A distributed system architecture with components each having an autonomous “hub” or dependent “hub” and a related differential indexing method for obtaining data are disclosed.

In today's linked computing environment, information must be exchanged between networked systems. As recognized herein, information exchange desirably is done in a way that enables the delivery to be predictable, secure, and transferable while maintaining synchronization to the information source, the medium, and the receiver. Such an all-encompassing data sharing framework should be designed to enable the communication and processing of data at a high rate and large scale.
As also understood herein, an ideal information sharing framework should also provide not only for sharing information in many environments, but also provide for the ability to have a self-managing system manage application integration, merge computing layers into one engine, and reduce total data volume and redundancy of data while scaling and synchronizing data to where it is needed. With the above recognitions in mind, the invention herein is provided.

System and method for information sharing


A waste energy-based vehicle air conditioning system includes efficient compression driving means coupled to refrigeration means. In one implementation, the compression driving means includes a controller (e.g., magnetic clutch) that couples mechanical waste energy from an engine fan axle, a vehicle drive shaft, or a transmission shaft to an axle of a refrigerant compressor. Alternatively, the controller can also include a battery that is charged from the mechanical waste energy. Upon detecting certain pressure values, the controller powers the refrigerant compressor with a rotating axle (e.g., during deceleration) or with battery power, as appropriate. In one implementation, the controller is configured to engage compression immediately upon detecting that the vehicle is decelerating. One or more kits can be used to retrofit existing vehicles to operate the respective air conditioning systems principally on waste energy.

1. The Field of the Invention
Implementations of the present invention relate in part to air conditioning systems, such as used in automobiles.
2. Background and Relevant Art
For the past several decades, air conditioning systems have been used in automobiles and other motor vehicles during hot weather to provide more comfortable conditions for drivers and other vehicle occupants. Typically, an air conditioning system uses a refrigerant, which it compresses and expands at various points to cool warm air.
In general, vehicular air conditioning systems use energy from an active power source, such as an operating vehicle engine, to compress air conditioner refrigerant. One conventional air conditioner system, for example, might be configured with an air conditioner refrigerant compressor ("compressor") that is selectively coupled to a vehicle engine. In particular, the compressor might be selectively coupled to an engine fan belt, via a magnetic clutch and engine fan pulley system. When an operator engages the air conditioner, therefore, the air conditioning system engages the magnetic clutch, which then couples the air conditioner compressor to the engine (i.e., through the engine fan and engine fan pulley), and translates engine power to the compressor. The compressor of the air conditioning system can then use this engine power to compress the refrigerant.
Once compressed, conventional air conditioning systems pass the refrigerant ultimately to an expansion valve (or orifice tube) in an air box heat exchanger/evaporator ("heat exchanger") where the refrigerant may pass through a counter-current heat exchange with incoming air. Conventional air conditioning systems then pass the at least semi-condensed/compressed refrigerant from the heat exchanger back to the compressor for re-compression. Accordingly, the compressed refrigerant passes into the air box heat exchanger from the "high pressure side" of the air conditioning system, while the expanded refrigerant exits the heat exchanger into what is termed the "low pressure side" of the air conditioning system.
In general, and without use of the compressor, the exchange of differentially pressurized refrigerant volumes between the higher and lower pressure sides of the air conditioning system through the expansion valve will tend to equalize the overall refrigerant pressurization in the air conditioning system. That is, the pressure of refrigerant in the lower pressure side of the air conditioning system tends to increase with increased refrigerant volume, as well as with the addition of heat. Simultaneously, the pressure on the high pressure side of the air conditioning system tends to decrease as pressurized refrigerant passes into the heat exchanger. Ultimately, therefore, the air conditioning system will need to re-pressurize the refrigerant for it to be useful for cooling purposes.
Determining when to re-pressurize (i.e., "compress") the refrigerant is typically done any number of ways. In one conventional example, an air conditioning system might use a high/low pressure switch to monitor the refrigerant pressurization on the high and/or low pressure sides. For example, if the air conditioning system detects that refrigerant pressurization on the low pressure side is above a desired threshold, the air conditioning system might thus deduce that pressure on the high pressure side of the air conditioning system is too low, and thus engage the magnetic clutch (i.e., and engage the compressor). The air conditioning system can then compress the lower-pressure refrigerant in the low pressure side, and pass the newly-compressed refrigerant to the high pressure side. Once the pressurization on the low and/or high side of the air conditioning system hits a particular threshold, the air conditioning system might then disengage the magnetic clutch, and stop the compressor.
Although the air conditioning system might only engage the compressor at select pressure thresholds, each engagement nevertheless applies a particular load on the active power source (i.e., the engine). Although this added load on the engine may appear to be comparatively low, each added load on the power source/engine results in a need to consume additional fuel. In some situations, for example, operation of the compressor can reduce overall vehicle fuel efficiency (e.g., mpg/kpl) by as much as 25 percent or more. This simply means that a vehicle will typically consume more fuel during warmer periods (e.g., when using the air conditioner), which of course adds financial costs of additional fuel purchases. This also means that operating an air conditioner can ultimately result in additional fossil fuel exhaust expelled into the environment.
Manufacturers of hybrid vehicles (i.e., engine and battery-powered hybrids) attempt to circumvent some of these engine load/fuel efficiency problems with vehicles that use large-capacity batteries together with regenerative brakes. Such hybrid vehicles couple charging of the large-capacity battery at least in part to waste kinetic energy generated only during braking actions (using dynamic brakes, which charge the battery). The additional costs associated with the larger battery, the complex mechanisms used by the hybrid vehicle to capture waste energy, and the extra weight added thereby, however, tend to make conventional hybrid vehicles fairly expensive. These complex mechanisms also tend to be expensive to maintain over time, and such costs could tend to offset some of the savings associated with the added fuel economy.

Air conditioning system operating on vehicle waste energy


A wireless headset is provided, comprising: a microphone for receiving a first audio signal and for generating a corresponding microphone electrical signal; a portable receiver/transmitter electrically connected to the microphone for transmitting a first carrier frequency modulated according to the microphone's electrical signal; a remote receiver/transmitter for receiving and demodulating the modulated first carrier frequency to generate a first electrical signal corresponding to the microphone electrical signal, the remote receiver/transmitter also for transmitting a second carrier frequency modulated according to a second electrical signal; the portable receiver/transmitter also for receiving and demodulating the second modulated carrier frequency to generate a speaker electrical signal; and a speaker electrically connected to the portable receiver/transmitter for transforming the speaker's electrical signal into a second audio signal, one of the first and second carrier frequencies being above 900 Megahertz, the other of the first and second carrier frequencies being below 900 Megahertz.

Both wireless microphones with transmitters and wireless receivers with speakers are well known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,815,143 to Derhaag, et al. discloses a wireless microphone and U.S. Pat. No. 5,218,641 to Abe, et al. discloses a wireless receiver. The disadvantage with both these systems is that they both apparently involve only one way communication. With either system alone, a user cannot transmit and receive wireless communications.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,661,659 to Nishimura discloses a wireless phone system communicatively combined with a computer. The system uses a wireless phone receiver connected to a master phone unit which both have a central processing unit. Disadvantageously, crosstalk may occur between the transmitted and received audio because the wireless phone system in Nishimura does not transmit and receive the wireless audio on different radio frequencies. This is not desirable if the user wants to talk to a computer and listen to computer generated audio. The Nishimura apparatus further does not use a sound card with the computer to facilitate the computer generation of speech from text or computer speech recognition.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,671,158 to Fournier et al. discloses an apparatus for effecting wireless communications and video information between a computer and a technician for testing motor vehicle emission control systems. A motor vehicle technician can transmit wireless audio to a computer which can transmit wireless video and audio to the technician. The computer provides speech recognition and generates audio speech from text using a commercial sound card. The disadvantage with the Fournier apparatus is that both audio and video are simultaneously transmitted to the user. The user may desire only to transmit and receive wireless audio. If only audio is desired, a video visor affixed to the user interface of the Fournier device may undesirably obstruct the field of view of the user. Furthermore, the video interface makes the apparatus more expensive. Finally, the Fournier apparatus does not transmit and receive wireless audio communications on different radio frequencies.
What is desired, therefore, is a wireless headset that transmits and receives audio on different frequencies, wherein a user transmits voice signals through a sound card to a computer using voice recognition and the user receives audio from the computer which generates speech from text.


The device and method according to the present invention permute the order of signals representing information intended for transmission over a communication medium. The signal ordering is permuted prior to or at the time of transmission over the communication medium such that when the information or data is transmitted in the permuted order, it is more tolerant to data corrupting defects, such as a faulty communications line, or events, such as an electromagnetic pulse, that exist or may occur during the communication process.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to a method and a circuit for providing error-tolerant communication of information such as digital data or signals in a permuted order over a communication medium.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Recent advances in the area of electronic telecommunications have made it possible to transmit information allocated within communication packets or groups having an increased density at very high transmission rates. Generally, the higher the density of a communication packet or group, the more digital signals or samples are transmitted within that particular group. However, the increased density renders the communication group less error tolerant from data corrupting defects, such as a faulty communications line, or events, such as an electromagnetic pulse, that exist or may occur during the communication process. For example, if a magnetic storm passes through a given area of the communication medium, the electromagnetic pulse which may result could cause data corruption in the one or more communication groups and the loss of data integrity required when data is received at the receiving station. Therefore, a need exists to provide error-tolerant communication of information over a communication medium.

