There is provided a hydraulic control apparatus for a belt CVT, which is comprised of a pulley pressure control section that controls the line pressure in accordance with the oil amount balance of an oil pump based on the engine speed and the oil temperature during a select-judgment period from the detection of a change from a driving range to a non-driving range or a change from the non-driving range to the driving range to the lapse of a predetermined period of time, or when the non-driving range is detected. This eliminates the possibility that the oil pump cannot generate a specified oil pressure due to a decrease in the engine speed. Further, the secondary pressure is multiplied by the ratio of the line pressure in accordance with the oil amount balance of the oil pump to the line pressure which has been intended to be specified, and the secondary pressure is controlled according to the calculation result. This makes it possible to maintain the pulley ratio without causing a down-shift of the belt CVT.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hydraulic control apparatus for a V-belt type continuously variable transmission, which is capable of controlling a line pressure and a secondary pressure in accordance with the oil amount balance of an oil pump.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, a V-belt type continuously variable transmission (hereinafter referred to as "belt CVT") using a V belt has been known as a continuously variable transmission which can be suitably applied to a vehicle. The belt CVT is constructed by winding the V-belt around a primary pulley and a secondary pulley, and groove widths of the primary pulley and the secondary pulley are variably controlled by oil pressure.
An oil pump is connected to an input shaft of the belt CVT, and a pressure regulating valve regulates an oil pressure generated by the oil pump to generate a line pressure. A first cylinder chamber and a second cylinder chamber are provided to the primary pulley and the secondary pulley, respectively. The line pressure is supplied to the first cylinder chamber via a shift control valve as a primary pressure, and a secondary pressure obtained by regulating the line pressure is supplied to the second cylinder chamber. The groove widths of the primary pulley and the secondary pulley are changed according to the oil pressures supplied to the respective cylinder chambers, and the gear ratio continuously varies according to the radius of contact between the V belt and each of the pulleys.
Further, the primary pressure receiving area of the first cylinder chamber and the secondary pressure receiving area of the second cylinder chamber are set to be equal (see for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2001-165293).
The conventional belt CVT as described above, however, has the problem that in the case when the shift range is switched from a D range to an N range and then switched to the D range while an accelerator pedal is kept OFF in a high vehicle speed range, the oil pump which generates basic pressure for the line pressure cannot generate a specified oil pressure due to a decrease in the engine speed in the N range. Therefore, the actual line pressure, primary pressure, and secondary pressure are equal to each other, and hence a high vehicle speed gear ratio cannot be maintained and a down-shift occurs.

Hydraulic control apparatus for V-belt type continuously variable transmission


A system and method for context-aware unified communication for enabling communications between users over a common communications platform or heterogeneous communications platforms. The system comprises: agents associated with a respective caller and callee communications device for generating commands providing call control between the caller and callee devices; a routing engine for routing call commands between caller and callee via respective device agents to establish a communication session, and enabling exchange of conversation messages between the caller and callee communications devices over said single or heterogeneous communications platforms; a device for monitoring dynamic context of a callee and obtaining callee's preferences for receiving communications so that the routing engine enables a call setup between a caller and callee communications devices based on the callee's preferences or dynamic context information; and, further enabling either caller or callee to migrate a call to another communications device without disrupting a flow of a conversation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to context-aware applications for computer systems, and more particularly to a novel unified communication system that automatically manages both two-way and one-way human communication across heterogeneous and arbitrary communications devices.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Modern man is part of a highly connected communication network. He can be reached through a wide variety of communication mechanisms. Communication between people can take place through e-mail, instant messaging, cellular phone, landline phone, Short Message Service (SMS), voice-mail, pager etc. Each means of communication has its own sets of features and drawbacks. Although a person typically has multiple communication devices (a "device" as referred to and understood herein representing a broad range of hardware entities like phones, pagers, etc. or software entities like instant messaging clients, e-mail clients, etc.), that person may have access to only a subset of them at a particular time. Depending on that person's situation, he/she may also have a preference on which of the available devices to use. For example, a person may prefer chatting with somebody using an instant messaging (IM) client when he/she is working on something else or, in the middle of a meeting. But when the meeting is over or if that person has to leave the room, he/she may want to continue chatting with the other party on his/her cell phone or via short messaging service. Hence, a unified communication system that allows a person to communicate using the most convenient device at the time will enhance user experience and offer more opportunities for collaboration.
Although there are already systems that dispatch messages to a person on an appropriate device (for example, as described in the reference to M. Roussopoulos, P. Maniatis, E. Swierk, K. Lai, G. Appenzeller and M. Baker entitled "Personal-level Routing in the Mobile People Architecture", Proceedings of the USENIX Symposium on Internet Technologies and Systems, October 1999; and, in the reference to B. Raman, R. Katz, and A. Joseph entitled "Universal Inbox: Providing Extensible Personal Mobility and Service Mobility in an Integrated Communication Network", Proceedings of the Third IEEE Workshop on Mobile Computing Systems and Applications, Monterey, Calif., December 2000; and in the reference to H. Lei, D. Sow, J. Davis II, G. Banaduth and M. Ebling in a reference entitled "The Design and Applications of a Context Service" ACM Mobile Computing and Communications Review (MC2R), October 2002), they are effectively unified one-way messaging systems that allow sending a single message at a time. The inherent differences between two-way communication (i.e., conversation) and one-way messaging (i.e., notification) introduce new issues and challenges in the design of a unified two-way communication system. First, one-way messaging is asynchronous in that there may be arbitrary time lapse between the sending and receiving of a message. In comparison, two-way communication is synchronous: both parties must be present in order for a conversation to take place. Thus, two-way communication requires proper call setup. Call setup alerts the callee and obtains her acceptance for the call. It further involves negotiation between the devices on communication media. Second, while one-way messaging is stateless, two-way communication consists of a sequence of exchanges and is stateful. Call state must be maintained for the entire duration of the call. Also, call migration from one device to another may be desirable and needs to be supported. Third, not all devices have native support for two-way communication. Nevertheless, it may still be useful to exploit one-way devices such as pagers and email to enhance two-way communication, as opposed to ignoring them.
A promising technology for unified two-way communication is the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) such as described in the reference to M. Handley, H. Schulzrinne, E. Schooler and J. Rosenberg entitled "SIP: Session Initiation Protocol". Request for Comments 2543, Internet Engineering Task Force, March 1999, the whole contents and disclosure of which is incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein. SIP is an application-layer control or signaling protocol for creating, modifying and terminating sessions with two or more participants. These sessions include Internet multimedia conferences, Internet telephone calls, multimedia distribution, and instant messaging. However, SIP only provides a mechanism for managing calls. It does not specify what policies should be used for call management or how the policies should be enforced. It is obviously impractical to expect users to manually and constantly control all the call aspects such as where to route a call and whether to migrate a call. Further, most existing communication devices are not yet SIP-enabled and therefore may not be directly plugged into the SIP framework.
Accordingly, a need exists for a unified communication system that automatically manages both two-way and one-way human communication across heterogeneous and arbitrary devices.
It would thus be highly desirable to provide a unified communication system that automatically manages both two-way and one-way human communication across heterogeneous and arbitrary devices.

System and method for context-aware unified communications

International Business Machines Corporation


A system for delivering a substance into a body at a treatment site that includes an alternating current source and a plurality of electrodes. Circuitry is connected between the alternating current source and the electrodes for supplying current to the electrodes when the electrodes are in electrical contact with said body so that a uni-directional current flow for delivering the substance into the body is maintained at the treatment site and a bi-directional current flow is maintained throughout the body. At least one of the electrodes is divided into sub-electrodes to, for example, reduce hazards associated with current concentration. These and other systems and methods are adaptable for large treatment areas and/or use a convenient and low-cost arrangement of electronics.

