Disclosed are skin care compositions that are emulsion formulations comprising an aqueous phase, an oil phase, at least one emulsifier, and an epichlorohydrin cross-linked glyceryl starch.

A wide variety of compositions are known in the art for providing cosmetic and/or pharmacologic benefits to human skin. Benefits sought include, for example, prevention, treatment or amelioration of environmental or age-related damage or deterioration of the skin, improved appearance by modifying surface characteristics, improved feel by moisturizing, and prevention or treatment of specific skin disorders. Many conventional cosmetic cream and lotion compositions are described, for example, in Sagarin, Cosmetics Science and Technology, 2nd Edition, Volume 1, Wiley lnterscience (1972), and Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, Third Edition, Volume 7.
Starch derived from various plant sources has been commonly known in the art to provide a desirable skin feel in emulsions intended for topical use. While providing the desirable skin feel, the efficiency and performance of unmodified starch can be erratic. This had led to the development of various types of cross-linked and surface modified starches. One of these in wide use is modified with aluminum octenylsuccinate; an example brand of this is trademarked Dri-Flo by National Starch Inc. Although an improvement over unmodified starch, the material can cause excessive thickening of product when heated and the stability of some cold process emulsions (Pemulen systems) is compromised with use of this material.
Accordingly, there is a need for a topical formulation containing a modified starch that will impart desirable skin feel upon application to the skin, yet will also withstand the elevated temperatures during formulation and not cause excessive thickening of the resulting formulation.
In addition to the need for such a topical formulation, it would be advantageous to use these formulations as vehicles for both sunscreen and after sun formulations.
It is now generally recognized that exposure to solar radiation can have adverse health consequences, sometimes not appearing until several years following the exposure. Of course, the immediately appearing xe2x80x9csunburnxe2x80x9d from an overexposure can itself be a serious acute health problem.
Many products are available to reduce the amount of solar ultraviolet radiation received by the skin during exposure to the sun""s rays. Typical product formulations are lotions, creams, ointments or gels containing chemical and/or physical barriers to ultraviolet transmission. These vary considerably in their abilities to protect the skin against the physical and biochemical effects of ultraviolet radiation.
Earlier sunscreening formulations were designed to protect against sunburn from a limited solar exposure period, while transmitting sufficient radiation to permit skin tanning. However, the current focus is on eliminating as much ultraviolet exposure as possible, it being recognized that skin tanning, while esthetically pleasing to some, is a clear indication of tissue damage from overexposure to solar radiation. It has been recently discovered that any amount of unprotected exposure can potentially cause immune system suppression and lead to future health problems, such as skin carcinomas and other dermatological disorders.
The SPF (Sun Protection Factor) rating system has been developed to provide consumer guidance in selecting suitable sunscreens for any given outdoor activity. In general, the SPF number approximately corresponds to the multiple of time during which the properly applied sunscreen will prevent obvious reddening of the skin, over the exposure time that causes unprotected skin to exhibit reddening. Thus, a person should be able to remain in the sun without visible effects for eight times the usual unprotected duration, if an SPF 8 sunscreen formulation has been properly applied. Of course, the duration of unprotected exposure which produces a visible effect on the skin varies from one individual to another, due to differences in their skin cells. Currently popular are high-SPF xe2x80x9csunblockerxe2x80x9d products, having SPF values of at least 30.
One particular disadvantage of sunscreen products is developing a formulation containing sunscreen active agents that does not impart an oily feel when applied to the user""s skin. Accordingly, it would be advantageous to have a formulation containing sunscreen active agents that imparts an elegant feel upon application to the user""s skin. Similarly, non sunscreen emulsions can also have the disadvantage of an oily skin feel. Accordingly, it would also be advantageous to have a non sunscreen formulation that imparts an elegant feel upon application to the users skin, such as after sun and insect repellant formulations, either alone or in combination with a sunscreen active agent.
Accordingly the present invention provides an emulsion formulation for topical application to the skin comprising an aqueous phase, an oil phase, at least one emulsifier, and an epichlorohydrin cross-linked glyceryl starch.
The invention further provides an oil-in-water emulsion formulation for topical application to the skin comprising an aqueous phase, an oil phase, at least one emulsifier, and an epichlorohydrin cross-linked glyceryl starch.
The invention further provides a water-in-oil emulsion formulation for topical application to the skin comprising an aqueous phase, an oil phase, at least one emulsifier, and an epichlorohydrin cross-linked glyceryl starch.
The invention further provides an emulsion formulation for topical application to the skin comprising an aqueous phase, an oil phase, at least one emulsifier, an epichlorohydrin cross-linked glyceryl starch and at least one sunscreen active agent.
The invention further provides an oil-in-water emulsion formulation for topical application to the skin comprising an aqueous phase, an oil phase, at least one emulsifier, an epichlorohydrin cross-linked glyceryl starch and at least one sunscreen active agent.
The invention also provides an oil-in-water formulation for topical application to the skin comprising an aqueous phase, an oil phase, at least one emulsifier, an epichlorohydirn cross-linked glyceryl starch, and an insect repellant.
Finally, the invention further provides an oil-in-water formulation for topical application to the skin comprising an aqueous phase, an oil phase, at least one emulsifier, an epichlorohydrin cross-linked glyceryl starch, at least one sunscreen sunscreen active agent, and an insect repellant.

Schering-Plough Healthcare Products, Inc.


Techniques for detecting outliers in data and determining spatiotemporal causal interactions in the data are discussed. A process collects global positioning system (GPS) points in logs and identifies geographical locations to represent the area where the service vehicles travelled with a passenger. The process models traffic patterns by: partitioning the area into regions, segmenting the GPS points from the logs into time bins, and identifying the GPS points associated with transporting the passenger. The process projects the identified GPS points onto the regions to construct links connecting GPS points located in two or more regions. Furthermore, the process builds a three-dimensional unit cube to represent features of each link. The points farthest away from a center of data cluster are detected as outliers, which represent abnormal traffic patterns. The process constructs outlier trees to evaluate relationships of the outliers and determines the spatiotemporal causal interactions in the data.

Location-acquisition technologies collect huge volumes of spatiotemporal data in servers, databases, and cloud computing. The location-acquisition technologies use global positioning system (GPS), global system for mobile communications (GSM), Wi-Fi, etc. to enable collecting spatiotemporal data (space and time qualities) of location histories of where people visited and times of visits. The increasing availability of the spatiotemporal data has provided information in multiple ways. For instance, a large number of service vehicles transport passengers to and from various locations. Some service vehicles may be equipped with sensors to record their spatiotemporal data to a centralized server at regular intervals. The sensors may collect the spatiotemporal data in log books, which identify the locations where the service vehicles travelled with the passengers and times of travel.
However, a challenge includes trying to understand unusual spatiotemporal data of the service vehicles. Additional challenges include sparseness of the data for some roads travelled on and distribution skewness of the data for traffic travelled on different roads. Thus, there are opportunities using innovative technologies to analyze the data for valuable information.

Determine spatiotemporal causal interactions in data


An adaptable planter mounting system includes a holder having a platform and at least one pair of arms configured to support a planter. The platform and at least one of the arms are provided with apertures. At least one pair of brackets are adjustably and removably attachable to the platform and the arms to provide a variety of mounting arrangements including a post-top mounting arrangement, a rail mounting arrangement, and a wall-top mounting arrangement.

It is generally known to provide a mounting arrangement for containers such as planters used for containing, displaying and/or growing plants such as flowers, herbs, and the like, for mounting on a particular structure.
Such mounting arrangements typically involve direct fastening of the planter to structure (e.g. by screws, nails, etc.) or suspending/hanging the planter by hooks, chains, cables or other suitable hardware. However, such conventional mounting arrangements tend not to be readily adaptable for interchangeably mounting a planter on a wide variety of structures. For example, direct fastening of a planter to a structure is usually a permanent or semi-permanent installation and often requires extensive effort to remove the planter from the structure for reinstallation on another structure or location, often involving new or different hardware and leaving unsightly screw holes or other undesirable damage to the planter. By further way of example, suspending or hanging a planter by hooks, chains, etc. from an overhead structure, while permitting movement of the planter to other overhead structures, usually does not provide a readily adaptable way of mounting the planter on other non-overhead type structures and in other mounting configurations, such as wall-top mounts, post-top mounts, railing/fence mounts, corner-mounts, step-mount, etc.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an adaptable mounting system for a planter that is readily and interchangeably attachable to various structures in a wide variety of mounting arrangements. It would also be desirable to provide an adaptable mounting system for a planter that includes a holder for supporting the planter, and reconfigurable brackets that are attachable to the holder in a variety of locations and orientations. It would be further desirable to provide an adaptable mounting system for a planter that is capable of mounting the planter in any one or more of the following mounting arrangements: post-top, wall-top, rail-top, rail-hang, and corner-top.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an adaptable mounting system for a planter having any one or more of these or other desirable features.


