The present invention discloses an optimized design method for a temporary blocking agent to promote uniform expansion of fractures produced by fracturing in horizontal wells, which comprises the following steps: calculating a particle size and a volume range of a candidate temporary blocking agent in an applicable target area; establishing a hydraulic fracture expansion calculation model with complete fluid-solid coupling; calculating an optimal average particle size required for effective temporary blocking; determining the particle size distribution of the temporarily blocked particles according to the optimal average particle size; calculating the particle volume of the temporary blocking agent required for effective temporary blocking; and predicting and evaluating a fracturing effect after the preferred temporary blocking design is adopted in the target area. The optimized design method for the temporary blocking agent to promote uniform expansion of fractures produced by fracturing in horizontal wells is used for improving the uniformity of fracture development of staged multi-cluster fracturing in horizontal wells, and has practicability and accuracy.

Compared with conventional oil and gas reservoirs, reservoir porosity and permeability of unconventional low-permeability oil and gas reservoirs such as shale gas reservoirs are extremely low. It is difficult to form effective industrial production capacity during the development using vertical well technology and conventional fracturing process. At present, the staged multi-cluster fracturing technology of horizontal wells has become the most effective means of increasing production and transformation in the development of unconventional low-permeability reservoirs. By means of the staged multi-cluster fracturing technology of horizontal wells, multiple hydraulic fractures can be simultaneously formed under a single pump injection, which significantly reduces the cost of fracturing construction, making it possible to commercialize unconventional reservoirs.
However, the optimized design of staged multi-cluster fracturing in horizontal wells is relatively difficult. Because several hydraulic fractures are formed and expanded simultaneously in staged multi-cluster fracturing, it is difficult for engineers to independently control the size of each hydraulic fracture. When the staged multi-cluster fracturing technology for horizontal wells is adopted, it is difficult for a plurality of hydraulic fractures in the fracturing section to expand uniformly. Production log data shows that approximately 20% of perforation clusters provide 80% yield after fracturing, while approximately 30% of the perforation clusters are ineffective. The non-uniform expansion of multiple hydraulic fractures has impaired the stimulation effect of staged multi-cluster fracturing in horizontal wells, which has made the low-permeability reservoirs fail to be reconstructed to the greatest extent, and has become a serious problem to be solved. Some scholars have proposed techniques such as a perforating current-limiting method and an optimized fracture laying method to reduce the development gap between fractures. However, due to high dependence of these methods on the high-precision identification of geological parameters, the performances of these processes are relatively unstable. In recent years, engineers have attempted to add temporary blocking agent solid particles to the fracturing fluid to promote uniform expansion of multiple fractures. The core idea of this technology is that since most of the fracturing fluid will enter dominant fractures, the temporary blocking agent particles pumped with the fluid will quickly accumulate and block the dominant fracture inlets and rapidly increase the flow resistance, thereby forcing the fracturing fluid to enter the inferior fractures, and finally achieving the synchronous expansion of multiple fractures. Up to now, the related researches on temporary blocking operation have mainly focused on the selection and development of temporary blocking materials and laboratory testing of the performances of temporary blocking agents. There is little scientific optimization design for the application effect of temporary blocking agents in engineering. The rheological behaviors of a suspension in a static plate fracture are mainly considered in the conventional calculation method of for migration blockage of the temporary blocking agent, which is neither coupled with the mechanical process of dynamic expansion of hydraulic fractures, nor considers the mutual stress interference between multiple fractures. Due to the lack of scientific and rational optimization design methods, engineers can only carry out temporary blocking operations based on engineering experiences, resulting in relatively poor application success rate of temporary blocking agents.
In summary, the current temporary blocking optimization design to promote the uniform expansion of fractures produced by fracturing in horizontal wells should have the following two characteristics: 1. a set of accurate calculation models for migration blockage of the temporary blocking agent in fractures, that considers the dynamic expansion of fractures; 2. an optimized design method for temporary blocking effect that fully considers mutual interference between multiple fractures.

Optimized design method for temporary blocking agent to promote uniform expansion of fractures produced by fracturing in horizontal wells


A combination fire axe includes an elongated handle, a head member disposed at one end of the handle, and a pike member disposed at the opposite end of the handle. The head member includes a base portion secured to the handle and a cutting portion having a convex edge disposed on one side of the base portion. An enlarged end portion having a blunt face is disposed on the opposite side of the base portion. An elongated substantially flat top portion and a grip members are defined in the head member for operating and controlling the pike member. The pike member includes a base portion secured to the handle, a wedge-shaped pike end portion, and a hook member extending transversely outwardly from the pike member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to fire fighting tools and, more particularly, to a fireman's axe. Specifically, the present invention relates to an improved combination fire tool performing the functions of a plurality of fire fighting tools previously required heretofore.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Fire fighters are frequently confronted with unpredictable situations wherein a number of different types of tools might be required. Fire fighters commonly faced the problem of making quick entries into buildings or quick exits through walls or doors in emergency situations. Gaining entry into buildings often requires a prying action to dislodge members from doorways and windows. A hammering action is also required for breaking out windows and doors to gain entry. It is also frequently required to pull down ceilings of drywall or lathe and plaster in order to investigate or gain access to fire location in a building.
As a result of the above, most fire fighters find they may need considerably more than just one particular tool but must make a choice of carrying only one or two. Heretofore, several fire fighters needed to coordinate with each other to bring into the fire area an axe, a sledgehammer, a pry bar and/or a pike pole in order to accomplish any of the aforementioned tasks. Consequently, several fire fighters have needed to carry in a plurality of different tools in order to have the proper number and types of tools available. Unfortunately, tools that are not being used at a particular time must be set down and are frequently lost due to their being forgotten or covered by falling debris. As a result, numerous tools needed on site are lost during the course of fighting a fire.
Combination firefighter tools have evolved-over the years in order to attempt to alleviate some of the duplication of separate tools discussed above. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,219,316, 3,599,255, 3,604,028, 4,287,623, 4,597,123, 5,044,033, and Des. No. D120,609 and No. D233,405 all disclose various fireman combination tools. Unfortunately, such combination tools have generally been limited in their multiple purposes and have generally been in the size and form of hand axes. While the device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,287,623 has a plurality of different purposes, its complexity of parts and operation defeats the purpose of having one sturdy tool at a fire site.
Other utility patents disclosing combination tools, generally in the form of hand axes, includes U.S. Pat. Nos. 89,013, 292,168, 637,253, 790,973, 1,596,602 and 4,030,150 as well as Des. Nos. D35,154, D45,761, 48,231, D67,749, D163,911 D299,414. These remaining patents, both design and utility, illustrate a variety of combination tools which also attempt to serve a multiplicity of purposes. However, none of the aforementioned references disclose a combination fire tool which serves multiple purposes so as to avoid the requirement of separate axes, sledgehammers and pike poles as well as other tools. Therefore, there remains a need for a combination fire tool which is sturdy and simple in design and function.


A resin composition for paint and a film manufactured using the resin composition are provided. The composition includes an acrylic resin in an amount of about 10 to about 40 wt %, a cellulose-based resin in an amount of about 1 to about 10 wt %, a polyester resin in an amount of about 1 to about 30 wt %, and a balance amount of a solvent. A weight-average molecular weight of the acrylic resin is in a range from about 1,000 to about 4,000 g/mol.

Many control switches or buttons for a vehicle interior part, such as an audio, an air conditioner, and the like, have been used in vehicles today. The switches or buttons are frequently touched by a user and thus, abrasion resistance and chemical resistance may be required. In order to provide the abrasion resistance and the chemical resistance, a paint having low gloss, improved surface hardness, and abrasion resistance has been widely used. However, this non-glossy paint may be easily damaged by a scratch on the surface and have an inferior surface texture. Accordingly, defects caused by touching by a hand during operation may remain. In related arts, a matting agent may be added to the paint to maintain a low gloss degree but may be lost by a surface scratch, thereby causing a surface damage and defects due to difference in partial surface gloss.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

Resin composition for paint and coating film using the same


Conventionally, Atrial Fibrillation (AF) has been detected using atrial analyses which is vulnerable to background noise. Again there is a dependency on statistical features which are extracted from R-R intervals of long ECG recordings. The present disclosure addresses AF detection from single lead short ECG recordings of less than one minute wherein automatic detection of P-R and P-Q intervals is difficult, which introduces error in feature computing from the segregated intervals and compromises the performance of the classifier. In the present disclosure, a Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) based architecture comprising two Long Short Term Memory (LSTM) networks is provided for temporal analysis of R-R intervals and P wave regions in an ECG signal respectively. Output sates of the two LSTM networks are merged at a dense layer along with a set of hand-crafted statistical features to create a composite feature set for classification of the AF.