Method and apparatus for providing error-tolerant communication of information


Disclosed is an eductor for mixing water with a foamable concentrated surfactant. A venturi aspirates the surfactant into a water stream. The diluted surfactant is then delivered into a bottle, pail, bucket, or other container, e.g. for use in custodial applications. A baffle chamber and spider baffle are provided downstream of the venturi in the eductor to reduce foaming. The baffle can be cross shaped, with a large central region.

Venturi-type mixing devices, sometimes referred to as eductors, use aspiration to mix two liquids. An eductor directs a pressurized stream of a first liquid (usually water) through a venturi. A second inlet passage extends from a storage vessel (that holds a second liquid, e.g. a surfactant) to the downstream end of the venturi. A difference in pressure between the storage vessel and the eductor venturi outlet causes the second liquid to be drawn into the water stream.
Building custodial staffs use dispensing equipment to dilute surfactant concentrates and then dispense them. The concentrates are stored in vessels in the equipment, or are connected to the equipment by hoses. The equipment often includes eductor systems of the above type to dilute the concentrate to form cleaning solutions. The resulting solutions are then directed into a bottle, pail, bucket, or the like that will be used by the custodial staff to carry the cleaner.
One manufacturer of such dispensing equipment (sold under the trademark SOLUTIONS CENTER.RTM. and other trademarks) and liquid concentrates used therewith is S. C. Johnson & Son, Inc. of Racine, Wis. An eductor of the type used in SOLUTIONS CENTER.RTM. equipment is described in PCT Publication No. W091/16138 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,544,810 (Horvath et al.). Hand held dispensing/diluting equipment is also known. See e.g. U.S. Ser. No. 08/668,051. All applications and all publications referred to herein are incorporated herein by reference as if fully set forth. Concentrates used with such equipment have included a neutral cleaner, a "spray-and-wipe" cleaner/degreaser, a glass cleaner, and various other concentrates.
Such dispensing devices are not without some disadvantages when high foaming surfactants are used. In this regard, if a dilute solution of a cleaner is formed or delivered in a way that causes excessive foam, a container receiving the solution can overflow with foam even though only a small quantity of the solution has been added to it. This can cause undesirable delays during filling (e.g., while the user waits to let the foam subside). In some cases the delay can cause the user to "give up" in frustration and accept a partially filled container.
Complicating the design of improved dispensing systems is the need for the use of backflow protection. Plumbing codes require a means to protect the water supply from contamination due to backflow. This can be accomplished with various devices and combinations of them including mechanical vacuum breakers, check valves and air gap devices. Air gap devices are very attractive because they have no moving parts to malfunction, but they can add air to the water stream during operation. The addition of air to a water stream can exacerbate foaming.
It can therefore be seen that a need exists for an eductor which overcomes these shortcomings.


An improvement is proposed for the removal of the precipitates of a phosphine oxide compound as a by-product from a mixture thereof with an olefin compound obtained by the Wittig reaction for the preparation of the olefin compound from a phosphorane compound and a carbonyl compound. Instead of the conventional procedure of filtration to remove the precipitates, the mixture in a hydrocarbon solvent, after replacement of a non-hydrocarbon solvent with a hydrocarbon solvent, if necessary, is admixed with a lower carboxylic acid such as acetic acid so that the precipitates of the phosphine oxide are dissolved forming a viscous fluid which is immiscible with the mixture of the olefin compound and the hydrocarbon solvent. The fluid containing the dissolved phosphine oxide compound can be easily removed by phase separation so that a great increase is obtained in the yield of the desired olefin compound.

The present invention relates to an improvement in the preparation of an olefin compound, more particularly, to an improvement in the step of, in the process for the synthetic preparation of an olefin compound having usefulness as agricultural chemicals, perfumes, biologically active substances and the like by the so-called Wittig reaction for the synthesis of an olefin compound, isolating the olefin compound as the product from the reaction mixture with high efficiency.
As is known, the Wittig reaction is a very efficient route for the synthetic preparation of an olefin compound, in which the carbonyl group in a carbonyl compound is converted specifically and position-selectively into a vinyl group. In a typical procedure utilizing the Wittig reaction, as is described, for example, in Org. React., volume 14, page 270 (1965), an organic phosphonium compound is subjected to a treatment with a basic compound to form a phosphorane compound which is admixed and reacted with a carbonyl compound to give a mixture of an olefin compound and a phosphine oxide compound.
The above mentioned process of the Wittig reaction, however, has a serious problem that, since the reaction mixture after the reaction contains the phosphine oxide compound as a by-product in an equimolar amount to the desired olefin compound, isolation of the desired olefin compound from the reaction mixture is very troublesome. In principle, the olefin compound can be separated from the phosphine oxide compound by filtration. Difficulties are encountered, however, in practicing the filtration process in a large industrial scale because special and expensive facilities are required therefor and pollution of the working environment is more or less unavoidable thereby adverse influences on the workers' health.
A method for facilitating separation of the phosphine oxide compound from the reaction mixture is known, in which the phosphine oxide compound is soluble in an aqueous alkali or acid solution when the phosphine compound of the formula Ph.sub.2 PAr, in which Ph is a phenyl group and Ar is a group expressed by the formula C.sub.6 H.sub.4 COOH or --C.sub.6 H.sub.4 N(CH.sub.3).sub.2, respectively, is used as the starting material in the reaction described in Chem. Ber., volume 99, page 2663 (1966) and J. Chem. Soc., page 2130 (1961) or the so-called Wittig-Horner-Emmons reaction described in Chem. Rev., volume 74, page 87 (1974). This method is advantageous in some respects but several disadvantages are involved therein in that the organic phosphonium salt is a special compound which can be synthesized only by a lengthy synthetic procedure and there may be an adverse influence on the environment due to the alkaline or acidic waste water containing the water-soluble phosphine oxide compound produced in large volumes when the process is practiced in an industrial scale.
On the other hand, it is of course a possible way that the reaction mixture before removal of the phosphine oxide compound is subjected to a procedure of distillation so as to distil out the olefin compound as the desired product by utilizing the difference in the boiling point between the olefin compound and the phosphine oxide compound. A problem in this method is that the boiling point of the reaction mixture under distillation is subject to elevation of boiling point as the distillation proceeds so as to cause troubles due to the stereochemical changes in the molecular structure of the olefin compound, for example, by isomerization or polymerization of the olefin compound caused by the prolonged heating of the reaction mixture as a consequence of the decreased velocity of distillation of the olefin compound. Accordingly, it is eagerly desired to develop a novel and efficient method for the isolation of an olefin compound from the reaction mixture after the Wittig reaction to synthesize the olefin compound.

Phosphine oxide removal from compounds formed by a Wittig reaction


A power train for an amphibian operable in land and marine modes includes a prime mover, at least a first land propulsion unit, a first marine propulsion unit, a second marine propulsion unit, and at least one speed change transmission. The prime mover is arranged to drive the at least first land propulsion unit through/via the at least one speed change transmission in land mode, and the prime mover is arranged to drive the first marine propulsion unit and the second marine propulsion unit through/via the at least one, or another, or combinations of, speed change transmission in marine mode. In addition, the present invention provides an amphibian comprising the power train.

The present invention relates to a power train particularly suitable for use in an amphibian capable of travel on land and water. More particularly, the power train is suitable for use in a high speed amphibian with at least one retractable wheel and which is capable of planing on water. The present invention also relates to an amphibian having such a power train.
Power trains for use in amphibians are known in the art. These generally fall in into one of two categories. The first are power trains for use in displacement only amphibians which have limited and slow on-water performance. These are generally automotive power trains modified to provide drive to a marine propulsion means. The second category are power trains for use in planing amphibians which suffer from limited on-land performance. These are generally marine power trains modified to provide drive to a wheel or track.
More recently, however, the applicant has developed power trains for use in a new class of high speed amphibians having at least one retractable wheel and which are capable of planing on water. Furthermore, these high speed amphibians provide for good road handling when the amphibian is operated on land or off-road (e.g. in four wheel drive).
There remains, however, a need to improve on these prior art power trains by providing increased flexibility and efficiency in the delivery of drive and power to the marine propulsion means (e.g. jet drives, propellers, etc.) for use of the amphibian on water, as well as improved packaging of the power train. The need to retract wheels and/or wheel suspension assemblies or track drives presents significant problems in terms of packaging, weight distribution and also in terms of how the resulting power transmission pathways can be realised.