A method, apparatus, and computer program product for providing a consulting assessment environment. Consultants may use the environment to define templates that encode questionnaires and domain knowledge regarding business practices, as well as reporting criteria to specify the content and format of the assessment results. Consultants or their clients may use the environment to automate the process of performing assessments and generating reports from those assessments. These assessments may analyze the current state of the business, compare the business's current state with desired states or with best practices, and perform risk/benefit and/or cost/benefit analyses, according to the specifications made in the templates on a real-time basis for producing immediate assessment results and actions. An information hiding feature is provided to allow sensitive domain knowledge encoded within the templates, such as trade secrets, to be made inaccessible to clients.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an improved data processing system. In particular, the present invention relates to a method, apparatus, and computer instructions for providing a consulting assessment environment.
2. Description of Related Art
Consulting activities for business assessments are typically very time consuming, at least in part because they are largely discovery based. A discovery based approach for conducting assessments uses consulting subject matter experts who are specialists in working with a client to understand their business and identify how they can improve it. A prescriptive based approach uses consultants who are experts in best practices and through their experience and knowledge, identify the problems in a business and know the solutions to fix them. The market is now looking at prescriptive approaches based upon best practices. Many of the steps in the activities for consulting assessments are manual, which makes standardization of the consulting process difficult.
In addition, data preparations, such as translating hypotheses into interview questionnaires, conducting interviews, and summarizing interview data, are very labor-intensive and lengthy in duration. Many assessments produce results that summarize the current business state rather than analyzing the data to provide new business insights and recommendations. The lack of standardization results in inconsistent data, which complicates the process of data consolidation (i.e., combining data from various divisions or units in a business for the purpose of summarizing a larger partition of the business).
Tracking results and recommendations is difficult. Many clients are reluctant to engage consultants for assessment projects because of uncertainties regarding the deliverables as well as costs of follow-up assessments to monitor progress. For example, clients will typically engage consultants the first time to perform an assessment, but usually do not want to engage the consultants again for follow-up assessments. Clients often prefer to learn from the assessment process and then have the option of performing the assessment themselves.
Therefore, there is a need for a software tool to standardize and simplify the business assessment process.

International Business Machines Corporation


A low profile integrated assembly for dissipating heat from an electronic component includes a heat sink having a peripheral envelope, and a self-contained motorized fan unit for generating a flow of air being embedded substantially within the envelope of the heat sink. The heat sink includes a generally flat heat transferring bottom base plate and a multiplicity of elongated heat dissipating fins attached on and extending upwardly from the bottom base plate. The multiplicity of heat dissipating fins define a cavity. The fins include at least a pair of outer fins being spaced from one another and disposed along a pair of opposite sides of the base plate so as to define a pair of opposite sides of the cavity. The fins also include a plurality of inner fins disposed between the pair of spaced outer fins so as to define a bottom of the cavity being spaced above the base plate. The fan unit is disposed in the cavity and spaced above the base plate by being seated upon the inner fins and retained between the outer fins in a tight-fitting engaged relation therewith.

Many electronic, particularly semiconductor, components generate significant heat internally during operation which must be dissipated to avoid damage to the components. In case of some components, the internally-generated heat is dissipated sufficiently by the enclosure structure, header or leads of the components. In many components, however, it has been necessary to aid the dissipation of the heat by use of heat sinks and/or fans. A variety of heat sink and fan designs have been employed for dissipation of the heat from packages containing semiconductor components.
One commercial product design currently available from the assignee of the present invention and other sources for cooling semiconductor components uses a heat sink and a self-contained motorized fan unit in a stacked assembly. The heat sink is mounted on top of the semiconductor component, such as an Intel 80486 DX or DX2 microprocessor, so as to provide heat removal from the semiconductor component to the heat sink via a thermal compound applied between them. The fan unit is then mounted on top of the heat radiating fins of the heat sink to generate a flow of air for removing the heat transferred to the heat sink from the electronic component.
The above-described commercial product has met performance expectations and operated satisfactorily by limiting the surface temperature rise of the 80486 microprocessor to a maximum within the range of about 12.degree.-15.degree. F. above the background temperature of the installed environment. However, the overall profile of the assembled product is undesirably high, making it difficult to properly locate the product easily on the top of the microprocessor within the computer housing where space is scarce. In view of the foregoing drawback of the above-described commercial product, a need still exists for improvements in techniques for effective heat dissipation from semiconductor components.

Low profile integrated heat sink and fan assembly


A controller for controlling a battery-powered luminaire in a lighting network comprises: a network interface for communicating with the lighting network; and control logic for controlling at least one illumination source of the battery-powered luminaire; wherein the control logic is configured to: detect a failure of at least one mains-powered luminaire in the lighting network, determine that the mains-powered luminaire was emitting or had been instructed to emit a visual alert when the failure occurred, and control the at least one illumination source of the battery-powered luminaire to emit a version of that visual alert in response, the failure being detected based on a loss of communication, within the lighting network, with the mains-powered luminaire.

Connected lighting refers to a class of lighting system in which the lights (luminaires) can be controlled based on the communication of data between the lights and a controlling device (such as a smartphone, tablet, smart-switch etc.) using network technology, according a network communications protocol or combination of such protocols, such as ZigBee, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Ethernet, Z-Wave, Thread etc. This allows a connected lighting system to provide richer functionality than traditional lighting systems, for example allowing a user to directly control the lights using an application (app) executed on a smartphone, wearable device or other user device, and to easily incorporate new control points, such as light switches or sensors, into the lighting system, or change the configuration of existing control points, without rewiring it.
US2008/266076A1 discloses a fire alarm system which comprises lamps that may be powered by a battery.


The invention discloses methods of improving blocking resistant properties and reducing the coefficient of friction of a multilayer film comprising providing at least one layer of an ethylene-propylene impact copolymer having from about 3% to about 30% by weight ethylene, wherein said copolymer has no more than two peaks in the melting curve within the range from about 110xc2x0 C. to about 165xc2x0 C., and wherein said layer is non-heat sealable, to a multilayer film having a core layer comprising polypropylene, high density polyethylene (HDPE) or linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), whereby anti-blocking and coefficient of friction characteristics of said film is improved without necessity of adding an antiblock or slip agent.

The invention relates to methods for preparing polymer films. In particular, the invention relates to methods of preparing polymer films with improved blocking resistance and reduced coefficient of friction (COF) without the necessity of adding an antiblock or slip agent.
Two side processable films (i.e. two side treated) allow for diverse functionality. For example, the outside of the film may be metallized, printed or laminated and the inside of the film may have cold seal coating and promotional print. Films which are treated on both sides, either with corona or flame treatment, have been used in the past; however, such films have the tendency to become blocked. This is especially a problem for cavitated films or when one of the surfaces is subsequently metallized since blocking leads to metal pick off and loss of functionality. Blocking manifests itself as, among other things, undesirable adhesion between layers of polymer films. Therefore, such films need to be highly loaded with antiblocks or slip agents to reduce blocking and/or reduce COF.
Antiblocking agents (AB) are additives which are incorporated into the skin layers of films to prevent the surfaces of films from sticking to one another or other surfaces. AB usually are finely divided, solid, infusible materials, such as silica, but can be minerals or waxes. They function by forming minute protruding asperities which maintain separating air spaces so as to interfere with adhesion.
Slip agents are modifiers which act as internal lubricants by exuding to the surface of a polymer film during and after processing; whereby, they lubricate the surface to reduce the COF, and thereby, improve slip characteristics.
It has been standard practice for many years to use AB or slip-agents to reduce the COF of the surface of polypropylene films. Thus, blocking of adjacent layers of film on mill rolls is prevented and film can readily be unwound for use or for further processing. In the absence of the slip agent, the layer-to-layer COF is so great that smooth unwinding of the film is virtually impossible. Typical slip or antiblock agents are high molecular weight fatty acid amides such as stearamide or oleamide. It has become standard practice in the art to incorporate about 0.1 to 1%, preferably 0.2. to 0.5% by weight of such compounds into polyolefin films as slip agents.
However, there are many disadvantages with using antiblocking and slip agents in films. Plate-out, for example, is an objectionable coating of these agents which forms on converting or end-use equipment. Additionally, these agents may scratch the opposite metal layer in a metallized film which could damage the barrier properties of the film. Moreover, these agents may interfere or destroy the adhesion of metal coatings to films.
Accordingly, it is one of the purposes of this invention among others, to produce polymer films with improved blocking resistance and surface properties, by providing an economical and relatively uncomplicated method of making polymer films that imparts superior characteristics to the films, without requirement for additives such as antiblock or slip agents.
The present invention is a method providing a layer of an ethylene-propylene (EP) impact copolymer, also known as impact modified copolymer, to multilayer films having a core layer of polypropylene, high density polyethylene (HDPE) or linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), and a product resulting therefrom. The layer of the EP impact copolymer has from about 3% to about 30% by weight ethylene, and is non-heat sealable. The EP impact copolymer has no more than two peaks in the melting curve within the range from about 110xc2x0 C. to about 165xc2x0 C. The films may be surface treated on one or both skin layers with flame or Corona treatment. The core layer of these films may be cavitated with a cavitating agent such as polybutylene terephthalate (PBT).
The EP impact copolymer layer can be a skin layer or an intermediate layer of a multilayer film. An intermediate layer can be a tie layer. The EP impact copolymer layer can further include ethylene propylene butylene (EPB) terpolymer or polypropylene or ethylene-propylene random copolymer or propylene butylene propylene copolymer or medium density polyethylene (MDPE) or linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) or high density polyethylene (HDPE) or blends of the aforementioned polymers.
The film can also include a second skin layer which can include high density polyethylene (HDPE) or ethylene propylene butylene (EPB) terpolymer or ethylene-propylene random copolymer or EP impact copolymer or medium density polyethylene (MDPE) or linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) or propylene butene copolymer or polypropylene homopolymer or ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) or ethylene-methyacrylic acid copolymer (EMA) or ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer (EVOH) or blends of the aforementioned polymers. An intermediate layer can be interposed between the core layer and the second skin layer. Such an intermediate layer can include polypropylene and from about 1% to about 15% by weight titanium dioxide. A second intermediate layer can be interposed between the core layer and the EP block copolymer skin layer, and can include polypropylene.
In the embodiment in which the EP impact copolymer layer is an intermediate layer, it is placed adjacent to a skin layer, e.g., interposed between the core layer and a first skin layer. A second intermediate layer can also be interposed between the core layer and a second skin layer, and can include polypropylene or ethylene-propylene impact copolymer. An intermediate layer can be a tie layer. The skin layers can also include high density polyethylene (HDPE) or ethylene propylene butylene (EPB) terpolymer or ethylene-propylene random copolymer or propylene butylene (PB) copolymer or polypropylene homopolymer or medium density polyethylene (MDPE) or linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) or blends of the aforementioned polymers.
The present invention provides multilayer films with improved anti-blocking and COF characteristics without the necessity of adding an antiblock or slip agent. This gives the ability to produce sealable clear and cavitated films structures, which are processable on both sides, with outstanding surface properties without the use of additives.
These and other advantages of the present invention will be appreciated from the detailed description and examples which are set forth herein. The detailed description and examples enhance the understanding of the invention, but are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.

