An eyeglass holder of ornamental design is constructed such that it may be worn with any garment in any position. The holder is a continuous loop shaped to form a first and second portion defining an opening therebetween, wherein a temple sidepiece of a pair of eyeglasses is placed through the opening and supported in a pendulous nature such that the eyeglasses maintain a substantially downward orientation regardless of eyeglass holder position. Additionally, the eyeglass holder is provided with a third portion from which objects such as an identification badge may be suspended.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a holder for eyeglasses and more particularly to an inconspicuous eyeglass holder which is adapted to be pinned on any garment of an eyeglass wearer for pendulously supporting a pair of eyeglass.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Eyeglasses, when not worn, are often carried in a bulk case or a pouch for protection and may be placed in a pocket or handbag. However, when glasses are frequently put on and taken off, it is desirable to have them in a more easily and quickly accessible position. Thus, glasses may be hung in front of the user by an elastic cord encircling the neck and attached to the end portions of each temple piece. That arrangement is somewhat unsatisfactory because the eyeglasses remain open and rest against the chest of the wearer, and with an especially active person, the eyeglasses may swing about excessively and be damaged as well as interfere with or restrict a person's movement. More frequently, people tend to merely fold up their eyeglasses and slip them in a shirt or coat pocket where they may be scratched by other material carried in the pockets or fall out causing possible damage.
Accordingly, eyeglass holders which support the eyeglasses in a safe, accessible, and compact manner have been developed. One such eyeglass holder is U.S. Pat. No. 4,458,384 issued to Arnold. The Arnold patent discloses a wire segment in a double loop configuration which may be pinned to the clothing of an eyeglass wearer. An eyeglass wearer then slides one of the temple sidepieces through both loops to secure the eyeglasses. However, this design presents the same problem as encountered when eyeglasses are left lose in a pocket. That is, when the eyeglass wearer bends over, the eyeglasses have a tendency to fall out causing breakage.
Therefore, a second design which attempts to solve that problem has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,894,887, issued to Ward, II. The Ward, II patent discloses a pair of interconnected, downward extending fingers used as a clip-on connection to a shirt, coat pocket, or belt formed with an integral loop so that a temple sidepiece of a pair of eyeglasses may be suspended from the loop. Although the single loop design purports to solve the above problem because the pendulous nature of the eyeglass support allows the glasses to assume a substantially downward inclination even though the user bends over, thereby, keeping the eyeglasses from falling out, there still are several design limitations. For example, the clip design for use with only a pocket or belt limits the position and type of clothing where the eyeglass retainer may be used. A dress having no pockets or belt would be a type of clothing incompatible with the clip-on eyeglass retainer. In addition, the front clip portion attached to the loop extends below the loop and can restrict the swing of the glasses as well as cause difficulty when the eyeglasses are placed in or removed from the loop, thereby, reducing accessibility. Thus, the design of the eyeglass holder of the present invention has been advanced to overcome many of the above problems.


Disclosed herein are novel microbial polycultures of two or more cell strains, capable of producing flavanones, flavonoids, and anthocyanidin-3-O-glucosides, and methods of use thereof. Also disclosed is a microbial cell capable of producing phenylpropanoic acids, and methods of use thereof.

The microbial production of biofuels, commodity chemicals, and natural products is continually being improved through the use of various pathway optimization tools and techniques (Refs. 37, 41, and 49). Until recently, these efforts have focused primarily on optimization of single strain monocultures to facilitate conversion of substrate to product. See for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,338,791 and 7,807,422. Although successful, these efforts are continually plagued with the trade-offs associated with choosing a single host strain to simultaneously perform multiple bioconversions, often having different precursor and co-factor requirements (Ref. 63).
Nature has overcome these trade-offs through organelle compartmentalization of pathways in higher organisms (Ref 58) and through microbial consortia in lower organisms (Refs. 51 and 57). The presence of microbial communities is ubiquitous in nature. In much the same way that multicellular eukaryotic organisms have evolved to contain specialized organelles that work together to seamlessly perform their specialized tasks; communities of unicellular organisms have developed similar divisions within their populations, such that the consortia of microbes is more than simply a sum of its individual parts (Refs. 1-5). These complex consortia allow for a cellular specialization enabling the community to withstand larger environmental perturbations and perform more complex tasks than any of its individual constituents. Employing this division of labor approach allows for burden to be distributed across the population permitting for increased efficiency and more complex behavior than is possible in monoculture.
Humans have taken advantage of co-culture approaches for wastewater treatment (Refs. 52 and 54) and fermented food products (Refs. 60 and 64) for decades. However, only recently have scientists begun to investigate the true potential of co-culture techniques in metabolic engineering and synthetic biology applications (Ref 38). Several groups have reported elegant applications utilizing co-cultures for the production of pharmaceutical precursors (Ref. 68), commodity chemicals (Refs. 65 and 66), and potential biofuels (Ref 59). In one such example, a S. cerevisiae-E. coli co-culture was engineered to take advantage of rapid taxadiene production from E. coli and the ability of S. cerevisiae to actively express cytochrome P450s to catalyze taxadiene functionalization into oxygenated taxanes (Ref. 12). These steps have proven to be inefficient or impossible to accomplish in either a S. cerevisiae or E. coli monoculture. Albeit impressive, previous studies have lacked the rigorous optimization necessary to fully realize the complete production potential of these co-culture systems.
Although the study and application of natural microbial consortia have been a topic of interest in the scientific literature for decades (Refs. 6-8), the development of synthetic consortium, and specifically consortia for metabolic engineering applications, has gained significant traction in the past three years (Refs. 9-13). Several excellent examples of employing microbial communities for metabolic engineering have resulted in significant improvements over monoculture efforts (Ref. 14). These gains were realized through utilizing the key advantages of microbial consortia, including: (1) selection of the most efficient organism for the bioconversion (i.e. mixing bacterial and fungal hosts in a single consortium); (2) using traditional metabolic engineering principles (Push, Pull, Block) to optimize each module for its specific co-factor and precursor needs; and (3) taking advantage of consortia modularity such that individual strains can be genetically optimized in monoculture then applied in mixed culture without the need to re-perform the genetic optimization.
However, there is still a need for efficient production of various useful compounds, such as flavanones, flavonoids, and anthocyanidin-3-O-glucosides. Accordingly, there is a need for development of polycultures, two or more strains in co-culture, for production of such useful compounds. Additionally, there is a need for cultures that can produce phenylpropanoic acids, which are also useful for various applications.

Microbial polycultures and methods of use thereof


A flip chip package generally includes a substrate, a flip chip die, and a heat spreader. The flip chip die is coupled to the substrate. The heat spreader is coupled to the flip chip die. The heat spreader can include one or more walls. Generally, the one or more walls at least partially laterally surround the flip chip die and/or the substrate. The walls can completely laterally surround the flip chip die to define a cavity in the heat spreader. The flip chip package can further include an encapsulate. For example, the encapsulate can be injected between the one or more walls of the heat spreader and the flip chip die and/or other components of the flip chip package. The encapsulate and/or the one or more walls of the heat spreader can protect one or more components of the flip chip package against moisture, corrosives, heat, or radiation, to provide some examples.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to integrated circuit (IC) device packaging, and more specifically to flip chip package configurations.
2. Background
An IC die is typically mounted in or on a package that is attached to a printed circuit board (PCB) or a printed wire board (PWB). One such type of IC die package is a flip chip package. Flip chip is a technology in which electrically conductive elements, such as solder bumps, connect the IC die or the IC die package to a substrate, a PCB, or a PWB. The solder bumps are formed on the bond pads of the IC die. The IC die is flipped over, so that the solder bumps are aligned with corresponding connection sites on the substrate. The solder bumps are reflow soldered to the corresponding connection sites. A flip chip IC die has pads on the active surface of the die, rather than the peripheral bond pads generally associated with a wirebond IC die. The pads on the active face of the flip chip IC die can connect to input/output (I/O), power, or ground.
A heat spreader often is attached to the non-active surface of the flip chip IC die to facilitate dissipation of heat from the flip chip IC die. The heat spreader can be adhered to the non-active surface of the flip chip IC die using a thermally conductive adhesive, for example. However, such heat spreaders rely on dissipation of heat into the ambient air, which can be inefficient.
What is needed is a flip chip package and method of making the same that addresses one or more of the aforementioned shortcomings of conventional flip chip IC dice and methods.

Flip chip package including a non-planar heat spreader and method of making the same


A pizza platform is provided including a platform with a top face, a bottom face, and a periphery formed therebetween. The platform is constructed from metal. A plurality of small cones each have a base integrally coupled to the platform. As such, a pizza is placed atop the top face of the platform and the cones while being stored in a pizza box for preventing moisture from accumulating thereon.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pizza platform and more particularly pertains to preventing moisture from accumulating on a bottom of a pizza.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of pizza boxes is known in the prior art. More specifically, pizza boxes heretofore devised and utilized for the purpose of storing pizza are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
By way of example, the prior art includes U.S. Pat. No. 4,883,196; U.S. Pat. No. 5,190,213; U.S. Pat. Des. No. 356,254; U.S. Pat. No. 4,537,313; U.S. Pat. No. 4,537,815; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,476,989.
In this respect, the pizza platform according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of preventing moisture from accumulating on a bottom of a pizza.
Therefore, it can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for a new and improved pizza platform which can be used for preventing moisture from accumulating on a bottom of a pizza. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.