A system for suspending a free-hanging shade material in an architectural opening includes a panel of shade material and brackets that can be mounted to the top edge of the framework around the architectural opening even when the top edge is not straight or horizontally disposed. The top edge of the panel has reinforcement strips operatively connected thereto which are releasably connected to the brackets. The system is useful in conventional rectangular architectural openings or openings of unusual shapes and sizes such as semi-circular or having an inclined top edge.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to free-hanging coverings for architectural openings and more particularly to a system for suspending a free-hanging covering in an architectural opening which may be non-rectangular in configuration.
2. Description of the Relevant Art
Coverings for architectural openings such as doors, windows, archways and the like have taken numerous forms for many years with early coverings simply consisting of fabric draped across an architectural opening. Through the years, however, more sophisticated and even designer-type coverings have been made which are retractable in nature. By way of example, a venetian blind is a very common retractable covering for an architectural opening wherein a plurality of horizontally disposed slats are supported on tape or cord ladders so the slats can be tilted about their horizontal longitudinal axes or gathered into a stack at the top of the architectural opening in a retracted position of the covering.
Vertical blinds are also available which are similar to venetian blinds except the slats are extended vertically, but again will pivot about their longitudinal axes or can be gathered into a compact stack adjacent one or both sides of the architectural opening.
Cellular shades have become very popular wherein collapsible cells of a fabric material are horizontally extended across an opening and can be retracted adjacent one edge of the opening with lift cords that move one edge of the covering toward an opposite edge while successively collapsing cells until there is a compact stack of the cells adjacent the opposite edge of the opening.
More recently, a cellular shade has been developed which includes a pair of spaced fabric sheets of material such as sheer that are interconnected at spaced locations with horizontal vanes that may or may not be flexible. When one sheet of material is shifted relative to the other, the vanes are moved or pivoted between open and closed positions such that when the vanes are in a closed position, they overlap and lie in a parallel plane with the sheets of material but in an open position bridge a space between the sheets of material and define gaps therebetween through which light and vision can pass. Typically coverings of this type are rolled around a roller at the top or bottom of the architectural opening to retract the covering.
There are many times, however, when retractable shades are not necessary or desirable such as with accent windows that might be positioned above larger picture windows or along the crowned upper edge of a door or a relatively small wall in an architectural structure. In such accent windows it is many times desirable that the covering simply be fully extended across the opening at all times. A problem in dealing with accent windows is that they are not always rectangular in configuration and some may for example have a curved or arched top edge or an inclined top edge so they are not easily covered with conventional covering materials.
It is to provide a free-hanging covering for architectural openings which finds a particular but not exclusive use in openings of unusual configuration that the present invention has been developed.

System for suspending a free-hanging covering for an architectural opening


An operation panel for use in a washing machine includes a display unit with a circular liquid crystal display having a central display section for displaying the name of a washing course and circumferential display sections for displaying the names of steps of the washing course and an electrically conductive transparent sheet disposed on the display screen of the display unit. The conductive sheet has portions corresponding to the display sections of the display unit respectively. Selecting switching elements responsive to the touch of user's finger are formed on these portions of the conductive sheet.

1. Field of the invention
This invention relates to an operation panel with a display unit for use in washing machines, and more particularly to such an operation panel in which names of selected wash, rinse and other steps and progress of each selected step are displayed on the display unit.
2. Description of the prior art
Conventionally, a washing machine comprises an operation panel mounted on its upper portion and various operation switches are provided on the operation panel. These operation switches include a switch for selecting one of a plurality of washing courses having working contents different from one another, switches for setting execution time periods of wash and dehydration steps respectively, and a switch for selecting the number of times of the rinsing. The operation panel further includes light emitting diodes (LED's) for indicating the progress of each step of the selected washing course.
In the conventional washing machine, however, it is difficult for a user to understand whether or not the contents of the selected washing course correspond to those desired. Second, it is difficult to understand the relevancy between the contents of each step to be executed in the selected washing course and operation members for selecting each step. Third, it is difficult to understand changed contents of each step when each step is selected. Fourth, the operation panel is too large in size.

Operation panel with a display unit for use in washing machines


A detector assembly including a radiation conversion layer directly coupled to a pixel array is provided. The radiation conversion layer is adapted to receive radiation passing through an object. The pixel array is adapted for receiving one of a plurality of signals representative of the radiation passing through the object or the corresponding optical signals from an optional intermediate light production layer and further configured for generating a corresponding image of the object.

The invention relates generally to inspection systems and more specifically to radiographic inspection techniques and assemblies.
Typically, for certain radiography systems, X-rays are transmitted through an object and converted into light of corresponding intensity using a light production layer. The light generated by the light production layer is provided to an electronic device. The electronic device is adapted to convert the light signals generated by the light production layer to corresponding electrical signals. The electrical signals are then used to construct an image of the object.
In radiography, X-ray scatter undesirably reduces (or fogs) the resulting image. To control scatter for medical systems, lead grids are used on the detector to provide geometric rejection of the scattered, secondary X-rays. However, for non-destructive testing applications, higher energy X-rays are used, so grids are not always adequate. In a non-destructive inspection industrial environment, Compton scatter from an object can be a large part of the X-ray flux impinging on the X-ray film cassette. To reduce the scatter, a metallic plate or screen may be employed, to filter the lower energy Compton scattered radiation.
Furthermore, the film can be further intensified by the photoelectrons emitted from the metallic plate when the plate is in intimate contact with said film. This enables a high spatial transfer of the X-ray pattern to the film. In nondestructive testing at X-ray energies above 150 kV, this is the primary mechanism for darkening the film, as the film is essentially transparent to X-rays in this regime. A similar benefit is experienced with computed radiography, where metal screens are placed in intimate contact with the computed radiography image plates. In digital radiography, metal screens have been placed on the back surface (the side toward the X-rays) of X-ray phosphor screens, especially under X-ray energies of 1 MeV and above. In such an embodiment, the phosphor is typically viewed by a digital or analog camera.
It would be desirable for the metallic plate or screen to shield the electronic device from impinging X-rays. However, the metallic plate or screen may not provide the desired electron intensification and scatter rejection in the MeV energy range. Thus, in typical radiography systems, the metallic plate or screen is of higher thickness to provide the required shielding while maintaining the intensification benefits.
Therefore, it is desirable to develop a compact detector assembly that is capable of producing high quality images with enhanced contrast, while also reducing and controlling scatter.

Detector assembly and method of manufacture


There is disclosed derivatives of amanitin conjugated to a targeting antibody to form an ADC (antibody drug conjugate).

The amatoxins are rigid bicyclic peptides having eight amino acid units. These compounds are isolated from a variety of mushroom species (e.g., Amanita phalloides (also known as green death cap mushroom), Galerina marginata, Lepiota brunneo-incamata) or are prepared synthetically. Different mushroom species contain varying amounts of different Amatoxin family members. A member of this family, alpha-amanitin, is known to be an inhibitor of eukaryotic RNA polymerase II (EC22.214.171.124) and to a lesser degree, RNA polymerase III, thereby inhibiting transcription and protein biosynthesis. Wieland (1983) Int. J. Pept. Protein Res. 22(3):257-276. Alpha-amanitin binds non-covalently to RNA polymerase II and dissociates slowly, making enzyme recovery unlikely. Prolonged inhibition of transcription is thought to induce cellular apoptosis.
Exemplary amatoxins include

The use of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) for the local delivery of cytotoxic or cytostatic agents, including drugs that kill or inhibit tumor cells, allows targeted delivery of the drug moiety to tumors, and intracellular accumulation therein. Syrigos and Epenetos (1999) Anticancer Res. 19:605-614; Niculescu-Duvaz and Springer (1997) Adv. Drug Delivery Rev. 26:151-172; U.S. Pat. No. 4,975,278; Baldwin et al. (1986) Lancet (Mar. 15, 1986):603-05; Thorpe (1985) "Antibody Carriers of Cytotoxic Agents in Cancer Therapy: A Review," in Monoclonal Antibodies '84: Biological and Clinical Applications, A. Pinchera et al. (eds.), pp. 475-506. This type of delivery mechanism helps to minimize toxicity to normal cells that may occur from systemic administration of unconjugated drug agents. The toxins may cause their cytotoxic and cytostatic effects through a variety of mechanisms including tubulin binding, DNA binding, or topoisomerase inhibition. Both polyclonal antibodies and monoclonal antibodies have been reported as useful in these strategies. Rowland et al. (1986) Cancer Immunol. Immunother. 21:183-87. Toxins used in antibody-toxin conjugates include radioisotopes, bacterial toxins such as diphtheria toxin, plant toxins such as ricin, fungal toxins such as amatoxins (WO2010/115629, WO2012/041504 or WO2012/119787), and small molecule toxins such as geldanamycin (Mandler et al. (2000) J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 92(19):1573-1581; Mandler et al. (2000) Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. 10:1025-1028; Mandler et al. (2002) Bioconjugate Chem. 13:786-791), maytansinoids (EP 1391213; Liu et al. (1996) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 93:8618-8623), calicheamicin (Lode et al. (1998) Cancer Res. 58:2928; Hinman et al. (1993) Cancer Res. 53:3336-3342), daunomycin, doxorubicin, methotrexate, and vindesine (Rowland et al. (1986), supra).
Several antibody-drug conjugates have shown promising results against cancer in clinical trials, including ZEVALIN® (ibritumomab tiuxetan, Biogen/Idec), an antibody-radioisotope conjugate composed of a murine IgG1 kappa monoclonal antibody (directed against the CD20 antigen found on the surface of normal and malignant B lymphocytes) connected with an 111In or 90Y radioisotope via a thiourea linker-chelator.
The use of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) for the local delivery of cytotoxic or cytostatic agents, including drugs that kill or inhibit tumor cells, allows targeted delivery of the drug moiety to tumors, and intracellular accumulation therein. This type of delivery mechanism helps to minimize toxicity to normal cells that may occur from systemic administration of unconjugated drug agents. The toxins may cause their cytotoxic and cytostatic effects through a variety of mechanisms including tubulin binding.
As such, there remains a need for potent RNA polymerase inhibitor antibody conjugates with desirable pharmaceutical properties.