Atrial Fibrillation (AF) is an electrophysiological disorder caused when abnormal electrical impulses suddenly start firing in the atria. The heart's normal rhythm goes awry, resulting in an abnormally fast heart rate with an enhanced risk of stroke and heart attack. Being one of the most common type of arrhythmias, AF is associated with significant mortality and morbidity. Presence of AF affects the electrocardiogram (ECG) morphology and is detected by cardiologists via visual inspection. However, manual detection of intermittent AF episodes from long duration ECG recordings is challenging and often impractical.
State of the art techniques of detection of AF from ECG use signal processing and machine learning techniques. Available techniques broadly belong to two categories, 1) atrial analysis based approaches and 2) ventricular response based approaches. Atrial analysis based approaches look for absence of P waves or the presence of fibrillatory f-waves in ECG, whereas ventricular response based approaches analyze irregularities in heart rate over a period of time from R-R interval distances for classification of AF. Atrial activity based approaches are known to be more accurate but they are vulnerable to background noise. Features derived from scatter plot of successive R-R intervals using Poincaré and Lorenz plots have been used in some prior art for detection of AF. Again, some prior art relies on statistical features extracted from R-R intervals to measure irregularity in heart rate caused due to AF. However, these techniques are designed for analyzing long ECG recordings.
There have been recent developments wherein classification of normal, AF and other abnormal rhythms using short (less than one minute) single lead ECG recordings have been attempted using a combination of classical and deep learning approaches. However, when single lead ECG recordings of short duration are used, accuracy of classification is a challenge.

Recurrent neural network architecture based classification of atrial fibrillation using single lead ECG


A system and method is introduced for implementing a storage firewall for protecting files when a storage device connects to a digital appliance. A storage device may connect to a number of appliances and is therefore at risk of getting infected with viruses and other malware risking subsequent transfer of these infections to other appliances. The storage device is further at risk of leaking sensitive information or loosing critical information. The storage firewall protects data on a storage device that connects to a digital appliance in various manners using a standard, unencrypted partition and a standard file system. Protected and unprotected files may reside homogeneously on the file system of the storage device. Using the storage firewall, files on digital appliance may be protected from infected files residing on storage device connected to digital appliance. No application is required to be activated on digital appliance when storage device connects to digital appliance. Protection is activated by default and carried out by storage device.

The use of non-volatile digital storage has been a rapidly growing with the advancement of the computer market. The requirement for mobile non-volatile storage has been growing with the use of computer laptops. Furthermore with the requirement for larger capacities for music players such as the iPod player by apple (www.apple.com/ipod) the requirement for digital storage is ever growing. Devices such as digital cameras and mobile phones are using non-volatile memory cards such as the flash-cards by Sandisk (www.sandisk.com) to store images and other data. Other devices of the Key-Chain Storage family by M-systems (www.m-sys.com) include USB connectivity for computers to act as a floppy disk replacement.
Another storage entity that is widely used is a storage server that is located over a network. A server on the network may be used as a virtual drive so that the same virtual drive is available from any computer or appliance that connects to the virtual drive. Such a drive may be a network drive such as a drive located over the network or other types of drives such as the XDrive (http://www.xdrive.com/).
A unit of digital storage such as a computer hard disk, a flash card or a Key-Chain storage device and other such digital storage devices will be referred herein as a digital media storage device, or a media device.
A media device, unlike a floppy diskette includes a controller with some RAM, and or ROM or other memory. This has become necessary as these devices became more complex, managing their media transparently to the appliance, for example, in order to hide media defects and manage the media on a higher level.
Mobile storage medias can connect to a variety of digital appliances. One example is the U3 environment (www.u3.com) and ceedo (www.ceedo.com) in which USB flash drives can be used on different computers to carry user workspace and files wherever the user goes. This ability is efficient for people who move around, who have more than one computer or need to work from home. People who needed laptops can now use a U3 USB device and work from anywhere a computer is found.
Storage drives such as media devices and network drives as described above are useful indeed but pose a security threat for data integrity. A storage device may connect to a number of digital appliances and is therefore at risk of getting infected with viruses and other malware. Storage device may then transfer these infections to other digital appliances that connect to it. The storage device is further at risk of leaking crucial information or loosing critical information due to a hostile appliance the storage device may connect to.
There are various solutions for overcoming these security issues. One approach for dealing with security issues is to create an encrypted file system on the storage device such as in Dekart Disk Firewall. (http://www.dekart.com/products/encrytion/private_disk/) The problem with this solution is that protection does not occur by default. Special software needs to be installed and managed. In addition, there are actually two drives on the device, a protected and unprotected drive. This two-drive property is an undesirable property, requiring user to be aware of the secure environment, leaving it for the user to maintain security.
Another approach is to create several partitions in a storage device, each partition having a separate policy and protection. Such example is explained in patent application to Yu, Roger application 20030131112 titled Computer firewall system. This approach requires partitioning of the storage device and requires the user to be aware of that partitioning and be in charge of security.
The attempt of the present invention is to present a storage firewall system that works by default, on the standard single partition of a storage device, in a transparent manner, without user intervention and without requiring the user to be aware or manage security issues. In addition, this invention presents ways to protect data on a digital appliance that media device connects to.
There is thus a widely recognized need for a storage firewall in a media device that can protect files transparently on a single partition, and it would be highly advantageous to have such a device devoid of the above limitations.

System and method for data storage firewall on data storage unit


Provided is a combined pharmaceutical composition of HF and an Artemisia annua sesquiterpene lactone compound for treating cancers. The active ingredients of the combined pharmaceutical composition consist of HF and an Artemisia annua sesquiterpene lactone compound. HF and ATS have significant synergistic effect. The activity of the combined pharmaceutical of HF and ATS is comparable or even higher than that of the anti-cancer drug 5-FU.

Halofuginone (HF) is a type of alkaloid, and is a derivative of the active ingredient of the Chinese herb, i.e. febrifugine. The molecular formula of HF is C16H17BrCIN3O3.HBr, existing as white or light grey crystalline powder, with an odorless smell and a bitter taste. Studies on HF began from as early as 1975. HF has been used as a broad-spectrum anticoccidial drug for quite a long time. In recent years, with studies on HF going deeper and deeper, HF has been found to be able to promote wound healing and inhibit tissue fibrosis. HF has also been found to exhibit excellent performance in anti-tumor pre-clinical studies, showing significant inhibitory effect on many cancer models, such as liver cancer, sarcoma, brain cancer, bladder cancer, breast cancer and prostate cancer.
Artemisinin (ATS), dihydroartemisinin (DAT), artesunate (ASU), or artemether (ATM), etc. are sesquiterpene lactone pharmaceuticals and the compound thereof containing peroxy groups, which are extracted from the stem and leaf of the plant Artemisia annua. In recent years, studies have found that Artemisia annua sesquiterpene lactone pharmaceuticals and the compound thereof exhibit good anti-cancer activity. There are probably two application modes when specifically using sesquiterpene lactone pharmaceuticals and the compound thereof as anti-cancer drugs: one mode is the single use of sesquiterpene lactone pharmaceuticals and the compound thereof as an anti-tumor drug, and the other mode is the combined use of the sesquiterpene lactone pharmaceuticals and the compound thereof, serving as a sensitizer, with other anti-tumor therapeutic drugs.

Anti-cancer composition consisting of halofuginone and sesquiterpene lactone compounds of artemisia apiacea and use thereof


A system and method are provided that enable a registrar or other server or proxy device to be used to provide a path between a pair of endpoint devices for exchanging addressing information, in order to establish a direct P2P connection. Once that connection is established, the connection may be used for any P2P data communications, e.g. SIP establishment of a VoIP call, instant messaging, online gaming, file transfer, multimedia streaming, etc. In this way, each endpoint device possesses a list of candidate addresses to establish a direct P2P connection, which may then be used for any type of communication. By relying on a registrar or other server to enable the candidate lists to be exchanged, control can still be maintained if necessary, since the candidate lists can be modified, e.g. to enable a transparent interception, to impose or remove security restrictions, etc.

Multimedia communication sessions such as voice and video calls over Internet Protocol (IP) may use defined signalling protocols such as the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). Such a protocol can be used to create, modify, and terminate two-party (i.e. unicast) or multi-party (i.e. multicast) sessions comprising one or more media streams. Other example uses of protocols such as SIP include, without limitation, video conferencing, streaming multimedia distribution, instant messaging, presence information, file transfer, and online gaming.
Traditional SIP-based solutions such as those implementing voice over IP (VoIP), are either server based, thus using a registrar to identify the users of the system and their states, and a proxy to connect users together; or peer-to-peer (P2P), wherein the central servers are removed and the individual nodes form a mesh network in which any node can be reached from any other node, usually within six hops.

System and method for enabling a peer-to-peer (P2P) connection


A local search engine geographically indexes information for searching by identifying a geocoded web page of a web site and identifying at least one geocodable web page of the web site. The system identifies a geocode contained within content of the geocoded web page of the web site. The geocode indicates a physical location of an entity associated with the web site. The system indexes content of the geocoded web page and content of the geocodable web page. The indexing including associating the geocode contained within content of the geocoded web page to the indexed content of the geocoded web page and the geocodable web page to allow geographical searching of the content of the web pages.