LED drivers and LED driver controllers are disclosed for controlling one or more high-intensity LEDs. The LED driver controllers may control one or more LED drivers in multiple different ways, including controlling on times, off times, delays, current levels, and other parameters. The LED drivers may have fast response times in which the LEDs are illuminated within microseconds after receiving a control signal. The LED drivers may also include other features, including a current boost for temporarily illuminating the LEDs at levels exceeding their maximum continuous current rating, as well as brightness controls for the LEDs, and other features. The LED drivers and/or LED driver controllers may be especially suitable for LEDs used to provide lighting for high-speed visions systems.

The present invention relates generally to high intensity light emitting diodes (LEDs), and more particularly to the drivers and driver controllers used for illuminating the LEDs.
High intensity LEDs are commonly used in industrial settings for supplying illumination to high-speed camera equipment that takes pictures of products. In such settings, it is common for an automated camera to take pictures of the products being manufactured or assembled, often as the product passes by one or more particular points on an assembly line. Such pictures are often analyzed by a computer to determine if there are any defects in the product.
For example, in a bottling plant, a camera may be arranged along the assembly line where it takes a digital picture of each bottle as it passes by. A computer may then be used to analyze the picture taken to determine a number of different qualities of the bottled product, such as the following: whether a cap was properly attached to the bottle, whether the bottle was filled to an appropriate level, whether a label was applied to the bottle properly, whether the bottle is cracked, and various other qualities.
In order for the computer to analyze the photographs, it is often desirable that the illumination provided to the camera be nearly uniform for all of the pictures taken by the camera. This uniformity in lighting helps prevent the computer from misinterpreting the photographs due to changed lighting conditions. It may also be desirable to shut the lights off during the time intervals between photographs so as to conserve energy.
These types of demands have helped foster the use of high intensity LEDs for industrial photography situations. Because high-intensity LEDs are better able to produce the same amount of illumination over their lifetime, as compared to incandescent or fluorescent lighting, they are desirable for providing illumination in situations where constant levels of illumination are desired. Further, because high-intensity LEDs can be rapidly turned on and off and have favorable lifetimes relative to incandescent or fluorescent lighting, they are often used in high-speed photography situations.
Existing drivers for high-intensity LEDs, however, have suffered from several drawbacks. In some instances, the drivers powering the LEDs may not be able to turn the LEDs on in as fast as a time as would be desirable. In other instances, the current supplied to the LEDs by the driver does not stabilize for an undesirably long amount of time, thereby causing the illumination provided by the LEDs to fluctuate for the same amount of time. In some situations it is desirable to generate more illumination than the LEDs are rated to safely provide at continuous levels. Still further, in other situations it is not easy to set up and control the LED drivers in the particular ways demanded for a particular application.


If a designation detector detects one of icons representing peripheral equipment (image forming apparatuses) displayed on a monitor screen by a display controller in response to operator's manipulation, an operation information acquirer acquires, from the respective peripheral equipment, operation information indicating a job status of the respective peripheral equipment represented by all the icons displayed on the monitor screen. If it is judged that the peripheral equipment represented by the icon whose designation has been detected by the designation detector is in a state of processing a job, the display controller changes the display format of the icon representing a peripheral equipment in an idling state.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing equipment connected to peripheral equipment, an image display program product to be executed on the information processing equipment, and an image forming system provided with the peripheral equipment and the information processing equipment.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a peripheral equipment such as a printer which is connected to an information processing equipment such as a personal computer (PC) is operative to perform a printing operation by using a printer driver compatible with the printer. Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-10741 discloses an information processing system for automatically judging a state of a designated printer in response to designation of printing by an operator. The information processing system is so configured as to issue an alert to the operator indicating that prompt printing by a designated printer is not executable in response to operator's designation to perform printing by the printer through a personal computer, and to display the status of use of the other printer or printers in a list.
In the above information processing system, in the case where printing by the printer designated by the operator is not executable, merely the list of the status of use of the other printer(s) is displayed. Accordingly, the operator is required to judge by himself or herself the status of use of the respective printers based on the displayed list. Thus, the operator finds it impossible or difficult to instantaneously distinguish a printer which is available for prompt printing from a printer which is not available for prompt printing. The operator has a difficulty in readily designating the printer to be used, which leaves room for improvement on operability.

Information processing equipment, image display program product, and image forming system


A bag and dispensing system system wherein the thermoplastic bag to be dispensed may be retained in an open position, to allow for the loading thereof with contents for carrying, such as purchased goods or the like. The system is further configured such that the loaded bag, when dispensed, draws the next bag in the stack forward into an open loading position such that it is ready to be loaded with goods without further manipulation by the attendant. The preferred embodiment of the present invention teaches the utilization multi-edged penetration punch applied to the handle area of the bags to hold said handles together for handling of the bag pack, and for facilitating opening of the next bag in the stack on the rack, when a loaded bag is removed. The preferred embodiment of the present invention utilizes co-extruded film, wherein there is provided a high density film having bonded thereto a lower density film of lesser density than said high density film, such that said lower density film forms the exterior side of said co-extruded film. The co-extruded film is then corona treated at a higher energy level than that recommended for facilitating a printing surface on said film. Said film is then die-cut to form bag stacks, and simultaneously punched with the multi-faceted punch in the area of the handles. This punch penetrates the film forming the bag walls, melding the adjacent walls together in a releasable fashion, allowing self opening of said bags.

Invention Field
The present invention relates to bag dispensing systems, and particularly to a bag and system for dispensing self-opening thermoplastic bags or the like from a stack of bags. The present system is configured such that it may be utilized with a variety of off-the-shelf rack configurations, and to provide optimal characteristics for dispensing bags one at a time, while further providing a system wherein the bag to be dispensed may be retained in an open position, to allow for the loading thereof with contents for carrying, such as purchased goods or the like. The system is further configured such that the loaded bag, when dispensed, draws the next bag in the stack forward into an open loading position such that it is ready to be loaded with goods without further manipulation by the attendant.
The preferred embodiment of the present invention teaches the utilization of a star, X, cross-configured, or other multi-edged penetration punch applied to the handle area of the bags as a pack in such a manner as provide a punched region in the pack, to hold said handles together for handling of the bag pack, and for facilitating opening of the next bag in the stack on the rack, when a loaded bag is removed.
The self-opening characteristics of the present invention have been found to be greatly improved via the utilization of a co-extruded film, wherein there is provided a mostly high density film having bonded thereto a mostly low density, or even in some formulations a medium density film of substantially lesser thickness than said high density film, such that said low density film forms the exterior, exposed side of the tube of said co-extruded film.
The co-extruded film is then corona treated at a higher energy level than that recommended for facilitating a printing surface on said film. Said film is then die-cut to form bag stacks, and simultaneously punched with the multi-faceted punch in the area of the handles. This punch penetrates the film forming the bag walls, melding the adjacent walls together in a releasable fashion, facilitating holding of the bag handles in the bag pack for transport and loading on to a bag dispenser, and providing a means for opening the next bag to be dispensed upon removal of a bag from the dispenser.


A laser system uses a high-power diode laser in cooperation with a nonimaging concentrator to end pump a relatively thin, solid-state, highly doped lasant. The laser system generates a very high density of excited ions in the lasant mode volume to produce high peak power pulses having comparable magnitudes over a wide range of pulse repetition frequencies.