The present invention generally relates to the electrokinetic delivery of a substance (for example, a medicament) into a treatment site, e.g., tissue and, more particularly, to systems and methods for such delivery that satisfy certain risk criteria for current leakage of medical equipment that maintains direct electrical contact with human skin, that are adaptable for large treatment areas and/or that use a convenient and low-cost arrangement of electronics. The majority of applications using the present invention are for applying medicaments to treatment sites and therefore the term medicament is sometimes used in lieu of the term substance in this description. However, the use of the term "medicament" in a particular instance is not intended to exclude the possibility of using other, non-medicament substances.
One type of electrokinetic delivery mechanism is iontophoresis. Iontophoresis is the transfer of ionic agents into tissue by means of electricity. The active component of the medicament, either directly ionizable or attached to a carrier ion and either positively or negatively charged, is driven into the tissue by a properly biased electrode through barriers to treatment sites such as animal (including human) skin, cell and mucosal membranes and other barrier surfaces. Iontophoresis has been used to deliver, among other things, morphine HCL for postoperative pain relief, topical anesthetics (such as lidocaine) for transdermal anesthetization, anti-viral agents for herpes infection, and anti-fungal medicines for onychomycosis, for example, nail bed (finger and toe) fungal infections or athlete's foot. The use of iontophoretic transdermal or transmucocutaneous delivery techniques obviates the need for hypodermic injection for many medicaments, thereby eliminating the concomitant problems of trauma, pain and risk of infection to the patient. Such delivery techniques may also be utilized for controlled or localized treatment especially when a substantial systemic involvement of the medicament is unwanted or harmful.
Regardless of the charge of the medicament to be administered, conventional iontophoretic delivery devices typically employ two electrodes (an anode and a cathode). In conjunction with the patient's skin or mucosa, the first (applicator or treatment) electrode is positioned at a treatment site on the skin or mucosa, and the second (counter) electrode is affixed to a second site on the skin or mucosa. These electrodes form a current path that enhances the rate of penetration of the medicament into the treatment site adjacent to the applicator electrode. A conventional iontophoretic delivery system 100 is shown in FIG. 1. System 100 includes a treatment electrode (anode) 102 and a counter electrode (cathode) 104 connected to a DC power supply 106. Electrodes 102 and 104 are in electrical contact with the skin or mucosa via conductive layers 110 and 112, respectively. Such layers may be part of a single medicament-carrying substrate. The medicament-carrying substrate is generally disposable and non-reusable and may be releasably adherable to the patient's treatment site and/or to electrodes 102 and 104 or merely interposed in between treatment site and electrodes. Conductive layers 110 and 112 are shown in FIG. 1 as comprising a medicine-soaked sponge (e.g., a morphine HCL-soaked sponge) and a saline-soaked sponge, respectively. In use, iontophoretic device 100 is turned on (e.g., by a switch, not shown) and a current flows from treatment electrode 102, through conductive layer 110 and skin plus underlying tissue 108, to counter electrode 104, thereby driving medicament through the treatment site into the skin and underlying tissue.
Although use of alternating current has been reported (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,224,927 to Tapper, Jul. 6, 1993), direct current is generally preferred in iontophoresis. As set forth in the '927 patent, at AC frequencies higher than approximately 10 Hz, no substantial effective drug delivery takes place. Medicament and other ions merely move to and fro, lacking any net unidirectional movement. For DC iontophoresis, the amount of current used varies from 0.2 to 1 milliampere, which exceeds the risk-current limit of 10 microamperes established for current leakage of medical equipment that maintains direct electrical contact with the patient. There exists, therefore, a potential hazard associated with ventricular fibrillation and cardiac arrest if the current generated during iontophoresis accidentally passes through the patient's heart. In iontophoresis, the rate of drug delivery increases with current. For this reason, higher current is, in principle, always favored because treatment time is proportionally reduced. However, for current exceeding 0.5 to 1 milliampere, the patient may feel an uncomfortable burning sensation. Even at the 0.5 to 1 milliampere range, when the treatment area is relatively small, the resulting high current density can possibly cause pain and burning and destruction of the skin tissue.
In any case, to remain effective, existing iontophoresis devices may use treatment currents exceeding the established risk-current limit for equipment leakage. In order to reduce the ventricular fibrillation risk, some devices limit the separation distance between the treatment and the counter electrode so that the heart is not directly in the current path and is therefore less likely to be included within the fringe electric fields created by the electrodes. However, because electric current always flows through a path of least resistance, i.e., a path of shorter distance along the skin, the electrode separation distance needs to be large enough so that current is not short-circuited or concentrated between proximal edges of the electrodes (i.e., between edges 120 and 130 in FIG. 1), so that the current distribution under the treatment electrode is relatively uniform for effective drug delivery, and so that there are no hot-spots or areas of high current density to cause discomfort and pain. Some iontophoretic devices use a large separation distance to obtain a more uniform current distribution by placing the counter electrode in a less accessible and awkward location such as the back or the rear shoulder of the patient.
An effective method for self-administration of a medicament into an individual's skin is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,676,648 and uses a small cylindrical probe in which the treatment applicator electrode is located at the distal end of a counter electrode consisting of a circumferential tactile metal band which provides electrical connection to the individual's finger and hand. The individual's body completes a long electrical circuit path (through the arm and torso), and thus a uniform current distribution and effective medicament delivery is assured.

Systems and methods for electrokinetic delivery of a substance


In a control system and a method for operating a permanent-magnet electrical machine, when the electrical machine is switched off after one of a functional computer and a monitoring computer of the control system has identified a fault, in order to reduce the braking torque of the electrical machine, which is switched-off but still rotating an output stage of the control system is subjected to a three-phase short circuit if the rotation speed D1 does not fall below a definable limit value GR1 or if a voltage U_DC of the output stage (2) exceeds a limit value Umax, and when the rotation speed D1 is below the definable limit value GR1 and a voltage U_DC of the output stage does not exceed a limit value Umax, all the circuits breakers (2o1, 2o2, 2o3, 2u1, 2u2, 2u3) of the output stage (2) are opened in order to fully disconnect the electrical machine from the output stage.

The invention relates to a control system for a permanent-magnet electrical machine and a method for controlling a permanent-magnet electrical machine as used, for example, in hybrid drive systems.
DE 102 05 963 A1 discloses a method and control system for controlling a permanent-magnet machine, with each phase of the electrical machine having an associated half-bridge arrangement with a first and a second switching element for supplying power via an intermediate circuit. An operating state of a control system is monitored and compared with a threshold value. When the threshold value is exceeded, a fault state is detected and a short circuit is generated between the phases of the electrical machine.
Permanent-magnet electrical machines are used, for example, as vehicle drive motors which, in the case of hybrid drive systems, receive electrical energy from an energy supply means. Energy is supplied, for example, by a battery which is connected via a converter and an intermediate circuit; in the case of fully electrically operated vehicles energy is supplied by a so-called traction battery or by a generator which is driven by an internal combustion engine.
Because of their design, permanent-magnet electrical machines have the fundamental problem that a counter voltage, which is known as magnet wheel voltage is induced in the armature windings due to the relative movement between the armature windings and the permanent magnets during operation. This induced voltage increases as the rotation speed increases and can reach, and even exceed, the supply voltage of the electric machine. If faults occur in such drive systems with permanent-magnet electrical machines, for example, malfunctions of the control electronics providing for field weakening or a short circuit between the windings, electrical energy will be fed back from the electrical machine to the energy supply means. As a result, a braking torque can be generated in an electric machine which has been shut down but is still rotating. This is very undesirable during operation of a vehicle. Such braking torques can also be generated at low rotation speeds, for example by a three-phase short circuit which is initiated when a fault has been detected.
It is the object of the present invention to reduce the braking torque of an electrical machine which has been shut down but is still rotating.

Control system for an electrical machine


A method for deriving optimal discriminating features indicative of a subject state when the subject listens to one of a set of musical pieces, comprising a step of extracting frequency features from the subject's EEG signal when the subject is in a first subject state and a second subject state, the frequency features being extracted from more than one frequency band in one set of time segments; and identifying optimal discriminating features from the extracted frequency features, the optimal discriminating features indicative of characteristics of the EEG signal when the subject is in the first subject state and the second subject state, wherein one of the first subject state and the second subject state indicates that the subject likes a musical piece while the other state indicates that the subject does not like the musical piece.

People usually identify features of a musical piece so as to categorize similar musical pieces together. In most cases, the categorization is done manually according to a subject's preference. It is known that music has several positive effects on a subject and listening to preferred music will have a greater positive effect on the subject.
One conventional technique is to identify genres or musical characteristics as the features of the musical pieces. It may in many instances result in inaccurate categorization of musical pieces, since there are only limited genres (e.g. jazz and rock) and musical characteristics (e.g. pitch and tempo). Further, a musical song that has a positive effect on a person may not have the same effect on another person.
Thus, it would be beneficial to categorize musical pieces automatically in response to the effect on the subject. However, with the existing techniques and tools, it is difficult to provide a method that effectively categorizes musical pieces to cause a positive effect on a subject.
A need therefore exists to provide a system and method which can be used to automatically derive features that are indicative of a subject state when the subject listens to a musical piece.

System and method for developing a model indicative of a subject's emotional state when listening to musical pieces

Agency for Science, Technology and Research


A plurality of items of environmental information, which are used for distribution control of plural items of vehicle information that are received using wireless communication by an external communication device from a plurality of surrounding vehicles, are made into an environmental information list by an environmental information setting mechanism and managed. Based on the environmental information list, for the plural items of vehicle information received by the external equipment communication device, selection is performed using a dynamic filtering part of a dynamic distribution controller and distribution control is performed using the priority level according to a dynamic priority controller. A driving assistance device that receives this information assists a driver in driving, and environmental information set in the environmental information list is generated.