Conventional computer networking environments support the exchange of information and data between many interconnected computer systems using a variety of mechanisms. In an example computer-networking environment such as the Internet, one or more client computer systems can operate client software applications that transmit data access requests using one or more data communications protocols over the computer network to server computer systems for receipt by server software application(s) executing on those servers. The server software application(s) receive and process the client data access requests and can prepare and transmit one or more server responses back to the client computer systems for receipt by the client software applications. In this manner, client/server software applications can effectively exchange data over a network using agreed-upon data formats.
One example of a conventional information exchange system that operates between computer systems over a computer network such as the Internet is provided by a set of applications and data communications protocols collectively referred to as the World Wide Web. In a typical conventional implementation of the World Wide Web, client computer systems operate a client software application referred to as a web browser. A typical web browser operates to provide hypertext transport protocol (HTTP) requests for documents, referred to as "web pages," over the computer network to web server computer systems. A web server software application operating in the web server computer system can receive and process an HTTP web page request and can return or "serve" a corresponding web page document or file specified (i.e., requested) in the client request back to the requesting client computer system over the computer network for receipt by the client's web browser. The web page is typically formatted in a markup language such as the hypertext markup language (HTML) or the extensible markup language (XML).
The World Wide Web contains billions of static web pages, and it is growing at a very fast speed, with many hundreds or thousands of web pages being created and placed for access on the Internet each day. To be able to efficiently access web pages of interest to people using web browsers, software developers have created web sites that operate as search engines or portals. A typical conventional search engine includes one or more web crawler processes that are constantly identifying newly discovered web pages. This process is frequently done by following hyperlinks from existing web pages to the newly discovered web pages. Upon discovery of a new web page, the search engine employs an indexer to process and index the content such as the text of this web page within a searchable database by producing an inverted index. Generally, an inverted index is defined as an index into a set of texts of the words in the texts. A searcher then processes user search requests against the inverted index. When a user operates his or her browser to visit the search engine web site, the search engine web page allows a user to enter one or more textual search keywords that represent content that the user is interested in searching for within the indexed content of web pages within the search engine database. The search engine uses the searcher to match the user supplied keywords to the inverted indexed content of web pages in its database and returns a web page to the user's browser listing the identity (typically a hyperlink to the page) of web pages within the world wide web that contain the user supplied keywords. Popular conventional web search engines in use today include Google (accessible on the Internet at http://www.google.com/), Yahoo (http://www.yahoo.com/), Lycos (http://www.lycos.com) and many others.

Method and apparatus of indexing web pages of a web site for geographical searchine based on user location


A stop control apparatus is applied to an internal combustion engine (11) whose crankshaft (11a) is connected to an input shaft (15) via a torsional damper (14), wherein the direction in which the crankshaft (11a) rotates while the operation of the internal combustion engine (11) is assumed to be the positively rotating direction, and a state of the torsional angle of the torsional damper (14) when the crankshaft (11a) is advancing in the positively rotating direction with respect to the input shaft (15) is assumed to be positive. When a predetermined engine stop condition is satisfied, a stop control for outputting torque from a first MG (12) such that the crankshaft (11a) decelerates is executed. The timing at which the torque is output from the first MG (12) is controlled such that the positive peak of the torsional angle of the torsional damper (14) occurs in the expansion stroke of the internal combustion engine (11).

There is known an apparatus which reduces torque fluctuation of an internal combustion engine by making torque fluctuation which is antiphase with respect to torque fluctuation of an internal combustion engine by a generator motor (see Patent Literature 1). According to the apparatus of the Patent Literature 1, the connection and the shut off between a crankshaft and a sub-flywheel is controlled and phase matching is performed between the torque fluctuation of the internal combustion engine and the torque fluctuation of the generator motor, and thereby, it is possible to enhance the effect of reduction of the torque fluctuation. Further, as prior art documents relating to the present invention, there are Patent Literatures 2 and 3.

Stop control apparatus for internal combustion engine


A polypropylene resin composition that has a melt flow rate of 1.5 (g/10 minutes) or more and is obtainable by melt-kneading 94 to 98 parts by weight of (A) a propylene copolymer that comprises a polymer portion being obtainable by polymerizing monomers containing propylene as the major component and having an intrinsic viscosity of 2.0 (dL/g) or more and a copolymer portion being obtainable by copolymerizing propylene and ethylene, 2 to 6 parts by weight of (B) an ethylene polymer having a density of 0.920 g/cm3 or more, and (C) an organic peroxide, provided that the total weight of the propylene copolymer (A) and the ethylene polymer (B).

Polypropylene is excellent in rigidity and heat resistance and therefore is used widely in the field of materials for packaging such as food packaging and fiber packaging. As to the property of packaging materials, the materials are required to be excellent in impact resistance at low temperatures, heat sealability, and antiblocking property in addition to rigidity and heat resistance and also to be excellent in appearance with few fisheyes.
In particular, a packaging material of retortable foods is required to be satisfactory in both heat resistance which is sufficient for withstanding retort sterilization in which high temperature treatment is applied and impact resistance at low temperatures sufficient for withstanding use at low temperatures.
The variety of materials for packaging retortable foods has recently increased and it is required that contents can be checked from the outside. Therefore, packaging materials with excellent transparency have been demanded.
On the other hand, JP 8-169993 A, for example, discloses a polypropylene resin composition having low-temperature impact strength, transparency and slipping property and comprising 51 to 99% by weight of a resin compositions that comprises 1 to 95% by weight of a polypropylene and 5 to 95% by weight of an ethylene-propylene random copolymer having an ethylene content of 10 to 90 mol % and that contains amorphous rubber particles having a diameter of 10 μm or less, and 1 to 49% by weight of a high density polyethylene having a density of 0.935 g/cm3 or more.
JP 10-158463 A discloses a polypropylene film for retorting that comprises 96 to 99 wt % of a propylene-ethylene block copolymer having specific properties and 1 to 4 wt % of a high density polyethylene and that is excellent in impact resistance at low temperatures and also in antiblocking property.
JP 2000-119480 A discloses a propylene resin composition that comprises a propylene-ethylene block copolymer having specific properties and an ethylene-α-olefin copolymer having specific properties and that is balanced in impact resistance at low temperatures, heat seal strength, transparency, resistance to flexural whitening resistance, heat resistance, and so on, and a film for retortable food packaging produced by using the composition.
However, films made of the resin compositions disclosed in these documents are insufficient in appearance, transparency, impact resistance, and anti-blocking property, and there have not found any resin compositions suitable as materials of films for retortable food packaging or films made thereof.
Under such situations, the objective of the present invention is to provide a polypropylene resin composition that is excellent in appearance, transparency, impact resistance and anti-blocking property and suitable as a material of a film for retortable food packaging, and a film made thereof.

Polypropylene resin composition and film made thereof


A display apparatus including a display panel. The display panel includes a pixel generating an image, and a driver chip disposed on the display panel to drive the display panel. The driver chip includes a driving IC, signal bumps, an input bump, and an output bump electrically connected to the input bump. The display panel further includes a printed circuit board including a timing controller, a flexible printed circuit board electrically connecting the display panel and the printed circuit board, signal lines each having one end electrically connected to one of the signal bumps and the other end electrically connected to the timing controller, an input line applying a test signal to the input bump, an output line of which one end thereof is electrically connected to the output bump, and a test resistor connected to the output line.

Field
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to a display apparatus having a driver chip mounted by a chip-on-glass (COG) scheme.
Discussion of the Background
Various electronic devices, such as a smart phone, a digital camera, a notebook computer, a navigation system, a television set, etc., include a display apparatus to display an image.
The display apparatus includes a pixel to generate the image, a driver to drive the pixel, and a timing controller to control the driver. The display apparatus includes signal lines to electrically connect the driver and the timing controller. The timing controller applies a control signal to the driver to control the driver through the signal lines.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and, therefore, it may contain information that does not constitute prior art.


A crosslinkable compound comprising trifluorovinyl has a structure of Formula (I). A method for preparing the crosslinkable compound and a light emitting device prepared from the compound are also disclosed.

Liquid crystal display has the advantages such as large screen, high resolution, small and portable, low price and flat screen, etc. However, since the liquid crystal itself cannot emit light, the image has to be displayed relying on a backlight source or ambient light. Thus, the liquid crystal also has the shortcomings such as narrow visual angle, slow response (magnitude of millisecond), and not useful under low temperature, etc. Therefore, people attempt to find a new light emitting material that can replace liquid crystal materials, and thus OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diodes) and PLED (Polymer Light-Emitting Diodes) have been produced. OLED/PLED has the advantages such as self-illuminating, wide visual angle, high contrast, low power consumption, fast response, full color and simple manufacture, etc.
With the OLED/PLED techniques gradually becoming mature, they have already been used in the filed of flat display, such as some terminal devices like computer, cell phone, and the like. Compared to traditional liquid crystal flat display (TFT-LCD), OLED/PLED displays have the advantages such as lighter and thinner, low power consumption, clear and bright color and wide visual angle.
Generally, OLED/PLED devices have a multilayer structure comprising a hole transport layer (HTL), an emitting layer that converts electric energy to luminous energy, an electron transport layer (ETL), etc. Its mechanism of operation is as follows: under the effect of an external electric field, a hole injected by an anode and an electron injected by a cathode, after passing through the hole transport layer and the electron transport layer, complex with each other in the emitting layer, and interact to produce an activated exciton which will generate an energy difference by radiative transition when it returns to a ground state from an excited state, and finally releases luminous energy in the form of photons. The hole transport layer and the electron transport layer serve to maintain a balance between the injections of the holes and the electrons.
Most of OLED/PLED devices have a sandwich structure. That is, an organic film having semi-conductor properties is sandwiched by electrodes on two sides, and at least one side is a transparent electrode, such as an ITO (indium tin oxide) layer, so as to obtain a planar illumination.
OLED device usually has several organic material layers between the metal cathode and the ITO anode. The device structure is usually formed by evaporation coating one layer by one layer with a vacuum evaporation technique. Evaporation coating has low material utilization, high requirements for devices and is not applicable for large scale production.
In contrast, PLED is manufactured by using a solution procedure, including spin coating and inject printing method. It has the advantages of high material utilization and applicability for manufacture of large scale and large size products. One difficulty of the solution procedure is that the upper layer solution may dissolve the organic molecules which have already formed into a film, thereby affecting the efficiency of the materials and the performance of the device. In order to protect the polymer film already formed from being dissolved into the solvent, the polymer film may be cross-linked to form a polymer network which would not be dissolved by the solvent.