The background description is presented herein only by way of example to methods for employing semiconductor lasers to pump solid-state diode lasers. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,982,201, Rosenkrantz et al. describe a solid-state laser that is pumped by single diodes or arrays of diodes to which the laser rod is directly end-coupled. Because the output wavelength of the diode laser array is a function of its temperature, the diode lasers are operated in a pulsed mode at a low duty cycle to maintain the array at a low enough temperature so that its output wavelength remains matched to the absorption bandwidth of the solid-state laser rod. The output power characteristics of this laser system are limited by the relatively inefficient match between the output of the diode lasers and mode volume of the solid-state laser rod.
In "Efficient LiNdP.sub.4 O.sub.12 Lasers Pumped with a Laser Diode," Applied Optics, vol. 18, No. 23 (Dec. 1, 1979), Kubodera and Otsuka describe the well-known practice of collecting the output light of a diode laser and focusing its expanded output light using conventional lenses, such as two microscope condenser lenses. This method is particularly well suited for applications where the emitter width and divergence of the diode laser are small. However, as the emitter dimensions and beam divergence increase, it becomes increasingly difficult to efficiently collect the output beam with collimating lens or lenses. It also becomes more difficult to focus the expanded beam into the solid-state laser crystal with sufficient depth of focus to allow efficient overlap of the pump beam throughout the resonator mode volume within the lasant.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,710,940, Sipes, Jr. describes a neodymium:yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd:YAG) solid-state laser that is end-pumped by a diode laser array or by two diode laser arrays that have been combined by use of polarizing beam-splitting cubes. Sipes, Jr., cites the analysis of D. G. Hall in "Optimum Mode Size Criteria for Low Gain Lasers," Applied Optics, 1579-1583, vol. 20, (May 1, 1981), to suggest that the "pump profile shape does not matter much as long as all the pump light falls within the resonator mode." Sipes, Jr., notes, however, that Hall's analysis does not account for the divergence properties of Gaussian beams, so Sipes, Jr., suggests that, if required, the cross-section of the pump beam could be modified by use of a cylindrical lens.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,761,786, Baer describes a Q-switched, solid-state laser that is end-pumped by a diode laser or diode laser array. The output light from the pump source is collected by a collimating lens and directed by a focusing lens to end-pump the laser rod. Baer notes that "other lenses to correct astigmatism may be placed between the collimating lens and focusing lens." Baer also describes an alternate embodiment that employs a remotely positioned diode laser pumping source coupled through an optical fiber, the output of which is focused via a lens into the laser rod.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,763,975, Scifres et al. describe two optical systems that produce bright light output for a variety of applications, including pumping a solid-state laser such as a Nd:YAG. Scifres et al. describe an optical system that employs a plurality of diode lasers, each of which is coupled into one of a plurality of fiber-optic waveguides. The waveguides are arranged to form a bundle that delivers the light generated by the diode laser sources to the output end of the bundle. Optics, such as a lens, may be used to focus the light into a solid-state laser medium. Alternatively, the fiber bundle may be end-, and more specifically, "butt"-coupled to the laser rod (end-coupled and very close to or in contact with the laser rod).
Scifres et al. describe another optical system that employs a diode laser bar, broad-area laser, or other elongated source to pump a solid-state laser. The diode laser bar light output is coupled into a fiber-optic waveguide having an input end that has been squashed to be elongated and thereby have core dimensions and lateral and transverse numerical apertures that correspond respectively to those of emission dimension and lateral and transverse divergence angles of the laser bar. The output light from the fiber-optic waveguide is either focused using a lens into the end of the solid-state laser rod or butt-coupled to the rod. Scifres et al. state that either end of the fiber-optic waveguide can be curved. Although these methods attempt to match the output light from the fiber-optic waveguide to the resonant cavity mode of the solid-state laser, they are limited in efficiency by the numerical aperture of the sources that can be effectively collected and guided by the fiber-optic waveguides.
Solid-state lasers such as some of those described above may be employed in a variety of industrial operations including inspecting or microprocessing substrates such as electronic materials. The following description is presented herein only by way of example to Q-switched, diode-pumped, solid-state lasers employed for link processing during a semiconductor memory device repair operation.
For example, to repair a dynamic random access memory (DRAM), a first laser pulse is used to remove a conductive link to a faulty memory cell of a DRAM device, and then a second laser pulse is used to remove a resistive link to a redundant memory cell to replace the faulty memory cell. Because faulty memory cells needing link removals are randomly located, such laser repair processes are typically performed over a wide range of pulse repetition frequencies (PRFs), rather than at a constant PRF. This production technique is referred to in the industry as "on the fly" (OTF) link processing and allows for greater efficiency in the rate at which links on a given wafer can be repaired, thereby improving the efficiency of the entire DRAM production process.
The laser industry typically employs Q-switched, diode-pumped lasers (DPLs) using solid-state, neodymium-doped crystals to perform DRAM memory repair operations. DPLs are preferred over conventional arc-pumped Nd:YAG lasers for these operations because DPLs offer increased pumping source lifetimes. The typical mean time between failure (MTBF) is greater than 10,000 hours for diode-pumped lasers, whereas the typical MTBF is fewer than 1000 hours for arc-pumped lasers. In addition, DPLs do not require the water-cooling systems needed for arc-pumped lasers and are, therefore, better suited for operation in a clean-room environment. The previously described laser system of Baer is representative of such a laser system.
Laser energy per pulse typically decreases with increasing PRF, which is the inverse of the interpulse period (which is the length of time between the pulses emitted by the laser), and depend on the effective fluorescence lifetime of the metastable state of excited dopant or active ions in the crystal or lasant. For Q-switched, solid-state lasers, the laser pulse energies display a characteristic roll-off as the interpulse period decreases. This energy per pulse roll-off limits the upper PRF range for many laser memory repair processes. Each combination of epitaxial growth technique, material choice, and laser system design determines an acceptable range of deviation, often called a "process window" for pulse energies that will efficiently process the links. For many memory devices, the "process window" requires that laser pulse energy vary by less than 5% from a selected energy value.
Diode-pumped lasers, especially those employing neodymium:yttrium lithium fluoride (Nd:YLF) lasants, for example, are unable to limit pulse energy roll-off to less than 5% for PRFs>1000 Hz because of the relatively long (500 .mu.sec) fluorescence lifetime of excited neodymium ions from the metastable state in a YLF lasant. DRAM memory repair applications typically employ a Nd:YLF lasant, however, because other useful lasant materials such as Nd:YAG are difficult to pump reliably using laser diodes and often exhibit pulse energy instability. The pulse energy instability can result from a mismatch between the spectral linewidths of the available high power, gain-guided aluminum gallium arsenide (AlGaAs) diode lasers and the absorption bandwidths of the most efficient lasants. The typical value of the full width, half-maximum spectral bandwidth for high power, gain-guided AlGaAs diode lasers is about 4 nm. Thus, while Nd:YAG has an absorption bandwidth of approximately 2 nm at 810 nm, Nd:YLF has a more closely matched absorption bandwidth of about 4 nm at 798 nm.
Neodymium:yttrium vanadate (Nd:YVO.sub.4) is another lasant that can be pumped by AlGaAs diode lasers. Nd:YVO.sub.4 has, however, a relatively low single ion fluorescence lifetime (typically less than 100 .mu.sec), thereby significantly limiting the energy per pulse that can be extracted from a Q-switched Nd:YVO.sub.4 laser. This energy per pulse is significantly less than that achievable from a Nd:YLF laser under similar pump power excitation levels. The limited energy per pulse of a Q-switched Nd:YVO.sub.4 laser can be a severe disadvantage whenever beam-shaping or other low-transmission laser optics are employed to direct the laser energy at, for example, metallic conductive links of a DRAM device.
Several neodymium-containing, stoichiometric, solid-state lasants such as lithium neodymium tetraphosphate (LNP) can also be pumped by AlGaAs diode lasers, as described by G. J. Dixon and L. S. Lingvay in "Close-Coupled Pumping of an Intracavity-Doubled Lithium Neodymium Tetraphosphate Laser," SPIE Solid-State Lasers, 291-293 vol. 1223 (1990). Stoichiometric neodymium compounds contain a very high neodymium concentration on the order of 10.sup.21 Nd/cm.sup.3 and thus have very high absorption coefficients. Solid-state laser crystals such as YLF, in which neodymium ions appear as dopant ions substituting for yttrium ions, have significantly lower neodymium concentrations, typically on the order of 10.sup.20 Nd/cm.sup.3.
Dixon and Lingvay employ the higher absorption coefficient of LNP in a diode-pumped LNP laser having a 0.4 mm-thick, LNP lasant crystal directly cemented to the submount of a Spectra Diode Laboratories Model 2240-H, phase-locked, diode laser array. This arrangement permits the LNP lasant to be thermoelectrically cooled to reduce the resonant loss and the energy transfer up-conversion from the laser metastable state that are typically exhibited by stoichiometric neodymium lasant compounds such as LNP. Nonstoichiometric neodymium laser compounds, such as Nd:YLF, do not typically exhibit these disadvantageous phenomena. It is also noted that the device described by Dixon and Lingvay does not include a Q-switch and does not attempt to collect the output of the diode-laser array via an optical system. The output of the diode laser is directly coupled into the LNP lasant crystal.
For the reasons set forth above, Nd:YLF is, therefore, an industry-preferred lasant for DRAM memory repair and silicon trimming operations, despite the limitations Nd:YLF places on the upper useful limit for PRF for OTF processing applications.
The power absorbed by a lasant is typically expressed as: EQU P.sub.z =P.sub.o e.sup.-.alpha.L, (1),
where P.sub.a is the power absorbed by the lasant; where P.sub.0 is the pumping power entering the lasant; where alpha is the absorption coefficient defined as .alpha.=4.pi.k/.lambda., where k is the extinction coefficient and .lambda. is the pumping wavelength; and where L is the length of the lasant. In conventional laser systems, L is much greater than or equal to 1/.alpha., the absorption depth of the lasant. Conventional nonstoichiometric lasants are fabricated to have length sufficient to absorb most of the energy coupled from a pumping source, even though the total percentage of excited active ions in the lasant mode volume decreases substantially as a function of the length of the lasant.
FIG. 1 shows the effect of PRF and effective fluorescence lifetime on energy per pulse of a Q-switched, solid-state laser. The data presented in FIG. 1 were determined in accordance with the theories of William G. Wagner and Bela A. Lengyel set out in "Evolution of the Giant Pulse in a Laser," Journal of Applied Physics, 2040-2046, vol. 34, No. 7, (July 1963) and of R. B. Chesler, M. A. Karr, and J. E. Geusic in "An Experimental and Theoretical Study of High Repetition Rate Q-Switched Nd:YAG Lasers," Proceedings of the IEEE, 1899-1914, vol. 58, No. 12 (Dec. 1970).
Mathematical equations that derive the dependence of the energy per pulse on the PRF assume that (1) the total number of excited ions is much smaller than the total number of active ions in the lasant and (2) the only depopulation mechanisms available to excited ions result from spontaneous and stimulated emission. These relationships are expressed as: EQU E.sub.1 =E.sub.0 (1-e.sup.-at),
where E.sub.0 represents the energy per pulse at very low PRFs (<10 Hz); where E.sub.1 represents the energy per pulse at a PRF given by the inverse of the interpulse period t; and where the parameter ##EQU1## where .tau..sub.f is the single ion metastable state fluorescence lifetime of the active ion in the lasant and .omega..sub.p is the pumping rate, the effect of which is negligible at low pumping rates. The inverse of parameter a describes the effective fluorescence lifetime of the metastable state.