Antibody drug conjugates having derivatives of amatoxin as the drug


The injection of synthetic resin into the cavities of a plastic molding press is provided by a plurality of electrically driven plunger mechanisms each of which includes an elongated rotary screw connected to the output of an electric motor. The screw is threaded operatively to an elongated plunger which extends into the fixed mold and is arranged to support a pill or preform for injection into the runner leading to one or more mold cavities. The electric motor of each plunger mechanism is controlled by a computer program which is capable of varying the velocity and pressure delivery of material to the mold, as well as adjusting the temperature of the mold.

This invention relates to transfer molding of synthetic resins, and more particularly to a novel electrically driven plunger mechanism for multi-plunger transfer molding presses.
The plunger mechanism for transfer molding presses heretofore has included an extensible fluid pressure piston-cylinder unit for each plunger, supplied with fluid pressure from a common source. This not only incurs the high cost of hydraulic power equipment and the plant space for it, it also imposes serious limitations on the control of plunger velocity and pressure, creates a noisy environment containing hydraulic fluid fumes and requires lubrication with consequent discharge of oil vapor. In multiple plunger systems utilizing either fluid pressure or electrical power for driving the plungers, no one has provided individual control of plunger velocity and pressure.

Electrically driven plunger for transfer molding press


A method for producing ethers comprises the following steps:

Telomerization using conjugated diene compounds is a process in which a conjugated diene compound incorporates an nucleophilic reactants, such as an alcohol, to form an oligomer. For example, two molecules of 1,3-butadiene react with one molecule of a compound containing an active hydrogen, such as acetic acid, to form 1-acetoxy-2,7-octadiene. In telomerization process, a palladium compound, especially one coordinated with a phosphine, serves as an effective catalyst (See Non-Patent Documents 1 and 2).
Moreover, the telomerization process is reported that a catalyst comprising a tertiary phosphine or an isocyanide, and a nickel compound is used (See Patent Document 1). And the telomerization process is reported that a palladium carbene complex is used in the presence of a base (See Patent Document 2). Other known telomerization processes are reported that a catalyst comprising a primary isocyanide and tetrakis(triphenylphosphine)palladium is used (See Patent Document 3), and one that uses a catalyst comprising a tertiary isocyanide and a palladium compound (See Patent Document 4).
Non-Patent Document 1: Tsuji, Jiro. Palladium Reagents and Catalysts. John Wiley & Sons, (1995): pp. 423-441.
Non-Patent Document 2: Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., Vol. 41 (2002): pp. 1290-1309.
Patent Document 1: U.S. Pat. No. 3,670,029
Patent Document 2: Published Japanese Translation of PCT International Application No. 2004-534059
Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent Publication No. Sho 48-43327 (see Example 9)
Patent Document 4: Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2005-95850

Abstract: initiating telomerization process of a conjugated diene compound with an hydroxyl compound represented by the following formula (I):R1OH  (I)in the presence of a palladium compound, a tertiary isocyanide represented by the following formula (II):R2NC  (II),and a base; and

Abstract: adding halfway through the telomerization process a tertiary phosphine represented by the following formula (III):PR3R4R5  (III)(the respective symbols are defined in the description).


This invention is A prepreg comprising a reinforcing fiber base material impregnated with a thermoplastic resin, wherein the reinforcing fiber base material comprises from 0 to 50% by mass of reinforcing fibers each having a fiber length of more than 10 mm, from 50 to 100% by mass of reinforcing fibers each having a fiber length of from 2 to 10 mm, and from 0 to 50% by mass of reinforcing fibers each having a fiber length of less than 2 mm, the average of two-dimensional orientation angles each formed by a reinforcing filament (a) and a reinforcing filament (b) intersecting the reinforcing filament (a) is from 10 to 80°, the thickness h0 (mm) at 23° C. is 0.03 to 1 mm, and the tensile strength σ is 0.01 MPa or more.

Fiber reinforced plastics (FRP) are light in weight and have superior mechanical properties and therefore are used widely for electrical or electric instrument applications, civil engineering or building applications, machine or mechanical component applications, robot applications, motorcycle or automobile applications, universal or aerial applications, etc. As reinforcing fibers to be used for such FRP, there have been used metal fibers, such as aluminum fibers and stainless steel fibers, organic fibers, such as aramid fibers and PBO fibers, inorganic fibers, such as silicon carbide fibers, and carbon fibers. Among these, carbon fiber is preferably used from the viewpoint of being excellent in specific strength and specific rigidity and being capable of affording excellent lightness.
Here, one example of representative FRP like carbon fiber-reinforced plastics (CFRP) is a molded product produced by subjecting a preform obtained by laminating prepregs to press molding (a molding method comprising defoaming and shaping performed under pressurization). Prepregs are commonly produced by a method comprising impregnating a reinforcing fiber base material prepared by arraying in one direction or weaving continuous reinforcing fibers with a resin.
Superior mechanical properties can be obtained with molded products prepared by using such prepregs. On the other hand, since reinforcing fibers are used in their original continuous form, they are unsuitable for shaping into a complicated shape. Moreover, since the lamination angle of prepregs has a great influence on properties, it is necessary to laminate prepregs by paying attention of the lamination angle. In other words, since a lamination step requires time and effort and the cost increases accordingly (i.e., an economic burden caused by the lamination step will increase), usage is restricted.
Patent document 1 proposes a prepreg that is effective for shaping into a complicated shape by cutting reinforcing fibers into a specific length. However, since a lamination step requires time and effort like that mentioned above, an economic burden has not been eliminated.
On the other hand, FRPs using discontinuous reinforcing fibers have also been proposed. Sheet molding compounds (SMC) and glass mat base materials (GMT) are materials suitable for press molding. However, their usage is restricted because their mechanical properties, such as specific strength and specific rigidity, are poor, they are difficult to be applied to thin molded products, and isotropic mechanical properties are hardly obtained because resin flows very much at the time of molding, and their characteristics vary widely.
Patent documents 2, 3 each propose a sheet material in which more isotropic properties can be obtained by dispersing reinforcing fibers in a bundle form. In patent document 4 is proposed a sheet material with superior mechanical properties caused by uniform dispersion of carbon fibers. However, since all of them cannot be processed to be thin like a prepreg and resin flows greatly at the time of shaping, an isotropic property may be impaired, and mechanical properties may also decline.
Moreover, in patent document 5 is proposed a molded product in which carbon fibers have been fixed while being randomly dispersed in the form of single yarn. Also in this method, there is a limit in processing it to be thin and therefore the degree of freedom of lamination of a preform is restricted. Furthermore, since it is impossible to produce a large number of preforms, an economic burden has not been eliminated.

Prepreg, preform, molded product, and method for manufacturing prepreg

Abstract: The prepreg can be applied for thin molded products which have been considered unsuitable as a laminated molded product and can provide molded products that have a complicated shape and have isotropically high mechanical properties.


A method and device for cooking pulp by increasing the effective alkali concentration in the residual phase of the cooking process to substantially improve the residual delignification rate and thus improving the pulp properties such as the pulp strength and pulp yield at a given lignin content.

Environmental demands have forced the pulping industry to develop improved cooking and bleaching methods in order to lower the lignin content of the pulp that enters the bleaching stages. This is both environmentally and economically advantageous. Spent liquor from the pulping stages are nowadays often efficiently recovered and recirculated. However, the effluent from the bleaching stages cannot be recovered in the same efficient manner so that the bleaching effluent may still have a negative impact on the environment.
It is, therefore, important to minimize the amount of lignin that has to be removed in the bleaching stages. The delignification in a kraft cook may be considered as a three-stage process; an initial phase involving the rapid removal of about 20% of the lignin; a slower bulk delignification stage; and, finally, an even slower residual delignification stage. The non-selectivity of the delignification, i.e., the decrease in pulp strength and pulp yield that accompany the lignin removal during the residual phase is often one important factor that limits the extent to which the lignin can be removed during the cooking stage in the production of bleached kraft pulp.
In conventional cooking processes, the digester is filled with wood chips and all the cooking liquor, which in the kraft process is an aqueous solution of sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide, is charged at the beginning of the cooking process. In such processes, the initial alkali concentration is very high and because of the fast consumption of alkali, the concentration decreases rapidly to about one third after about one third of the total cooking time.
The basic understanding of the process kinetics of kraft pulping have suggested that the alkali concentration should be levelled out, i.e., decreased in the beginning of the cook and increased at the end of the cook so that virtually the same alkali level is kept through the cook to improve the selectivity, e.g., to increase the pulp strength at a given lignin content. This understanding has guided the development of many new modified kraft pulping processes.
One recent breakthrough within the field of pulp cooking is ITC.TM., which was developed in 1992-1993. ITC.TM. is described in WO-9411566, and shows that very good results regarding the pulp quality can be achieved by using the ITC.TM. process. This process is based mainly on the idea of using almost the same relatively low temperature in all cooking zones in combination with moderate alkali levels. The ITC.TM.-concept does not merely relate to the equalization of temperatures between different cooking zones, but a considerable contribution of the ITC.TM.-concept relates to enabling an equalized alkali profile also in the lower part of the counter-current cooking zone.
In many conventional systems, the white liquor charge is often split between the impregnation and the cooking stages, so called modified cooking, or the cooking stage is carried out in two parts so that the first part is concurrent and the second part is counter-current so that the alkali charge is divided between the impregnation, concurrent and the counter-current stages in order to keep the sodium hydroxide concentration at the same level. This practice is called modified continuous cooking (MCC). Further improvement may be gained by increasing the temperature in the washing section and adding white liquor to the wash liquid, so called extended modified cooking (EMCC). If the temperature is kept constant in all cooking stages, the process is called isothermal cooking (ITC), as described above.
The implementation of the present invention is possible in production facilities using all of the above mentioned cooking methods and other suitable cooking methods. An important feature of the present invention is that the effective alkali concentration should be substantially increased at the end of the cooking process. Unless otherwise specified, all effective alkali concentrations are measured as NaOH.
The fraction of lignin that is dissolved is surprisingly influenced to a large extent by the hydroxide ion concentration during the cooking process. However, the temperature does not seem to have much effect on the amount of residual lignin. Another important feature of the present invention is that only the hydroxide ion concentration and the temperature seem to have a significant influence on the rate of residual delignification. Hydrosulphide ion concentration only seems to have a marginal or no effect on the rate of residual delignification.
It is to be understood that somewhat different arrangements may be used depending upon, among other things, if an improved pulp production, a decreased lignin content in the pulp or an increased pulp yield or pulp strength is desired.
The method and device of the present invention provides for even better cooking characteristics than the above-described methods. According to the present invention, the cooking process is carried out at a relatively low and equalized alkali concentration to cause the residual lignin content to be relatively high while leaving the valuable cellulose and hemicellulose parts of the raw material mostly intact. The low alkalinity liquor, i.e. the spent liquor, in the digester is replaced with a high alkalinity liquor, i.e. a white liquor, at the end of the cooking process. This results in that the remaining lignin may be removed at a rate equal to that of the more selective bulk delignification phase. This high removal rate makes it possible to substantially increase the total overall selectivity of the kraft cooking stage, e.g., increased pulp yield and pulp strength at a given lignin content.
The novel method and device of the present invention enables the production of pulp that has a high quality and a very good bleachability. This means that bleach chemicals and methods can be chosen with a wider variety than before for achieving the desired quality targets related to brightness, yield, tear strength, viscosity, etc., of the final bleached pulp product.

