A system and method for cooling and heating of buildings comprising an integrated assembly of devices, including a variable speed air handler, hot water heating coil, outside air damper, controller, and optional compressor-based air conditioner. During the summer the system utilizes nighttime outside air for cooling and uses air temperature predictions to provide information about optimal control settings and to maintain comfort. During the winter the system varies airflow with heating demand and ventilates with outside air to maintain indoor air quality.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to an integrated assembly of devices for providing building heating, ventilation cooling, fresh air ventilation, and air conditioning; and to improvements in controls for operating these devices.
2. Relevant Prior Art
The use of windows and doors to admit cool night air to improve the comfort and air quality of the interior of dwellings is a practice with origins in antiquity. The physical principle is to create a heat exchange between cool nighttime outside air and warmer surfaces of interior building components having significant mass such as masonry, wall and ceiling finishes, concrete floors, and furnishings. During nighttime cool outside air removes heat from the warmer surfaces. During daytime the cool surfaces of building components absorb heat from indoor air to keep the interior air temperatures lower. The cool surfaces also contribute to comfort by providing a lower mean radiant temperature, such that the human body radiates heat at a greater rate than if surrounded by warmer surfaces.
Effective use of outside air for cooling can also reduce the required capacity of air conditioners and reduce their energy consumption by reducing cooling load. In mild climates ventilation cooling can eliminate the need for compressor-based air conditioning. The most favorable outcome of the widespread use of ventilation cooling is the reduction of the peak electric load and mitigating the need to construct new power plants.
Whole-house fans have been used for several decades to provide a means of improving air exchange and circulation between indoors and outdoors; controls for these devices are typically switches, timers, and manually operated speed controls. Their relative simplicity is also a drawback. Whole house fans move air from indoors to outdoors, creating a negative indoor pressure, and rely on the operation of windows to admit air to the indoor spaces. Since this air is not filtered, dust and pollens are also admitted.
High noise levels produced by whole house fans is often objectionable.
There are also other concerns. The use of windows to provide nighttime ventilation compromises home security and requires active participation of dwelling occupants and. ventilation fan operation cannot be automated if windows must be manually opened to admit outside air. A ventilation cooling system produced by ZTECH of Rancho Cordova, Calif. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,065,585) eliminates the need to open windows. The ZTECH system provides outside air ventilation using a heating/cooling system blower and a damper with an air filter. The damper (U.S. Pat. No. 5,096,156) is connected to the intake of the blower, which supplies air to rooms of a building through ducting. In a first position of the damper, a passageway connects the blower unit to a building return air duct, thereby re-circulating indoor air for heating or air conditioning. The damper switches to a second position for ventilation cooling. In this second position a first passageway of the damper connects the blower to an outside air intake, thereby pressurizing the building with outside air. In this second position building air pressure is relieved through a second damper passageway that connects the building return air duct to a vented attic or the outdoors. In this manner the blower distributes filtered outside air to all rooms using the same ducts as used by the heating and cooling system.