Laser system and method employing a nonimaging concentrator


A process of treating organic waste such as food wastes for anaerobic digestion including preparing a waste-slurry from organic waste such as food wastes, transferring the organic waste-slurry to a paddle pulper/finisher, processing the waste-slurry in the paddle pulper/finisher which reduces the particle size of the solids in the waste slurry and separates the waste slurry into a pulp slurry and pomace, and processing the pulp slurry in an anaerobic digester for the production of methane gas fertilizer and soil amendments. In a further process, the organic waste is slurried by dumping the organic waste in a slurry tank, adding a liquid and mechanically mixing the organic waste and liquid until consistent slurry is attained. In a still further process, the slurry from the slurry tank is processed by forming a macerator-slurry in an inline macerator unit which removes heavy solids and cuts other solids into smaller sizes which can be transferred by a slurry pump.

This invention relates to a process and apparatus for treating organic wastes, particularly food wastes to allow a highly biodegradable material to be pumped to anaerobic digesters where they are converted into a fertilizer-type material and renewable energy such as methane gas.
Municipal solid waste collection and disposal is a major world wide problem. Disposal by burial has resulted in serious depletion of suitable sites. Existing dump sites are continuously emitting global warming methane and carbon dioxide gases which are difficult to collect. Many such dump sites, indeed have caused methane fires which are difficult to extinguish. As bottom liners deteriorate, leachate has entered and contaminated the ground water system at many sites. Disposal by incineration has become more questionable as energy prices have increased and contamination of the air has become an increasing problem.
Recognition of the problem has resulted in the development of many processes to convert municipal solid waste into commercially useable products such as soil amendments, fertilizer and methane gas which can be used to produce heat or to generate electricity.
Some of these processes attempt to convert unsorted general municipal waste into commercial products by collecting unsorted waste which may contain, food wastes, paper, cardboard, glass, metal cans, rags, yard waste, farm wastes, food processing plant wastes, wood, metal objects and other wastes too numerous to catalog. Processes which attempt to recycle unsorted municipal wastes are expensive involving many different types of heavy expensive sophisticated equipment, manual labor for sorting, and substantial supplies of fuel and electricity.

Process of treating organic waste for anaerobic digestion


A pair of pivoting parts are held together with a pin, with a first part, such as a rod end of a hydraulic actuator, positioned between two flanges of a bracket, with the flanges having surfaces mating with sides surfaces of the rod end. A seal is placed in each of a pair of recesses on the opposite side surfaces of the rod end to provide an annular seal around the surface of the pin as the parts pivot, and also having a flange forming a side seal that seats on one of the mating surfaces of the bracket at a location spaced outwardly from the pin and extending annularly around the pin. The seal portion engaging the pin is spaced inwardly from the respective side surface of the bracket, and the outer annular lip seals a space surrounding the pin to form a pocket to receive grease that is used to lubricate the pin relative to the rod end.

This invention relates to a seal for pins that connect two pivoting parts designed to keep dust away from a bushing for the pin, and to keep lubricating grease trapped for lubricating sliding side surfaces. In an exemplary application such as holding the rod end of a hydraulic cylinder to a bracket at the top of a loader bucket, the pin is generally held stationary, and the rod end will pivot on the pin as the bucket is tilted.
Such connecting pins will operate in dusty conditions and it is important for the life of the bushing that is used on the rod end to keep grit and dirt out, and also to keep grease, used as a lubricant, in place.
Excessive introduction of dirt in the pivoting parts causes wear and the need for replacement.
A rod end of a hydraulic cylinder is generally positioned between two side hub members and connects to the hubs with a cylindrical pin. Dust and dirt can get in along the sides of the rod end, as well as along the surfaces of the pin. The present invention provides for a seal that will prevent introduction of dust and dirt, and will also aid in maintaining a lubricant, such as grease, on the relatively moving parts.


An image pickup system including an image pickup device (4) for taking an image from an object (1) containing a periodic pattern and outputting an image signal (5), a zoom lens (2) for forming an object image on the image pickup device, a moire amount detection circuit (10) for detecting an amount of moire from the image signal (5), and an imaging magnification control circuit including a differentiating circuit (18) provided for setting a magnification of the zoom lens (2) and finely adjusting the magnification of the zoom lens (2) to allow the amount of moire detected by the moire amount detection circuit (10) to become below the setting value, a positive/negative determination circuit (20), a system controller (22), and a ROM (24).

The fabric used for bags, shoes, conveyors, etc., is manufactured by a weaving machine and has a periodic pattern such as lattice--or interdigital-stripes. Here it is to be noted that various defects unavoidably occur to a certain extent in these fabrics depending upon the homogeneity of those materials, working conditions, soiled spots in the manufacturing process.
On the other hand, other products having a periodic pattern are, for example, a shadow mask used in color CRTs and a liquid crystal panel used for liquid crystal display. The shadow mask is used as a color separation mechanism for the color CRT and comprised of an alloy plate with a periodic array of many fine openings for a plurality of color components provided to allow passage of electron beams of respective color components. The liquid crystal panel is so constructed as to have a matrix array of many pixels. These products, such as a shadow mask and liquid crystal panel, sometimes suffer various defects in the manufacturing process.
The checking of defects in the products with a periodic pattern has been made by human eye.
In recent years, a defect checking apparatus has been developed which automatically checks defects by taking an image from an object with a periodic pattern by means of a camera using a solid-state image pickup device such as a OCD image sensor and performing processing on an image signal obtained.
Taking the fabric as an example of an object, checking of a defect of a relatively large contrast, such as hole openings, burning marks, can be effected relatively easily on the conventional defect checking apparatus. However, it has been difficult to check microdefects specific to the fabric. That is, if the pixel pitch of the image pickup device is made finer to accurately check such a microdefect, then a moire pattern emerges as the size of the pixel gets nearer to a lattice of a periodic pattern of the object. If such a moire pattern appears, it becomes difficult to check the object for defects and this provides a bar to the detection of them.
Even on a TV camera such as a business TV camera for broadcasting in particular, a high quality video camera for a general consumer and an HDTV (high definition television) camera, if an image is taken from an object including a striped fabric having a fine periodic pattern, a moire interference emerges.
In order to avoid such a moire pattern, a conventional method is known by which the high component of a spatial frequency involved is cut off by inserting an optical lowpass filter in an incident light path of the image pickup device. However, this method involves a lowering in image resolution. That is, with the optical lowpass filter inserted, very fine information of the high component of the spatial frequency is sacrificed so that such a camera cannot be applied to a defect checking apparatus of high precision adapted to check such a microdefects as set out above. For the TV camera, the lowering of the resolution would lead to the degeneration of an image quality.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide an image pickup apparatus applicable to a defect checking apparatus and TV camera capable of effectively eliminating moire interference without sacrificing an image resolution.


A new cultivar of Coprosma plant named ‘Golden Glow’ that is characterized by an upright habit and leaves that are green when young then turn to yellow and then to orange when mature.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Coprosma plant botanically known as Coprosma and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name 'Golden Glow'.
The new cultivar was discovered by the inventor in a cultivated area of Waikato, New Zealand in 2004. 'Golden Glow' was discovered as a naturally occurring branch mutation of Coprosma 'Evening Glow' (not patented).
Asexual reproduction by tip cuttings of the new cultivar 'Golden Glow' was first performed in 2004 in Waikato, New Zealand. Since that time, under careful observation, the unique characteristics of the new cultivar have been uniform, stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.


An annunciator for the status of interlock switches connected into a series circuit for supplying power from a power source to a load, includes a memory recording the status of each switch at a selectable instant. A plurality of display elements are arranged in a pattern corresponding to the pattern of the interlock switch circuit. A manually operable switch allows a user to select for graphically showing with the display either the switch status recorded by the memory or the current status of the switches. The signals controlling the display are conditioned so that the particular display element assigned to the first out switch as recorded in the memory flashes to indicate the switch closest to the power source which was not conducting at the selectable instant.