Crosslinkable compound, method for preparing the same and light emitting device comprising the same


Cooler pocket grate for use in conveying hot clinker from discharge end of cement kiln to cooled clinker processing area. Alternate stationary and moving grates constructed as stainless steel castings are provided with upper surface ridges having through holes for fan driven cooling air from underlying cooler bed compartments. Intermediate pockets between ridges retain clinker which serves as a grate wear resistant interface with kiln discharged hot clinker conducted along the cooler bed.

It is known in the art to provide air cooled grates for progressive cooling of hot cement clinker discharge from the end of a cement kiln. The most relevant prior art for the purpose is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,460,333 filed on Aug. 26, 1982. Such patent discloses a modular cooler grate unit comprising a cast metal plate provided with a depending pusher flange extending across the front end thereof. The plate is provided with a plurality of air hole openings extending vertically and horizontally therethrough. On the bottom side of the plate, a plurality of ribs or fins extend lengthwise thereof between the successive rows of holes. The fins are of zigzag configuration so that they undulate between the successive holes in the adjacent rows. Such grates are employed in a cooling bed which consists of a plurality of side by side columns of overlapping rows of perforated grates through which air is directed upwardly. The hot clinker discharged from a cement kiln is advanced along the bed of grates by horizontally reciprocating alternate rows of grates relative to adjacent stationary rows of grates. The cooler grates are subject to high temperature, high corrosion and abrasion during the process of cooling the clinker.


Method of mechanically removing skin from animal parts that have a bone part extending therein, including: obtaining at least one bone holder (16) depending from an overhead conveyor for movement through a given path; obtaining an animal part; holding the animal part from the at least one bone holder (16) by engagement of its bone part; moving the animal part through the given path; engaging an outer surface of the animal part, when moving through the given path, with a perimeter surface (44) of a rotating gripper (38); maintaining a downward force on the animal part on the rotating gripper; entrapping a portion of skin of the animal part between the perimeter surface (44) of the rotating gripper (38) and a fixed knife blade (40); and pulling the skin away from underlying meat of the animal part.

Being able to automatically remove the skin from the animal parts is of great importance to the food processing industry. Generally, high amounts of saturated fat are found in animal skin. Therefore health conscious consumers prefer skinless meat products, especially skinless poultry products. Furthermore, as removing the skin from the animal part is generally a tedious process, and due to today's convenience society, there is an increasing demand for purchasing animal meat skinless and ready to cook.
Various methods and apparatuses have been developed for removing skin from animal parts. Typically these methods and apparatuses involve feeding an animal part into a skin remover unit. The skin remover unit may include a knife blade, a hold-down roller, a gripper roller, and a stripper roller. The animal part may be feed manually or by means of a conveyer belt into the skin remover unit. The hold-down roller pushes down on the animal part to ensure that the gripper roller grips the skin of the animal part and guides the animal part in respect of the knife blade. The knife blade separates the skin from the animal part, and the gripper roller pulls the detached skin away from the animal part. The detached skin may fall from the gripper roller, or be removed by the stripper roller.
Usually, the skin remover unit is a separate animal part processing station, and operators are manually required to transport the animal parts to the location of the skin remover unit. If animal parts are fed by conveyer belt into the skin remover unit, the animal parts have most likely already been deboned and the animal part may need to be reoriented by an operator to ensure that the best skinning results are achieved.
Accordingly, there is a growing demand for methods and apparatuses that incorporate the automatic skin removal step into food processing lines. Hence, it is an object of the present invention to propose an improved method and apparatus of mechanically removing skin from animal parts in an inline food processing method or apparatus. In a more general sense it is an object of the present invention to overcome or ameliorate at least one of the disadvantages of the prior art. It is also an object of the present invention to at least provide alternative processes and structures that are less cumbersome in use and which can be provided and used relatively inexpensively. At any rate the present invention is at the very least aimed at offering a useful choice and contribution to the existing art.


A xerographic printing device, including a charging device having a shield. In some embodiments of the shield of the charging device in the xerographic printing device, three slots are provided with one slot in the upstream process direction and the other two slots sharing a common axis in downstream process direction and neither an overlap nor a gap existing between the ends of any of the slots in a longitudinal direction. In another embodiment, a plurality of holes are included in the shield. The charging device can be a corotron, a dicorotron, a scorotron, a discorotron, a pin corotron, a pin scorotron, or any other known or later developed charging device of that type.

This application relates generally to xerographic printing devices including charging devices such as corotrons, scorotrons, AC dicorotrons, AC discorotrons, and the like.
Xerographic printing machines often include charging devices such a corotron, dicorotron, scorotron or discorotron. A corotron is a wire device. A dicorotron is a corotron where the wire has a glass coating. A scorotron is a corotron with a grid on top of it. Similarly, a discorotron is a dicorotron with a grid on top of it. Other charging devices used in xerographic printing machines include pin corotrons and pin scorotrons. The pin variations of these devices substitute a series of pins for a smooth wire or substitute an etched wire having tips resembling a series of pins in a saw tooth shape. Some of these pin based charging devices include an array of pins comprising two or more lines of pins.
Some xerographic printing machines include a photoreceptor. Some photoreceptors are shaped with a surface resembling a belt. When charging the photoreceptor in a xerographic printing machine, it is desirable for the charge to be uniform around the surface of the belt. Variations in the magnitude of the charge around the surface of the photoreceptor are referred to as charge non-uniformities. Charge non-uniformities result in variations in image intensity in a resulting print where the original image does not vary in intensity. Non-uniformities that occur across the width of the photoreceptor are referred to as cross-web non-uniformities. Non-uniformities that occur along the length of the photoreceptor are referred to as down-web non-uniformities. Similar concepts apply to the current uniformity of the charging device.
When operating a scorotron or discorotron charging device, for example, a bias voltage is typically applied. This bias voltage typically corresponds to a charge to which it is desired to charge the photoreceptor. Bias voltages typically range from 300 volts to 1,000 volts. A typical average bias voltage is in the range of 400 to 500 volts.
Some xerographic engines have problems arising from voltage and/or current non-uniformities. Variances in electrical conductivity can be a function of device operation history such as, e.g., powered versus unpowered. This conductivity variation can also cause an operating voltage variation.
Other causes of current and voltage non-uniformities relate to harmful corona effluents in the apparatus and to the method of removing the harmful corona effluents from the machine cavity. The harmful corona effluents are caused by the ionization of the air in the vicinity of a charge that typically exceeds 4,000 volts. This ionization of the air in the vicinity of a high electrical charge generates several gases including ozone. These gases are typically filtered and reconditioned but they can be highly dangerous and even toxic at certain levels of concentration. Therefore, a vacuum is typically employed in the cavity of the machine to remove these unwanted gases including ozone.
Typically, a shield on top of the charging device includes some sort of orifice in order for the vacuum to properly remove the unwanted gases from the machine cavity. However, the quantity, shape and orientation of the orifices in the shield, and the associated air flow generated by the vacuum removal of unwanted gases affect the charge uniformity and the current uniformity of the photoreceptor. Thus, the vacuum removal of unwanted gases from the machine cavity is another among the causes of charge non-uniformity in the photoreceptor.
There are many byproducts of the ionization process described above. In addition to ozone, NOx is another undesirable byproduct. For example, when NOx attaches to H2O, nitric acid is created. Nitric acid is also very harmful and can also be toxic.
With respect to the architecture of the xerographic printing machine, one convention refers to points furthest inside the machine, that is, points furthest away from a user standing in front of the machine, as inboard portions of the machine. Similarly, according to this convention, portions of the machine closest to the front of the machine, that is, points nearest where a user stands, are referred to as outboard portions of the machine. In one architecture for a xerographic printing machine, the Cross-web orientation of the photoreceptor corresponds to the inboard to outboard or outboard to inboard direction. Similarly, according to this nomenclature, the down-web direction is also referred to as the process direction. This nomenclature is used herein to define a lateral direction and a longitudinal direction.

Shield for charging device in xerographic printing device having enhanced voltage and current uniformity


This disclosure is generally directed to systems and methods for protecting the health of occupants of a vehicle. In an example method, a health monitoring apparatus in a vehicle evaluates an individual and detects a symptom of a contagious disease. The individual may be already seated in a first seat in the vehicle or intends to enter the vehicle. The health monitoring apparatus identifies a second seat that has a pre-defined spatial separation distance from the first seat. The pre-defined spatial separation distance can exceed a threshold spatial separation distance selected to provide health protection against the contagious disease. The health monitoring apparatus issues an advisory to the individual to occupy the second seat. In another example method, the health monitoring apparatus may adjust an airflow pattern in the vehicle so as to provide directional airflows to protect various occupants of the vehicle against an airborne contagious disease.