The ZTECH system, and another system described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,902,183, utilize controllers that measure indoor and outdoor air temperatures and use these measurements to control when the ventilation systems should be operated. Both systems ventilate with outside air when outdoor air temperature is cooler than indoor air temperature by a selected temperature differential, and as long as the indoor air temperature is above a fixed low-limit temperature setting. Both systems also use controls that are separate from building heating and cooling system controls. Field studies conducted on homes equipped with the ZTECH system showed that homeowners lacked an understanding of how the ventilation systems worked and how they could be used to reduce energy use and improve comfort, A fixed indoor low-limit temperature setting employed by the ZTECH controls can cause excessive cooling on mild or cool days. Also, the controls provide no feedback to encourage lower indoor temperature settings that would avert air conditioner use on hot days.
Until recent years, normal leakage through gaps in construction assemblies has been sufficient to maintain indoor air quality at healthy levels in dwellings. Modern building standards and construction practices intended to conserve energy have resulted in much tighter buildings with less leakage. Several states have adopted regulations that require mechanical ventilation to exhaust indoor contaminants including carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, excessive moisture, indoor allergens, and volatile organic compounds given off by carpeting and other building materials. Devices available to meet mechanical ventilation requirements include continuously operated bathroom fans, heat recovery ventilators, and systems that duct outside air into heating/cooling system return air ducts. In the latter category, Lipidex produces an AirCycler™ air handler system, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,547,017 and 5,881,806, that includes an outside air duct connected between the return air plenum of a forced air heating unit and an outside air intake. A controller operates a motorized damper in the outside air duct and cycles the heating unit blower to provide fresh air. To its credit, the Lipidex system distributes fresh air to all conditioned spaces, but because this system mixes a large volume of re-circulated air with outside air, it must move more air and uses more fan energy than a system that ventilates with 100% outside air. Neither this system, nor bathroom fans, nor heat recovery ventilators move sufficient air to provide effective ventilation cooling.
A physical law that describes performance of centrifugal fans dictates that motor power demand varies with the cube of the airflow rate. High energy use, as well as noise problems, can be mitigated by employing a fan that delivers only the amount of air required to meet heating, cooling, and ventilation requirements.
Electronically commutated, variable speed, motors (ECM's) have been used to operate fans in heating and cooling systems for over a decade. These motors can be programmed to maintain constant airflow over a wide range of external static pressure, and allow the airflow to be varied by external controls. ECM's are much more efficient at low speeds than induction motors with multiple speed taps, and have been applied to provide continuously variable air delivery with heat pump systems such as the Trane XV-1500 and the Carrier Hydrotech 2000. ECM's have not previously been employed with outside air ventilation systems. ECM's are used in some variable speed gas furnaces, but current gas furnace technology does not allow airflow to be varied by more than 20%. Thus furnace fans must be cycled on and off when heating loads are low, and energy savings from motor speed reduction are much smaller than what could be achieved if airflow could be varied with heating load. Energy-saving heating and cooling thermostats that allow indoor temperatures to be scheduled over a 24 hour period are commonplace and can be used to reduce energy use. However, the scheduling features of these thermostats frequently go unused because they are not understood. Typically, a multitude of keystrokes are required to both enter and view time/temperature schedules. Also, thermostat displays do not adequately explain the meaning of their various settings.
Utility peak capacity shortages are reaching crisis proportions in areas of the U.S. Many utilities have undertaken programs to cycle air conditioning equipment off during periods of high peak demand. Conventional thermostats have no provisions for preventing operation specifically during utility peak power use periods or during power shortage alerts.