A driving assistance system is a system that recognizes an environment in a periphery of a vehicle and determines a situation using a vehicle-mounted sensor and wireless communication equipment mounted in the vehicle, thereby providing a driver with various kinds of driving assistance with an object of improving safety and comfort.
Driving assistance carries out a provision of information and an issue of an alert to a driver, or various kinds of control of a vehicle, thereby aiding driving by the driver, and has applications such as, for example, autonomous emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, and lane keeping assistance.
Among these, driving assistance using wireless communication exchanges vehicle information such as position, speed, acceleration, and orientation with a vehicle in a periphery of a host vehicle, and determines a situation from a positional relationship with the peripheral vehicle and a cruising state of the host vehicle, thereby assisting a driver with driving. Because of this, driving assistance using wireless communication can recognize a vehicle at an intersection at which detection with a vehicle-mounted sensor is difficult, or recognize a vehicle two or more vehicles ahead, because of which driving assistance can be provided by determining a situation over a wider area than that using a vehicle-mounted sensor.
However, a driving assistance system wherein a multiple of driving assistance applications using wireless communication operate is such that vehicle information is received simultaneously from a multiple of peripheral vehicles, because of which there is a problem in that when attempting to process all of the vehicle information in the order received, a processing delay occurs, and driving assistance cannot be provided at an appropriate timing.
Therefore, in order to distribute important vehicle information with priority, distribution control such that proximity of vehicles is predicted from positional relationships and correlations in vehicle information of a multiple of peripheral vehicles received by wireless communication, and a high priority level is allotted to vehicle information of a vehicle predicted to approach closely in the future, whereby vehicle information with a high priority level is distributed with priority, is described in, for example, JP-A-2012-79032 (Patent Document 1).
Also, in order to dynamically change a priority level allotted in accordance with a cruising state, providing a region of focus for which a priority level is set in a geographical space, and changing the region of focus in accordance with a cruising state, is described in, for example, JP-A-2012-164327 (Patent Document 2). Also, distribution control such that, when a peripheral vehicle exists in a region of focus, vehicle information with a high priority level is distributed with priority by a priority level of the region of focus being allotted is described.


Techniques for detecting security exploits associated with return-oriented programming are described herein. For example, a computing device may determine that a retrieved count is indicative of malicious activity, such as return oriented programming. The computing device may retrieve the count from a processor performance counter of prediction mismatches, the prediction mismatches resulting from comparisons of a call stack of the computing device and of a shadow call stack maintained by a processor of the computing device. In response to determining that the count indicates malicious activity, the computing device may perform at least one security response action.

With Internet use forming an ever greater part of day to day life, security exploits that steal or destroy system resources, data, and private information are an increasing problem. Governments and businesses devote significant resources to preventing intrusions and thefts related to these security exploits. Security exploits come in many forms, such as computer viruses, worms, trojan horses, spyware, keystroke loggers, adware, rootkits, and shellcodes. These exploits are delivered in or through a number of mechanisms, such as spearfish emails, clickable links, documents, executables, or archives. Some of the threats posed by security exploits are of such significance that they are described as cyber terrorism or industrial espionage.
A variant of the shellcode security exploits known as Return Oriented Programming (ROP) has proven very difficult to detect. Return oriented programming makes use of a security vulnerability of a computing device to spoof or control the call stack of that computing device. By spoofing or controlling the call stack, the security exploit is able to utilize select instructions of legitimate processes to effectively create and execute a shellcode. The use of legitimate instructions circumvents memory safeguards that have been put in place to stop shellcode security exploits. The only techniques that have been developed for detecting and responding to return oriented programming, however, impose a substantial performance cost.

Threat detection for return oriented programming


A method, system, and medium are provided for recording VOP calls at a premise to perform real-time processing of the VOP calls, charging for VOP calls at a premise with multiple users, and collecting call information in a VOP network. A call detail recording (CDR) device resides at a hotel, motel, or lodge premise to record telephone calls and set telephone charges of the guests staying at the hotel, motel, or lodge. The CDR device is not a PBX but allows a premise owner to control and provide real-time charges to users of services in a packet-based network at the hotel, motel, or lodge.

Many years ago, the hospitality industry developed a plan that would enable them to charge customers for telephone calls when the customers were staying at their place of business. This plan included systems of various types. One system included a private branch exchange (PBX) connected to other telephone switches in a circuit-based network. The PBX would reside on the premise of the hotel, motel, or lodge to provide telephone service to the guests that stayed on the premise. The PBX would collect billing information for various types of telephone calls made by the guests to enable the business to present a telephone bill to the guest upon completion of the guest's stay.
Another system developed by the hospitality industry involved having a telephone switch operated by a service provider collect and manage telephone traffic associated with customers staying at the hotel, motel, or lodge. Again, the telephone switch was in a circuit-based network. The telephone switch might have one or more adjunct devices to support it that would operate to keep track of the telephone charges from the specific hotel, motel, or lodge. With this system, the hotel, motel, or lodge could have all of its telephone lines connect to the telephone switch or could have a concentrating device multiplex the lines onto trunks that connected to the telephone switch.
In either case of the PBX or the directly-connected premise lines to the telephone switch, applications handled billing data in a circuit-based network. Many of the applications included and still do include station message-detail recording (SMDR). Unfortunately, businesses like hotels, motels, or lodges would like call detail recording in a packet-based network in a real-time basis, but without having to expend funds for a PBX. They would also like to control and manage CDRs from their customers' (guests) phone usage rather than obtain this data or a portion thereof from a service provider that stores and manages CDRs at a central office containing a telephone switch. Therefore, a solution is needed that provides a CDR device that resides at a premise such as a hotel, a motel, or a lodge which is not a PBX. The CDR device should record telephone calls and set telephone charges of the guests staying at the hotel, motel, or lodge.

Voice over packet (VOP) call detail recording (CDR)


Compounds of formula (I): ##STR1## (wherein R.sup.1 represents hydrogen or a hydroxy-protecting group, R.sup.2 and R.sup.3 represent hydrogen, alkyl or aryl; R.sup.4 represents optionally substituted alkyl, alicyclic heterocyclic, aryl, aromatic heterocyclic, optionally substituted alkenyl or optionally substituted alkynyl; R.sup.5 represents hydrogen or a carboxy-protecting group; and R.sup.6 represents alkoxy, aryloxy, dialkylamino or diarylamino or two or R.sup.6 together represent o-phenylenedioxy or three together represent CH.sup.3 C(--CH.sub.2 O--).sub.3) may be prepared by reacting the corresponding carbonyl compound with a compound of formula P(R.sup.6).sub.3. Compounds (I) may be cyclised to prepare carbopenem derivatives, many of which have valuable antibiotic activity.

The present invention relates to a series of new azetidinone derivatives, which are of value as intermediates in the preparation of certain carbapenem derivatives, many of which have valuable antibiotic properties. The invention also provides processes for the preparation of such azetidinone and carbapenem derivatives.
The carbapenems are a group of .beta.-lactam compounds characterised by the basic structure (A): ##STR2## This structure is known as "carbapenem" and forms the basis for the generally accepted semi-systematic nomenclature of carbapenem derivatives, which system is used herein.
Although many carbapenem derivatives have, in recent years, been proposed for use as antibiotics, many of them suffer from a problem which is common in the pharmaceutical industry: namely, preparation of these compounds is difficult or can be carried out only with low yields. There can be many reasons why these problems arise, for example starting materials may be difficult or even impossible to prepare on a commercial basis or may be obtainable only on a restricted basis or at high cost; alternatively, by the time the many process steps normally needed to produce carbapenem compounds have been carried out, the overall yield may be so small as to render the process uneconomic,
In copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 407,914 filed 13th Aug. 1982, a series of carbapenem derivatives having excellent antibiotic activity has been disclosed and a process for producing such compounds is also disclosed.
Another process which can be used for preparing compounds of the type disclosed in the aforementioned U.S. patent application is disclosed in European Patent Specification No. 58317. The Process disclosed in this European Patent Specification includes reacting a compound of formula (B): ##STR3## (in which: R.sup.a represents a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group, an acylamino group or a substituted alkyl group; R.sup.b can represent a variety of organic groups, including alkyl and aryl groups, which may be substituted or unsubstituted; R.sup.c represents, inter alia, a carboxyl group or an esterified carboxyl group; Z represents, inter alia, a sulphur or oxygen atom; and X represents a sulphur or oxygen atom or a methylene group) with a trialkyl phosphite at a temperature within the range from 20.degree. to 80.degree. C. It has been reported by Afonso et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 104, 6138 (1982)! that the conditions under which this reaction is carried out are highly critical as the reaction of these two compounds can give rise to a phosphoranylidene derivative of formula (C): ##STR4## (in which R.sup.a, R.sup.b, R.sup.c, X and Z are as defined above and R.sup.d represents an alkoxy group). This phosphoranylidene derivative will not undergo cyclisation to give a penem or carbapenem compound and thus represents a wasted by-product.
It has also been reported by Ponsford et al. (J.C.S. Chem. Comm., 1979, 847), Oida et al. Chem. Pharm. Bull., 28, 3494 (1980)! and Kametani et al. (J.C.S. Perkin I, 1981, 964) that it is extremely difficult to undertake an intramolecular Wittig reaction with compounds of formula (C), but in which the sulphur atom has been replaced by an oxygen atom, and X is a methylene group, Z is a sulphur atom and R.sup.d is a phenyl group. Indeed, in the process disclosed in the aforementioned European Patent Application, one method of preparing the starting material of formula (B) includes a step in which a carbonyl oxygen atom is replaced by a sulphur atom (see, for example, Preparations R. S, T and U).
We have now discovered that compounds similar to those of formula (B) in which X represents a methylene group and R.sup.b represents a certain limited range of substituents, but in which the sulphur atom has been replaced by an oxygen atom, can be reacted with a limited class of phosphites and phosphorus amides, to give novel compounds similar to those of formula (C) and that surprisingly these novel compounds can readily be cyclised to give various carbapenem derivatives, many of which are of considerable interest as antibiotics. Certain of the carbapenem derivatives thus prepared are disclosed in copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 407,914. filed 13th Aug. 1982.