Method of producing pulp with high alkali cooking in the last cooking stage


According to one embodiment, a control method for a magnetic disk device includes writing data by varying a phase of the array period of the plurality of magnetic elements or a phase of the time period of the recording signal in one section of the track from a corresponding phase in another section of the track, reading a reproduction signal from the track, and determining a phase shift between the array period of the plurality of magnetic elements and the time period of the recording signal, based on a reproduction signal read from the one section and a reproduction signal read from the other section. In another embodiment, a magnetic disk includes a track in which magnetic elements are magnetically separated and arranged in an array period, and a phase of the array period in one section is different from a phase in another section of the track.

In recent years, bit-patterned media possessing a track in which a plurality of magnetic bits magnetically separated from each other are arranged periodically have been proposed. The bit patterned media possess an advantage in that noises originating from track boundaries or from recording transitions can be reduced, and another advantage is that thermal relaxation of the recorded magnetization can be suppressed.
However, in order to write data in bit-patterned media, one aspect of any magnetic head device or magnetic recording method is to ensure that the time period of a recording signal to be outputted to a magnetic head corresponds to the array period of magnetic bits.
Japanese Patent No. 2006-164349 discloses a method in which writing and reading of data is repeated by changing a phase of the time period of the recording signal gradually. Accordingly, a phase for which a bit error rate becomes minimal is determined. However, it is necessary for the conventional method discussed above to repeat a considerable number of times of writing and reading data before it accomplishes its goal.
Therefore, it is desirable to have a method of reading and writing bit-patterned media which does not involve many iterations of reading and writing steps, thereby saving time, energy, and efficiency of the mechanisms involved.

Control method for magnetic disk device, magnetic disk device, and magnetic disk

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.V.


A new cranberry variety distinguished by significantly higher yields, higher anthocyanin content (red pigment), lower titratable acidity, and larger fruit size. In addition, high TAcy values in September provide for an earlier harvest window for processed fruit, especially relative to ‘Stevens’ (unpatented), a primary commercial variety.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct American cranberry variety having a combination of traits, including significantly higher yields and higher anthocyanin (red pigment) content, as compared to currently cultivated commercial varieties. The new variety, 'NJS98-35', resulted from crossing the variety 'Franklin' (unpatented) as the seed parent and the variety 'Ben Lear' (unpatented) as the pollen parent. The parent varieties are genetically distinct from the majority of cranberries in production today. As such, 'NJS98-35' offers growers an opportunity to increase the genetic diversity of their cranberry beds while increasing yields. The plant was originally selected from over 1,500 seedlings growing in test plots in Chatsworth, N.J. and Portage County, Wis.
The American cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon Ait.) is a temperate, woody perennial plant species native to North America. The United States is the largest producer, with Wisconsin and Massachusetts representing the majority of cranberry acreage and production, followed by New Jersey, Oregon and Washington. The cranberry industry relies on relatively few cranberry varieties, representing a narrow genetic base. These varieties are clonally-propagated and include selections from native populations and first generation hybrids. Significant acreage is still devoted to varieties that were selected from native cranberry populations from as far back as 1850, including 'Ben Lear' (unpatented), 'Early Black' (unpatented), 'Howes' (unpatented), 'Lemunyon' (unpatented), 'McFarlin' (unpatented), and 'Searles' (unpatented). The hybrid varieties were developed from one cycle of breeding and selection that was conducted by the United States Department of Agriculture, in cooperation with state Agricultural Experiment Stations in the 1940's. This breeding program released a series of unpatented varieties in the 1950's including the most widely grown cultivar 'Stevens' (unpatented), which was selected from test plots in Pemberton, N.J.
Varieties having high anthocyanin production along with consistently high productivity have become essential for commercial success in cranberry production. Fruit crop productivity is a function of inherent differences among varieties for traits such as stolon vigor, upright density, inflorescence bud production, fruit set and fruit size. Varieties with high stolon vigor will establish more rapidly and reduce the number of years required to achieve maximal production. However, after bed establishment, varieties must transition to optimal sexual reproduction mode, and optimal upright density, to achieve high crop production. Cranberry inflorescence bud primordia are set on uprights during the completion of the fruit development period and overwinter in a dormant state, before resuming growth the subsequent spring. Thus, the crop load of a given year, may impact the subsequent year's crop, contributing to the pronounced biennial bearing habit common to many varieties. Productivity is also subject to environmental effects, e.g., heat and light intensity stresses, cold (frost) stress, water stress (drought and excess), disease, insects, and certain pesticides.
TAcy, fruit anthocyanin content, is currently a fruit quality component of processed cranberry, having a minimum acceptable value, as well as premiums for fruit with higher TAcy values. TAcy is measured in terms of mg of anthocyanin per 100 g fruit using a standard spectrophotometric (520 nm) method. Earlier ripening varieties, which typically have higher TAcy, allow for earlier harvesting of a crop. Anthocyanins are largely located in the fruit epidermis, which results in larger fruit generally having lower TAcy. The Rutgers University cranberry breeding program quantitatively measured TAcy along with mean fruit size, and selected progeny with large fruit size and high TAcy levels.
New Jersey uniquely offers an ideal environment for cranberry breeding because of the climate, soils and water. Of all the cranberry production areas in North America, New Jersey conditions subject the cranberry to the highest disease pressure and heat stress. The plant must tolerate high heat stress and vegetative diseases during the growing season. The fruit is subject to over 15 pathogens known to incite cranberry fruit rot in New Jersey, as well as heat scald and physiological breakdown. Thus, selection under New Jersey conditions offers an opportunity to identify varieties with higher resistance to disease, scald, and heat stress.
The Rutgers University cranberry breeding program, in Chatsworth, N.J., was initiated in 1985 to take advantage of this unique selection pressure. The program's methods were designed to duplicate, as much as possible, the environment of a commercial bed. Thus, breeding plots of 1.5×1.5 m were established with multiple plants and allowed to fill in to form a dense canopy. Two to four years after planting, yields of a given plot was evaluated over a four year minimum to provide for biennial bearing assessment. Parental selection was based on fields phenotypic performance, and parental cross combinations were based on the objectives of enhancing traits and/or combining the most desirable traits from both parents into one genotype, i.e., variety. Traits being evaluated in Rutgers University's cranberry breeding program include yield, fruit rot susceptibility/resistance, scald, stolon and upright vigor, total anthocyanin content (TAcy), soluble solids (Brix), and titratable acidity.
The new variety described herein, 'NJS98-35', resulted from crossing the variety 'Franklin' (unpatented) as the seed parent, with the variety 'Ben Lear' (unpatented) as the pollen parent. The plant was originally selected from a group of plants sexually derived from the same parents as the new variety and that were grown in a field trial of over 1,500 seedlings representing 15 cross combinations growing in test plots planted in 1993 in Chatsworth, N.J. Clones of these seedlings were also planted at a second location, Portage County, Wis. In 1998, 55 plants (clones) were selected from this trial, and were planted in a replicated trial with 3×10 m plots in City Point, Wis. Twenty-six of these selections were also planted in 3×3 m plots in Chatsworth, N.J. for additional evaluations. 'NJS98-35' consistently performed significantly better than standard varieties in these trails. 'NJS98-35' has also been planted in a larger evaluation bed (0.6 acre) in 2005 in Browns Mills, N.J.
'NJS98-35' is a new cranberry variety selected under New Jersey's stressful conditions, which offers the potential for high yields, early ripening and higher TAcy content.

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey


Provided is a method and system for reducing speckle in an image produced from a light source. The method, in one embodiment, includes providing a line generating element, the line generating element having a collection of optical elements having an axis. The method, in this embodiment, further includes directing an input beam of light at the line generating element while the line generating element is being vibrated back and forth in a direction substantially transverse to the axis.