Information about a device may be emotively conveyed to a user of the device. Input indicative of an operating state of the device may be received. The input may be transformed into data representing a simulated emotional state. Data representing an avatar that expresses the simulated emotional state may be generated and displayed. A query from the user regarding the simulated emotional state expressed by the avatar may be received. The query may be responded to.

U.S. Pub. No. 2007/0074114 to Adjali et al. discloses a human-computer interface for automatic persuasive dialog between the interface and a user and a method of operating such an interface. The method includes presenting a user with an avatar or animated image for conveying information to the user and receiving real time data relating to a personal attribute of the user, so as to modify the visual appearance and/or audio output of the avatar or animated image as a function of the received data relating to a personal attribute of the user.

Emotive engine and method for generating a simulated emotion for an information system


A cam unit includes three cams fixed on a common cam shaft for moving a pair of feeding rollers, a pair of lateral registration rollers, and a stopper unit, respectively. A control unit corrects a lateral registration of a sheet whose skew is corrected by the stopper unit, based on a detection result of a detecting unit that detects a position of a side edge of the sheet, while conveying the sheet, controls the rollers not nip the sheet at least during the lateral registration, and controls rotations of the cams according to a length of the sheet.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sheet conveying device and an image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to a mechanism for performing a position correction in a main-scanning direction and a skew correction at a leading edge of a sheet.
2. Description of the Related Art
An image forming apparatus such as a laser printer feeds sheets such as printing papers accommodated in a feeding unit one by one, transfers a toner image formed on a photosensitive drum, a photosensitive belt, or the like onto the sheet at a transfer position, and fixes the toner image to the sheet, thereby obtaining the sheet with the toner image thereon.
In such image forming apparatus, a registration mechanism including a stopper and rollers is arranged just before the transfer position to correct the direction of the sheet, so that the toner image can be transferred at an appropriate position on the sheet.
For example, in Japanese Patent No. 2893540, the image forming apparatus includes a sheet conveying device. In the sheet conveying device, a stopper for positioning a sheet in a direction orthogonal to a sheet conveying direction is provided on a conveying path, and a leading end of the sheet is brought into contact with the stopper, so that the sheet is stopped. In this state, the sheet is fed by a conveying unit on the upstream side, and the stopper is released after a loop is formed in the sheet, so that the sheet is nipped and conveyed by a pair of rollers downstream of the stopper. Thereafter, a detecting unit that is arranged downstream of the stopper detects a side edge of the sheet, and a roller moving unit moves the rollers in a direction orthogonal to the sheet conveying direction to correct the position of the sheet so that the side edge of the sheet is aligned with a reference position.
FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a conventional sheet conveying device that includes a pair of lateral registration rollers 32, a stopper 33, a pair of feeding rollers 34, a sheet edge detection sensor 35, pairs of conveying rollers 36, sheet conveying paths 37 and 38, and sheet trays 40 and 41.
The stopper 33 is arranged just upstream of the lateral registration rollers 32, and can move between a sheet-conveying-path closed position and a sheet-conveying-path opened position. The distance between the lateral registration rollers 32 and the feeding rollers 34 in the sheet conveying path is shorter than a small-size sheet for enabling them to convey the small-size sheet, and the sheet conveying path upstream of the feeding rollers 34 includes the sheet conveying path 38 connected to the sheet tray 40 arranged in the apparatus body and the sheet conveying path 37 connected to the sheet tray 41 arranged outside the apparatus body. The pairs of conveying rollers 36 are arranged along the sheet conveying paths 37 and 38 for conveying the sheet to the feeding rollers 34. Moreover, the sheet conveying paths 37 and 38 are joined at a sheet-conveying-path junction point D upstream of the feeding rollers 34.
The operations of a sheet conveying position correction and a sheet skew correction in the above sheet conveying device are explained.
A sheet 39 conveyed by the feeding rollers 34 is stopped after the leading end thereof comes into contact with the stopper 33 that is set to the sheet-conveying-path closed position in advance. At this time, because the leading end of the sheet 39 is aligned with the stopper 33, the sheet skew correction is finished. Thereafter, the sheet 39 is fed by the feeding rollers 34 for a while until a buffer C is formed in the sheet 39 between the stopper 33 and the feeding rollers 34. Then, the stopper 33 is lowered to release the leading end of the sheet 39. In this state, due to the stiffness of the sheet 39 at the buffer C, the leading end of the sheet 39 is pushed into the nip portion of the lateral registration rollers 32. At this time, the nipping by the feeding rollers 34 is released, and the edge (side edge) of the sheet 39 in a main scanning direction is detected by the sheet edge detection sensor 35. After the correction amount of the sheet 39 in the main scanning direction is calculated, the lateral registration rollers 32 are moved laterally in an axis direction of the lateral registration rollers 32 by the correction amount, thereby aligning the position of the sheet 39 in the main scanning direction without the feeding rollers 34 affecting the operation of the sheet position correction (lateral registration).