Films with improved blocking resistance and surface properties


A digital television signal includes successive frames of two fields each comprising 313 data segments with the first data segment in each field functioning as a field sync. The field sync segment comprises a 511 PN sequence and three 63 pseudo-random number (PN) sequences, with the middle one of the 63 PN sequences alternating polarity in successive fields. A reference data segment is compared with the 511 PN sequence in each data segment and the data segment with the least number of errors is identified as the first data segment in the field. The corresponding portion of the reference segment is compared with the middle 63 PN sequences in the identified first data segments and that with the least number of errors is determined to be the first segment in the frame. Confidence counters are used to assure reliable determinations.

This invention relates in general to television receivers and in particular to a field identification system used in a digital television receiver.
The Advanced Television System (ATV) recently adopted by the FCC for use in the United States for both high definition television (HDTV) and lower resolution HDTV signals incorporates vestigial sideband (VSB) transmission. The VSB transmission system is characterized in both the terrestrial and cable modes by a data frame that comprises two data fields of 313 data segments each with each data segment comprising 832 multilevel symbols. The first data segment in each field comprises a data field sync segment and each data segment is headed by a four symbol data segment sync followed by 828 data and forward error correction symbols. (At present, the data field sync segments do not include forward error correction symbols.) The field and segment sync symbols facilitate recovery of the data in the ATV receiver and provide timing signals for the fields and segments. Each field sync segment also includes information identifying the VSB mode.
The transmission is via suppressed carrier modulation. Three hundred and ten kilohertz from the lower band edge, a small DC pilot is added to the signal for use by the VSB receiver in achieving carrier lock. The data and forward error correction (FEC) bytes are randomized and interleaved for added protection against burst errors.
The symbol rate is approximately 10.76 MHz. The sync symbols are always two level. In the terrestrial mode, 8 level trellis-coded symbols (3 bits per symbol) are transmitted, whereas in the cable mode, 16/8/4/2 level symbols (4/3/2/1 bits per symbol, respectively) are used.
As mentioned, each field is headed by a data field sync segment. As is fully described in the above-referenced copending application, the data field sync segment is characterized by a relatively long (511 symbol) pseudo-random number sequence followed by three relatively short (63 symbol) pseudo-random number sequences with the middle one of the short pseudo-random number sequences alternating in polarity in successive fields. Both the relatively long pseudo-random number sequence and the three relatively short pseudo-random number sequences are used as an equalizer training signal in terrestrial broadcast applications and one of the relatively short pseudo-random number sequences is used as an equalizer training signal in more benign applications, such as in a cable environment.
In some applications it is advantageous to be able to identify the first field in a frame. The presence of the reverse polarity middle 63 pseudo-random number (PN) sequence is used in the present invention for that purpose.


An objective lens system with protection glass for a microscope and having a numerical aperture of 1.25 and using an immersion oil, having a first, second, third and fourth lens groups, the first lens group being a plano-parallel plate cemented to a hemispherical lens, the second lens group being one aplanatic meniscus, the third lens group being three cemented doublets, and the fourth lens group being two lens components including a positive and a negative meniscus component which are arranged with their concave surface opposite each other. The objective lens system has a relatively small number of lens components, and the aberration, especially chromatic, spherical, coma, astigmatic difference and curvature of field, are corrected favorably.

1. Field of Invention
This present invention relates to microscope objective lens systems and more particularly, to a plan-achromatic immersion type infinite microscope objective with numerical aperture 1.25 and a magnification of .times.100.
2. Description of the Related Art
For most known microscope objectives of this kind, i.e. immersion plan-achromat microscope objectives with numerical aperture of 1.25 and a magnification of .times.100, the chromatic, coma and spherical aberrations, astigmatic difference and curvature of field are not favorable.
Rosenberg U.S. Pat. No. 3,583,789 discloses at FIG. 4 a microscope objective which achieves a .times.100 magnification and which includes a plano-parallel plate CI. This objective lens is of the oil immersion type having a suitable liquid located between the cover glass surface and the plano-parallel plate CI. The rear surface of the plano-parallel plate CI is cemented to the plane surface of a hemispherical lens element CII. However, this microscope objective lens does not achieve sufficient aberration correction, and Rosenberg appears not to have recognized the problem with aberration correction in connection with such a plano-parallel plate.

Microscope objective with ball lens and protection plate


A control system for an electric vehicle comprises a motor speed detector and a sensor for detecting an accelerator angle and outputting a motor speed error command based on the difference between motor speed and a speed required by the present accelerator angle. A motor speed command is generated based on the error command and the detected motor speed. A feedback control portion outputs a torque command based on the motor speed command and the detected motor speed and the driving force of the motor is controlled based on the torque command.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a motor control for a motor used as a prime mover of a vehicle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Motor control of the above-mentioned kind may be divided into one type of control wherein motor torque is used as a variable to be adjusted, namely a torque control, and another wherein a motor revolution at speed is used as a variable to be adjusted, namely a speed control. The torque control is in most cases employed to meet demands of a driver.
If, for example, motor control is to be combined with a so-called Automatic Speed Control Device (ASCD) or it is to be so modified as to depend on a vehicle speed of another vehicle moving ahead, control based on motor speed is needed. Such speed control is also needed in a case where left and right wheels are driven by different motors so as to adjust a speed difference between the left and right wheels thereby to give a so-called Limited Slip Differential (LSD) effect. Thus, there is a demand for a motor systems which can shift between torque control and speed control.
FIG. 9 is a schematic illustrating a conventional motor control arrangement for a motor 107 used as a prime mover of a vehicle. In this system, torque control is employed wherein a torque demand signal T* generated in response to operation of an accelerator 101 is used as a variable to be adjusted. In this case, the torque demand signal T* is supplied to a controller 105. The controller 105 effects an open loop control wherein a motor torque generated by the motor 107 approaches a target value as represented by the torque demand signal T*. If control based on motor speed is required, a switch 103 is operated to take a position wherein instead of the torque demand signal T* a deviation between a desired motor speed signal V* and an actual motor speed, as detected, of the motor 107 is supplied to the controller 105. Then, the controller 105 effects a closed loop control, i.e., feedback control, wherein the motor 107 is controlled in such a direction as to reduce the deviation toward zero.
This motor control has an insufficiency in that there occurs a shock upon making a shift to the torque control mode from the speed control mode, resulting in a--a poor ride feel of the vehicle. This is because closed loop control is interrupted and replaced by the open loop control at the time of shifting and a rapid change in control gain occurs.
Another approach to effect a smooth shift between torque control and speed control is proposed in Japanese Utility Model Application First Publication 63-149105. According to the motor control system disclosed in this Publication, instead of a closed loop control, an open loop control is used to effect motor speed control wherein a running resistance is anticipated in response to a change in motor speed and outputted in terms of torque in such a manner as to keep the motor at about a desired value. Specifically, an accelerator position, a brake position and a motor speed are used for calculation of an electric current amplitude and a torque angle. These values are used as target values. There are calculated instruction values which gradually approack the above target values, respectively. Torque control of the motor is effected based on these instruction values. This known approach is successful in making a smooth shift between torque control and speed control.
However, this known motor control cannot keep the speed at a desired speed value when the vehicle encounters a change in road conditions, such as when moving uphill. Thus, the functions performed by ASCD and LSD cannot be realized in the known motor control.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide motor control which effects smooth shift between torque control and speed control of a motor and which is capable of realizing the functions of ASCD and LSD.