Televisions and other types of imaging systems are pervasive in today's society. Recent years have seen the introduction of higher definition imaging systems. Engineers continue to try to increase the resolution and brightness of imaging systems to provide better picture quality, but also face constraints associated with providing such increased resolution and brightness.
For example, to increase brightness in imaging display systems, coherent light sources (lasers as one example) have been introduced in the place of incoherent light sources (light-emitting-diodes (LEDs) and lamps, as an example). However, while coherent light sources may increase the brightness of the display system, such light sources often produce images having a noticeable granularity. This grainy pattern, also known as speckle or the scintillation effect, arises due to the highly narrowband and polarized nature of the coherent light incident on a diffuse surface. Speckle has been attributed to the fact that coherent light reflected by or through a diffusing produces a complex, random, but stationary diffraction pattern. Specifically, speckle originates when the coherent plane phase front from a laser traverses through a medium with optical path length differences that are less than or equal to the coherence length of the laser. Such path length differences can occur as a result of surface roughness, scratches, digs, and polishing imperfections in optical elements.
Generally, two different types of speckle exist, namely objective speckle and subjective speckle. Objective speckle arises from the uneven illumination of the object. An object in this scenario may be a Spatial Light Modulator (SLM) such as a Digital Micromirror Device (DMD). When objective speckle exists, even the most perfect optical system can do no better than to reproduce it exactly. On the other hand, subjective speckle arises in the case of an evenly illuminated rough object. Objective speckle exists for almost any light source, while subjective speckle, although it can be present for any source, is worse for a narrowband and polarized source (e.g., a laser).
Accordingly, what is needed is a method and system configured to reduce speckle.

Method and system for reducing speckle by vibrating a line generating element


A sensor measuring support strut pressure on a cold planer provides a signal for controlling extension of the struts to maintain contact between the ground and the strut in the event of a kickback. Rotation of the planing cylinder is also interrupted in response to the signal, and resumption of vehicle operation is prevented until the support strut pressure is sufficient to enable the operator to control movement of the vehicle.

Roadway planers, also known as pavement profilers, road milling machines or cold planers, are machines designed for scarifying, removing, mixing or reclaiming, material from the surface of bituminous or concrete roadways and similar surfaces. These machines typically have a plurality of tracks or wheels which support and horizontally transport the machine along the surface of the road to be planed, and have a rotatable planing cylinder that is vertically adjustable with respect to the road surface.
On cold planers that integrate the machine chassis with the planing cylinder, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,186,968, issued Feb. 5, 1980, to Robert M. Barton and currently assigned to the assignee of the present invention, the entire chassis is raised or lowered to control the depth of cut of the cutting bits into the ground surface. If the cutting bits strike a high density inclusion, such as a manhole cover or railroad track during the planing operation, an event known as a "kickback" can occur.
A kickback event sensor that senses fluid pressure in a hydraulic circuit regulating the height of an adjustable strut member on the cold planer is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,929,121 issued May 29, 1990 to Kevin C. Lent et al. and assigned to the assignee of the present invention. The control system described in this reference employs a signal produced by a pressure switch, in response to a kickback event, to sequentially disengage the cutter, or planing cylinder, from the drive engine.
When a kickback event occurs, the planing cylinder on a typical down-cutting machine will attempt to rise up out of the cut. In a similar manner, changes in material density can cause the chassis on an up-cutting machine to also rise up out of the cut. If the cold planer is operating with an automatic grade control system, such as the portable string line system described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,270,801 issued Jun. 2, 1981 to George M. Swisher, Jr. et al, the automatic grade control, sensing that the machine is above the desired grade, will attempt to lower the chassis by retracting the supporting strut members, leaving the machine principally supported on the rotor. In this position, the machine cannot be steered or braked because of insufficient contact between the strut mounted tracks, or wheels, and the ground. In this condition, the operator may not be able to stop, steer, or control undesirable movement of the machine.
The present invention is directed to overcoming the problems set forth above. It is desirable to have a kickback event control arrangement that, in the event of a kickback, will maintain sufficient vehicle weight on the ground support members to permit the operator to maintain operational control of the movement of the machine. It is also desirable to have a method of controlling the operation of a cold planer so that sufficient weight is maintained on the ground support members to inhibit loss of operational control of the machine during the occurrence of a kickback event.

Method and apparatus for controlling a cold planer in response to a kickback event


An optical communications module includes a receptacle with a stop member. The receptacle has a keyway and a latchway. The keyway is configured to receive and guide a body of the connector plug in a direction along a keyway axis. The latchway is defined by a total flexure range of the flexible latch arm between a fully flexed state and a fully relaxed state. The latchway is configured to receive and guide the flexible latch arm through a range of movement having a directional component perpendicular to the keyway axis. The stop member extends from a wall of the receptacle into the latchway. The stop member is configured to restrain the flexible latch arm in a latched state between the fully flexed state and the fully relaxed state.

Optical data transceiver modules convert optical signals received via an optical fiber into electrical signals, and convert electrical signals into optical signals for transmission via an optical fiber. In the transmitter portion of a transceiver module, an opto-electronic light source such as a laser performs the electrical-to-optical signal conversion. In the receiver portion of the transceiver module, an opto-electronic light detector such as a photodiode performs the optical-to-electrical signal conversion. A transceiver module commonly also includes optical elements or optics, such as lenses, as well as electrical circuitry such as drivers and receivers. A transceiver module also includes one or more connector receptacles to which an optical fiber cable can be connected. The light source, light detector, optical elements and electrical circuitry can be mounted within a module housing.
Various transceiver module configurations are known. One family of transceiver module configuration is known as Small Form Factor Pluggable (SFP) and includes variations such as SFP+, Quad SFP (QSFP), etc. Such SFP-family transceiver modules include an elongated housing having a substantially rectangular cross-sectional shape, i.e., a bar shape. A forward end of the housing, sometimes referred to as the nose, has one or more receptacles into which optical fiber connectors can be plugged. A rearward end of the housing has an array of electrical contacts that can be plugged into a mating connector when the rearward end is inserted or plugged into a slot of a network switch or other device.
A common type of optical fiber connector is known as LC. As illustrated in FIG. 1, an LC plug 10 has a flexible latch arm 12 and a plug body 14. An end of latch arm 12 joins a sidewall of plug body 14 to form a hinge-like, bendable or resiliently flexible joint. Substantially at this joint, latch arm 12 can resiliently flex about an axis 16. Latch arm 12 is made of a material such as resilient plastic to facilitate such flexure. As further illustrated in FIG. 2, in response to a force having a component generally in the direction indicated by the arrow 18, latch arm 12 can be flexed from a relaxed or unflexed state shown in solid line to a fully flexed state shown in broken line. The force thus loads latch arm 12 with a return spring force or resilient bias force. When the force is removed, the spring force or resilient bias force returns latch arm 12 to the relaxed state. In the relaxed state, the angle 20 between a centerline 22 of latch arm 12 and a central axis 24 of LC plug 10 is commonly between about 15 and 25 degrees, and latch arm 12 can be flexed to essentially any angle within that range.
As illustrated in FIG. 3, LC plug 10 terminates the end of a fiber-optic cable 26. LC plug 10 can be plugged into a receptacle in a nose 28 of an optical transceiver module 30. For illustrative purposes, optical transceiver module 30 has a QSFP configuration. A region 32 of FIG. 3 is shown enlarged in FIG. 4 to more clearly illustrate the manner in which LC plug 10 engages nose 28 in a pluggable and latchable manner. As LC plug 10 is inserted into the receptacle, interior surfaces of the receptacle (not shown in FIGS. 3-4) receive and guide plug body 14 (FIGS. 1-2), and a slot in a wall 31 of the receptacle receives and guides portions of latch arm 12. Also, as LC plug 10 is inserted into the receptacle, a ramp portion 29 of latch arm 12 slides against an interior surface of wall 31, thereby initially applying the above-referenced force indicated by arrow 18 in FIG. 1. In response to this force, latch arm 12 flexes in the manner described above.
Latch arm 12 has two projections or blocks 34 and 36 located approximately mid-way along the length of latch arm 12 at the end of ramp portion 29. The effect of blocks 34 and 36 bearing against the interior surface of wall 31 while LC plug 10 is being inserted restrains latch arm 12 in a partly flexed state.
As LC plug 10 is still further inserted into the receptacle in nose 28, blocks 34 and 36 slide over an edge of wall 31 defined by two faces or catches 38 and 40. An end of the above-referenced slot in wall 31 is between catches 38 and 40. As blocks 34 and 36 slide over the end of the slot and no longer bear against the interior surface of wall 31, latch arm 12 is released from restraint. The spring force flexes latch arm 12 into the fully relaxed state. As latch arm 12 flexes into the fully relaxed state, blocks 34 and 36 snap into a latched position against catches 38 and 40. This latching engagement, in which blocks 34 and 36 bear against catches 38 and 40, resists LC plug 10 from being withdrawn from the receptacle. To disengage or de-latch LC plug 10 from the receptacle, a person can apply the force described above with regard to FIG. 2 and withdraw (i.e., un-plug) LC plug 10 from the receptacle. Latch arm 12 has an actuator end 21 that is conveniently shaped for a person to apply the force with a finger.
Although for purposes of clarity only a single LC plug 10 is shown plugged into a single receptacle in nose 28, nose 28 includes four such receptacles (as the illustrated optical transceiver module 30 is of the QSFP type). The term "receptacle" refers to an interior region of nose 28 that interfaces with portions of LC plug 10. The receptacle is defined principally by two cavities or three-dimensional regions that can be referred to as a keyway and a latchway. In the illustrated nose 28, the keyway of each receptacle has a substantially square cross-sectional shape corresponding to the substantially square cross-sectional shape of plug body 14, so that plug body 14 is guided into the receptacle when LC plug 10 is inserted. The keyway thus extends in the direction in which LC plug 10 is inserted into the receptacle. The latchway extends laterally or transversely from the keyway and includes the above-referenced slot in wall 31. The latchway accommodates the flexure of latch arm 12. That is, latch arm 12 can move within the latchway as it flexes between the fully flexed state and fully relaxed state. In FIG. 4, latch arm 12 is shown in a fully relaxed state, extending through the latchway slot. Note that actuator end 21 of latch arm 12 extends outside the outline of the module housing.