When the sheet conveying position correction and the sheet skew correction are performed for a sheet having a length longer than the distance between the lateral registration rollers 32 and the conveying rollers 36 in the above sheet conveying device, if the conveying rollers 36 nip (press and hold) the trailing end of the sheet even after the leading end of the sheet is pushed into the nip portion of the lateral registration rollers 32, the sheet may be skewed to wrinkle or the sheet whose skew has been corrected by the stopper 33 may be skewed again due to the resistance at the nip portion between the conveying rollers 36 at the time of laterally moving the sheet with the lateral registration rollers 32 for the sheet conveying position correction. Therefore, when the sheet conveying position correction is performed, the conveying rollers 36 are released.
At the time when the stopper 33 is lowered to release the leading end of the sheet after forming the buffer C in the sheet between the stopper 33 and the feeding rollers 34, if the sheet is curled or has a low stiffness, the sheet may be buckled or skewed before being nipped by the lateral registration rollers 32, thereby misaligning the direction of the sheet or causing a jam of the sheet. On the contrary, if the sheet has a high stiffness, the sheet whose skew has been corrected by the stopper 33 may be skewed again and pushed into the nip portion of the lateral registration rollers 32 in this state, which indicates that the skew correction by the stopper 33 has no meaning. To solve this problem, the stopper 33 is arranged downstream of the lateral registration rollers 32 (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H10-203690).
In addition, with the above configuration, because the stopper and the conveying unit each need a driving unit, the apparatus itself becomes large and the manufacturing cost thereof becomes high.
Even if the above problems are solved, in the case of conveying the sheet that is thick, stiff, and has a length longer than the distance between the lateral registration rollers 32 and the sheet-conveying-path junction point D, if the radius of curvature of the sheet conveying path 38 from each sheet tray to the feeding rollers 34 is too small, the rear end portion of the sheet remaining on the sheet conveying path receives high resistance in conveying on the sheet conveying path. Consequently, when the sheet conveying position correction of the sheet 39 is performed in the main scanning direction by the lateral registration rollers 32, the resistance on the sheet conveying path interferes with the movement of the sheet 39 in the main scanning direction, which results in lowering the accuracy of aligning a sheet in conveying.
In the conventional sheet conveying device in FIG. 9, for performing the sheet skew correction by making the leading end of the sheet in contact with the stopper 33 and the sheet conveying position correction in the main scanning direction by the lateral registration rollers 32, it is necessary to associate the open/close timing of the conveying path by the stopper 33 and the nipping timing of the sheet by the lateral registration rollers 32 and the conveying rollers 36 with each other. That is, as described above, if the conveying rollers 36 nip the trailing end of the sheet after the leading end of the sheet is pushed into the nip portion of the lateral registration rollers 32, the sheet may be skewed to wrinkle or the sheet whose skew has been corrected by the stopper 33 may be again due to the resistance at the nip portion between the conveying rollers 36 at the time of performing the sheet position correction in main scanning direction by laterally moving the lateral registration rollers 32. Therefore, there is considered a configuration for operating each member at constant timing, in which a plurality of cams is provided on the same cam shaft to prevent a size increase of the apparatus, and the open/close timing and the nipping timing by the members are defined by rotating the cam shaft at a constant speed.
However, when the cams defining the timing of the members are used, the opening/closing operation and the nipping operation are performed by the members at constant timing based on the constant rotation speed of the cam shaft. Therefore, if there are various types of sheets with different lengths, unnecessary time loss is generated in conveying depending upon the length of the sheet, which may lower the conveying efficiency.
Specifically, in the above sheet aligning unit, in the case of performing the sheet skew correction and the lateral registration of the sheet while conveying the sheet at constant timing, the sheet aligning unit is control to operate normally for a sheet having the maximum length in the sheet conveying direction available for the sheet aligning unit. For example, if the sheet aligning unit is used in the image forming apparatus in which an A4 size sheet is available at the maximum length, because there are not so many types of sheets having a length shorter than the A4 size sheet used, the sheet aligning unit can be easily controlled by causing it to operate at constant timing corresponding to the length of the A4 size sheet.
However, in practice, there are many types of sheets having different lengths available. If the difference in length between longer and shorter sheets is large, the shorter sheet is controlled to be conveyed at the same timing as that for the longer sheet. Therefore, for example, the feeding rollers that nip and convey the trailing end of the sheet come into contact with each other again at the timing for the longer sheet even when conveying the shorter sheet. Therefore, the waiting time in the case of the shorter sheet becomes long compared to the case of the longer sheet, thereby causing a time loss.