An all-wheel drive system for a vehicle having an engine and a drive shaft is arranged between the drive shaft and front and rear propellable shafts. These shafts are interconnected by first and second clutches respectively, and the propellable shafts are coupled to front and rear wheels, for transferring torque from the drive shaft to the front and/or rear wheels. The all-wheel drive system further includes at least first and second actuators that are coupled to at least first and second clutches, where at least the first clutch is engaged by a spring and at least the first actuator is coupled for disengaging the first clutch when the first actuator is operated. The second actuator is coupled for engaging the second clutch when the second actuator is operated.

The patent publications EP-A-O.352.994 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,358,084 disclose a distributing system which comprises two separate output axles with active couplings/clutches that independently will distribute torque to the front and rear axles. The two couplings of the described system are active, which means that no transfer or distribution of torque is possible if there is loss of electrical power to the couplings. This will make it impossible to drive the vehicle. Moreover, two separate couplings lead to a higher cost compared to a more common system with one coupling parallel to a center differential.


Antagonists of alpha 4 integrin/alpha 4 integrin ligand adhesion, which inhibit the biological effects of such adhesion are described and methods for their use are detailed. Such antagonists are useful in suppressing bone destruction associated with multiple myeloma. The homing of multiple myeloma cells to bone marrow and their alpha 4 integrin-dependent release of bone-resorbing factors, resulting in bone destruction in patients with multiple myeloma, is inhibited.

Multiple myeloma is the second most common hematologic malignancy, with 15,000 new cases diagnosed each year and 30,000 to 40,000 myeloma patients in the U.S. annually (Mundy and Bertolini 1986). Eighty percent of the patients suffer from devastating osteolytic bone destruction caused by increased osteoclast (OCL) formation and activity (Mundy and Bertolini 1986). This bone destruction can cause excruciating bone pain, pathologic fractures, spinal cord compression, and life-threatening hypercalcemia. Because multiple myeloma cannot be cured by standard chemotherapy or stem cell transplantation (Attal et al, 1996), and because of the severe morbidity and potential mortality associated with myeloma bone disease, treatment strategies that control the myeloma growth itself, and in particular the osteolytic bone destruction that occurs in these patients, are vitally important.
However, the pathologic mechanisms responsible for the increased osteoclast activity in patients with multiple myeloma are unknown (Mundy, 1998). The bone lesions occur in several patterns. Occasionally, patients develop discrete osteolytic lesions that are associated with solitary plasmacytomas. Some patients have diffuse osteopenia, which mimics the appearance of osteoporosis, and is due to the myeloma cells being spread diffusely throughout the axial skeleton. In most patients there are multiple discrete lytic lesions occurring adjacent to nests of myeloma cells. Hypercalcemia occurs as a consequence of bone destruction in about one-third of patients with advanced disease. Rarely, patients with myeloma do not have lytic lesions or bone loss, but rather have an increase in the formation of new bone around myeloma cells. This rare situation is known as osteosclerotic myeloma.
Osteolytic bone lesions are by far the most common skeletal manifestations in patients with myeloma (Mundy, 1998). Although the precise molecular mechanisms remain unclear, observations over 15 years have shown that: 1) The mechanism by which bone is destroyed in myeloma is via the osteoclast, the normal bone-resorbing cell; 2) Osteoclasts accumulate on bone-resorbing surfaces in myeloma adjacent to collections of myeloma cells and it appears that the mechanism by which osteoclasts are stimulated in myeloma is a local one; 3) It has been known for many years that cultures of human myeloma cells in vitro produce several osteoclast activating factors, including lymphotoxin-alpha (LT-a), interleukin-1 (IL-1), parathyroid-hormone related protein (PTHrP) and interleukin-6 (IL-6); 4) Hypercalcemia occurs in approximately one-third of patients with myeloma some time during the course of the disease. Hypercalcemia is always associated with markedly increased bone resorption and frequently with impairment in glomerular filtration; 5) The increase in osteoclastic bone resorption in myeloma is usually associated with a marked impairment in osteoblast function. Alkaline phosphatase activity in the serum is decreased or in the normal range, unlike patients with other types of osteolytic bone disease, and radionuclide scans do not show evidence of increased uptake, indicating impaired osteoblast responses to the increase in bone resorption.
Although various mediators listed above have been implicated in the stimulation of osteoclast activity in patients with multiple myeloma, reports of factors produced by myeloma cells have not been consistent, and some studies have been inconclusive due to the presence of other contaminating cell types, including stromal cells and macrophages, in the multiple myeloma cell population. IL-6 is a major myeloma growth factor that enhances the growth of several myeloma cell lines and freshly isolated myeloma cells from patients (Bataille et al., 1989). IL-6 production can be detected in about 40% of freshly isolated myeloma cells by PCR, but only 1 in 150 patients studied show detectable IL-6 production by immunocytochemistry or ELISA assays (Epstein 1992). The IL-6 receptors were only detected in 6 of 13 samples from patients with multiple myeloma (Bataille et al, 1992). Furthermore, mature myeloma cells have been reported to have a minimal proliferative response to IL-6. Interleukin-11 (IL-11) has an IL-6-like activity on plasmacytomas, but to date no one has demonstrated that myeloma cells produce IL-11. Bataille and coworkers (1995) have shown that perfusion of 5 patients with refractory myeloma with an antibody to IL-6 decreased the size of the myeloma cell burden in only 2 of these patients. IL-1 is an extremely potent bone-resorbing agent that induces hypercalcemia in animal models in the absence of renal failure (Boyce et al, 1989). In contrast, hypercalcemia rarely occurs in myeloma patients without renal failure. More importantly, in highly purified myeloma cells, no IL-1 and only rare TNF-a production can be detected, suggesting that other contaminating cell types such as macrophages may be the source of IL-1 and TNF-a (Epstein 1992). Similarly, LT-a is produced by most human myeloma cell lines (Bataille et al, 1995) but does not appear to be produced by mycloma cells in vivo (Alsina et al, 1996). In addition to IL-1, TNF-a, LT-a, and IL-6, myeloma cells produce a truncated form of M-CSF which is biologically active, but M-CSF does not cause hypercalcemia or induce osteoclast formation by itself in human marrow cultures (MacDonald et al, 1986).
Thus, the role of any of these factors in osteolytic bone disease in patients with myeloma has not been clearly demonstrated in vivo, so that known cytokines clearly do not totally account for the bone resorption seen in these patients.

Methods of treating multiple myeloma and myeloma-induced bone resorption using integrin antagonists

Board of Regents, The University of Texas System


A variable dashpot for motor vehicles A cylinder (2) full of vibration-suppressing fluid accommodates a piston (3). The piston is provided with vibration-suppressing valves, is fastened to a piston rod (8), and separates the cylinder into two compartments. The compartments communicate through a bypass. The cross-section of the bypass can be adjusted with a component (11) comprising a stator (12) with windings (13) and an electric motor (10) with a rotor (17). The improvement comprises making it possible to continuously and highly dynamically vary the cross-section of the bypass in a dashpot of the same size. This is attained in that the stator windings are accommodated directly in a recess (9) in the piston rod, which is made out of a material that can be magnetized, and the rotor is provided with permanent magnets (22), activates the adjusting component (11), and is accommodated in a bore in the stator (12).

Variable dashpots are intended to allow the driving characteristics of a vehicle to be adapted to the varying road conditions. Additional adjustable bypass valves are associated with vibration-suppression valves in the piston. They can be controlled with manually activated switches or by an electronic paragraph that varies the vibration suppression in accordance with varying input parameters.
German 3 405 315 A 1 discloses a variable dashpot for vehicles in which an electric motor of the type called a micromotor is accommodated in the piston rod and controls a component that varies the cross-section of the bypass. Since even such motors are fairly large, however, the piston rod must also be large. The motor occupies space otherwise employed for backing up the vibration-suppression fluid, and the device must be expanded or extended. These known electric motors also have the drawback of too long a response time for automated controls.
The object of the present invention in to improve a variable dashpot to allow continuous and highly dynamic adjustments to the cross-section of the bypass in a dashpot of acceptable dimensions.
This object is attained in accordance with the invention by providing a cylinder and piston in which vibration-suppressing fluid fills the cylinder and the piston has vibration-suppressing valves. The piston separates the cylinder into two compartments which communicate through a bypass cross-section which is adjustable. The adjustment is produced through an electric motor which has stator windings held in a recess of the piston rod that is attached to the piston. The piston rod is made of magnetic material. The rotor of the motor has permanent magnets and is held in a bore in the stator.
The rotor is arranged so as not to rotate more than 360.degree. in relation to the stator, by a rotation limiter which is provided with stops. The adjustment of the bypass cross-section is carried out with an adjusting component that is integrated into the rotor. The rotor, moreover, may be provided with a thread that engages another thread for moving the adjustment component which cannot rotate back and forth. A position sensor may be associated with either the rotor or the adjusting component.
The invention has several advantages. Very few components are employed, few enough to ensure simple assembly of a system for adjusting the open cross-section of a bypass. The embodiment in accordance with the invention is highly reliable and, due to its small size, can be employed in a highly dynamic system. A variable dashpot can easily be employed in the space usually occupied by a non-variable dashpot. This is a particular advantage in conjunction with industrial-scale manufacture.