Many types of control systems are used to operate apparatus which has the potential for causing harm or injury if various parameter levels are outside of predetermined ranges. A simple example is the automobile whose engine will be severely damaged if the oil pressure is too low or the coolant temperature is too high. In this situation the system relies on the good judgment of the driver to stop the auto as soon as the warning light or gauge indicates the problem.
In many of these systems however, human monitoring of the apparatus parameters may be unacceptable because the apparatus is intended to operate automatically, or because the result of improper, that is to say human, monitoring may result in serious damage of injury. Neither is it desirable to rely on the control system to monitor every one of these parameter levels and shut down of the system when needed because this adds substantial complexity to the controller. Also, the control system can on occasion fail, for example because of power outages. Instead, in most systems these parameters are used to directly control interlock switches which open if the parameter level is outside of the predetermined range. In these systems, the interlock switches are typically arranged in a series circuit which passes the current for operating the apparatus (and parts of the control system as well in many cases) so that if any of the parameter levels are outside the range specified for it, the apparatus will not receive power and cannot operate. Examples of these series circuits of interlock switches are found in a number of different types of apparatus and their controls, including as one example burner systems and controls. In burner controls, the interlock switch series circuit is used to control power which operates the fuel valves. If any of the burner system parameters are outside the specified ranges, power is not available to the fuel valves, with the result that the burner cannot operate.
A problem which arises in these systems is determining the cause of a malfunction. If an interlock switch opens, power to the system is interrupted of course, but the problem can be in any of the parameters controlling the interlock switches or in other aspects of the system. For example, in burner systems flame failure does not control an interlock switch. In this particular situation, the control system itself interprets the flame sensor signal and shuts down the fuel valves when flame is detected as absent. When the shutdown is caused by open interlock switch, by the time a repairer arrives to correct the problem, the original cause of the shutdown may no longer exist. As one example of this situation, a low fuel pressure parameter which opens an interlock switch may have been restored within a few seconds and thus will not be apparent to the repairer. Even when latching interlock switches are used, on occasion a second fault may occur after the first fault and before the diagnostic procedures can be started. It is then difficult to determine the cause of the original shutdown. Early annunciators for use with these switch strings simply showed current status of the switches, which was not always adequate for easy troubleshooting.
In order to simplify and improve troubleshooting of malfunctions in these systems, improved annunciators have been designed which record the status of each of the interlock switches in the interlock switch string at the time a fault is detected. Thus for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,295,129 (Cade) describes a circuit connected to individual interlock switches and the main and pilot valve actuators, to detect abnormal conditions by sensing the status of the fuel valves and to record the identity of the first interlock switch or fuel valve to open at the time the abnormal condition was detected. U.S. Pat. No. 3,967,281 (Dageford) attempts to determine the earlier of two detected failures and record the identity of the switch which first opened. These will typically be related, but may happen in either order, and an indication of the earlier allows easier detection of the underlying problem.
Frequently, knowledge of the current status is helpful during troubleshooting. A problem with the present systems is that it is not possible during troubleshooting, without losing the first out status, to determine the current status of the switches without individually testing or inspecting them. While such individual testing or inspecting is possible, it is laborious when a large number of switches are involved. Furthermore, the current states of these switches may change during the troubleshooting, resulting in further troubleshooting problems.

Display apparatus for a first out type of fault status annunciator having a series of interlock switches


In one aspect, a metadata of an application is received. The metadata describes a number of artifacts of the computer application. Based on a reference in the application metadata, at least one service that the application is configured to access is determined. In another aspect, additional metadata describing artifacts associated with the at least one service are identified. The artifacts associated with the at least one service and the artifacts of the computer application are selected for installation of the computer application.

Cloud computing is a widely adopted concept. Generally, cloud computing refers to a model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, and on-demand access to shared pools of configurable computing resources such as networks, servers, storages, applications, functionalities, and the like. There are a number of benefits associated with cloud computing for both the providers of the computing resources and their customers. For example, customers may develop and deploy various business applications on a cloud infrastructure supplied by a cloud provider without the cost and complexity to procure and manage the hardware and software necessary to execute the applications. The customers do not need to manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure, e.g., including network, servers, operating systems, storage, etc., but still have control over the deployed applications and possibly over the configuration settings of the application-hosting environment. On the other hand, the provider's computing resources are available to provide multiple customers with different physical and virtual resources dynamically assigned and reassigned according to clients' load.
Typically, cloud providers offer common computing resources as services to their customers. Providers may supply these services as demanded and requested by their customers to meet their specific needs and requirements. Generally, customers may choose to enrich their business applications with only some of the offered services. Usually, to do that, customers may have to manually select the desired services. This may be cumbersome and prone to errors. For example, a customer may fail to select the proper services on which functionality the business application actually depends on. This may cause the application to work improperly when deployed and installed on the cloud. Alternative scenario may be selecting and installing all available services regardless of what services the business application actually is configured to access. However, such an alternative results in higher total cost of ownership, since unnecessary computing resources are consumed and provisioned. Another negative effect may be obscuring the monitoring, controlling, and reporting of the actual usage of the computing resources, resulting in less transparency for both the provider and the consumer of the utilized services.


A method and system for producing poly(lactic acid) enable trapping and recovering of lactide vapor discharged from a reaction vessel without requiring a solvent or the like. In the method and system, lactide vapor is discharged from a polymerization reaction vessel in which poly(lactic acid) is produced by ring-opening polymerization, and trapped by solidification. The solidified lactide is liquefied by heat. Lactide can be recovered more easily and assuredly.

This invention relates to a method and system for producing poly(lactic acid) while recovering lactide discharged as vapor from a polymerization reaction vessel in which the lactide is subjected to ring-opening polymerization.
Poly(lactic acid) is a polymer which is able to decompose in a living body, and has been used in the medical field owing to its excellent mechanical properties. Also, poly(lactic acid) is able to decompose in a natural environment. Accordingly, it has been hoped to provide a way of using poly(lactic acid) in applications for environmental protection.
Poly(lactic acid) can be synthesized by polycondensation of lactic acid monomers, or by ring-opening polymerization of lactide dimers. Low molecular weight polymers can be easily produced by the former method. However, high molecular weight polymers is difficult to be synthesized other than the latter method.
In the case of ring-opening polymerization, there is no need to reduce the pressure inside the reaction vessel as a condition for advancing the polymerization reaction. The polymerization temperature of the polymerization reaction vessel can be regulated by vaporizing lactide and discharging it out of the reaction vessel as vapor during the course of the polymerization reaction. Furthermore, it is desirable to remove any unreacted lactide remaining around the poly(lactic acid) at the end of the polymerization reaction. A vacuum apparatus is used to reduce the pressure inside the reaction vessel and remove the lactide vapor. However, the boiling point of lactide is about 250.degree. C. In order to remove the lactide from the reaction vessel as vapor, it is necessary to maintain the discharge line at a temperature equal to or greater than the boiling point. Moreover, the melting point of lactide is about 97.degree. C. Any cooling of lactide to a temperature lower than the melting point results in lactide becoming solidified and causing blockages in the vacuum apparatus or other parts.
Furthermore, recovering of raw material lactide will increase the yield of poly(lactic acid). For this reason, it is desirable to positively recover lactide rather than discharging it out of the reaction vessel. However, there has been no established technique for recovering lactide vapor discharged in the process of producing poly(lactic acid).
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 7-309863 discloses a method in which lactide is recovered by using a vacuum pump to suck up lactide produced by decomposition of poly(lactic acid) and introduce it into a trap for trapping lactide. Although no specific trapping method or temperature conditions are disclosed, the publication suggests that lactide could be trapped by filling the trap with an alcohol. However, when lactide is recovered using an alcohol, it becomes necessary to include a refining process for separating the lactide from the alcohol before reuse of the recovered lactide. This requires complicated equipment.
There has therefore been a demand for novel poly(lactic acid) production method and system which make it possible to trap and recover lactide vapor and reuse recovered lactide vapor as raw material without using a solvent such as alcohol.

Method and system for producing poly (lactic acid)


An embodiment device comprises a processing circuit and IP circuitry coupled to a power supply line, wherein the IP circuitry has an IP circuitry supply threshold for IP circuitry operation. A supply monitor circuit is coupled to the power supply line to sense the voltage on the power supply line and to switch the processing circuit to a low-power mode as a result of a drop in the voltage on the power supply line. The supply monitor circuit comprises a threshold setting node and is configured to be deactivated as a result of the voltage on the power supply line dropping below a deactivation threshold level set at the threshold setting node. A threshold setting circuit is configured to apply to the threshold setting node of the supply monitor circuit the IP circuitry supply threshold as a result of the processing circuit being in the low-power mode.

In various application contexts, facilitating power-effective co-existence of circuitry with different (minimum) operating voltages may represent a desirable feature. For instance, this may facilitate a user in defining in a flexible manner actions taken when low-voltage conditions are detected.
An approach to address that issue may involve limiting the operating voltage to a "worst case" condition. Such an approach may be far from providing an ideal solution: indeed, retaining the capability of operating a device, even with limited functionality/performance, may be desirable in various circumstances.
Another approach may involve using dedicated voltage monitors. While satisfactory under various respects, such an approach may be exposed to certain limitations related to the capability for various parts of a system to operate autonomously with different voltage specifications.

Device and method for power supply management


A light receiving or light emitting modular sheet having a plurality of spherical elements arranged in matrix. It is constituted only of acceptable spherical elements and photoelectric conversion efficiency thereof is enhanced.