Various types of contagious diseases are transmitted from person to person in different ways. Some types of contagious diseases are transmitted by direct contact, others by indirect contact (through touched objects), and some others through airborne particles. Medical professionals recommend minimizing risk of transmission by performing actions such as avoiding body contact, washing hands, using sanitizers, wearing masks, and/or avoiding crowds. Airborne illnesses are particularly hard to protect against, especially in terms of avoiding enclosed spaces. People may be advised to minimize the spread of an airborne contagious disease (especially during a pandemic) by avoiding entry into enclosed areas such as restaurants, schools, places of worship, public buildings, private buildings, etc. Though inconvenient to do so, people may abide by the advice and may either avoid entering such buildings or if required to enter a building (an office, for example), may take certain precautions (sanitizing objects, wearing masks, maintaining interpersonal separation distance, avoiding direct contact, etc.).
In some situations, however, such as, for example, when an individual has to make a trip to a medical facility (hospital, clinic, etc.) or travel on business, it may be unavoidable to travel in a vehicle such as a taxi or a rideshare vehicle, for example. It may be desirable when doing so that various types of precautions be taken to protect the individual as well as other occupants of the vehicle. Some of these precautions may be taken by the individual and/or the driver. However, the level of precaution taken may vary from individual to individual and may be inadequate in some cases. It is therefore desirable to provide systems and methods to protect the health of the occupants of the vehicle in an automatic manner.

Systems and methods to protect the health of occupants of a vehicle


A method of making high performance friction materials with tailored levels of a ceramic hard phase to achieve optimum thermal conductivity, friction coefficient and wear performance of composite brake materials. In accordance with one method of the invention specific end-use application friction requirements are satisfied by tailoring the level of carbon in a selected carbon/carbon preform, heat treating the carbon/carbon composite preform, thereby affecting thermal conductivity so as to optimize overall braking performance prior to ceramic processing and by selecting an optimum level of ceramic hard phase to achieve satisfactory friction disc wear life and friction characteristics of the braking material.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to carbon/ceramic matrix composites and the method of making same. More particularly, the invention concerns carbon/ceramic matrix composites for use in friction applications.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With the rapid advance of aircraft, nuclear and aerospace and high temperature technologies there is an ever-increasing need for new types of high strength composite materials that are capable of reliably withstanding high temperatures and pressures. Additionally, new methods are required to expeditiously fabricate these materials into articles such as aircraft brake discs.
Carbon/carbon composites are the state-of-the-art friction materials for aircraft brake applications. The majority of today's commercial jets and military fighters are equipped with carbon/carbon brakes.
Carbon fibers, by design, have well oriented crystalline structure aligned along the axis of the fiber. They exhibit good strength and stiffness in the fiber direction.
The ability to combine different carbon fibers with different types of carbon matrices to form a single light weight, economical and functional composite is one of the key reasons for the successful application of carbon/carbon for aircraft brake use. The type and distribution of carbon fiber, the crystalline structures of various carbon matrices, the ratio between soft and hard carbon in the matrix, and the overall composite thermal conductivity all have an impact on final brake performance.
Carbon/carbon was first proposed as an aircraft frictional material in the beginning of 1970s. By the end of 1970s, carbon/carbon brakes were the standard equipment for advanced fighters such as F-14, F-15 and the supersonic Concorde.
Generally speaking, carbon/carbon brakes offer low wear and provide excellent frictional performance at high energy conditions. Additionally, the use of carbon/carbon aircraft brakes significantly adds safety and increases payload.
Prior art carbon/carbon aircraft brakes are generally composed of multiple full-circle rotors and stators of the same material.
The unique friction properties of structural carbon/carbon composite brake materials have now been fully established for multi-disc rotor/stator braking systems for commercial and fighter aircraft, as well as for caliper/single disc applications for helicopters, industrial, automotive and train braking applications. Carbon/carbon braking materials are currently manufactured in large volume production quantities, especially for commercial and military aircraft. Wear life and friction coefficients are at predictable levels and cannot be significantly influenced by carbon/carbon processing conditions.
The technology for densifying carbon fiber substrates by liquid pitch or resin impregnation, carbonization and graphitization or chemical vapor infiltration of pyrolytic carbon, with subsequent composite heat treatment is fully established and a variety of carbon/carbon products are routinely manufactured including complex aerospace components, high temperature furnace hardware, components for the Semi-Conductor Industry, brake discs for commercial and military aircraft, as well as for automotive and other commercial applications.
Densification by the chemical vapor infiltration (CVI) process is the most popular manufacturing process in the industry to date for the manufacture of carbon/carbon composite friction materials for aircraft braking systems. Fiber volume for the carbon substrates may range from 20%-30%. Depending on initial carbon fiber density, fiber volume and number and length of pyrolytic carbon infiltration furnace runs, the fully densified carbon/carbon composite product may range in density from 1.5 g/cc to 1.85 g/cc.
Two of the early patents concerned with carbon/carbon aircraft brakes and the methods for making the brake discs, namely U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,895,084 and 3,991,248 were issued to the present inventor. These patents describe unique substrate optimization techniques as well as novel methods for accurate control of product shape, cross-sectional configuration, density, fiber volume and internal fiber orientation.
One of the drawbacks of prior art carbon/carbon brakes is that they typically yield lower frictional coefficients, which tend to vary widely at different speed and landing energy. Carbon/carbon is also susceptible to oxidation damage, which not only degrades its structural integrity over long-term usage, but also promotes accelerated wear.
In the past, considerable development work has been carried out to develop a ceramic matrix composite (CMC) friction material that exhibits improved friction properties over carbon/carbon brake materials.
These efforts have largely focused on material systems that are based on either silicon melt infiltration and carbide conversion, or pre-ceramic polymer impregnation of carbon fiber mats, resulting in ceramic matrix composites after pyrolyzation. This work has to date, not been particularly successful for aircraft braking applications.
Another early development effort is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,153,295 issued to whitmarsh et al., entitled "Carbosilane Polymer Precursors To Silicon Carbide Ceramics". This patent describes a process for the preparation of compositions of matter which have potential utility as precursors to silicon carbide (SiC) wherein the compositions are obtained by a Grignard coupling process starting from chlorocarbosilanes. The precursors constitute a type of polycarbosilane that is characterized by a branched, [Si—C].sub.n"backbone" comprised of SiR.sub.3 CH.sub.2--, --SiR.sub.2 CH.sub.2--, .dbd.SiRCH.sub.2--, and .tbd.SiCH.sub.2-- units (where R is usually H but can also be other organic or inorganic groups, e.g., lower alkyl or alkenyl, as may be needed to promote crosslinking or to modify the physical properties of the polymer or the composition of the final ceramic product). A key feature of these polymers is that substantially all of the linkages between the Si—C units are "head-to-tail", i.e., they are Si to C.
Recently, considerable effort has been directed toward developing ceramic matrix composites (CMC) that are specially aimed at aircraft braking applications. Much of this work has been based on pre-ceramic polymer impregnation of carbon fiber preforms that may undergo as many as twelve polymer impregnations before the desired final density is reached. Typically the pre-ceramic polymer forms the ceramic matrix after pyrolyzation between about 850° C. and about 1600° C.
One of the goals of the present invention is to further optimize carbon/ceramic friction material by identifying key material process variables and systematically correlating the resulting carbon/ceramic matrix composites with brake performance and to develop reproducible and cost effective processing steps to fabricate carbon/ceramic matrix composites for future brake applications.

Method of making carbon/ceramic matrix composites


A method of processing the surface of a metallic rod, wherein coating films (2, 22 and 32) are applied onto portions other than the shape where grooves are to be formed on the surface of the rod, the surfaces of the rods (1, 21 and 31) which are not coated are dissolved and processed by chemical polishing or etching, whereby patterns of very shallow grooves (6, 24 and 34) are formed on the surface of the rod, so that making of grooves on the surface of a very heavy rod, a long rod and a curved rod, which have been considered difficult by the conventional machining, can be easily and accurately carried out. Furthermore, after the making of the grooves, the surface of a rod (41) is plated in a state (42) of being coated by photoresist films and screens, whereby the grooves and the recessed portions (43) are plated (44), and thereafter, the coating films (42) are removed by buffing (45) and the like and the plated surface is finished, thus effectively plating the grooves and the recessed portions.

Machining (lathe turning or milling) has been conventionally employed as a method of patterning or making grooves on the surface of a metallic rod.
However, the metallic rod usually has a curved portion which is enlarged when the curved portion is subjected to a heat treatment etc.
Furthermore, since the rod is not always perfectly circular in its cross section but it may be elliptical or eccentric, machining such rods, heavy rods and long rods, uniforming the depth of the grooves and processing the rod with high accuracy are difficult, which involves high cost.
The present invention has improved the drawback of the conventional processing method and is to provide a method of processing the rod capable of forming patterns of very shallow grooves on the surface of the rod etc. with ease and high accuracy.


Methods and apparatuses for determining a VXLAN data path failure are provided. In an embodiment, a first data packet comprising an echo request is generated at an originating tunnel end point device in a network. The echo request includes a VXLAN network identifier (VNI) associated with a selected VXLAN segment. A second data packet is generated comprising a header having a format associated with a VXLAN technology, the header comprising a network identifier portion including the VXLAN network identifier (VNI). The first data packet is encapsulated in the second data packet, and the second data packet is transmitted via the selected VXLAN segment.