Illustrative embodiments of custom knowledgebases and sequence datasets, as well as related methods, are disclosed. In one illustrative embodiment, one or more computer-readable media may comprise a custom knowledgebase and an associated sequence dataset. The custom knowledgebase may comprise a plurality of assertions that have been automatically extracted from a plurality of publications, where each of the plurality of assertions encodes a relationship between a subject and an object. The sequence dataset may comprise a plurality of called biological sequences, where each of the plurality of called biological sequences is associated with one or more of the plurality of assertions of the custom knowledgebase.

A knowledgebase is a technology used to store complex structured and/or unstructured information that may be used by a computing device (e.g., a knowledge-based system or expert system) to deduce new information. Knowledgebases often represent their stored information using an object model (sometimes called an "ontology") with classes, subclasses, and instances. This ontology permits the representation of knowledge as a hierarchy of concepts with a particular domain, using a shared/controlled vocabulary to denote types, properties, and/or interrelationships associated with the information.
Some attempts have been made to develop knowledgebases in the areas of genetics and genomics. For instance, the Comprehensive Antibiotic Research Database (CARD), described in McArthur et al., "The Comprehensive Antibiotic Resistance Database," Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, vol. 57, pp. 3348-3357 (2013), includes data describing antibiotics and their targets along with antibiotic resistance genes, associated proteins, and antibiotic resistance literature. The CARD utilizes an Antibiotic Resistance Ontology (ARO) for the classification of antibiotic resistance gene data. Existing knowledgebases in the areas of genetics and genomics, however, have typically relied entirely on subject matter experts to manually construct the ontologies used by the knowledgebases.

Constructing custom knowledgebases and sequence datasets with publications


Methods are disclosed for metal encapsulation for preventing exposure of metal during semiconductor processing. In one embodiment, the method includes forming an opening in a structure exposing a metal surface in a bottom of the opening, where the opening forming step occurs in a tool including at least one clustered chamber. An at least partially sacrificial encapsulation layer is then formed on the exposed metal surface in the tool to prevent reaction of the exposed metal surface with the ambient. Exposure of the metal is thereby prevented.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to semiconductor fabrication, and more particularly, to methods of preventing damage of a metal during lag times in semiconductor fabrication by using clustered processing and an at least partially sacrificial encapsulation layer.
2. Related Art
During semiconductor fabrication, metal that forms circuitry is formed in various materials. Metals such as copper (Cu) are typically lined with a liner material such as tantalum nitride, which prevents interaction of the metal with other materials. During processing, however, lag times in processing leave the metal exposed. Exposure of the metal to an ambient environment, other materials used in the processing or even adjacent dielectric structure during the lag times can cause damage to the metal. The damaged metal results in yield and reliability problems. Lag times can be created and or extended by a number of situations. For example, lag times may be created between etching steps and encapsulation of the metal with the liner. In addition, other situations such as unplanned tool down times and tool overload increases metal exposure time.
FIGS. 1A-D show one illustrative conventional process including: A) a damascene wire lithography (via first) using a mask 2 through a dielectric 4; B) metal reactive ion etching (RIE), resist stripping and silicon carbide nitrogen etching to reveal metal 6 through cap layer 8; C) a post-RIE wet cleaning; and D) liner 9 deposition. Lag times that may occur are shown in the form of arrows. FIG. 2A shows conventional metal (e.g., copper) damage in terms of corrosion 10; and FIGS. 2B and 2C show metal (e.g., copper) damage in terms of growths 12, 14 of, for example, copper oxyfluoride (CuOF) 14 and ammonium fluoride (NH4F) 12. In either event, the resulting circuitry may exhibit increased via resistance, via opens, wire shorts, and degraded reliability (i.e., via resistance increase during use in the field or increased current leakage between wires). Certain intermetal dielectrics such as fluorinated silica glass (FSG), hydrogenated silicon oxycarbide (SiCOH) and porous-SiCOH especially exhibit increased metal damage.
One approach to address the exposure problem has been to implement exposure time window limitations (e.g., ˜6-24 hours). Time window limitations may be applied to the durations shown by arrows in FIGS. 1A-D. Unfortunately, management of these time window limitations is expensive. In addition, other situations such as unplanned tool down times and tool overload oftentimes result in exceeding the exposure time window limitations. Furthermore, exposure time window limitations may not be adequate because yield and reliability data frequently indicates that metal damage can begin immediately upon exposure, e.g., in less than 1 hour.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need in the art for an improved solution to the metal exposure problem.

Preventing damage to metal using clustered processing and at least partially sacrificial encapsulation


A method and apparatus is disclosed herein for scheduling, load balancing and/or pilot assignment in MIMD cellular deployments (e.g., reciprority-based MIMO cellular deployments). In one embodiment, the method comprises receiving, by the central controller from at least one AP, for at least one user terminal, a size of a user set and user rate information indicative of a rate that can be provided to the user terminal when served in a group of one or more user terminals; and determining, by the central controller, based on user rate information and the user set size, an allocation of AP resources among the user terminals for the at least one AP.