Solar batteries in currently practical use comprise a flat pn junction formed by diffusing impurities in a flat semiconductor wafer. The solar batteries having this structure produce maximum output when light enters the light receiving surface at a right angle. Output decreases as light enters the light receiving surface at smaller angles. These solar batteries have a strong directional pattern. It would be difficult to say that they constantly utilize light in an efficient manner. Furthermore, wafers are produced by slicing a semiconductor crystal ingot and, thus, there are significant processing losses including margins to cut, which leads to increased production costs.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,581,103 discloses a solar battery element that is produced by melting and dropping a highly pure metal silicon material to form p-type crystal particles and diffusing n-type impurities in the p-type crystal to form a spherical pn junction and a solar battery module produced by connecting those solar battery elements using aluminum foil. The spherical solar battery elements of the solar battery module do not have individual electrodes before being assembled into a module, and are mechanically pressed into pores formed in a sheet of aluminum foil, electrically connecting the n-type surface. Then, the part of the n-type layer surface of the solar battery element that protrudes downward from the pore is removed by, for example, etching, to expose the p-type silicon or the core, causing the p-type silicon to make contact with another sheet of aluminum foil to form a positive electrode. A number of solar battery elements having a pn junction are connected in this way to form a module in which multiple solar battery elements are given electrodes and connected in parallel by two sheets of aluminum foil. In producing a solar battery module in this way electrodes are formed and connected in parallel concurrently using two sheets of aluminum foil. However, the p-type region is exposed after the n-type layer is connected to the aluminum foil, making it is difficult to evaluate the properties and quality of individual solar battery elements. Furthermore, this structure only allows for parallel connection. Another solar battery module must be connected in order to increase the output voltage. When the solar battery elements have a smaller diameter, the distance between the two aluminum foil sheets is decreased, making it difficult to insulate the aluminum foil from each other, and complicating the production process. The positive and negative electrodes are formed below the center of the solar battery element; in other words, they are formed at asymmetrical positions. This causes several disadvantages. For example, sufficiently improved photoelectric conversion efficiency is not available because the electric current between the positive and negative electrodes is localized at points where the distance between the electrodes is smaller. The aluminum foil blocks light and, therefore, only the light receiving surface above the aluminum foil is useful. Light from all directions is not received and, therefore, the output is not increased.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication H09-162434 discloses a solar battery sheet in which multiple spherical solar battery elements are supported by a glass fiber cloth formed by weaving vertically extended conductive wires and horizontally extended glass fibers. In such a solar battery, the solar battery elements are supported by conductive wires, by which they are easily insulated from each other.
However, also in the solar battery elements used in the solar battery described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication H09-162434, the n-type layer is connected to a negative electrode conductive wire, exposing the p-type region which is entirely surrounded by the n-type layer and connected to a positive electrode wire. Only the n-type layer is externally exposed before the conductive wires and solar battery elements are connected, making it so that the individual solar battery elements cannot be inspected before being connected, with the same problems as exist in the afore-mentioned citations. The positive conductive wire connected to the p-type region is also connected to the n-type layer. Then, the n-type layer is irradiated with light for electrochemical etching to separate the pn junction, by which the positive electrode wire is connected only to the p-type region. Solar battery elements are etched at different rates, making it difficult to reliably separate the pn junction in all the solar battery elements.
The solar battery element of this publication also has the same problem as the afore-mentioned citations because it is connected to the positive and negative electrode conductors asymmetrically about the center, with the disadvantage that, when the solar battery elements are replaced with spherical light emitting diodes, spherical light emitting diodes cannot be used because they emit light in a limited region between the conductive wires and fail to emit light in all directions.
In WO98/15983, the inventor of the present application proposed multiple spherical elements that are solar battery elements or light emitting devices and a light receiving or emitting module sheet in which the spherical elements are connected. The spherical element comprises a spherical p-type (or n-type) single crystal semiconductor (such as silicon), an n-type (or p-type) diffused layer formed near the surface of the single crystal semiconductor, a nearly spherical pn junction, and a pair of negative and positive electrodes provided opposite to each other about the center of the spherical single crystal semiconductor. A number of these spherical elements are arranged in a matrix of multiple rows and multiple columns and are connected in series and/or in parallel to constitute a light receiving or emitting module sheet.
The spherical elements position the electrodes at opposite positions to one another about their center. It is easy to connect multiple spherical elements in series by arranging the positive and negative electrodes of adjacent spherical elements to make direct contact with each other. However, it is not easy to connect spherical elements in parallel.
The inventor of the present application provided a resolution to this problem in WO03/017382 in which two parallel conductive wires are used to flank and connect in parallel the positive and negative electrodes of spherical elements arranged with their electrodes aligned to form a column of spherical elements and, the conductive wires of the adjacent columns of spherical elements then being connected to connect the columns of spherical elements in series.
The light receiving or emitting module sheet has the problem that its tensile strength is high in the lengthwise direction of the conductive wires, but is significantly lower in a direction orthogonal thereto. Further, it is necessary to simplify the connection between the spherical elements and conductive wires and improve productivity.
Objects of the present invention include providing a light receiving or emitting module sheet that may be constituted only by good spherical elements, a light receiving or emitting module sheet that has a high tensile strength, a light receiving or emitting module sheet that yields a high photoelectric or electrophoto conversion rate using spherical elements, and a light receiving or emitting module sheet that is easy to produce. Other objects of the present invention will apparent from the description of the embodiments of the present invention.

Light receiving or light emitting modular sheet and process for producing the same

Abstract: The light receiving modular sheet (1) comprises a plurality of spherical solar cell elements (2) arranged in matrix, a meshed member (3), and a sheet member (4). Each solar cell element (2) comprises a spherical pn junction (13), and positive and negative electrodes (14, 15) formed oppositely while sandwiching the center of the solar cell element (2) and being connected with respective electrodes of the pn junction (13). The meshed member (3) has a plurality of conductive wires (20, 21) arranged in parallel in order to connect the plurality of spherical solar cell elements (2) in each column electrically in parallel, and insulating tensile wires (22) arranged between the rows of solar cell elements (2) to cross the conductive wires (20, 21) perpendicularly while being woven in a meshed form to secure the plurality of conductive wires (20, 21).


A chemimechanical pulp for use in the manufacture of paper or paperboard products where a high drainability, bulky pulp is desired. The pulp has a long fiber content of between 60 and 75%, a fine-material content of at most 14%, a shive content of less than 0.5%, is refined to a freeness of 600 ml CSF at the lowest, and has a tensile index of at least 10 kNm/kg. A method for producing such a pulp comprises: a) impregnating chips with a lignin softening chemical; b) preheating the chips; c) refining the chips to papermaking pulp; wherein the chips are impregnated and heated over a total time period of at most 4 minutes; a) using a hot impregnating liquid having a temperature of at least 130.degree. C.; b) preheating the chips at a temperature above the lignin softening temperature; c) refining the pulp in one or more stages, of which the first or sole stage is carried out solely at essentially the same pressure and the same temperature as the preheating process; and refining the pulp at a total energy input which is at least 50% and at most 90% of the energy input required to achieve the same shive content when preheating at 135.degree. C. and using the same machine equipment.

In certain paper products it is advantageous to be able to achieve the highest possible bulk (low bulk density) at a given strength while satisfying high requirements placed on the surface properties of the products. Examples of such products are tissue products, with which high liquid absorption is a preferential property, and paperboard material or so-called liners for corrugated fiberboard boxes, with which a high degree of flexural rigidity is desired.
High bulk is, of course a necessary factor in achieving high liquid absorption. High bulk also contributes positively to the rigidity or stiffness of the board and the liner products. Since high requirements are also placed on the surface properties of this type of product, i.e. properties which will impart smoothness and softness to tissue products and enable print to be applied easily to the surfaces of paperboard and liners the shive content of the pulps used must be extremely low. The requirement of a low shive content and a given lowest mechanical strength has hitherto limited the possibility of using the most extremely long-fiber chemimechanical pulps of low fine-material contents, which provide the bulkiest products. The methods hitherto known for the production of extremely long-fiber chemimechanical pulps have resulted in pulps which are too weak or in which the coarse shive content is much too high.
High yield mechanical and chemimechanical pulps (>88%) are characterized in that the long whole fibers in the pulp (measured for instance as the fraction captured on a 30 mesh (Tyler standard) wire when fractionating in a Bauer McNett-apparatus) have a high flexural rigidity, which is also a prerequisite for manufacturing products which have a very high bulk. In order to produce pulp whose strength properties are sufficiently good for the pulp to be used in the manufacture of tissue, paperboard or liner products for instance, it has also been necessary hitherto for mechanical and chemimechanical pulp to contain a very high proportion of fiber fragments and fine-material, since these materials function as a binder between the long, stiff fibers. When fractionating in a Bauer McNett-apparatus, it has hitherto been considered necessary for the fine-material content, which is normally characterized as the fraction that can pass through a 200 mesh wire (Tyler standard), to be greater than 10%, preferably greater than 12%, in order to be able to obtain strength properties that are sufficiently good for use in tissue, fiberboard or liner products. Another reason why it has hitherto been considered necessary for mechanical or chemimechanical pulps to contain more than 12% fine-material is because at least this amount is formed nevertheless when working the pulp to reduce its shive content (measured according to Somerville with a 0.15 mm mesh width) to levels that are sufficiently low (less than 0.50%, preferably less than 0.25%) to obtain the desired surface properties.
SE-B-397 851 teaches a method of producing a chemimechanical pulp in which the chips are first impregnated with an alkaline sodium sulphite solution and then preheated with steam at 135.degree.-170.degree. C. for about 10 minutes. The following refinement is effected in an open refiner at a temperature slightly above 100.degree.C. The pulp is refined to 400 ml CSF and a very low shive content is obtained. Thus, when practicing this known method it is elected to refine at a relatively low temperature, i.e. a temperature which is much lower than the so-called lignin softening temperature. A relatively high energy input is then required in the refining process in order to obtain a low shive content, which results in a high percentage of fine-material in the pulp. The low shive content is only obtained at a relatively low freeness level. The long preheating time easily leads to a pulp of low brightness, particularly at the longest of these preheating times.
WO-Al-91/12367 describes an absorbent chemimechanical pulp that is manufactured from lignocellulosic material at an extremely low energy input, at a wood yield above 88%, a long fiber content above 70%, preferably above 75%, a fine-material content below 10% and a shive content below 3%. The pulp is produced by preheating and impregnating the chips at high temperature, high pressure and over a short period of time in one and the same vessel, prior to defibering the wood. When producing chemimechanical pulp with the method according to WO-Al-91/12367 at a long fiber content >70% and in which the energy input is maintained at an extremely low level in the refining process, there is often obtained a pulp whose shive content is too high and its strength too low (<10 kNm/kg) for the pulp to be used beneficially in paper products that are required to have high mechanical strength.
By "energy input" is meant in the following the input of electrical energy when refining the fiber material (unless stated differently, the term energy input refers to the total energy input in the single refining stage or in all refining stages). The term "refinement or refining" refers both to the coarse separation of the fibers (defibration) and to working of the fibers (refinement in its true meaning). By "yield" is meant the pulp yield calculated on the fibrous starting material, such as barked wood for instance.