Azetidinone derivatives, a process for their preparation and their use as intermediates in the preparation of carbapenem antibiotics


A bicycle having a frame with pivotal front and rear wheels with means for engaging and disengaging said pivotal movement on one of the wheels by moving a pivotal strut to engage the rear wheel frame thereby preventing movement of the wheel frame. Moving the actuator to a frame engaging position allows rotation of the rear wheel frame.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to bicycles and, more specifically, to a bicycle having a frame incorporating means for selectively engaging and disengaging an actuator whereby the rear wheel can be rotated.
The present invention provides a bicycle having a frame with pivotal front and rear wheels with means for engaging and disengaging said pivotal movement on one of the wheels by moving a pivotal strut to engage the rear wheel frame thereby preventing movement of the wheel frame. Moving the actuator to a frame engaging position allows rotation of the rear wheel frame.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are other frame types designed for bicycles. Typical of these is U.S. Pat. No. 1,584,568 issued to Clark on May 11, 1926.
Another patent was issued to Ajero on Nov. 5, 1957 as U.S. Pat. No. 2,812,194. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 3,015,498 was issued to Tanaka et al on Jan. 2, 1962 and still yet another was issued on Aug. 18, 1981 to Fulton as U.S. Pat. No. 4,284,288.
Another patent was issued to Belden on U.S. Pat. No. 3,801,130 as U.S. Pat. No. 3,801,130. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 4,219,209 was issued to Haack on Aug. 26, 1980. Another was issued to Maebe on Mar. 26, 1985 as U.S. Pat. No. 4,506,902 and still yet another was issued on Nov. 2, 1999 to Montague et al. as U.S. Pat. No. 5,975,551.
Another patent was issued to Montague on Oct. 24, 2000 as U.S. Pat. No. 6,135,478. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 6,406,047 was issued to Sawyer, Jr. on Jun. 18, 2002. Another was issued to Wang on Sep. 17, 2002 as U.S. Pat. No. 6,450,519. Still yet another was issued on Jan. 1, 1897 to Smith as U.K. Patent No. GB 1949 and another was published on Jan. 28, 1999 as International Patent Application No. WO99/03723.

Bicycle having front and rear rotative wheel frames with actuatable means for engaging and disengaging the rear wheel frame rotation


A node for a multi-hop communication network may include a wireless communication interface, configured to exchange data with the multi-hop communication network. The node moreover includes a processing unit, configured to drive the operation of the node as a function of the commands received via the wireless communication interface, and a memory storing a firmware for the processing unit. The node is configured to receive, via the wireless communication interface, an updated firmware, and to store the updated firmware into the memory. Moreover, the node is configured to detect, via the wireless communication interface, other nodes that are in the vicinity of the node, and to send (1010) the firmware stored in the memory to one or more of said nodes.

FIG. 1 shows a lighting system including a plurality of lighting modules 10. For example, FIG. 1 shows six lighting modules 101 . . . 106.
Generally speaking, each lighting module includes one or more light radiation sources, such as e.g. one or more LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) or other solid-state light radiation means, e.g. laser diodes. Generally speaking, each lighting module 10 may therefore be on or off. Moreover, one or more lighting modules 10 may enable an adjustment of the emitted light intensity, so-called dimming function. For example, the lighting modules 10 may be:                RGB, e.g. LED, lamps, including at least three light radiation sources, respectively emitting red light (R), green light (G) and blue light (B), or        RGBW, e.g. LED, lamps, including at least four light radiation sources respectively emitting red light (R), green light (G), blue light (B) and white light (W).
Generally speaking, one or more lighting modules 10 may thus enable adjusting the colour of the emitted light.
In order to monitor and/or control the various functions of the lighting modules 10, the lighting modules 10 may be mutually connected via a communication network 30. For example, in some solutions each lighting module 10 supports the ZigBee® communication protocol, or another communication protocol adapted to create multi-hop or mesh networks, such as e.g. Thread, 6LOWPAN, Mesh over Bluetooth® Low Energy Network (BLE). For example, such lighting modules are described in the document "CC2531 Zlight2 Reference Design", Texas Instruments, 2012, http://www.ti.com, the content whereof is incorporated herein by way of reference.
For example, as shown in FIG. 2, said lighting module 10 may include an electronic converter 102 and at least one light radiation source 104. For example, the electronic converter 102 may include an AC/DC or DC/DC switching supply, which receives at input, via two terminals T1 and T2, a supply signal (e.g. from the mains or a battery) and outputs, via two terminals T3 and T4, a regulated voltage Vout or a regulated current iout. The light radiation 104 may be for example a LED or a LED string.
The light radiation source 10 moreover includes a bidirectional radio (i.e. wireless) communication interface 106, which typically has a short range (e.g. between 5 and 200 m), such as e.g. a ZigBee, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi communication interface (according to the IEEE 802.11 standard).
Finally, the lighting module 10 includes a processing unit 108, which is configured to receive commands via the communication interface 106 and to drive the operation of the electronic converter 102 as a function of the received commands, e.g. in order to switch the light radiation sources 104 on or off, and/or adjust the brightness and/or the colour of the light emitted by the light radiation sources. For example, the processing unit 108 is often implemented via a microprocessor, which has a memory 110 associated thereto which stores the code being executed by the microprocessor.
Typically the electronic converter 102, the communication interface 106 and the processing unit 108 (with memory 110) are integrated in one housing 100, and are often mounted onto a single printed circuit. Generally speaking, the light radiation sources 104 may also be integrated in said housing 100, e.g. they may be mounted on the printed circuit itself, or they may be connected externally to the electronic converter 102 via cables.
Generally speaking, one or more lighting modules 10 may also include one or more sensors 112 and/or actuators 114, in order to perform monitoring and/or control functions. For example, sensors 112 may include one or more of the following:                sensors configured to monitor the operation of the electronic converter 102 and/or the light radiation sources 104, and/or        sensors configured to monitor environmental parameters (light, temperature, humidity etc.) and/or        movement sensors, e.g. Passive InfraRed (PIR) sensors.
On the other hand, the actuators 114 may include one or more electrical or electronic switches, in order to control the on/off switching of other devices and/or motors, e.g. in order to orient the light emitted by the light radiation sources 104.
Therefore, the processing unit 108 may be configured to detect the data provided by the sensors 112 and to send the data (optionally in processed form) through the communication interface 106. Moreover, the processing unit 106 may be configured to drive actuators 112 as a function of the detected data.
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 1, the lighting modules 10 are connected to each other via a communication network 30. For instance, with reference to the ZigBee® standard, the lighting modules 10 may only perform the function of a ZigBee End Device. However, the lighting modules 10 are configured to implement, in addition, the function of a ZigBee Router, and optionally of a ZigBee Coordinator.
Typically, the network 30 also includes a gateway node 20, enabling access to the communication network 30 by devices which do not support the protocol used for the communication network 30.
For example, as shown in FIG. 3, such a gateway node 20 typically includes a communication interface 206 matching the protocol of the communication network, e.g. a ZigBee interface. For example, with reference to the ZigBee standard, said gateway node 20 may implement the function of a ZigBee Router and optionally of a ZigBee Coordinator.
The gateway node 20 also includes one or more further communication interfaces 202 for a wired or wireless communication, such as e.g.:                a Wi-Fi communication interface 202a for the communication with a wireless communication network; and/or        an Ethernet communication interface 202b for the connection to a Local Area Network (LAN); and/or        a transceiver, which may be a GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), W-CDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access), UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), HSPA (High-Speed Packet Access) and/or LTE (Long Term Evolution) transceiver, for the connection to a Wide Area Network (WAN), such as the Internet; and/or        one or more further communication interfaces 202d, which are typically supported by mobile devices (laptop computers, tablets or mobile phones), such as e.g. USB (Universal Serial Bus), Bluetooth, NFC (Near Field Communication).
Finally, the gateway node 20 includes a processing unit 204, configured to manage the information exchange between the communication interfaces 202 and 206.
Therefore, generally speaking, said function of the gateway node 20 may also be implemented in one or more lighting modules 10, e.g. by employing one or more further communication interfaces (see the description of interface 202) and including the functions performed by the processing unit 204 into the communication interface 206.
Therefore, in FIG. 1, a further device 40 such as e.g. a remote control, a computer, a tablet or a mobile phone, may control the operation of the lighting modules 10 by sending commands to a communication interface 202 of the gateway node 20, and the gateway node 20 may forward said commands to network 30.
Specifically, the communication network 30 is a multi-hop or mesh network, i.e. one or more lighting modules 10 perform the function of a router, in order to forward the commands to one or more other lighting modules 10 which are not adapted to directly receive the commands from the gateway node 20, e.g. because they are located too far away.
For example, in FIG. 1, the lighting modules 101 and 102 may be reached directly. Said lighting modules 101 and 102 may forward the commands to the lighting modules 103 and 104, respectively. Finally, the lighting module 105 may exchange data with the lighting modules 103, 104 and 106. For example, in order to send a command to the lighting module 106, the respective data package may actually traverse the lighting modules 101, 103 and 105.
Therefore, thanks to the presence of a multi-hop network 30 and the gateway node 20, device 40 is adapted to control and/or monitor the operation of the lighting devices 10.
For example, as shown in FIG. 4a, the device 40 may have installed an application which enables turning the various lighting modules 10 on or off. For example, for each lighting module 10 a respective name 400 and a respective on/off switch 402 may be shown.
On the other hand, FIG. 4b shows a screen which may be opened e.g. by pressing name 400 in the screen shown in FIG. 4a, enabling the setting of brightness and/or colour in the light emitted by the respective lighting module 10. For example, the screen shown in FIG. 4b may display the name 404 of the respective lighting module 10, a button 406 for switching the respective lighting module 10 on or off, a bar 408 for setting the brightness of the respective lighting module 10 and a colour map 410 enabling selecting the colour of the respective lighting module 10.
A firmware update of the lighting modules 10 may frequently be required, e.g. at least of a portion of the software code stored in memory 110 (see FIG. 2). For example, said updates may be useful in order to correct errors and/or to implement new functions.
Generally speaking, said update of a lighting module 10 may be carried out by sending the new firmware to the lighting module 10 through network 30, implementing a so-called Over The Air (OTA) update.
For instance, FIG. 5a shows an example wherein device 40 is connected to a remote server 52, e.g. through the Internet 50. For example, the remote server 52 may be associated to a database 54, which stores the firmware for one or more types of lighting modules 10, which may be classified e.g. on the basis of a model number which may indicate e.g. the hardware version and/or the supported functions.
Device 40 may therefore detect the type of each lighting module 10 connected to network 30, download the corresponding firmware and update the respective lighting module 10, by sending the firmware to the lighting device 10 through the gateway node 20 and the communication network 30.
On the other hand, FIG. 5b shows an example wherein the gateway node 20 is adapted to communicate (directly through an interface 202) with the remote server 52. For example, in FIG. 5b the gateway node 20 is connected to the Internet 50. In this case, the processing unit 204 (see FIG. 3) may implement an update server which automatically monitors the type of each lighting module 10 connected to network 30, downloads the corresponding firmware (e.g. if a newer version is available) and updates the respective lighting module 10, by sending the firmware to the lighting module 10 through network 30.