Cellular Massive MIMO based on reciprocity-based channel acquisition is becoming a very attractive candidate in consideration of future radio access technologies. This is due to the promise of very large increases in throughput per unit area, especially when used over dense (small cell) deployments. Massive MIMO is also envisioned as a candidate for addressing large variations in user load, including user-traffic hot spots. One aspect that such deployments that must be dealt with effectively in this context is load balancing, that is, associating users with cells not only based on relative signal strength from each cell, but also taking into account the relative user-traffic load in the vicinity of each cell, with goal to optimize network-wide performance. Some heuristic methods for load balancing already exist today. In conventional technologies, user-base station association is decided on the basis of the maximum received beacon signal strength, usually denoted as the Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI). In general, such an approach can be arbitrarily suboptimal in heterogeneous network scenarios. "Biasing" is a commonly proposed heuristic method for heterogeneous networks, where the RSSI is artificially scaled by a "bias" term that depends on the base station tier, to inherently steer the user association towards lower-tier base stations and therefore "off-load" the macro-cell and better balance the load across the network tiers. Load balancing plays an even more important role over small cells, as these are inherently less planned, thus less regular than macro deployments, with large variability in effective-area coverage.
Non-uniform load distribution is considered to be a major challenge in small cell networks. If the load cannot be balanced efficiently, the performance gains that are expected as a result of the increased density of network access points (due to use of small cells) may be distributed in a very non-uniform manner within the user population. Various load balancing techniques are proposed for dynamically arranging user load across small cells. These techniques are generally designed considering traditional PHY layer approaches, where one AP serves at most one user at a certain frequency and time resource. But it is well accepted by now that major gains in PHY layer are expected due to MU-MIMO and especially Massive MIMO.
The text that follows provides a brief description of the general area of downlink MU-MIMO, methods for obtaining the required channel state information at the transmitter, methods for network utility optimization, load balancing, and rate calculations for Massive MIMO.
Conventional downlink MU-MIMO schemes have been at the forefront of investigations in the past decade. These schemes allegedly provide spectral efficiency increases by using multiple antennas at the base-station and serving multiple users simultaneously without the need for multiple antennas at the user terminals. This is achieved by using knowledge of the channel state information (CSI) between each user and the transmitting base-station. Having CSIT (CSI available at the transmitter) allows the transmitter to precode the user streams so that each user terminal (UE) sees only its own stream. Given a base station with M transmit antennas, K single-antenna user terminals can be served simultaneously, giving roughly a multiplexing gain equal to min(M, K) with respect to a system serving a single terminal.
For the transmitter to achieve this operation reliably, it needs to have sufficiently accurate CSIT, i.e., the transmitter needs to know the channels between itself and each of the users with sufficient accuracy. The techniques used for acquiring CSIT fall into two classes. The first class employs M pilots (one per base-station transmit antenna) in the downlink, to allow each user terminal to estimate the channel coefficients between the user-terminal's own antenna(s) and those of the base-station. This operation provides each CSI at each receiving user-terminal (CSIR) regarding the channel between each base-station transmit antenna and the user-terminal receive antennas. The CSIR, i.e., the CSI information available at each user-terminal, is then fed back to the transmitter by use of uplink transmissions to provide CSIT, i.e., CSI at the transmitting base-station. This class of CSIT acquisition schemes has two overheads: (i) a downlink pilot overhead, which scales linearly with M (the number of antenna elements at the transmitting base-station); and (b) an uplink feedback overhead, responsible for making available to the base-station the channels between each user-terminal and each base-station antenna. In the case each user terminal has a single antenna, the uplink feedback is responsible for providing to the base-station the MK channel coefficients (complex-scalar numbers), one coefficient for each channel between each user terminal antenna and each base-station antenna. Although the uplink overhead could in principle be made to grow linearly with min(M, K), with the methods used in practice this overhead grows as the product of M and K. The downlink overhead limits the size of the antenna array, M, that can be deployed. Similarly the uplink overheads limit both M and K, as the overheads grow very fast with respect to increasing M and K.
The second class of CSIT acquisition techniques is referred to as reciprocity-based training schemes. They exploit a property of the physical wireless channel, known as channel reciprocity, to enable, under certain suitably chosen (M, K) pairs, very high-rate transmission with very efficient CSIT training. In particular, pilots are transmitted in the uplink by each user (K pilots are needed, but more could be used) and the corresponding pilot observations at the base-station are directly used to form the precoder for downlink transmission. If the uplink training and the following downlink data transmission happen close enough in time and frequency (within the coherence time and the coherence bandwidth of the channel), then the uplink training provides the required (downlink channel) CSI at the transmitter directly, since the uplink and the downlink channels at the same time and frequency are the same. In this class of techniques, the uplink overheads scale linearly with K, i.e., with the number of user terminals that will be served simultaneously. These schemes are also typically envisioned as relying on TDD (Time Division Duplex) in order to allow uplink training and downlink transmission within the coherence bandwidth of the user terminal channel with a single transceiver shared for uplink and downlink data transmission.
One attractive aspect of reciprocity-based training schemes is that one can keep on increasing the size of the transmit antenna array, M, making it "Massive", without incurring any increase in the training overheads. Although with M>K, increasing M does not increase the number of simultaneously multiplexed streams, K, (i.e., K streams are simultaneously transmitted, one to each user), increasing M induces significant "beamforming" gains on each stream (which translate to higher rate per stream), at no additional cost in training. Alternatively, increasing M allows reducing the transmit power required to yield a target rate to a user terminal, thereby allowing for greener transmission schemes. Another advantage of Massive MIMO is hardening of the user rates, i.e. with large number of antennas the rate that a user gets does not significantly change by small scale fading.
The challenge with reciprocity based training schemes is that the "compound" uplink and downlink channels at the same time and frequency are not the same. Specifically, although the uplink and downlink physical channel components are the same, each compound channel between a "source node" (responsible for transmitting an information-bearing signal from the transmit antenna) and a destination node (attached to the receive antenna) includes additional impairments due to the transmitter (the circuitry, at the transmitter) and the receiver (the circuitry, at the transmitter). When the transmitter and receiver roles are interchanged, different impairments occur at each node, thereby rendering the two compound channels non-reciprocal. There exist various calibration techniques to calibrate receivers and transmitters so that the compound DL and UL channels are approximately reciprocal. In the following, it is assumed that reciprocity is perfectly established.
Small cell deployment in heavy traffic areas, often referred to as "hot spots," is considered to be a promising solution for coping with surging traffic demands. In some deployment scenarios, the small cell layer might co-exist with the macro cell layer. Another complementary promising direction towards coping with heavy traffic demands in a power- and bandwidth-efficient manner is Massive MIMO. In Massive MIMO, the number of antennas serving users is much larger than number of users being served. In downlink Massive MIMO, for instance, many users can be served at the same time either using Zero Forcing Beamforming, or even the simpler Conjugate Beam Forming, exploiting the fact that the number of users served is far smaller than the number of antennas. As the number of antennas gets large, transmission beams get sharper, enabling achieving desired received signal level with much lower transmitted power levels. Furthermore, with large antenna arrays, the achieved user rates harden, i.e. variance in user rate due to fast (e.g., Rayleigh) fading becomes effectively negligible.
In traditional macro cells deployments, users associate themselves with the macro base station (BS) with the largest power. Although variations can arise in the traffic-load of different nearby BSs, such as e.g., in the case of hot-spots, in general such variations are relatively small due to the size and planning of the cells. In the case of smaller less-planned cells the traffic load from one small cell to the next can exhibit much larger variations. As a result, much larger variability of the load can arise across different small BSs, if users simply associate with the BS from which they receive the strongest signal. Clearly, many BSs may be over-loaded while other nearby BSs might be serving much fewer users. Fortunately, in the case of small cell deployments, many users may be able to receive signals from several BSs as there are more BSs (on average) in proximity. As a result, many recent works consider load balancing and association methods in order to make the best out of the available resources brought by small cells.
The problem of designing good load balancing and user association techniques becomes in general more challenging in cases where more than one user is scheduled at the same time and frequency resources, i.e. with multi-user transmission schemes. Indeed, the rate each user receives in the context of a multiuser transmission scheme, such as e.g., Linear Zero-Forcing Beamforming (LZFBF), depends not only on the user's own channel, but also on the number of other users scheduled together with the user for such multiuser transmission as well as the channels of these users. The problem of scheduling user sets to maximize the sum of user rate when LZFBF precoding is applied has been considered, and a greedy algorithm has been proposed for the user selection when considering a single cell with a single BS.
Clearly providing a practical method that can achieve balancing the load across BSs and attains the desired benefits from MU-MIMO transmission and scheduling is in general non-trivial.
Reciprocity-Based Massive MU-MIMO
Consider the problem of enabling MU-MIMO transmission from an array of M transmit antennas to s single-antenna user terminals. The downlink (DL) channel between the i-th base-station transmitting antenna and the k-th user terminal is given by{right arrow over (yki)}={right arrow over (hki)}{right arrow over (xi)}+{right arrow over (zki)}where {right arrow over (xi)}, {right arrow over (hki)}, {right arrow over (yki)}, and {right arrow over (zki)} denote the transmitted signal from base-station antenna i, the compound DL channel between the two antennas, the observation and noise at the receiver of user terminal k, respectively. This model is applicable at any frequency and time resource. In general, the variables in the above equation are frequency and time dependent. This dependency is currently ignored in the notation for convenience though with an abuse of notation, it will be used when time-sharing across various resource blocks are considered. The amplitude and phase shifts introduced by RF-to-baseband conversion hardware (e.g., gain control, filters, mixers, A/D, etc.) at the receiver of user terminal k as well as the amplitude and phase shifts introduced by the baseband-to-RF conversion hardware (e.g., amplifiers filters, mixers, A/D, etc.) at the transmitter generating the signal to be transmitted by base-station antenna i are all included in the DL compound channel.
Similarly the uplink channel between the k-th user terminal and the i-th base-station antenna is given by=+where , , , and  denote the transmitted signal from user terminal k, the compound uplink (UL) channel between the two antennas, and the observation and noise at the receiver of base-station antenna i, respectively. The amplitude and phase shifts introduced by RF-to-baseband conversion hardware (e.g., gain control, filters, mixers, A/D, etc.) at the receiver of base-station antenna i as well as the scalar (complex) coefficient  contains the amplitude and phase shifts introduced by the baseband-to-RF conversion hardware (amplifiers filters, mixers, A/D, etc.) at the transmitter generating the signal to be transmitted by user terminal k are all included in the compound UL channel.
In the uplink, the following model exists:=+where  is the vector of dimension s×1 (i.e., s rows by l column) comprising the user symbols on subcarrier n at symbol time t,  is the M×s channel matrix that includes the constant carrier phase shifts and the frequency-dependent constant in time phase shifts due to the relative delays between the timing references of the different terminals,  and  are the received signal vector and noise at the user terminal.
In the Downlink, the following model exists:{right arrow over (y)}={right arrow over (x)}{right arrow over (H)}+{right arrow over (z)}where {right arrow over (x)} is the (row) vector of user symbols on subcarrier n at symbol time t, {right arrow over (H)} is the s×M channel matrix that includes the constant carrier phase shifts and the frequency-dependent constant in time phase shifts due to the relative delays between the timing references of the different terminals, {right arrow over (y)} and {right arrow over (z)} are the received signal (row) vector and noise at the user terminals. Other APs at sufficiently close distance cause interference as Network MIMO/joint transmission/CoMP or any other interference mitigation techniques are not considered. Interference from the other access points is included in the noise term.
Assuming perfect calibration, the compound UL and DL channels become reciprocal and then={right arrow over (H)}
For simplicity, the thermal noise is neglected. In order to estimate the downlink channel matrix, the s user terminals send a block of s OFDM symbols, such that the uplink-training phase can be written as=+noisewhere  is a scaled unitary matrix. Hence, the base-station can obtain the channel matrix estimate=+noise
In order to perform downlink beamforming, the compound channel downlink matrix {right arrow over (H)} is used.
The ZFBF precoding matrix can be calculated asW=Λ1/2[{right arrow over (H)}H{right arrow over (H)}]−1{right arrow over (H)}H where Λ is a diagonal matrix with λm's as diagonal elements that imposes on each row of the matrix W, the row normalization ∥wm∥2=1, for all m.
Hence, the ZFBF precoded signal in the downlink with equal power for each beam also taking account a distance-dependent pathloss model with the diagonal matrix matrix G, whose diagonal elements are gi's.
                                          y            →                    =                                                                        u                →                                                          p                                  1                  /                  2                                                                          G                                  1                  /                  2                                                          W                                            H                →                                      +                          z              →                                                                    =                                                                        u                →                                                          p                                  1                  /                  2                                                                          G                                  1                  /                  2                                                                                Λ                                          1                      /                      2                                                                                [                                                                                H                          →                                                H                                                                                H                        →                                                              ]                                                                    -                  1                                                                                H                  →                                H                                                          H                →                                      +                          z              →                                                                    =                                                                        u                →                                                          p                                  1                  /                  2                                                                          G                                  1                  /                  2                                                                          Λ                                  1                  /                  2                                                      +                          z              →                                                      λ      k        =          1                        [                                    (                                                                    H                    →                                    H                                                                  H                  →                                            )                                      -              1                                ]                          k          ,          k
Notice that the resulting channel matrix is diagonal, provided that s≤M.
Background on MU-MIMO User Scheduling
Although there several methods available in the literature, for scheduling multi-user MIMO transmissions at the BS, a widely accepted class of methods involves scheduling policies which, at any given scheduling instant at the BS, schedule the subset of users that would yield the highest expected weighted sum-rate. Each user's expected rate in each scheduled set for transmission is a function on the instantaneous channels of all the users in the scheduled set. Indeed, assuming LZFB transmission as described in the preceding section, at any given resource block the coefficients λk's depend on the instantaneous channel matrix of all users in the scheduling set (served by ZFBF), and in particular, they can be expressed as
                                                        λ                              k                ,                S                                                                (              t              )                                =                      1                                          [                                                      (                                                                                H                            →                                                                                k                            ,                            s                                                    H                                                                                (                          t                          )                                                                                H                            →                                                                                k                            ,                            S                                                                                (                          t                          )                                                                                )                                                        -                    1                                                  ]                                            k                ,                k                                                    ,                            (        1        )            where {right arrow over (H)}k,S(t) denote the compound downlink channel matrix for UEk in the user set Sat the tth resource block. Clearly, since the choice of the user set S and/or resource block (t) affects λk, the expected user rates are a function of both the scheduling set and the instantaneous channel realization. Fixing the scheduling time instance, and assuming LZFBF transmission, the problem of choosing the subset S that maximize the weighted sum-rate is combinatoric in the number of antennas, as the number of possible subsets, S, that can be considered for scheduling grows exponentially fast with the maximum number of users that can be considered for joint scheduling. One solution to this problem relies on a greedy algorithm for user set selection, with at most quadratic complexity.
Another important factor defining the scheduling assignments that are produced by the scheduling policy is the method by which the "user weights" are chosen at each scheduling instant, prior to performing the weighted sum rate maximization operation. Although many methods exist for choosing these weights, a widely accepted class of methods (because of their ability to result in nearly optimal performance with respect to a fairness criterion belonging to a broad class of fairness criteria) is one that relies on the use of "virtual queues" to determine the instantaneous user-weights in the weight-sum rate optimization.
Load Balancing
Traditionally, association in cellular networks has been user-terminal based. Users measure their signal-level with respect to the beacons of the nearby BSs and associate to the base-station with the strongest received signal. A generalization of this principle has been used in heterogeneous networks. In the case of comparing signal strengths from a macro and a small cell, a user-terminal can also apply a "bias" to favor association to the small cell (with respect to the macro cell).
As traffic-load imbalances are far more pronounced in small cells, there has been some recent work in load balancing in small cells. Indeed, small cells are much more sensitive to the cell association policy because of the non-uniformity of cell size, and the smallest average number of users they serve. This non-uniformity can result in extremely imbalanced traffic-load based on a max-SINR cell association. There are methods of exchanging information between each user and close-by BSs, which attempt to balance their load using signaling exchanges with nearby users. Another related technique, referred to as "cell breathing", relies on dynamically changing (contracting or expanding) the coverage area depending on the load situation (over-loaded or under-loaded) of the cells by adjusting the cell transmit power. Note that these techniques focus on small cells scheduling only single-user transmissions.
The methods described above have important limitations. First, given that the user rates in a MU-MIMO transmission are not simply a function of large-scale signal-to-interference plus noise ratio (SINR), but in general depend on the scheduling set and the channel realization, the resulting load-balancing techniques are not extendable in any straightforward resource-efficient manner. Furthermore, the nature of reciprocity-based Massive MIMO TDD makes large scale SINR in a link between a user and all BSs in proximity available given a single uplink pilot broadcast from the user.