Light drainability, bulky chemimechanical pulp that has a low shive content and a low fine-material content


Compositions and methods and are provided for treating disorders associated with compromised vasculostasis. Invention methods and compositions are useful for treating a variety of disorders including for example, stroke, myocardial infarction, cancer, ischemia/reperfusion injury, autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, eye diseases such as uveitis, retinopathies or macular degeneration, macular edema or other vitreoretinal diseases, inflammatory diseases such as autoimmune diseases, vascular leakage syndrome, edema, or diseases involving leukocyte activation, transplant rejection, respiratory diseases such as asthma, adult or acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and the like.

The vascular system is a prime mediator of homeostasis, playing key roles in the maintenance of normal physiologic functioning. For example, the vascular endothelium's barrier function serves to regulate the entry of fluid, electrolytes, and proteins into tissues, blood vessel tone contributes to the regulation of tissue perfusion, and the vascular endothelium's low mitotic index contributes to the regulation of tissue growth. The term "vasculostasis" refers to the maintenance of this homeostatic vascular functioning, and "vasculostatic agents" as agents that seek to address conditions in which vasculostasis is compromised by preventing the loss of or restoring or maintaining vasculostasis.
Compromised vasculostasis has serious pathologic consequences. For example, if vascular permeability increases beyond manageable levels, the resulting edema may negatively impact tissue and organ function and ultimately survival. Examples where excessive vascular permeability leads to particularly deleterious effects include pulmonary edema, cerebral edema, and cardiac edema (Ritchie A C: Boyd's Textbook of Pathology. London Lea and Febiger, 1990). In general, however, edema in any tissue or organ leads to some loss of normal function, and therefore to the risk of morbidity or even mortality. Similarly, excessive endothelial proliferation may damage tissues (such as the retina in proliferative retinopathies) or fuel unwanted tissue growth (such as with tumor growth).
Many pathologic and disease situations are marked by multiple disregulations in vasculostasis. Angiogenesis, for example, encompasses both enhanced vascular proliferation and permeability, as newly-formed blood vessels do not generally exhibit the same level of vascular barrier function as well-established or mature vessels. Examples of such hyper-permeable vasculature can be found in cancers, vasculoproliferative diseases, retinal diseases, and rheumatoid arthritis. The connection between angiogenesis and hyperpermeability may partly result from the dual action of factors such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), which induces both endothelial proliferation and vascular permeability. This connection may also reflect the immature nature of angiogenic vessels, in which the intracellular and/or extracellular structures or mechanisms that establish normal vascular barrier function have not yet fully formed. It may also be the case that angiogenesis and vascular permeability are linked by a co-dependence on common cellular mechanisms, for example in the case of cellular junction disassembly which would serve to enhance both paracellular permeability and cellular migration (both being components of the angiogenic process). A comprehensive treatment for many diseases, then, might involve vasculostatic agents that act upon one or more components of vasculostasis disregulation (based, for example, upon their level of action along intracellular signaling cascades). One such example would be a single therapeutic agent that impacts both angiogenesis and vascular permeability.
One way of impacting vasculostasis is by influencing endothelial cell responses to environmental signals (such as hypoxia) or vasoactive agents. For example, the vascular endothelium regulates fluid balance by adjusting both transcellular permeability (movement of fluid and proteins across endothelial cells via a network of vesicles) and paracellular permeability (movement of fluid and proteins between inter-endothelial cell junctions). Edema is most commonly thought to result from a breakdown in the inter-endothelial cell barrier, leading to increased paracellular permeability at the capillary and postcapillary venule level. Mechanistically, paracellular vascular leakage results from a breakdown in inter-cellular junctional integrity, via the dissolution of tight junctions and coupled to changes in cytoskeletal support elements that maintain normal cell-to-cell apposition. Several vasoactive mediators can trigger dissolution of these cellular elements, including histamine, bradykinin, thrombin, nitric oxide, eicosanoids (e.g., thromboxanes and leukotrienes), platelet activating factor (PAF), tumor necrosis factor (TNF), interleukins (e.g., IL-1 and IL-6), hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Using VEGF as an example, the sequence of events that lead to vascular leakage is generally believed to be as follows: reduced blood flow (e.g., as a result of thrombus formation) leads to tissue hypoxia, which leads to the upregulation of VEGF production, which leads to induction of vascular leakage. This VEGF effect is at the level of the endothelial cell, in other words VEGF binding to specific VEGF receptors expressed on endothelial cells leads to a cascade of intracellular events culminating in the loss of normal intercellular barrier function. Therefore, by affecting these intracellular events, vasulostatic agents could counter the negative effects of environmental signals such as hypoxia or vasoactive mediators such as VEGF, and thereby work to restore vasculostasis.
The cascade of events that leads to the loss of endothelial barrier function is complex and incompletely understood. Data support a role for kinases as at least one aspect of this process. For example, VEGF-mediated edema has been shown to involve intracellular signaling by Src family kinases, protein kinase C, and Akt kinase. Kinases are believed to mediate the phosphorylation of junctional proteins such as beta-catenin and vascular endothelial (VE)-cadherin, leading to the dissolution of adherens junctions and the dissociation of cadherin-catenin complexes from their cytoskeletal anchors. In addition, proteins which regulate the intercellular contractile machinery such as myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) and myosin light chain (MLC) are also activated, resulting in cellular contraction, and therefore an opening of intercellular junctions.
One group of signaling molecules involved in regulating vascular function is the phosphotidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) family of kinases. Several isoforms of PI3K exist and are divided into classes based on structural and activity similarities. PI3K family members are key components of the intracellular signaling cascades triggered by both growth factor and G protein-coupled receptors (e.g., VEGF and histamine receptors). As such, they have been shown to mediate such endothelial-based activities as the regulation of vascular barrier function. Additionally, PI3K family members are also key mediators of leukocyte functioning, including activities such as migration into tissues and cytokine production. As would be predicted, then, the PI3K family plays an important role in inflammatory responses. Therefore, in addition to direct roles in regulating vasculostasis, the PI3K family can also influence situation in which vasculostasis is compromised (including ischemia and ischemia-reperfusion injury) through their control of leukocyte functioning.
Maintaining or restoring vasculostasis should be beneficial to overall patient outcome in situations such as inflammation, allergic diseases, cancer, cerebral stroke, myocardial infarction, pulmonary and cardiac insufficiency, renal failure, and retinopathies, to name a few. In addition, edema formation is a recognized but unwanted consequence of many therapeutic interventions, such as immunotherapy, cancer chemotherapy and radiation therapy, therefore vasculostatic agents that inhibit vascular permeability could be used in a co-therapy approach to reduce the deleterious side-effects of such therapies. Furthermore, in many cases edema formation causes uneven delivery of therapeutic agents to diseased tissues, therefore vasculostatic agents that inhibit vascular permeability could be used in a co-therapy approach to enhance delivery and efficacy of such therapies. Finally, as edema is a general consequence of tissue hypoxia, it can also be concluded that inhibition of vascular leakage represents a potential approach to the treatment of tissue hypoxia. For example, interruption of blood flow by pathologic conditions (such as thrombus formation) or medical intervention (such as cardioplegia, organ transplantation, and angioplasty) or physical trauma, could be treated both acutely and prophylactically using vasculostatic agents that reduce vascular permeability.
Myocardial infarction (MI) results from a biphasic ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury to the heart, initiating with cardiomyocyte apoptosis then proceeding to a second wave of inflammation-based tissue damage. Despite considerable effort, therapeutic interventions to disrupt this injury pattern have not translated well from preclinical studies into the clinic. One major limitation has been a focus on anti-ischemia therapies that require delivery early in MI pathogenesis, a time when the great majority of patients are inaccessible. By contrast, while reperfusion injury does unfold in the appropriate interventional setting, inflammation's multifactorial nature complicates attempts to limit its impact. For example, pro-inflammatory mediators generated during I/R injury include vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), platelet activating factor (PAF), multiple cytokines and eicosanoids, histamine, thrombin and complement factors. While this diversity makes blockade at the receptor level unfeasible, inhibition at the sub-receptor level would be reasonable were a common signaling element identifiable.
Shock is often a life threatening medical or surgical condition in which a patient presents with an insufficiency of blood circulation leading to inadequate blood flow to vital organs and subsequent ischemia. Hemorrhagic and hypovolemic shock may lead to several medical emergencies which may include cardiac arrest, myocardial infarction (MI), organ failure and distress or failure of respiratory function. Shock arising from adverse heart conditions such as (MI) is typically termed cardiogenic shock and arises from blockage of blood flow to or from the heart, acute loss of fluids and ischemia to cardiac tissues. Several consequences of shock may include sepsis, anaphylaxis, inflammation, vascular permeability and distress or failure of neurological capacity. In some acute cases, septic shock results in a mortality rate of between 30-50%.
Phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) could represent this gatekeeper, lying downstream of both receptor tyrosine kinases (RTK) and G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR), two receptor classes encompassing the ligands listed above. Although phosphoinositide 3-kinases (PI3K) play beneficial pro-cell survival roles during tissue ischemia, some isoforms (γ and δ) paradoxically contribute to the inflammation that damages these same tissues upon reperfusion.