VXLAN is a network virtualization technology adapted to ameliorate scalability problems associated with large cloud computing deployments. VXLAN can use, for example, a VLAN-like encapsulation technique to encapsulate MAC-based layer-2 Ethernet frames within layer 3 UDP packets. In accordance with a VXLAN tunneling mechanism, a first device, referred to as the originating tunnel end point, uses a format associated with VXLAN protocols to encapsulate a data packet, and transmits the encapsulated packet to a second device, referred to as the terminating tunnel end point. The terminating tunnel end point decapsulates the data packet and forwards it to an intended destination device.

System and method for detecting a virtual extensible local area network (VXLAN) segment data path failure


An electrophoresis gel with a gel buffer that includes a gel amine buffer, a primary gel ampholyte, and a conjugate gel ampholyte is disclosed herein. The conjugate gel ampholyte may be selected from threonine and serine.

Gel electrophoresis is a common procedure for the separation of biological molecules, such as deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), ribonucleic acid (RNA), polypeptides, and proteins. In gel electrophoresis, the macromolecules are separated into bands according to the rate at which an imposed electric field causes them to migrate through a filtering gel.
An apparatus used in this technique can include a gel enclosed in a glass tube or sandwiched as a slab between glass or plastic plates, sometimes referred to as a gel cassette. The gel has an open molecular network structure defining pores which are saturated with an electrically conductive buffered solution of a salt. These pores through the gel are large enough to admit passage of the migrating macromolecules.
The gel cassette or other apparatus is placed in a chamber in contact with buffer solutions which provide electrical contact between the gel and the cathode or anode of an electrical power supply. A sample containing the macromolecules and a tracking dye is placed on top of the gel. An electric potential is applied to the gel causing the sample macromolecules and tracking dye to migrate toward the bottom of the gel. The electrophoresis is halted just before the tracking dye reaches the end of the gel. The locations of the bands of separated macromolecules are then determined. By comparing the distance moved by particular bands in comparison to the tracking dye and macromolecules of known size, the size of other macromolecules can be determined.
The rate of migration of macromolecules through the gel depends upon four principle factors: the support matrix (i.e., the porosity of the gel); the size and shape of the macromolecule; the charge density of the macromolecule; and the applied field strength. Electrophoresis systems generally attempt to control these factors in order to be reproducible from gel to gel and from sample to sample. However, maintaining uniformity between gels is difficult because each of these factors is sensitive to many variables in the chemistry of the gel system.
The two types of support matrices commonly used in electrophoresis are polyacrylamide and agarose. The support matrices act as porous media and behave like a molecular sieve. Agarose has a relatively large pore size and is generally used for separating nucleic acids and protein complexes. Polyacrylamide has a relatively smaller pore size and is generally used for separating most proteins and smaller nucleic acids.
Polyacrylamide gels are generated by the polymerization of acrylamide monomers. These monomers are crosslinked into long chains by the addition of bifunctional compounds such as N,N-methylenebisacrylamide ("bisacrylamide"), which react with free functional groups of the chain termini. The total combined concentration of acrylamide and bisacrylamide (expressed at % T=X %, where X is the total acrylamide concentration in the gel) affects the pore size of the gel. For instance, for a given crosslinker concentration (% C), an increased acrylamide concentration (% T) provides a decreased pore size, which results in resolution of lower molecular weight molecules and vice versa. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) provides desirable electrophoresis characteristics because the gels are optically transparent, electrically neutral, and can be made with a range of pore sizes.
Electrophoresis can be performed under denaturing conditions using an anionic detergent, such as sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), for example. When polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis is used with sodium dodecyl sulfate, i.e. as SDS-PAGE, the charge density of the macromolecules is controlled by adding SDS to the system. SDS molecules associate with the macromolecules and impart a uniform charge density to them, substantially negating the effects of any innate molecular charge. The resultant SDS-macromolecule complexes are highly negatively charged and are resolved in the gel based on their size.
Historically, SDS-PAGE gels were usually poured and run at basic pH. The most common PAGE buffer system employed for the separation of proteins is that developed by Ornstein and Davis (Ornstein, L. (1964) Ann. NY Acad. Sci., 121:321 and Davis, B. J. (1964) Ann. NY Acad. Sci., 121:404), and modified for use with SDS by Laemmli (Laemmli, 1970, Nature, 227, 680-686). The Laemmli buffer system consists of 0.375 M tris (hydroxymethyl) amino-methane ("Tris"), titrated to pH 8.8 with HCl, in the separating gel. The stacking gel consists of 0.125 M Tris, titrated to pH 6.8. The anode and cathode running buffers contain 0.024 M Tris, 0.192 M glycine, 0.1% SDS (i.e. as a "Tris-glycine buffer").
Although various buffer systems have been developed, Tris-glycine is relatively inexpensive, offers familiarity to industry practitioners due to its widespread use, and provides macromolecule bands and lane shapes that have a qualitative difference. Moreover, downstream applications, such as silver staining, are compatible with Tris-glycine buffer systems. With respect to silver staining, Tris-glycine gels have been reported to provide lower background staining than gels buffered with Tricine or Bicine (Rabilloud, T., et al., Cell Mol. Biol., 40:57-75 (1994)).
A drawback to the use of polyacrylamide gels with traditional (e.g., Tris-glycine) buffers that have basic pH values as discussed above is that the gels tend to hydrolyze over time to a polyacrylate anion and ammonium cation. The negative charge of the polyacrylate anion interferes with proper migration of the macromolecules (e.g., negatively charged proteins of a sample) wherein the migration distance of the macromolecules in the gel is reduced. This migration interference can cause undesirable "smiling effects," in which low molecular weight protein bands near gel edges tend to curve upward, making accurate determination of separation difficult. Hydrolysis also can lower the resolution of the macromolecule bands. Gels with high pH buffers that are not refrigerated can degrade in a matter of days due to hydrolysis. However, even refrigerated gels of this type kept at temperatures on the order of 4° C. can start to deteriorate within two to three months of manufacture.
Therefore, a need exists for an electrophoresis gel buffer formulation that has a neutral pH, thereby providing polyacrylamide gels with an extended shelf life. Moreover, a need exists for such a formulation which can provide effective separation of macromolecules during electrophoresis such that the sharpness in the resolution of the separated molecules is maintained at an acceptable level, and that exhibits a relatively large buffering capacity. A need also exists for an electrophoresis gel buffer that is compatible with economical Tris-glycine running and sample buffers, and such running and sample buffers with which the industry has some level of familiarity. Further, a need exists for such a neutral pH buffer formulation that has compatibility with downstream applications common to Tris-Glycine gels.

Electrophoresis gel with extended shelf life and high performance


A system, method, and computer program product are provided for generating a ray tracing data structure utilizing a parallel processor architecture. In operation, a global set of data is received. Additionally, a data structure is generated utilizing a parallel processor architecture including a plurality of processors. Such data structure is adapted for use in performing ray tracing utilizing the parallel processor architecture, and is generated by allocating the global set of data among the processors such that results of processing of at least one of the processors is processed by another one of the processors.

Ray tracing involves a technique for determining a visibility of an object or objects from a given point, such as, but not limited to an "eye" or "camera" point, by following a ray. While such technique theoretically can involve testing a vast number of rays against each and every primitive, this is typically not practical. Instead, designers have used various data structures to identify a subset of such primitives to be involved in the testing, thereby reducing required processing. Examples of such data structures include, but are not limited to a bounding volume hierarchy data structure, scene-graphs, etc.
To date, such data structures have typically been generated utilizing a central processing unit (CPU) or the like. However, any attempt to generate such data structures utilizing a parallel processor architecture (e.g. a graphics processor, etc.) has been problematic. There is thus a need for addressing these and/or other issues associated with the prior art.

System, method, and computer program product for generating a ray tracing data structure utilizing a parallel processor architecture


A fiber optic cable breakout assembly includes: a fiber optic cable including a plurality of first optical fibers and a first jacket surrounding the optical fibers; a breakout canister; a plurality of pigtail cords, each of the pigtail cords including a second optical fiber partially encased in a second jacket and an optical connector, each of the pigtail cords extending away from the canister, each of the optical fibers extending through the canister; and a flexible furcation tube attached to and extending between the fiber optic cable and the breakout canister, the furcation tube including an armored inner layer and a polymeric outer layer, wherein each of the first optical fibers is spliced to a respective second optical fiber within the inner layer of the furcation tube.

Optical fibers of fiber optic cables (either individual fibers or groups of fibers, such as ribbon fibers) are often spliced together to enable the transmission of signals between two cables. Fusion splicing is the process of fusing or welding two fibers together, usually by an electric arc. Fusion splicing is the most widely used method for splicing optical fibers and fiber optic cables, as it typically provides the lowest loss and least reflectance, as well as providing the strongest and most reliable joint between two fibers.
It may be desirable to provide techniques for enhancing fusion splicing operations, particularly in the field or in a warehouse.