Method and apparatus for scheduling, load balancing, and pilot-assignments in reciprocity-based MIMO cellular deployments


A silicon-insulator-silicon capacitive (SISCAP) optical modulator is configured to provide analog operation for applications which previously required the use of relatively large, power-consuming and expensive lithium niobate devices. An MZI-based SISCAP modulator (preferably a balanced arrangement with a SISCAP device on each arm) is responsive to an incoming high frequency electrical signal and is biased in a region where the capacitance of the device is essentially constant and the transform function of the MZI is linear.

Analog optical communication links are known in the prior art. Conventional optical analog links employ intensity modulation techniques to convert the analog information into an optical signal. Analog optical links are utilized, for example, by the cable television industry to transmit video images using the conventional RF analog modulation format, as well as in numerous RF antenna applications.
In most optical analog links, the information is converted from RF (electrical) signals to optical signals through the use of an external Mach-Zehnder intensity modulator (MZI). Conventional electro-optic modulators (EOMs) are generally based on proton-exchanged or Ti-diffused waveguides in an optically active material, such as lithium niobate (LiNbO3). In operation, when an electric field is applied across an optically active waveguide, the optical path length of the waveguide will be altered, allowing the phase of the output signal to be controlled accordingly. This effect is used to both alter the phase of the light (i.e., phase modulators) and to produce amplitude modulation when the waveguide is placed within an interferometer.
LiNbO3-based devices are relatively large (having a length on the order of, for example, 75 mm), which makes them ill-suited for many current applications which require high density integration, as well as a high degree of linearity. Further, these devices are known to exhibit a "voltage sensitivity" (denoted as Vπ, which defines the amount of voltage required to provide a complete 180° phase shift) on the order of three volts. This relatively large Vπ has also been found to result in the following: (1) relatively low link gain, on the order of −26 dB at 10 mW input optical power; (2) a large noise factor (NF), on the order of 33 dB at 10 mW input optical power; and (3) large input third order intercept point (TOI) of greater than 19 dBm. Moreover, the power dissipation associated with conventional LiNbO3 modulators renders them essentially useless for applications where available power or power consumption is a concern.

Silicon-based optical modulator for analog applications


A lens system (46) that can be used in a digital camera includes, in sequence, a first lens element (20), a second lens element (30) and a third lens element (40). The first lens element is biconvex and includes a first spherical surface (22) and a second spherical surface (24). The second lens is concavo-convex and includes a first aspheric surface (32) and a second aspheric surface (34). The first aspheric surface is a diffractive surface. The third lens includes a wave-shaped third aspheric surface (42) and a wave-shaped fourth aspheric surface (44). The lens has a compact volume and provides stable imaging performance and good image quality.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to lenses for devices such as digital cameras and, more particularly, to a lens that has lens elements with a diffractive surface.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Digital cameras utilizing high-resolution electronic imaging sensors typically require high resolution optical components such as lenses. In addition, the lenses generally must be very compact, so that they can be incorporated into devices such as palm-sized computers, cellular telephones, and the like.
Lenses for digital cameras generally have several individual lens elements. The lens elements are typically spherical and usually create spherical aberration. Chromatic aberration, coma aberration, distortion, and field curvature are also common optical aberrations that occur in the imaging process of a typical lens (http://www.astrosurf.org/lombry/report-aberrations2.htm). A large number of lens elements are generally required in order to balance the inherent optical aberrations. Lenses having a large number of lens elements tend to be large, heavy, and expensive to manufacture. The manufacturing costs involve both significant material costs and the cost of assembling and mounting the lens elements into a lens cell.
Further, conventional lenses commonly use one or more aspheric lens elements, each of which has one or two non-spherical surfaces. The aspheric lens elements are made of plastic or glass. Aspheric plastics lens elements may be produced by means of plastic injection molding and are therefore relatively inexpensive. However, the optical characteristics of most plastic lens elements change with changes in temperature and humidity, such as when the digital camera is used outdoors on very hot or very cold days. Furthermore, the hardness of optical plastic material is lower than that of an optical glass material. The surfaces of such lens elements are easily scraped or abraded, which affects the precision of the imaging. In comparison, glass aspheric lens elements have good optical properties and are less easily scraped or abraded. However, glass aspheric lenses generally cannot be easily produced by traditional glass grinding and polishing techniques. In addition, glass lens elements are heavier than plastic lens elements and thus go against the trend toward lightweight digital cameras.
A typical lens having both spherical lens elements and aspheric lens elements is disclosed in China Patent Number 02258384. The lens includes a first spherical lens element, a second spherical lens element, and a third lens element. The first lens element and the second lens element are made of glass. The third lens element has two aspheric surfaces and is made of plastic. Although the lens may satisfy the requirements for imaging, the resolution of the lens is low and may affect the image performance.
Accordingly, what is needed is a lens system for a digital camera which is compact and which provides good imaging quality.