Node for a multi-hop communication network, related lighting system, method of updating the software of lighting modules and computer-program product


A semiconductor memory device includes a pipe channel layer formed on a semiconductor substrate, a first channel layer, a second channel layer and a third channel layer, connected with the pipe channel layer, first conductive layers stacked while surrounding the first channel layer, second conductive layers stacked while surrounding the second channel layer, and third conductive layers stacked while surrounding the third channel layer, wherein the first to third conductive layers are separately controlled.

1. Field of Invention
Various embodiments of the present invention relate to a semiconductor memory device, and more particularly, to a semiconductor memory device including a 3-dimensional (3D) structure.
2. Description of Related Art
As an industry in a field of a memory device, such as a nonvolatile memory device, has been highly developed, demands for high integration of the memory device have been increased. In the related art, integration of the memory device within a predetermined area is increased by a method of decreasing sizes of memory cells 2-dimensionally arranged on a semiconductor substrate. However, there is a physical limitation in decreasing the sizes of the memory cells. Accordingly, a method of highly integrating a memory device by 3-dimensionally arranging memory cells on a semiconductor substrate has been suggested. When the memory cells are 3-dimensionally arranged as described above, it is possible to efficiently utilize the area of the semiconductor substrate, and further improve a degree of integration compared to a case in which the memory cells are 2-dimensionally arranged. Particularly, when a 3D NAND flash memory device is implemented by 3-dimensionally arranging memory strings of the NAND flash memory device, which is advantageous to high integration, it is expected to maximize a degree of integration of the memory device, so that development of a 3D semiconductor memory device has been demanded.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a structure of a 3D semiconductor memory device according to the related art. However, illustration of interlayer insulating layers is omitted for convenience of description.
As illustrated in FIG. 1A, a semiconductor device according to the related art includes U-shaped channel layers CH arranged in a first direction I-I′ and a second direction II-II′ crossing the first direction I-I′. Here, each of the U-shaped channel layers CH includes a pipe channel layer P_CH formed within a pipe gate layer PG, and a pair of source side channel layer S_CH and drain side channel layer D_CH connected with the pipe channel layer P_CH.
Further, the semiconductor memory device includes source side word line layers S_WL stacked along the source side channel layer S_CH on the pipe gate layer PG, and drain side word line layers D_WL stacked along the drain side channel layer D_CH on the pipe gate layer PG. Here, a source selection line layer SSL is stacked on the source side word lines S_WL, and a drain selection line layer DSL is stacked on the drain side word line layers D_WL.
According to the aforementioned structure, memory cells MC are stacked along the U-shaped channel layer CH, and a drain selection transistor DST and a source selection transistor SST are provided at both ends of the U-shaped channel layer CH, respectively. Accordingly, strings are arranged in a U-shape.
Further, the semiconductor memory device includes bit line layers BL connected with the drain side channel layer D_CH, to be extended in the first direction I-I′, and a source line layer SL connected with the source side channel layer S_CH, to be extended in the second direction II-II′.


In some embodiments, a superconducting parametric amplification neural network (SPANN) includes neurons that operate in the analog domain, and a fanout network coupling the neurons that operates in the digital domain. Each neuron is provided one or more input currents having a resolution of several bits. The neuron weights the currents, sums the weighted currents with an optional bias or threshold current, then applies a nonlinear activation function to the result. The nonlinear function is implemented using a quantum flux parametron (QFP), thereby simultaneously amplifying and digitizing the output current signal. The digitized output of some or all neurons in each layer is provided to the next layer using a fanout network that operates to preserve the digital information held in the current.

Referring to FIG. 1, a prior art unit cell 100, commonly referred to as a "neuron", may be provided within an artificial neural network (ANN). An ANN can be composed of one or more (often many) layers of such neurons, the outputs of each layer being the inputs of the following layer. A neuron 100 can produce a single output 150 that is a nonlinear function of a weighted sum of one or more inputs. The neuron 100 of FIG. 1 is depicted as having three inputs 111, 112, 113, but in general any number of inputs may be used, with more inputs giving rise to greater computational complexity in the ANN. Thus, the neuron 100 has three primary, functional components: weighting components 121, 122, and 123 for applying (multiplicative) weights to the respective inputs 111, 112, 113; a summing component 130 for summing the weighted inputs to form the weighted sum; and the nonlinear function 140 itself, sometimes called an "activation function" following neurobiological terminology. The summing component 130 may further include a biasing or thresholding input 124 in the weighted sum to shift or scale the input to the nonlinear function 140.
Performance of ANNs implemented in software is often limited by the amount of processing power available, and in particular by the availability of CPU cycles. Given the large computational complexity achievable in ANNs, response times may run into the milliseconds, which is too slow for many practical applications such as classification of objects in real-time image processing systems. Also, incorporating extraneous hardware components such as a CPU entails many software ANN systems consuming copious amounts of electrical power. Thus, there has been a recent desire to implement ANNs using hardware, including memristors, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), and, as relevant to this disclosure, superconducting classical and quantum computers.
An ANN implemented in physical hardware using analog information encoding, typically multi-level voltages, is commonly known as a physical neural network (PNN). PNNs may offer practical advantages, in that power consumption may be lower and computational speed may be greatly increased. However, PNNs present challenges in that analog processes operate on values like currents, voltages, and so on that lack digital precision and the associated advantages of error correction and suppression. Such values, when carrying computational information, are liable to much higher signal degradation between layers in a PNN. Moreover, a PNN typically has a high fanout between layers, connecting potentially hundreds or thousands of neurons in each layer to the hundreds or thousands of neurons in another layer. When high fanout is present, many commonly-used activation functions, such as the sigmoid function, have a mathematical shape that produces additional information loss.