A scanning tunneling microscope memory apparatus comprises first and second integrated circuit (IC) substrates. First and second cantilevers, which can be moved by piezoelectric elements, are arranged on the first and second IC substrates, respectively. Tunnel current probes are provided on a free end of the first cantilever, and a recording element is provided on a free end of the second cantilever. The first and second cantilevers are spaced from each other and overlap such that the tunnel current probes face the recording element. The first or second substrate includes a charge coupled device (CCD) circuit, a control circuit for controlling the CCD circuit and cantilevers, and a drive circuit having a preamplifier, a write circuit, and a servo circuit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a memory apparatus using tunnel current techniques, which may be termed a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) memory apparatus, comprising a memory device, which includes tunnel current probes and a recording element, and a signal processing circuit for writing/reading data in/from the recording element.
2. Description of the Related Art
A probe with a pointed tip portion is brought toward an electrically conductive substrate at a distance of several nm, and a voltage is applied across the probe and the substrate, so that a tunnel current flows therebetween by virtue of tunnel effect. The value of the tunnel current varies dramatically in accordance with the change in distance between the probe and the substrate.
An STM utilizes the characteristic of the tunnel current, and allows atomic-level observation of the surface configuration of a substrate. In the STM, a probe is caused to scan over the surface of the substrate, and the distance between the probe and the substrate is controlled. Thus, a three-dimensional image, representative of the surface configuration of the substrate is obtained. For example, while the distance between the probe and the substrate is controlled so as to keep the tunnel current constant, the probe is caused to scan over the surface of the substrate. Based on the positional data of the probe obtained during the scan, an STM image is obtained. The tunnel current flowing between the probe and the substrate mainly depends on the work functions of materials of the probe and the substrate. Thus, the tunnel current produced while the probe is caused to scan is changed by the data recorded on the substrate in the form of projections and recesses, the kind of atoms of the substrate, or the charge trapped on the surface of the substrate.
It has been proposed to describe a pattern directly on a silicon substrate with use of the STM. For example, Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology, McCord, "Lithography with the Scanning Tunneling Microscope", B Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 86-88, Jan./Feb. 1986 (M. A. McCord, et al.) reports that tracks were formed on a metal deposition film on a silicon substrate after the film was STM-scanned with energy of 10 eV. Also this document reports that lines were written on a 10 nm docoscenoic aicd Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) film by means of a beam of 25 V and 12 nA.
Furthermore, an article by Akamine, Albrecht, Zdeblick and Quate, "MICROFABRICATED SCANNING TUNNELING MICROSCOPE" (IEEE Electron Device Letters, Vol. 10, No. 11, pages 490-492, November 1989) reported on a micro STM wherein an end portion of a cantilever is provided with a probe having a pointed tip portion. This cantilever is driven by two piezoelectric elements which are formed of zinc oxide (ZnO). The cantilever is formed by an integrated circuit (IC) process so as to have the size of 20 .mu.m.times.200 .mu.m.times.5 .mu.m. Also, the probe is formed by an IC process in which deposition is performed by using a mask with a hole of about 3 .mu.m diameter.

Memory apparatus using tunnel current techniques


An animal chew toy has a shell made from a compressible material and has a plurality of openings formed therethrough. The chew toy has a hollow interior in which is disposed a quantity of dentifrice. When an animal chews the toy, dentifrice issues through the plurality of openings and encounters the teeth and gums of the animal. The shell may be wrapped with any suitable material to attract an animal, and may, likewise, contain a flavored or non-flavored odorant to attract an animal. Similarly, an odorant may be admixed with the dentifrice. If a wrapping is used, the wrapping has openings in communication with the openings in the shell to allow dentifrice to issue therethrough.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to dental aids. More particularly, the present invention pertains to dental aids for animals. Even more particularly, the present invention pertains to dentifrice-containing dental aids for animals.
2. Prior Art
As is known to those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains, domestic animals, through their diet or their inherent nature, oftentimes need dental care. To this end, veterinarians prescribe tooth brushing for the animal, be it a canine or a feline or another animal. However, anyone who has ever attempted to brush the teeth of a cat or a dog knows the difficulties encountered therewith. It is very difficult to keep the animal's mouth open for any extended period of time to enable getting a brush to contact all the teeth as well as the gums. The tediousness of this job often results in the teeth not being brushed. Several prior patents have addressed the problem of dental hygiene for animals. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,149,170, issued to Allis, teaches an animal chew toy with an external coating that may have nourishing or medicinal qualities. U.S. Pat. No. 4,802,444, issued to Markham et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,126,137, issued to Lambert, teach chew toys with a plurality of apertures that an animal's teeth penetrate into, thus providing a scraping action to remove plaque. And, U.S. Pat. No. 5,474,033, issued to Mitchell, Jr., teaches a chew toy suspended from the neck of an animal, chew toy having an external coating that may provide medication to the animal.
While these prior inventions might be of some limited use in improving dental hygiene of animals, none is as effective as human brushing, because none has the combination of a brushing motion and a substantial amount of dentifrice.
The present invention is directed to solving this problem.


A new and distinct variety of nectarine tree which is somewhat similar to the ‘Summer Lion II’ nectarine tree but from which it is distinguished by producing fruit which are mature for harvesting and shipment approximately seven (7) days after ‘Summer Lion II’ fruit in the San Joaquin Valley of central California and wherein the fruit is of high quality and good flavor with dark red coloration over most of the fruit surface.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of nectarine tree, Prunus persica var nectarina, which will hereinafter be denominated varietally as the 'Summer Lion IV' nectarine tree, and, more particularly, to a nectarine tree which produces fruit which is mature for commercial harvesting and shipment approximately July 15th through July 30th, or about one week after 'Summer Lion II' nectarine tree (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 6,544), in the San Joaquin Valley of central California. The subject new variety hereof has, in summary, fruit which is large in size with a moderately red and dark red blush color and a yellow-orange flesh color.
The discovery and development of new plant varieties is a daunting task. Nonetheless, these efforts take place in many areas of the world. The motivation for such efforts is both to assist mankind in the improvement of the varieties in a multitude of respects, as well as to achieve rewarding commercialization thereof. These activities have been particularly focused in the San Joaquin Valley of central California where growing conditions are quite favorable. As a consequence of these and other factors, a multitude of individuals, business entities, research institutions, universities and others have engaged in such research and development. The process is difficult, time consuming and expensive. As a consequence, these efforts are directed to the recovery of costs and, more typically, significant financial reward through commercialization. However, it is very difficult to select varieties which may achieve commercial success.
The new variety of nectarine tree of the present invention is believed by the inventors to be a promising candidate in a number of significant respects, as will hereinafter be set forth in greater detail.

Nectarine tree denominated ‘Summer Lion IV’


Apparatus including a pressure regulating valve for regulating line pressure for hydraulically operated frictional coupling devices of a vehicle automatic transmission, and a cut-back valve for causing the pressure regulating valve to raise the line pressure to a higher level when the transmission is placed in first-speed position, than the normal level established when the transmission is placed in any higher-gear position whose speed reduction ratio is lower than that of the first-speed position. A pressure applying device is provided to apply to the cut-back valve first and second pressures to be applied to respective two coupling devices to establish a higher-gear position of the transmission, to operate the cut-back valve for causing the pressure regulating valve to raise the line pressure to the higher level when the vehicle is started in a high-gear start mode with the transmission placed in the higher-gear position.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hydraulic control apparatus for an automatic transmission of a motor vehicle.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
There is known a hydraulic control apparatus for an automatic transmission of a motor vehicle having a plurality of hydraulically operated frictional coupling devices which are selectively activated for selectively establishing a first-speed position and at least one higher-gear position whose speed reduction ratio is lower than that of said first-speed position. This hydraulic control apparatus includes a pressure regulating valve for regulating a line pressure of a working fluid to be applied to the hydraulically operated frictional coupling devices, and a cut-back valve which has a first position and a second position. The cut-back valve is placed in the first position when the transmission is placed in the first-speed position, and is placed in the second position when the transmission is placed in any higher-gear position. In the first position, the cut-back valve causes the pressure regulating valve to raise the line pressure by a predetermined amount to a higher level from a normal level as normally established by the pressure regulating valve. In the second position, the cut-back valve causes the pressure regulating valve to regulate the line pressure to the normal level. An example of such hydraulic control apparatus is disclosed on pages 73-75 of "Fundamentals of AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSIONS, Service Training Information" published as Pub. No. ST1009E in 1988 by the assignee of the present application, and on pages 4-50 and 4-51 of "TOYOTA CORONA, New Car Features" published in August, 1985 by the assignee.
When a motor vehicle equipped with such automatic transmission is started on a road surface having a low coefficient of friction such as a snow-covered or frozen road surface, it is desirable to start the vehicle with the automatic transmission placed in a higher-gear position such as the second-speed position whose speed reduction ratio is next lower than that of the first-speed position, so as to reduce the tendency of slipping of the drive wheels on the road surface. If the automatic transmission is controlled by the hydraulic control apparatus of the type described above, however, the line pressure generated by the pressure regulating valve is not increased upon starting of the vehicle, since the second-speed position is selected. In this case, therefore, the torque transmitting capacity of the frictional coupling devices is insufficient for starting the vehicle with a sufficient drive force transmitted to the drive wheels.
Although the above drawback may be solved by using the frictional coupling devices which torque transmitting capacity is increased by increasing number of friction members of the coupling devices, this solution unfavorably results in increasing the size of the transmission.
In view of the above drawback, the present inventors developed a hydraulic control apparatus which has mode selecting means for selecting a high-gear start mode in which the vehicle is started with the automatic transmission placed in a predetermined one higher-gear position such as the second-speed position, and pressure applying means, responsive to the mode selecting means, for applying to the cut-back valve a first and a second pressure to be applied to respective two coupling devices of the transmission to establish the predetermined one higher-gear position, for placing the cut-back valve in the first position to raise the line pressure to the higher level when the transmission is shifted to the predetermined higher-gear position upon starting of the vehicle in the high-gear start mode. For instance, the high-gear start mode is established when the vehicle is started with the shift lever placed in a second-range position (S), rather than in a drive-range position (D) and when a suitable high-gear start switch is turned on. The number of the forward drive gear positions available with the shift lever in the second-range position is smaller than that available with the shift lever in the drive-range position.
The above hydraulic control apparatus assures sufficient torque transmitting capacity of the frictional coupling devices when the vehicle is started in the high-gear start mode. However, the above arrangement causes the line pressure to be raised to the higher level even when the transmission is shifted up to the higher-gear position (e.g., second-speed position) while the shift lever is placed in the second-range position, but while the high-gear start switch is off. In this case, therefore, the transmission suffers from a shifting shock upon engagement of the appropriate frictional coupling devices with relatively high hydraulic pressure due to the rise of the line pressure to the higher level, while the vehicle is running with the shift lever placed in the second-range position.
To solve the above problem, it is required to control the back pressures of the appropriate frictional coupling devices, in order to smoothly raise the hydraulic pressure for engagement of the coupling devices, when the transmission is shifted up to the higher-gear position while the vehicle is running with the shift lever placed in the second-range mode, and with the high-gear start switch in the off position. This solution, however, results in increasing the cost of the apparatus, because it requires suitable means for controlling the accumulator back pressures.