Kinase inhibitors and methods of use thereof


An axle assembly with level control, in particular with a pneumatic suspension. Changes in level which may, if appropriate, become necessary on both vehicle sides take place incrementally and with continuous alternation between the vehicle sides, i.e. the left-hand and right-hand vehicle sides are alternately raised or lowered.

The invention relates to an axle assembly with level control and pneumatic suspension for a vehicle, in particular a non-trackbound vehicle such as a large-capacity passenger car, having controllable pneumatic-suspension assemblies, for example pneumatic-suspension bellows, which are separate for each vehicle side and which can be connected separately to a compressor and/or to an outlet to the atmosphere via a control valve arrangement, and having sensors, which are separate for each vehicle side, for sensing the level of a vehicle body and/or for sensing a distance between a vehicle body-end part and a wheel carrier of the axle assembly.
In contemporary vehicles with pneumatic suspension, a compressed air accumulator is normally provided, which accumulator is continuously kept at a charging pressure above the operating pressure in the pneumatic-suspension assemblies by means of a compressor. In the case of a raising of the level of the vehicle body on both sides, which may possibly become necessary, the pneumatic-suspension assemblies of both vehicle sides are firstly connected to the pressure accumulator. As soon as the desired level is then at least approximately reached on one vehicle side, the connection between the pneumatic-suspension assembly of this vehicle side and the pressure accumulator is interrupted, while the pneumatic-suspension assembly on the other vehicle side continues to be connected to the pressure accumulator until the desired level is also at least approximately reached there. In this way, a vehicle can, even in the case of unequal loading of the vehicle sides, be placed with its transverse axis parallel to the carriageway or the underlying surface. The differences in loading between the vehicle sides are compensated by appropriate pressure differences between the pneumatic-suspension assemblies.
In the case of a lowering of the level on both sides, which may possibly become necessary, the pneumatic-suspension assemblies of both vehicle sides can firstly be simultaneously vented by means of outlet valves which are assigned separately to each pneumatic-suspension assembly, until the desired level is at least approximately reached on one side. Subsequently, only the pneumatic-suspension assembly on the vehicle side with excessively high pressure is then vented further.
DE 36 44 942 C2 discloses a hydropneumatic suspension system for vehicles in which parts of the vehicle can be lowered or raised even outside the control range of a level control system. So that only a comparatively small degree of expenditure on control is necessary in the case of such extreme lifting or lowering movements of the vehicle body, this publication provides for simultaneous operation of the supporting assemblies which are involved in the lifting or lowering movement to be achieved by virtue of the fact that these supporting assemblies are each briefly individually activated in succession in a predefined sequence, i.e. additional hydraulic medium is briefly fed to the hydraulic cylinder of the respective hydropneumatic supporting assembly when the vehicle of the vehicle parts is to be raised. If a lowering movement has to be carried out, hydraulic medium is briefly removed from the hydraulic cylinders of the supporting assemblies in succession. Here, the fact that the compressibility of hydraulic media is extraordinarily low is exploited. Therefore, if hydraulic medium is briefly fed to the hydraulic cylinders of the hydropneumatic supporting assemblies in succession or hydraulic medium is briefly drawn off from the hydraulic cylinders in succession, it is possible, by means of a simple measurement of time or quantity, to ensure that, averaged over time, all the hydraulic cylinders carry out the same vertical adjustment and a tilting movement of the vehicle in the course of the lifting or lowering movement is avoided.
The object of the invention is to reduce as far as possible the expenditure on open-loop or closed-loop control in a pneumatic-suspension system and at the same time permit a high level of comfort.
For this purpose, there is provision according to the invention that a change in level on both sides takes place incrementally and with continuous alternation between the vehicle sides in that, when the level is being raised on both sides, a closed-loop or open-loop control unit which is assigned to the control valve arrangement directly connects the pneumatic-suspension assembly of the one vehicle side and the pneumatic-suspension assembly of the other vehicle side to the compressor in an alternating fashion in order to carry out successive small or limited lifting movements, and, when the level is being lowered on both sides, it connects them to the atmosphere in an alternating fashion in order to carry out successive small or limited lowering movements, in which case, during the respective lifting or lowering movement at the respectively active pneumatic-suspension assembly, a level is set which is higher or lower, by a specific amount, than the level at the corresponding pneumatic-suspension assembly on the respective other vehicle side.
The invention is based on the general idea of normally avoiding a simultaneous adjustment of the pneumatic-suspension assemblies on both vehicle sides of an axle and of carrying out changes in level in each case incrementally and with continuous alternation between the vehicle sides. As a result, when there are large differences in loading between the vehicle sides and corresponding differences between the supporting forces and/or the pneumatic forces of the suspension assemblies, a load equalization or pressure equalization between the assemblies and a pronounced rolling movement of the vehicle body relative to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, which said equalization may possibly entail, are avoided. At the same time, the open-loop or closed-loop control of the level is simplified because the aforesaid differences cannot exert any appreciable influences on the movements of the vehicle body when the level is raised or lowered.
Moreover, with pneumatic suspension systems it is possible to ensure a particularly simple design without a pneumatic pressure accumulator.
The lifting and the lowering movements which take place alternately in terms of the vehicle sides cannot be differentiated by the vehicle occupants given appropriately small lifting or lowering increments, i.e. it is assumed that the vehicle is being raised or lowered on both vehicle sides uniformly. This effect is due to the fact that feeding compressed air into a pneumatic-suspension assembly, or venting a pneumatic-suspension assembly, on one vehicle side leads in each case to corresponding changes in level on both vehicle sides because the tendency of a vehicle to roll is typically limited by at least one stabilizer between vehicle wheels or carriers on different vehicle sides.
Furthermore, in a dual-axle or multi-axle vehicle, the support of the vehicle body on the other axle or axles counteracts a rolling movement. This effect is particularly pronounced if the wheel carriers of the axle assembly are connected to one another via a rigid axle or a coupling which is similar to a rigid axle. This is because in this case a change in level which occurs in the same direction on both sides when a pneumatic-suspension assembly is being adjusted is also effectively supported by virtue of the fact that the pneumatic-suspension assemblies are normally arranged offset to a greater or lesser extent towards the longitudinal centre of the vehicle in the transverse direction of the vehicle in relation to the wheel carriers of the axle assembly.
If, according to one preferred embodiment of the invention, a relatively large offset is provided, the alternating actuation of the pneumatic-suspension assemblies on the two vehicle sides is perceptible to a particularly small degree.
In an advantageous refinement of the invention, the sensors which serve only for sensing the level are assigned signal filters at the output end, which pass on long-term average values of the sensor signals during travelling mode and pass on short-term average values of the sensor signals or unfiltered sensor signals to the closed-loop or open-loop control unit when the vehicle is stationary. This allows for the fact that oscillation movements which occur during travelling mode are normally not associated with an enduring change in level, and changes in level cannot occur, or can only occur owing to leaks in the pneumatic system, and can thus occur comparatively slowly. In contrast, when the vehicle is stationary it is necessary to allow for loading and unloading of the vehicle or for persons getting in or getting out, and correspondingly for severe changes in loading.
Moreover, it is advantageously possible to make provision for level changes which are controlled as a function of displacement to be performed when the vehicle is stationary and for predominantly time-controlled level changes to be performed when the vehicle is travelling. For this purpose, when a change in level is necessary during travelling mode, a pneumatic-suspension assembly can in each case be connected to the compressor or to the outlet for a predefined time period of, for example, five seconds, and then shut off from the compressor and the outlet for a predefined longer time period which is matched to the formation of average values over time by the signal filter. In contrast, when the vehicle is stationary, a change in level occurs which is controlled solely as a function of the sensor signals.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Ground clearance-regulated, air-suspended axle aggregate, for example for monospace private cars


The techniques described herein enable a private connectivity solution between a virtual network of a service consumer and a virtual network of a service provider in a cloud-based platform. The techniques map a service (e.g., one or more workloads or containers) executing in the virtual network of the service provider into the virtual network of the service consumer. The mapping uses network address translation (NAT) that is performed by the cloud-based infrastructure. As a result of the techniques described herein, a public Internet Protocol (IP) address does not need to be used to establish a connection thereby alleviating privacy and/or security concerns for the virtual networks of the service provider and/or the service consumer that are hosted by the cloud-based platform.

Cloud-based platforms (e.g., AMAZON WEB SERVICES, MICROSOFT AZURE, etc.) enable tenants (e.g., customers) to offer and/or to consume services via their virtual networks. To do this, a virtual network of a service provider, that is hosted by a cloud-based platform, needs to connect to a virtual network of a service consumer that is also hosted by the cloud-based platform. Typically, this connection is established using a public Internet Protocol (IP) address, which causes privacy and/or security concerns for the virtual networks of the service provider and/or the service consumer that are hosted by the cloud-based platform.
It is with respect to these and other technical challenges that the disclosure made herein is presented.

Mapping a service into a virtual network using source network address translation