Superconducting parametric amplifier neural network


An etch-resistant composition is provided. The etch-resistant composition comprises a polymer and a first organic solvent. The polymer is prepared by copolymerizing a polymerization unit comprising styrene-based monomer(s) and acrylate-based monomer(s), and has a weight average molecular weight of at least about 35,000. Based on the total weight of the etch-resistant composition, the amount of the polymer is about 20.0 to about 60.0 wt % and the amount of the solvent is about 40.0 to about 80.0 wt %. The etch-resistant composition can be used for preparing a selective emitter of a solar cell.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an etch-resistant composition, and specifically, relates to an etch-resistant composition which is both acid-resistant and base-resistant. The etch-resistant composition can be applied in preparing a selective emitter of a solar cell.
2. Descriptions of the Related Art
Due to the increasingly serious environmental problems of energy shortages, greenhouse effect, etc., various countries are actively developing alternative energy sources, such as solar cells. FIG. 1 is a diagram of a typical solar cell, in which an n-type doping layer 2 is formed on a p-type silicon semiconductor substrate 1 through a doping process, and then an anti-reflective layer 3 (such as silicon nitride) and electrodes 4 are formed onto the n-type doping layer 2. Herein, the conductive types of the silicon semiconductor substrate 1 and the doping layer 2 can be interchanged. That is, the conductive types can also be a combination of an n-type silicon semiconductor substrate and a p-type doping layer.
It is well known that light absorbed by a solar cell is prone to be dissipated as heat or in forms of recombination of current carriers at high doping concentration, and thus, the photoelectric conversion efficiency is lowered. To reduce the above-mentioned cases, generally, doping layers with lower doping concentration and shallow depth are selected and used; however, these doping layers with lower doping concentration and shallow depth will face problems such as poor conduction. "Selective emitter" technique has been developed in the industry, which is characterized by forming a doping layer that is heavily doped underneath the electrode while forming a doping layer that is lightly doped in the light-affected area on which no electrode is set.
Among several methods for manufacturing a selective emitter, an etch back method attracts much attention. In brief, the etch back method is described as follows: forming an etch-resistant layer 7 (mask) as shown in FIG. 2 at a predetermined electrode region (or non light-affected area) in a printing manner, and then performing etching to remove part of the doping layer in the unmasked region (i.e., the predetermined light-affected area) to thereby make the unmasked region a lightly doped one and the predetermined electrode region remain heavily doped. In this manner, the light that is absorbed by the solar cell is dissipated less as heat and less in forms of recombination of current carriers without damaging conductivity, and thus, photoelectric conversion efficiency is elevated. Herein, the known etch-resistant materials for forming an etch-resistant layer are usually either acid-resistant or base-resistant, and therefore, are unable to be used under various etching conditions (such as base etching or acid etching). As a result, an etch-resistant material which is both acid-resistant and base-resistant and is applicable under various etching conditions is in high demand in the industry.
In this regard, the present invention provides an etch-resistant composition which possesses excellent printing property and is resistant to acid as well as base, and the etch-resistant layer formed thereby can be removed simply by an organic solvent or a heat treatment. Thus, the etch-resistant composition of the present invention can be used under various etching processes (such as manufacturing a selective emitter of a solar cell) and the convenience is greatly increased.

Etch-resistant composition and its application


To prevent privacy invasion performed according to a proper identifier which has been read.

In order to manage an article in a distribution stage of the article manufactured by a maker, shipped to an intermediate distribution trader such as a wholesaler and thereafter and thereafter delivered a retail store, there is made a proposal of affixing an RFID tag to the article (for example, Patent Literature 1).
In this background technique, a tag reader reads an RFID stored in the RFID tag affixed to the article on important positions in the distribution stage such as at the time of shipment from the maker, at the time of delivery to the intermediate distribution trader and at the time of delivery to the retail store, checks whether or not this RFID is a normally registered proper one and monitors whether or not the article is correctly distributed.
Further, there is proposed a method of performing automatic settlement by, when a purchaser packs articles provided with RFID tags purchased in a retail store such as a department store and passes through a passage gate of the retail store with the bag, for example, making communication between a tag reader provided on the passage gate and the RFID tags affixed to the purchased articles, automatically inferring the prices of the respective articles on the basis of the RFIDs transmitted from the RFID tags, calculating the total sum thereof and using a credit card or the like possessed by the purchaser (for example, refer to Patent Literature 2).
Patent Literature 1: Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2002-104617.
Patent Literature 2: Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 5-158957.

Privacy protection method, device for transmitting identifier for privacy protection, privacy protection system and program, and monitoring system

Abstract: A pseudo-RFID transmission device for transmitting a pseudo identifier (RFID) for disturbing an invader is provided to an individual user. When an RFID transmission instruction is received from a tag reader (SAI), a variable type pseudo RFID different from the one which has been transmitted previously is transmitted (SA3 to SA5) and different RFID is transmitted each time for the same person. The respective pseudo RFID transmission devices are grouped into a plurality of types, so that the pseudo RFID transmission devices belonging to the same group transmit their variable type pseudo RFID while increasing the possibility to transmit common pseudo RFID accorded with one another. An area is specified for each group and the respective pseudo RFID transmission devices are provided to individual users, so that the same RFID may be transmitted for the same person.


A chamfering width maintaining and glass plate shape sensing apparatus for use in a glass plate chamfering machine is disclosed. Two chamfering width maintaining and glass plate shape sensing rollers are provided so that they serve as function sharing rollers for sharing the function of changing the chamfering direction in accordance with the shape of the glass plate, when chamfering a glass plate in a chamfering machine. The provision of such function sharing rollers improves the contact state of the glass plate. Further, there is also provided a horizontally maintaining roller for supporting the glass plate during a chamfering, and such a provision makes it easier to chamfer or side-finish the glass plate.

As is well known and as shown in FIG. 10, the conventional chamfering machine includes: a chamfering width maintaining roller 50 for maintaining the chamfering width constantly during a chamfering; a horizontally maintaining roller 51 for horizontally maintaining the glass plate so as for the glass plate not to drop during a chamfering; and two glass plate shape sensing rollers for changing the chamfering direction of a diamond wheel in accordance with the shape of the glass plate, these two rollers being disposed at the opposite sides of the chamfering width maintaining roller in a parallel form. (Korean Utility Model application 89-10143, 88-22093 and 90-11609).
If a chamfering is to be performed with the above described chamfering machine, first the thickness of the glass plate, the chamfering angle and the chamfering width have to be decided, and then, the glass plate to be chamfered has to be mounted on a rotary suction securing table. Then a chamfering wheel motor unit has to be adjusted to an inclined posture by turning a handle so as for the unit to be fit to the chamfering angle, and then, the angle and height of the horizontally maintaining roller have to be adjusted.
Then, as shown in FIG. 10, the heights of the chamfering width maintaining roller 50 and the horizontally maintaining roller 51 have to be adjusted so as for the roller 51 to support the lower face of the glass plate, and so as for a stopper 52 of the roller 50 to be engaged with the lower edge of the glass plate to be chamfered.
Here, care should be exercised so that the upper portion of the roller 50 should not touch the lower portion of the glass plate to be chamfered.
If the roller is adjusted to too high a position as the result of a careless adjustment, a state as shown in FIG. 11 occurs. Therefore, when a chamfering wheel 53 chamfers the glass plate 54, the upper portion of the roller 50 is also chamfered, thereby causing a fatal damage to the roller 50. On the other hand, if the roller 50 is adjusted too low, the stopper 52 of the roller 50 departs from the edge of the glass plate, with the result that either the glass plate is broken, of the chamfering width is formed to narrow, thereby committing a faulty chamfering.
Thus a great importance lies in the adjustment of the glass plate shape sensing roller and in maintaining the chamfering width. However, the adjustments are very difficult to perform in the case of a glass plate.
For example, as shown in FIG. 9B, if a chamfering face width L of 15 mm and a chamfering angle of 8.degree. are to be attained in chamfering a glass plate 54 having a thickness of 5 mm, the height T of the edge remaining after the chamfering will be 2.9 mm. However, in the case of a glass plate having a thickness of 3 mm as shown in FIG. 9A, the height T of the edge of the glass remaining after the chamfering is 0.9 mm, and therefore, it is very difficult to perform the chamfering by putting the engaging stopper 52 of the chamfering width maintaining roller 50 by also putting the glass plate shape sensing roller.
Further, the greater the size of the glass plate and the thinner the thickness of the glass plate, the chamfering becomes more and more difficult. That is, if a glass plate is to be chamfered by mounting the glass plate a suction securing table, the chamfering width maintaining roller and the glass plate shape sensing roller are separately disposed below. Under this condition, the horizontally maintaining roller for horizontally maintaining the glass plate is also brought down by being separated from the glass plate, and therefore, the edges of the glass plate is lowered, with the result that the chamfering height is deviated from the set position.
Consequently, the lower edge of the glass plate is too much chamfered, while the upper edge of the glass plate is chamfered too little, thereby producing a defective chamfering.
Conventionally, a horizontally maintaining roller is used to support the side portion of the glass plate, so that the side finishing should be eased. However, if a chamfering is to be carried out after performing a side finish, or if a side finish is to be carried out after performing chamfering, the horizontally maintaining roller has to be detached and re-attached, with the result that the chamfering becomes very troublesome to carry out, as will as being time-consuming.