Apparatus for controlling line pressure for automatic transmission upon vehicle starting with the transmission placed in second or higher-gear position


The apparatus is provided for delivering assembly and machining expendable materials or tools. It comprises an internal continuous lift mechanism with different compartment rows arranged in rotary manner to move past a removal door row. An inputting keyboard for the positioning of the particular compartment row in front of the removal door row also controls the unlocking of door in the door row associated with the selected compartment.. The delivery unit is connected by means of a long-range transmission means to a data processing unit, which records the removal of materials and optionally initiates reloading, billing, etc.

Assembly and machining expendable materials or tools, e.g. screws, rivets or sawblades are kept in stock in cabinets or separate stores as a function of the size of the organization processing them. However, quite apart from tying up capital, this also involves stockkeeping and at least certain administrative measures for checking the existing stock and for reordering. Frequently, excessive stocks of certain types are kept, which are finally not used or not used in an optimum manner.
Product selling machines are also known, but are only suitable for delivering a very limited number of different products. In one known automatic selling machine of this type (DE-OS 15 74 236) there are e.g. eight storage planes, each plane containing identical products.
In another known apparatus of this type (US-A-4 811 764) several rotatable magazines are superimposed, each magazine also containing only a single product.
In addition, mechanical cabinets with a continuous circulatory lift construction are known (DE-C2-30 48 394), in which with the aid of an indicator system, it is indicated in which compartment a desired product is located. This compartment can be moved to a specific removal point. However, in this case, access is always possible simultaneously to a large number of compartments, so that such an apparatus would not be suitable as a product selling machine.
In addition, a product selling or vending machine is known, which is connected by means of a telephone line to a central monitoring location (CH-AS-61 20 24). The latter is able to establish whether the selling machine has a fault or is empty. The goods are constituted by tickets, so that the machine need only have two product types, namely tickets and coins. Before the tickets are removed, they are paid for by feeding in coins.
Also, in the case of bank cash dispensers, the product availability, namely banknotes, is very limited. Admittedly, a debit calculation takes place by means of a control room, but it is only necessary to deduct the value and there is no need to additionally calculate a specific article.

Apparatus for storing and delivering sale units


An electronic equipment having a viewpoint detection unit comprises an area display circuit for displaying a predetermined area on a screen, a viewpoint detector for detecting a viewpoint of an operator, a switching circuit for detecting whether the viewpoint of the operator detected by the viewpoint detector is within the area or not and switching the operation state of a predetermined function between a first state and a second state depending on the detection result, and a unit for changing a border line position of the area on the screen between when the operation state is shifted from the first state to the second state and when it is shifted from the second state to the first state.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electronic equipment for controlling a function by using a viewpoint detector.
2. Related Background Art
Recent advancement in the image processing field (including a video equipment such as a video camera) is remarkable and improvements of operability image in common have been made in common to various types of equipments. Operation and control using a viewpoint input is effected to perform a function corresponding to an index which is displayed on a display screen and viewed by an operator, without manual keying.
Such input means using the viewpoint is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,946,271 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,109,145, in which, when an operator views a mark or area displayed on a display, a function corresponding to the mark is performed.
However, in such arrangements, when the operator desires to activate a function of a viewpoint switch, the operator must continuously watch the index for a while without moving his/her viewpoint. Thus, when an area in which the index is located is small, the operator may feel fatigue.
If the area of the index is expanded to avoid the fatigue of the operator caused by keeping his/her view the narrow area, the function of the viewpoint switch may be activated against the operators's intent.
If an index which operates as a function of a viewpoint switch and an index which does not operate as a function of the viewpoint switch coexist in a finder field, the operator cannot discriminate between both indices by one glance. The operator may inadvertently watch the index of the viewpoint switch and an unintended function may be performed.

Electronic imaging apparatus having a functional operation controlled by a viewpoint detector


To provide an injection system for an internal combustion engine operating on self-igniting liquefied gas as a fuel, and to minimize cavitation and related problems of fuel delivery as well as wear, the fuel tank is configured as a low-pressure storage tank which is connected to a pressure control unit that includes a fuel pumping unit for drawing fuel from the storage tank and delivering the fuel to the suction line of the fuel delivery device and a pressure release line which branches off the suction line and leads back to the storage tank, the pressure release line including a release valve for maintaining a constant interior pressure in the suction line above the vapor pressure of the liquefied gas. The injection system is configured as a leakage-free system.

The present invention relates to an injection system for an internal combustion engine operating on self-igniting liquefied gas as a fuel, comprising an injection unit per cylinder for direct injection of the fuel into the combustion chamber, and a fuel tank, and a fuel delivery device for drawing the fuel from the fuel tank and delivering it to the injection unit.
Conventional injection systems are designed for injecting either self-igniting or extraneously ignited liquid fuels. At conditions of ambient pressure and ambient temperature, such fuels are provided in liquid form; as a consequence the storage tank is non-pressurized. Usually the liquid fuel is simultaneously employed as a lubricant for movable parts of the injection system. For this reason provisions are made for leakages and oil leakage pipes leading back to the tank.

Injection system for an internal combustion engine

Avl Gesellschaft fur Verbrennungskraftmaschinen und Messtechnik m.b.H. Prof.Dr.Dr.h.c. Hans List


Oil jets are mounted in upper two cylinders in a cylinder block of a 4-cylinder vertical engine to inject an oil to rear faces of pistons received in the two cylinders. Thus, although lower pistons are cooled more effectively by the oil dropped by gravitation through oil return bores provided in journal support walls, the upper pistons are forcibly cooled by the oil injected from the oil jets, so that the four pistons can be cooled equally to prevent insufficient cooling and excessive cooling, while minimizing the required amount of the oil.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multi-cylinder vertical engine including a plurality of cylinders each having a generally horizontal axis and juxtaposed vertically in a cylinder block, and to an outboard engine system including a vertical engine mounted thereon.
2. Description of the Related Art
A surface of a piston slidably received in each of cylinders of an engine, which faces a combustion engine, is exposed to a high temperature and hence, it is desirable that a low-temperature oil is brought into contact with a rear face of the piston to cool the piston. There is a vertical engine known from Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2001-200711 in which a portion of an oil passed through an oil passage formed in a crankshaft to lubricate sliding portions of a crankpin and a big end of a connecting rod is injected from an oil injecting groove provided in the big end to the rear face of the piston to cool the piston.
In a vertical engine including a crankshaft disposed in a generally vertical direction, an oil in a mist state in a crank chamber is introduced into each of cylinders to cool a piston from behind, but the concentration of the oil mist is dilute in an upper cylinder and dense in a lower cylinder by gravitation. Also, the oil supplied to portions to be lubricated of the engine flows from a higher position to a lower position to return to an oil pan, and hence those of the pistons, the cylinders, connecting rods and the like, which are located at lower places, are brought into contact with a large amount of the oil and cooled effectively, that is, the cooling conditions are more severe for the upper piston and milder for the lower piston.
In the above-described prior art engine, however, the following problem is encountered: The oil is injected equally to the rear faces of all the pistons to cool the pistons and hence, if the amount of oil injected is determined based on the requirement of the upper piston, the amount of oil injected is rather excessive in the lower cylinder for the above-described reason. Correspondingly, the unnecessary oil is injected, resulting in an increase in required amount of the oil. Moreover, the prior art engine is a vertical in-line 2-cylinder engine and for this reason, the vertical dimension of the crank chamber is smaller and hence, the localization of the oil mist is less, and an increase in required amount of the oil is smaller as a whole. In an engine including three or more cylinders, however, any measure is demanded in order to decrease the required amount of the oil.

Vertical engine and outboard engine system