled to or includes one or more sensors or switches disposed within the system, thereby allowing the valve controller to compare one or more "setpoints" to a corresponding "process variable" whose value is provided by the switches or sensors. The opening or closing of control valves is typically done automatically by electrical, hydraulic, or pneumatic actuators. In addition, positioners may be used to control the opening or closing of the actuator based on, for example, electric or pneumatic signals received from the valve controller.
In typical control valve assemblies, the one or more switches (such as proximity switches) or other sensors of the valve controller are adapted to detect targets (such as magnets) that are coupled to a portion of the valve (e.g., a valve stem) to determine one or more operational parameters of the control valve, such as the position of the closure member of the control valve. The one or more switches or other sensors are generally affixed to a stationary portion of the control valve, such as a portion of the bonnet, and the target is attached to a displaceable stem of the closure member. The one or more switches or other sensors are chosen for a unique application. For example, Namur sensors may be used when it is desired that a resistance output increases from low to high when a target is within a predetermined range of the Namur sensor. As another example, in environments in which flammable gas is present, the switches or other sensors must not output a voltage (or current) above a threshold value that is capable of igniting the flammable gas. Because unique switches and/or sensors (or circuits that include the switches and/or sensors) and are required for a correspondingly unique output type, a large inventory of switches is necessary to accommodate custom applications. In addition, if a different output type of output is desired, an entirely different switch or sensor must be purchased and installed.

General Equipment and Manufacturing Company, Inc.