Low-profile optical transceiver connector receptacle

Avago Technologies General IP (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.


A central authority receives a wake word associated with a service request from a user of a client device. The central authority sends the received wake word to a set of wake word engines. The central authority receives a signal from a selected wake word engine indicating that an assistant associated with the selected wake word engine has been selected by the user based on the received wake word. The central authority transmits a signal blocking the remainder of the wake word engines from receiving additional wake words, and sends the service request to the assistant. Responsive to the assistant receiving the service request, the central authority transmits a signal unblocking the remainder of the wake word engines from receiving wake words.

This disclosure relates generally to designating an assistant to service a request from a user, and more specifically to designating an assistant based on a wake word identified by a wake word engine.
Smart devices have become increasingly prevalent as demand grows from users for digital assistant devices to manage aspects their daily lives. This increased user demand has resulted in a variety of assistants used to monitor and control various functions within a home or office environment. For example, a user may rely on multiple assistants used to maintain a certain temperature within the user's home throughout a given day of the week, monitor electricity consumption and/or water usage, open various applications on a client device, order requested items online, and the like.
In most instances, these assistants require a phonetic input from the user, or a "wake word," to indicate to the assistant that it has been selected for use. However, given the abundance of seemingly unrelated assistants within a given environment, designating a particular assistant to service a request using a wake word, or series of wake words, may result an unintended need to specify which assistant will be used in advance to their use. This reduces the functionality of other assistants in the user's environment, and the versatility of the environment as a whole. In addition, the user's environment may not account for notifying the user of instances in which an assistant within the environment may be better equipped to handle a given service than an assistant designated by the user, or protect the user's privacy as third-party systems associated with assistants receive data from a user regardless of being invoked by the user.

Designating assistants in multi-assistant environment based on identified wake word received from a user


A bias generator is provided that includes a central bias generator to provide a first bias voltage and a local bias generator to receive the first bias voltage and to provide a second bias voltage. The central bias generator may include a replica bias generator circuit substantially corresponding to the local bias generator.

Adaptive body bias may be used after fabrication to improve a bin split in microprocessors and to reduce a variation in frequency and leakage caused by process variations. In performing adaptive body bias, a unique body bias voltage may be set to maximize the frequency of the processor subject to leakage and total power constraints and the type of transistor technology in use. Body bias voltages may be applied to processors and other circuits that use PMOS transistors, NMOS transistors, or both.
Two types of body bias voltages may be used to control the frequency of a microprocessor, namely forward body bias (FBB) voltage and reverse body bias (RBB) voltage. If forward body bias (FBB) is used, the frequency of the processor may increase along with leakage. If reverse body bias (RBB) is applied, the frequency and leakage of the processor may decrease. In some circuits, both forward and reverse body bias voltages are applied in order to compensate for process variations within the die. Parts of the circuit that are too slow may receive forward body bias to increase their speed, while other parts that are faster than necessary may receive reverse body bias to reduce their leakage power. Because the effectiveness of RBB is diminishing with process scaling and because leaky dies may be recovered better by lowering the Vcc, an adaptive body bias technique that uses FBB may be attractive.
The circuitry for applying adaptive body bias may include two blocks, namely a central bias generator (CBG) and a local bias generator (LBG). The central bias generator may generate a reference voltage that is process, voltage and temperature independent. This voltage may represent the desired body bias to apply to transistors in the microprocessor core or other locations. If both PMOS and NMOS transistors are to be biased, then two central bias generators may be used each generating a different reference voltage for each transistor type. Alternatively, a single central bias generator may be used that is capable of generating the reference voltages for both transistor types.
On the other hand, many local bias generators may be distributed throughout a processor die. The local bias generators may translate the reference voltage from the CBG into local block supply voltages and then drive these voltages to the transistors or other devices in each respective block. The translation may ensure that if a local block supply voltage changes, the body bias will change at substantially a same time so that a constant bias is maintained. For example, for NMOS body bias, the body voltage may track any variation in the local block ground (Vss).


A galvanomirror unit including a housing, a yoke supporting a galvanomirror to adjust the angular position thereof, and a retainer secured to the housing. The galvanomirror unit further includes an initial position adjusting mechanism provided between the yoke and the retainer to support the yoke, so as to adjust the angular position thereof in the vertical and horizontal directions, with respect to the retainer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical disc apparatus, such as an optical information recording and reproducing apparatus or optical information reproducing apparatus for recording information on an optical disc, such as a photo magnetic disc, and/or reproducing the recorded information. More precisely, the present invention relates to a galvanomirror unit incorporated in an optical system thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
In a known optical apparatus, an objective lens which converges a laser light beam from the laser source onto an optical disc and/or receives the light reflected from the optical disc, is linearly moved across the tracks of the optical disc in the radial direction. A known optical disc apparatus usually includes a galvanomirror unit for adjusting the laser beam emitted from the laser source within a vertical plane lying in the radial direction of the optical disc, parallel with the direction of movement of the objective lens. The galvanomirror unit has a galvanomirror which is rotated to vary the direction of the laser beam reflection with respect to the objective lens.
However, the conventional galvanomirror unit is incorporated in the optical system in a fixed manner, and accordingly, there is a possibility that the angular position of the galvanomirror reflecting surface might be improperly oriented, for example during assembly. To compensate for an improper initial angular position of the reflecting surface, it is necessary to provide an optical axis adjusting mirror separate from the galvanomirror unit.
However, the presence of an optical axis adjusting mirror, separate from the galvanomirror unit, increases the number of optical elements and results in a complicated optical arrangement.


A semiconductor memory device comprising a pseudo ground voltage pad and a method of making the semiconductor device are disclosed. The semiconductor memory device comprises a plurality of pads that are respectively adjacent to one another in a first direction. The plurality of pads comprises a plurality of ground voltage pads and a plurality of data pads. The semiconductor memory device further comprises a first peripheral circuit ground line disposed adjacent to the pads and extending in the first direction, and an insulating layer formed on a portion of a first region of the semiconductor memory device comprising the plurality of pads and at least a portion of the first peripheral ground circuit line, wherein a region of the first peripheral circuit ground line is exposed to define a pseudo ground voltage pad, and the pseudo ground voltage pad is adjacent to one of the data pads.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the invention relate to a semiconductor memory device. In particular, embodiments of the invention relate to a semiconductor memory device comprising a pseudo ground pad and a method of making the semiconductor memory device comprising the pseudo ground pad.
This application claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 2005-86449, filed Sep. 15, 2005, the subject matter of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
2. Description of the Related Art
Increased sophistication and specialization within the fabrication and provision of semiconductor devices, as well as increased diversity in the manner by which semiconductor devices are incorporated within various host devices have resulted in new demands upon the testing capabilities of the constituent semiconductor devices. Where once a great majority of semiconductor devices were powered for testing only after being incorporated into a package, many contemporary semiconductor devices must first be tested at the wafer level (i.e., before being cut from a wafer substrate). That is, an increased demand for wafer level testing necessitates changes in the test-related design and operation of semiconductor devices.
For example, one common test applied to semiconductor devices measures certain parasitic influences between circuit elements of the semiconductor device. While such parasitic influences are often distributed in nature, they are routinely modeled and/or expressed in terms of discrete parasitic elements. In one sense, these discrete parasitic elements may be viewed as "virtual" elements of the various circuits formed on a semiconductor device.
Such parasitic elements include parasitic capacitances C and parasitic resistances R that are commonly formed between adjacent signal (e.g., power, data, address, and/or control) lines. Such signal lines may be formed on the same or different material layers of a multi-layer semiconductor device. Parasitic capacitance and resistance elements are routinely present in coincidence and may be modeled as parasitic RC elements. In several effects, parasitic RC elements cause signal line propagation delays, increase the power consumption, and increase current leakage. Parasitic elements may be determined by calculating a reflective characteristic S11 of a data pad and a transfer characteristic S21 of a pair of differential data pads.
In accordance with a conventional method of measuring parasitic elements of a first data pad, a test device connects a probe tip to the first data pad and a corresponding ground voltage pad to calculate reflection characteristic S11 of the first data pad. Also, the test device uses a first probe tip of a pair of probe tips to connect a primary data pad to a corresponding ground voltage pad and uses a second probe tip of the pair of probe tips to connect a secondary data pad to a corresponding ground voltage pad, wherein the primary and secondary data pads are differential data pads (and one of the primary and secondary data pads is the first data pad), to calculate transfer characteristic S21 of the data pad.
The shape and size of the probe tip of the test device is fixed, so a data pad and a ground voltage pad can only be connected using a single probe tip when the data pad and the ground voltage pad are adjacent to one another in a semiconductor memory device.
However, in a conventional semiconductor memory device, a plurality of pads is arranged in a central region of the semiconductor memory device as shown in FIG. (FIG.) 1. In the conventional semiconductor memory device, pluralities of data pads, power supply voltage pads, and ground voltage pads are arranged to form lines, and in that arrangement not every data pad is adjacent to a ground voltage pad.
In other words, since less than all of the data pads are adjacent to a ground voltage pad, less than all of the data pads can be connected to the test device to calculate reflection characteristic S11 using the probe tip. In addition, the probability of having a pair of differential data pads wherein each data pad of the pair is adjacent to a ground voltage pad is also low, so the probability of being able to measure transfer characteristic S21 of a data pad using the test device connected to a pair of differential data pads and corresponding ground voltage pads is also low. That is, it is difficult to find data pads that can be used to measure transfer characteristic S21 in the conventional semiconductor-memory device.
Consequently, when a semiconductor memory device has a structure in which a plurality of pads are arranged in lines as shown in FIG. 1, the reflection characteristic cannot be measured for every data pad using the test device, and there are few data pads for which the transfer characteristic can be measured. Accordingly, the parasitic influences (i.e., the total of the parasitic elements) of the semiconductor memory device must be inferred from the reflection characteristic of a limited number of data pads, so the conventional semiconductor memory device cannot be reliably analyzed.