The present invention relates to a method for sealing an end of a pipe, to an external sealing surface. The method includes providing a pipe assembly which includes a pipe and a flange. The pipe includes a proximal pipe end and a flared end region. The flared end region is integral with the pipe and is proximate to and continuous with the proximal pipe end. The flange is non-integrally disposed around the pipe distal to the pipe""s flared end region. The method further includes securing, non-integrally and distally to the pipe""s flared end region, the flange to the pipe so that proximal movement of the flange relative to the pipe is restricted. The flange is drawn toward the external sealing surface, which causes the flange sealing surface to bias the pipe""s flared end region into sealing contact with the external sealing surface. Pipe assemblies which include a backup ring having a tapered inside surfaces and a flange having tapered outside surfaces are also discussed. The methods and assemblies disclosed herein are particularly useful for joining lengths of multi-laminate, especially dual-laminate, pipe.

The subject invention relates, generally, to pipe joint assemblies and to methods for making pipe joints and, more particularly, to a methods for joining multi-laminate pipes.
In many industries, large volumes of corrosive and/or hazardous chemicals are used on a daily basis. Transfer of these chemicals across industrial plant sites occurs through a variety of pipe systems designed to withstand the corrosive nature of the chemicals and prevent the release of hazardous liquids, gases, vapors, and other emissions. This is often accomplished by using steel pipe fitted with a thermoplastic liner. The steel pipe acts as a structural casing and provides protection for the thermoplastic liner. The thermoplastic liner is the containment material, preventing exposure of the steel pipe structure and the environment to the corrosive and/or hazardous chemicals.
Similarly, dual laminate pipe has also been used to transport corrosive and/or hazardous chemicals. Like lined steel pipe, dual laminate pipe consists of a structural casing that supports and protects a thermoplastic liner. However, the emergence and success of dual laminate pipe, which is, typically, the more expensive alternative, suggests that the dual laminate pipe has advantages over lined steel pipe. Among these advantages are a light weight; for example, the fiberglass-reinforced plastic (xe2x80x9cFRPxe2x80x9d) casing used as the outer laminate in many dual laminate pipes is four times lighter than steel. Furthermore, the outer laminate in the dual laminate pipe, typically, is more resistant to corrosion and other environmental effects than is steel and, unlike steel, requires no additional corrosion protection (e.g. painting). Another advantage of dual laminate pipe relates to the fact that the inner laminate (e.g., the thermoplastic liner) is fully bonded to the outer laminate (e.g., an FRP structure), which permits the dual laminate pipe to withstand exposure to vacuum even at elevated temperatures). Furthermore, use of dual-laminate pipe enables one to reduce the number of flanged joints required in the system, thus reducing the likelihood of emissions from flanged joints.
Despite these advantages of dual-laminate pipe, three distinctions sometimes make lined steel pipe an attractive alternative.
The first advantage relates to initial cost. The cost, in terms of materials and manpower, of producing dual laminate pipe is higher than that of lined steel pipe. However, since dual laminate pipe lasts from three to five times as long as lined steel pipe in the same applications, lifecycle costs can frequently justify the higher initial expenditure.
The second advantage relates to strength. The steel casing of lined steel pipe is capable of spanning greater lengths between supports. This reduces the number of structural locations and pipe supports required to properly install the lined steel pipe system. However, in most applications, the additional costs for extra support steel and other support devices needed to install dual-laminate pipe vis a vis lined steel pipe are actually minimal. Moreover, using a number of techniques developed to adapt dual laminate systems to existing pipe support structures designed for lined steel pipe systems, these additional costs turn out to be a very small percentage of the job""s total cost.
The third advantage relates to the ease of installation of lined steel vis a vis dual laminate pipe systems. Customers using a lined steel system are capable of making pipe sections themselves. They can prepare a steel pipe section by welding flanges on each end and then inserting a thermoplastic liner and flaring the liner material over the ends of the flanges. Currently, customers using dual laminate pipe systems must rely on the manufacturer to supply custom-made pipe sections. They must also rely on emergency service from the manufacturer should damage or failure occur. Until now there has been no method developed that allowed customers to prepare random length pipe sections for dual laminate pipe.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a method of joining sections of dual-laminate pipe. The present invention is directed to meeting this need.
The present invention relates to a method for sealing an end of a pipe to an external sealing surface. The method includes providing a pipe assembly which includes a pipe (such as a multi-laminate pipe) and a flange. The pipe includes a proximal pipe end and a flared end region. The flared end region is proximate to and continuous with the proximal pipe end. The flange is non-integrally disposed around the pipe distal to the pipe""s flared end region. The method further includes securing, non-integrally, distally, and loosely to the pipe""s flared end region, the flange to the pipe so that proximal movement of the flange relative to the pipe is restricted. The flange is drawn toward the external sealing surface, which causes the flange sealing surface to bias the pipe""s flared end region into sealing contact with the external sealing surface.
The present invention also relates to another method for sealing an end of a pipe to an external sealing surface. In this method a pipe assembly which includes a pipe and a flange is provided. The pipe is a multi-laminate pipe and includes a proximal pipe end and a flared end region. The flared end region is proximate to and continuous with the proximal pipe end. The flange is non-integrally disposed around the pipe distal to the pipe""s flared end region, and the flange is secured, non-integrally and distally to the pipe""s flared end region, to the pipe so that proximal movement of the flange relative to the pipe is restricted. The method further includes drawing the flange toward the external sealing surface, which causes the flange sealing surface to bias the pipe""s flared end region into sealing contact with the external sealing surface.
The present invention also relates to a pipe assembly which includes a pipe and a flange. The pipe includes a proximal pipe end and a flared end region. The flared end region is proximate to and continuous with the proximal pipe end, and the flange is non-integrally secured to the pipe distal to the pipe""s flared end region.
The present invention also relates to a joint assembly. The joint assembly includes a flange having an outer surface, an inner surface, and a proximal flange sealing surface end. The proximal flange sealing surface end has an annular recess therein, the inner surface includes a circumferential groove or a circumferential ridge, and the flange""s surface comprises a taper. The joint assembly further includes a backer ring having a tapered inside flange mating surface. The backer ring is disposed around the flange""s outer surface and urged proximally relative to the flange, the backer ring biases the inner surface of the flange inwardly.
The present invention relates to yet another method for sealing an end of a pipe to an external sealing surface. The method includes providing a pipe assembly which includes a pipe, a flange, and a backer ring. The pipe includes a proximal pipe end, an outer surface, and a flared end region. The flared end region is proximate to and continuous with the proximal pipe end. The flange includes an inner surface, and the flange is non-integrally disposed around the pipe distal to the pipe""s flared end region. The method further includes securing, non-integrally and distally to the pipe""s flared end region, the flange to the pipe so that proximal movement of the flange relative to the pipe is restricted. The method also includes drawing the flange toward the external sealing surface by urging the backer ring toward the external sealing surface. The drawing process causes the flange sealing surface to bias the pipe""s flared end region into sealing contact with the external sealing surface, and the urging process biases the inner surface of the flange against the outer surface of the pipe.
The present invention also relates to still another method for sealing an end of a pipe to an external sealing surface. The method includes providing a pipe assembly that includes a pipe, a flange, and a backer ring. The pipe includes a proximal pipe end, an outer surface, and a flared end region. The flared end region is proximate to and continuous with the proximal pipe end. The flange includes an inner surface and is non-integrally disposed around the pipe distal to the pipe""s flared end region. The flange is also secured, non-integrally and distally to the pipe""s flared end region, to the pipe so that proximal movement of the flange relative to the pipe is restricted. The method also includes drawing the flange toward the external sealing surface by urging the backer ring toward the external sealing surface. The drawing process causes the flange sealing surface to bias the pipe""s flared end region into sealing contact with the external sealing surface, and the urging process biases the inner surface of the flange against the outer surface of the pipe.
The present invention further relates to another pipe assembly. The pipe assembly includes a pipe which has a proximal pipe end, an outer surface, and a flared end region. The flared end region is proximate to and continuous with the proximal pipe end. The pipe assembly further includes a flange. The flange has an inner surface and is non-integrally disposed around the pipe distal to the pipe""s flared end region. The pipe assembly also includes a backer ring, which, when urged proximally relative to the pipe, biases the inner surface of the flange against the outer surface of the pipe.

Pipe joint assembly and method for using same