Chamfering width maintaining and glass plate shape sensing apparatus for use in a glass plate chamfering machine


A processing apparatus for processing of a photographic material, the apparatus comprises a first processing tank containing a first processing solution; a second processing tank containing a second processing solution; and a heat exchange system having a heat exchange fluid, which is independent of the first and second solutions and a temperature of which is controlled independent of the first and second solutions, for cooling of the first processing solution contained in the first processing tank and heating of the processing solution contained in the second processing tank.

The processing of photosensitive material involves a series of steps such as developing, bleaching, fixing, washing, and drying. These steps lend themselves to mechanization by conveying a continuous web of film or cut sheets of film or photographic paper sequentially through a series of stations or tanks, each one containing a different processing liquid appropriate to the process step at that station.
There are various sizes of photographic film processing apparatus, i.e., large photofinishing apparatus and microlabs. A large photofinishing apparatus utilizes tanks that contain approximately 100 liters of each processing solution. A small photofinishing apparatus or microlab utilizes tanks that may contain less than 10 liters of processing solution.
Typically large photofinishing apparatus and microlabs utilize fixed and integrated horizontal and vertical arrangements of racks and tanks, i.e., the stations. Each station must be maintained at predetermined temperatures for permitting proper processing at that particular station. The first station into which the photographic paper enters is typically the developer which requires the variance of the temperature to be small in comparison with the other stations. The other stations of wider temperature variance usually function as a heat sink for the developer, which has a tendency to overheat. To cool the developer for maintaining the desired temperature, some of its processing solution is suctioned into a heat exchange conduit which passes through the other stations for heating the other stations and cooling the developer, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,994,837.
Although the above-described system and method for heat exchange is satisfactory, it is not without drawbacks. The heat exchange is obviously constrained by the fluid temperature passing through the heat exchanger which is not controlled independent of the temperature of the processing solutions in the developer station. Consequently, a need exists for a thermal control arrangement that overcomes the above-described drawbacks.

Photographic processor having an externally controlled heat exchange system


The invention relates to an ORC (Organic Rankine Cycle) for the conversion of thermal energy into electric energy, comprising at least one heat exchanger unit for re-superheating the working fluid by means of the thermovector fluid from the hot source, between the discharge of the first expander and the input of the second expander, and a regenerator unit including a first regenerator and at least one second regenerator for regenerating the working fluid in at least two successive stages, in said first regenerator and at least in said second regenerator respectively, with an additional regenerative heat exchange along the flow line connecting the liquid working fluid output of the second regenerator to the liquid working fluid input of the first regenerator.

In the cases considered herein, the maximum temperatures in an ORC system are typically in the range from 330 to 380° C., although lower or higher temperatures are possible depending on the working fluid used in each individual case, such as a silicone oil, an aromatic hydrocarbon or the like.
The minimum temperature of the Rankine cycle depends on the cold source available to condense the working fluid. In the discussion that follows, mention will be made, for example, to a cold source in the form of cooling water which can be made available by a cooling tower, thus having a minimum temperature of around 25 to 30° C. and a flow rate such as to reach a typical temperature increase of around 10° C. on extracting heat from the cycle. However, the following considerations also apply to different cold sources, provided that the temperature difference between the maximum temperature of the available hot source and the maximum temperature of the cold source is high, say above 300° C.
FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings shows a typical arrangement of an ORC system 100 adapted for the above-mentioned conditions and basically comprising:
a thermal source S1 for heating a vector fluid;
a primary circuit 10 in which flows the vector fluid coming from and returning to the thermal source S1 in the direction of the arrow F, F′, circulating by means of at least one recirculation pump—not shown in the Figure;
a heat exchange group ST1 which can include a super-heater 11, an evaporator 12 and a pre-heater 13 for the exchange of heat between the vector fluid and a working fluid circulating in a relative circuit 14 by means of at least one relative pump 15;
an expander 16, typically composed of a turbine assembly, fed by the working fluid in output from the heat exchange unit and usually followed by
a regenerator 17 and
a condenser assembly 18.
In an ORC system as shown in FIG. 2 on the Entropy (S)-Temperature (T) thermodynamic plane, the points indicated, which correspond to the same points in the layout diagram in FIG. 1 also, have the following meaning:
1. pump (15) input;
2. pump (15) output and start of regeneration;
3. end of regeneration (17, liquid side);
4. end of pre-heating (13);
5. end of evaporation (12);
6. end of superheating (11)/expander (16) input;
7. expander (16) output/regenerator (17, vapour side) input;
8. regenerator (17) output/condenser (18) input; and
9. start of condensation.
FIG. 3 shows the heat exchange diagrams for the exchangers introducing and extracting heat, respectively from the hot source (line 10, 11, 12, 13)—i.e. with respect to the heat exchange unit 11-13 and towards the cold source (line 14,15), i.e. the condenser 18.
Then, FIG. 4 shows a diagram related to the thermal exchange within the cycle, which occurs in the regenerator component. The thermal exchange phenomena are shown on the Power Exchanged (Q)—Temperature (T) plane.
The fact that the maximum and minimum temperatures of the cycle differ considerably from each other as a result of the great difference between the temperatures of the sources, ensures that the amount of thermal energy for each mass unit of fluid flowing through the machine, and that has to be exchanged in the regenerator, is very high. For many fluids, the ratio between the thermal energy exchanged at the regenerator and the energy entering from the external hot source is greater than one unit. Furthermore, the difference in thermal capacity between the liquid branch and the vapour branch of the regenerator is also considerable, albeit to a different extent depending on the working fluid used.
Consequently, even when a regenerator with a high thermal exchange capacity is used, i.e. a regenerator with a large surface area, in which the product of the exchange surface area and the thermal exchange coefficient is such as to result in a modest temperature difference between liquid and gaseous form on the lower-temperature side of the regenerator, on the other side of the regenerator the difference in temperature remains considerably greater.
By way of example, a modest value in the difference in temperature on the cold side of the regenerator, ΔTF=T8−T2 (FIG. 4), can typically be quantified as 15° C., while on the other side of the regenerator, the difference ΔTC=T7−T3 is 2 or 3 times greater.
In order to avoid this problem, the solution of drawing off part of the flow rate from the liquid branch is adopted, the drawn-off flow rate being heated up to a temperature close to the end-of-regeneration temperature of the remaining flow rate by means of an external thermal source. This solution, sometimes referred to in the art as "splitting", is particularly advantageous when a thermal source is available that is characterized by a lower temperature than the main source.
However, there are systems where, apart from the main source, no high-temperature source is present or available, and the cold source is characterized by a relatively low temperature.
For example, this is the case of a system as schematically illustrated in FIG. 5, in which the only hot source available is a thermovector fluid which is heated in a bank of cylindrical-parabolic solar collectors 20 and which is supplied to the ORC system 100 via a feed conduit 21 and a return conduit 22 from/to the bank of collectors 20, possibly in the presence of a heat storage system 23 made according to known techniques.
As a cold source, the ORC system 100 uses a water flow supplied by a feed conduit 24 and a return conduit 25 from a cooling tower 26. In this example, the hot thermovector fluid may be a diathermic oil, i.e. a molten salt.
Nowadays, in several systems with a bank of cylindrical-parabolic collectors supplying systems that use the Rankine cycle with water vapour, rather than systems that use an organic fluid as working fluid, the thermovector fluid comprises a mixture of diphenyl and diphenyl oxide known under the trade name "Therminol VP1".


According to one embodiment of the present invention, a method computing resources are dynamically provisioned to meet service level objectives in a cloud computing environment. Resources available for provisioning to the cloud computing environment are determined and the quality thereof monitored. Current resource needs for a cloud job tenancy are determined, and selected resources are dynamically provisioned from resources available for provisioning based on the current resource needs and the quality of the resources available in order to meet the cloud job tenancy and the service level objectives.

The present invention relates to a cloud computing environment, and, in particular, to provisioning of infrastructure resources.
A recent model, known as cloud computing, enables convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction. "Rapid elasticity," an essential characteristic of the cloud model, refers to rapidly and elastically provisioning computing capabilities to quickly scale out, and quickly scale in by rapidly releasing the computing capabilities. The provisioning of computing resources for different application services and models under transient conditions, on the cloud infrastructure inclusive of hardware, software and services is a challenging problem to tackle. This is because clouds exhibit varying demands, supply patterns, system sizes, and resources (hardware, software, network). Users have heterogeneous, dynamic, and competing Quality of Service (QoS) requirements, and applications have varying performance, workload, and dynamic application scaling requirements.

Predictive and dynamic resource provisioning with tenancy matching of health metrics in cloud systems


This invention provides a new method whereby high hazard employers, that is, those employers with a high rate of work-related injuries and illnesses, can be individually identified and ranked based on their work hazardousness within a specified geographical area. The invention involves the processes of creating a firm's average weekly wage, a firm's employment, a firm's frequency of injuries and illnesses, a firm's severity of injuries and illnesses, a firm's resource efficiency factor, a firm's preventable nature factor, and a firm's hazard rating values. The processes result in a ranked listing of the most hazardous employers.