Semiconductor memory device comprising pseudo ground pad and related method


A vertically oriented thermal processor for processing batches of semiconductor wafers held within a processing chamber. The processing chamber is contained within a processing vessel. Processing gases are discharged through a processing chamber outflow. An outflow cooler is included to cool gases exhausting from the processing chamber outflow. The outflow cooler includes a fluid heat exchanger and a flow diverter which directs the exhausting gases against cooled walls of the outflow cooler. The cooler also preferably has a liner which lines a casing to which the heat exchanger is connected.

In the thermal and chemical processing of semiconductor wafers, it is highly desirable to very accurately control the thermal and gaseous treatment to which the wafers are exposed during processing. Typically, batches of wafers are processed in a semiconductor processing furnace having an processing chamber which can be controllably enclosed. The processing environment within the enclosed processing chamber is carefully controlled to effect the desired processes.
Early designs for semiconductor diffusion processing furnaces were configured with the wafer array and processing chamber in a horizontal orientation. This was apparently done in an attempt to obtain products having more uniform characteristics. However, the desired uniformity was not easily achieved and horizontal furnaces suffered some disadvantages because of their configuration. In some furnaces it became difficult to achieve uniformity when performing high pressure oxidation or silicon deposition processes. These furnaces also proved difficult in achieving desired quality levels for the wafer or other semiconductor articles being processed.
In response to problems experienced by horizontal diffusion furnaces, alternative designs were developed. Furnaces having vertically arranged wafer arrays and processing chambers were made in an effort to provide better control of temperature and other processing parameters. U.S. Pat. No. 4,738,618 issued to Robert G. Massey et al. on Apr. 19, 1988 shows a vertically oriented thermal processor having a vertically adjustable furnace assembly and process tube. The process tube, constructed from a quartz bell jar, is vertically moveable in up and down directions within a supporting framework in conjunction with a likewise moveable furnace assembly. Additionally, the furnace assembly and process tube are moveable together between up and down positions, as well as independently of one another. Heat is supplied to the thermal processor when the furnace assembly and process tube are both lowered into the down position by controlling operation of heating elements within the furnace assembly. To cool the process tube within the thermal processor, the operation of the heating elements is regulated such that interior heat is dissipated to the exterior of the processor by convection. Although this vertical furnace design provided significant improvements, further improvements were found desirable to achieve greater temperature uniformity and better control over other processing parameters.
One design challenge associated with the above vertical furnace design included a tendency for the thermal processor to collect deposits of contaminants on the inner surface of the quartz process tube under certain treatment procedures. In an effort to address these problems, U.S. Pat. No. 5,000,682, issued to Donald W. Haight et al. on Mar. 19, 1991 presented a vertical furnace design that separates the furnace into a pre-heat and post-cool area in which the wafers are processed and in which gaseous or vapor treatments are conducted.
Another area of continuing design challenge is to more quickly cool the wafer array and processing chamber after high temperature thermal processing has been completed. Rapid cooling needs to be done in a uniform manner to help minimize the risks of processing variations between wafers and between different batches of wafers.
Relatively rapid but uniform cooling is also desired in order to minimize overall thermal exposure. Thermal exposure can have deleterious effects upon layers of the semiconductor article which have been previously processed. This is widely recognized by the term thermal budget which indicates that a wafer has a budget for the degree of exposure to elevated temperature processes. The effects are not linear with temperature, but instead have increasingly significant effects with higher temperatures. Examples of deleterious effects associated with added high temperature exposure include temperature induced crystal defects or deviations, and undesired additional diffusion of dopants or other materials within the matrix of the semiconductor article being processed. Thus it is desirable to bring a batch of wafers being processed within a furnace up to a desired processing temperature relatively rapidly, and to cool the wafers also in a relatively rapid manner. These goals are further emphasized because overall processing time and costs can be reduced if the processing time can be reduced.
Another challenge in the design of semiconductor thermal processors is with regard to more quickly achieving a desired temperature environment within the process chamber so that wafers or other semiconductor articles are heated at uniform rates and to uniform temperatures. The desired uniformity is variable in both axial and radial directions relative to the array of wafers being processed. Particularly, there is a need to realize a desired, or pre-defined thermal processing model in the processing chamber during a processing step in order to produce processed wafers having better uniformity. Particularly, problems can be encountered due to axial and radial variations in temperature between different regions of the processing chamber. The ability to control these variations becomes more difficult as faster thermal ramp-up and ramp-down targets are attempted in the process chamber. Therefore, improvements in furnace design are necessary in order to achieve an aggressive reduction in cycle time without a degradation in uniformity of processed wafers. The arrangement of heating elements and cooling fluids used in and around the processing chamber creates a delay in thermal response of the process chamber temperature which makes accurate dynamic control of the temperature during ramp-up, ramp-down and changing temperature rate conditions particularly difficult.
A further problem posed by the use of presently available semiconductor vertical processing furnaces results when processing gases are exposed to non-inert furnace components within the process chamber. Typically, wafers must be processed in a controlled environment in order to prevent undesirable oxidation. Ideally, the environment should be nearly inert. For example, inert gas is used during certain annealing processes. However, materials which are not completely inert and that are in fluid contact with the processing gases can produce off-gassing of one or more constituents. Such off-gassing can introduce contaminants into the processing chamber which mix with processing gases. The high temperature conditions and mixing of processing gases within the processing chamber can lead to introduction of such contaminants into the wafers of other semiconductor articles being processed.
There is also a significant problem with regard to the handling of semiconductor processing waste streams. In the case of semiconductor furnaces, the processing chambers are typically supplied with various gases during thermal processing. Since processing pressures are typically atmospheric or subatmospheric, the flow of processing gases into the processing chamber requires an approximate flow of spent gases from the processing chamber. These spent processing gases are typically at relatively high temperatures which cause problems in handling and disposal. Thus there is a need for thermal processors having improved waste stream outflows which can be more easily handled.
These and other considerations have led to the improved designs and processes described herein.

Semiconductor processing furnace outflow cooling system


In a circuit arrangement for dispersion compensation in optical transmission systems by means of an optical filter, an optical transverse filter is provided as a negative dispersion filter, and which has a series of directional couplers which respectively follow one another at a spacing of .tau./2 and are operated as splitters. A series of directional couplers are provided which likewise follow one another at a spacing of .tau./2 and are operated as combiners, the second output of each directional coupler of the directional couplers operated as splitters leading in each case to the second input of the respectively corresponding directional coupler operated as a combiner.

In the case of optical communication with data rates in the range of Gbit/s via an optical waveguide, the fiber dispersion is decisive for the bridgeable link length. This also applies, in particular, in the wavelength window around 1.55 .mu.m, since here the attenuation can be eliminated by means of optical amplifiers, while the dispersion of a standard fiber has very large positive values at approximately 17 ps/nm/km. There is therefore an interest in components which have a negative dispersion and can thus form a dispersion-free transmission medium in conjunction with the standard fiber. For very broadband applications such as wavelength division multiplexing (WDM), it would also be desirable, moreover, to be able to compensate the rise (approximately 0.06 ps/nm.sup.2 /km at 1.55 .mu.m) in the dispersion of the standard fiber. Moreover, components can be of interest which have a dispersion which is variable (including in sign), in order to be able to compensate, for example, the residual dispersion of a dispersion-shifted fiber at the transmitter wavelength.
The use of passive, linear principles is interesting for dispersion compensation since, so long as no nonlinear effects occur in the transmission, they permit the use of compensation components at any desired location on the optical transmission link. In the case of the passive principles in particular, there is also the prospect of cost-effective and compact components.
Apart from dispersion-compensating fibers (also currently commercially available), various components have already been presented in conjunction with dispersion compensation: Fabry-Perot interferometers, ring resonators, cascaded Mach-Zehnder interferometers, cascaded birefringent crystals, free-beam optical systems with gratings, and chirped gratings.

Circuit arrangement for dispersion compensation in optical transmission systems by means of an optical filter