Work-related injuries and illnesses cause pain, suffering and economic loss for workers, lost productivity and high workers' compensation costs for employers, and increased prices for consumers. In 1970, the Occupational Safety and Health Act was enacted to help alleviate these problems. The purpose of that Federal law (Public Law 91-596), is ". . . to assure so far as possible every working man and woman in the Nation safe and healthful working conditions." Since 1970, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), U.S. Department of Labor, has assumed primary responsibility for administering this Federal law.
To date, OSHA, other government agencies and private firms have not been able to identify individual high hazard employers and target scarce resources to help prevent injuries and illnesses. As a result, the objective of reducing occupational injuries and illnesses in this country has not begun to be met. In fact, the incidence of serious work-related injuries and illnesses has been increasing. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Department of Labor, estimates that more than 8 in every 100 workers suffer a job-related injury or illness every year. In 1993, over 6.7 million injuries and illnesses were recorded for workers in the private sector. Of these work-related injuries and illnesses, nearly 3.0 million, about one-half, were serious enough to lose time from work or experience restricted work activity or both. About 60 million workdays were lost due to work-related injuries in 1992, or an equivalent of 240,000 work years. In addition, over 368,000 new cases of work-related illnesses were reported in 1992. Workers with occupational illnesses lost about 5 million days from work in 1992.
Because of the increasing trends in injury and illness rates in the Nation, both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives in their fiscal 1994 appropriation bills called on the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to report back to them about the adequacy of data for targeting inspections to individual establishments. That DOL report transmitted by Secretary of Labor Robert Reich on Jul. 27, 1994 and titled "The Availability and Use of Data on Occupational Injuries and Illnesses," discusses the obstacles to obtaining rankings of individually identified, high hazard employers. Page 5 of that report details problems with using data from this nation's prime collector of injuries and illnesses statistics, DOL's own Bureau of Labor Statistics. It states as follows: "Besides the technical questions that arise from using individual responses to a sample survey to target enforcement, the BLS occupational injury/illness statistical program does not provide OSHA with a basis for ranking the relative safety of establishments. As with any sample survey, the design of the BLS annual survey selects only a small proportion of the employers OSHA needs to rank establishments. While the BLS survey responses are aggregated into reliable statistical estimates for the entire population, meaningful establishment rankings are not possible because the site specific experience of the much larger group of employers who were not selected for the survey remains unknown. Moreover, BLS, along with other Federal statistical agencies, is committed to maintaining the confidentiality of all employers, establishments, and individuals who respond to its statistical programs. Thus, individually identifiable data on employers, workers, and establishments are not available from any BLS program." The present invention differs from these prior attempts by including the universe rather than a sample of a given population of employers; producing high hazard rankings by individual employers rather than by industry or other summary groupings; and does not have the confidentiality restrictions.
OSHA and states, by targeting their inspection and consultation efforts, taking into account their available finite resources and the hazardousness of employers, can become more effective in reducing this nation's injury and illness record. Yet today no adequate listing or ranking of high hazard employers exists for their use. The solution to this long standing problem is contained in the invention process described herein.
Some states, like Oregon and Washington, have attempted to solve the problem of identifying high hazard employers. They have attempted to use injury and illness claims data from workers' compensation files and employment data from the state Unemployment Insurance files to derive a frequency rate for ranking high hazard employers. These states have used rather simplistic approaches and have only been able to identify the frequency of injuries and illnesses. Moreover, these states have encountered problems with matching employer files, using different employer definitions, and using different employer identifiers. Most all other states lack the needed data to develop such rankings of high hazard employers. Generally, the employment or other basis for a rate is not available. Even if all data components are available somewhere within the state government, then many times, (as in the case cited earlier of OSHA's inability to use the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data), these states' safety and health agencies are not able to develop such ranking information because of confidentiality restrictions mandated by state statute (privacy laws), agency policy, or both. The present invention uses data from a single employer file; derives an employment number for each employer; is not restricted by confidentiality requirements; and includes many other important factors besides frequency to rank the hazardousness of employers.
Other states, like Maine, have attempted to identify high hazard employers by using only the number of workers' compensation claims. These states rank employers with the most claims as the most hazardous. Only large firms are identified as hazardous in these states. The present invention uses hazard rating values rather than an absolute number of claims. Small firms and medium size firms, as well as large firms, are included. A new method is herein described whereby the much needed firm employment is estimated; this allows for the development of claims frequency rates, and resource efficiency factors rather than just absolute numbers as in the Maine method. In addition, many other factors, besides the number of claims, are considered that provide a fairer, more comprehensive, and more precise identification of hazardous employers. For most all states and the Federal Government, where it had previously been impossible to develop usable firm rates for rankings of high hazard employers, it is now possible.
Many private firms have established safety and health consulting business practices. The service these firms provide to industry is their safety and health expertise in identifying hazards in the workplace and eliminating them. These private consulting firms have attempted to identify hazardous employers by knowledge of the local community, hazardous industry data and requests for service. The present invention differs in that it includes a comprehensive and scientific method for identifying and ranking individual employers, rather than only being able to identify hazardous industries; does not require local knowledge; and can be used to target employers most in need of consulting assistance.
Whatever the precise merits, features and advantages of the above cited references, none of them achieves or fulfills the purpose of identifying individual employers and ranking them by the degree of hazardousness in their work environments, as does the present invention.


A Tamper-Resistant Communication layer (TRC) adapted to mitigate ad hoc network attacks launched by malicious nodes is presented. One embodiment of the invention utilizes TRC, which is a lean communication layer placed between a network layer and the link layer of a network protocol stack. All aspects of the network protocol stack, with the exception of the routing protocol and data packet forwarding mechanism in the network layer, are unchanged. TRC takes charge of certain key functions of a routing protocol in order to minimize network attacks. Additionally, TRC implements highly accurate self-monitoring and reporting functionality that can be used by nodes in the network to detect compromised nodes. TRC of a node controls its ability to communicate with other nodes by providing non-repudiation of communications. The tamper-resistant nature of TRC provides high assurance that it cannot be bypassed or compromised.

A wireless ad hoc network is formed by a collection of mobile communication devices such as Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), laptops, and/or Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) routers without the aid of an existing network infrastructure. Ad hoc networks are used to aid, for example, military operations and emergency rescue efforts of large disaster areas. The communicating nodes in an ad hoc network typically use common wireless technologies such as Wi-Fi and peer-to-peer communication techniques. Therefore, each node in an ad hoc network may act as an end host as well as a router handling communication for nodes that are too far away from each other to communicate directly. In contrast, the current Internet is designed using hierarchical communication techniques with most computers functioning as end hosts and with communication among these facilitated by network routers, which are often under the control of trained network administrators.
An ad hoc network may consist of several hundred mobile nodes, some of which may become compromised by an enemy. A capable enemy can corrupt the network software of one or more nodes by using hacker attacks, even without capturing the nodes physically. These nodes then become malicious insiders, since they were normal nodes before being compromised, and thus have all the cryptographic keys required to behave as normal nodes. Traditional cryptographic techniques are insufficient to prevent such malicious insider nodes from launching coordinated attacks either to disrupt the network completely, or at least significantly degrade the network's ability to deliver packets among uncompromised nodes.
Owing to node mobility and unpredictable nature of wireless links, the network topology and, hence, the routes in an ad hoc network change frequently. Wireless transmissions make passive eavesdropping easy to achieve. Since each node participates in the network's management and operation by cooperating in the identification of routes and disseminating notification of broken routes, it is easier for malicious nodes to launch various types of attacks and thereby to render the network unusable. Be they moles or normal nodes compromised by hacker attacks during live operation, malicious insider nodes can launch attacks that are particularly difficult to contain. This is because such nodes typically have access to all the cryptographic keys required for them to participate undetected in normal communications, which enables them to launch Byzantine attacks that adaptively target the most critical points (in time or in space) of network operation. Simulation studies have shown that even a single malicious node attacking existing ad hoc routing protocols can reduce the network performance by a third or more.
Several well-known attacks on wired networks, the Internet and Local Area Networks (LANs), exploit vulnerabilities in transport layer protocols, such as Transport Control Protocol (TCP), and computer operating systems (OSs). In the context of ad hoc networks, both the attacks and the solutions developed to mitigate them for wired networks are applicable. Therefore, the present invention considers attacks specific to wireless networks, targeting network, routing and link layer protocols. Attacks on link layer protocols often involve modification of the Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol and using disproportionately more channel bandwidth.
Security attacks on ad hoc networks may be launched by "outsider" nodes that do not have necessary cryptographic keys to decipher the contents of transmission, or by "insider" nodes, nodes assumed to be normal nodes, that have been compromised. Outsider attackers can jam radio signals, eavesdrop and learn traffic patterns, or replay transmissions originating in one region of the network in another region, which can lead to false routes containing "wormholes." These can be countered using anti jamming radio transmission techniques, multiple node-disjoint paths to deliver data packets, and bounding packet hop times and distances. However, the attacks launched by malicious insider nodes exploiting vulnerabilities in Route Discovery (RD), Route Maintenance (RM), and Data Forwarding (DF) in the network layer are insidious and hard to mitigate.

Tamper-resistant communication layer for attack mitigation and reliable intrusion detection