Sheet conveying device and image forming apparatus


Methods for sensing ferroelectric memory devices and apparatuses using the same have been disclosed. One such apparatus includes a ferroelectric memory cell coupled to a data line, a reference capacitance, and a common node coupled between the data line and the reference capacitance. A current mirror circuit is coupled to the data line and the reference capacitance. During a sense operation, the common node is configured to be at a fixed voltage and the current mirror circuit is configured to mirror displacement current from the reference capacitance to the ferroelectric memory cell.

Memory devices are typically provided as internal, semiconductor, integrated circuits in apparatuses such as computers or other electronic devices. There are many different types of memory including non-volatile memory and volatile memory. Volatile memory can include memory such as static random-access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM). Non-volatile memory can include memory such as read only memory (ROM), phase change memory (PCM), flash memory, or ferroelectric random access memory (FeRAM).
FeRAM is a random-access memory that is similar in construction to DRAM (e.g., each cell having a capacitor and access transistor) but uses a ferroelectric layer instead of a dielectric layer in order to achieve non-volatility. An FeRAM cell can comprise a dielectric structure that includes a non-linear ferroelectric material (e.g., lead zirconate titanate (PZT)). The ferroelectric material typically has a higher dielectric constant than that of a DRAM's linear dielectric material due to the effects of semi-permanent electric dipoles formed in the crystal structure of the ferroelectric material.
One ferroelectric characteristic is that the ferroelectric material has the form of a hysteresis loop that is similar in shape to the hysteresis loop of ferromagnetic materials. When an external electric field is applied across a dielectric, the dipoles tend to align themselves with the field direction, produced by small shifts in the positions of atoms and shifts in the distributions of electronic charge in the crystal structure. After the charge is removed, the dipoles retain their polarization state. Binary "0"s and "1"s can be stored as one of two possible electric polarizations in each data storage cell.
A write operation to an FeRAM cell is similar to a DRAM write operation. A field is applied across the ferroelectric layer by charging the plates on either side of it, forcing the atoms inside into the "up" or "down" orientation (depending on the polarity of the charge), thereby storing a binary "1" or "0". A sense operation, however, is somewhat different than a DRAM in that the transistor forces the cell into a particular state (e.g., "0"). If the cell already held that particular state, nothing will happen in the output lines. If the cell held an inverse state (e.g., "1"), the re-orientation of the atoms in the film will cause a brief pulse of current in the output as they push electrons out of the metal on the "down" side. The presence of the residual charge on a coupled data line (e.g., bit line) can indicate that the cell held the inverse state. Since this process overwrites the cell, sensing FeRAM is a destructive process and the cell should be re-written if it was sensed.
FeRAM sensing schemes use a ramped plate voltage on the FeRAM plate in order to sense the residual charge left on the data line. As the plate voltage ramps upward, a polarized memory cell pushes its charge onto the data line, thus resulting in two different data line voltages depending on whether the memory cell was polarized. While memory manufacturers typically would like to reduce power consumption and increase memory performance, applying a ramped plate voltage can be a time and energy intensive process.
Thus, there are general needs to be able to sense FeRAM with a faster and lower energy process.

Fixed voltage sensing in a memory device


A rapid online analyzer for a 14C-AMS, comprising: a solid sample processing module, an atmospheric sample collection and processing module, a microflow control module, an AMS module and an automatic control module. Sample preparation and AMS measurement are combined, a solid sample is directly converted into CO2 gas by an element analyzer and then enters an AMS for measurement, and an atmospheric sample is collected in real time for analysis by the AMS, such that quick and efficient analysis of the solid sample and the atmospheric sample is realized.

With the development and promotion of the AMS (accelerator mass spectrometry) technology, long-lived radionuclide 14C is widely used in the fields, such as earth science, environmental science, archeology, life science, marine science, and cosmochemistry. At present, there are nearly one hundred AMS laboratories in the world, and almost all of the laboratories still invest more than 90% vigor and machine hours in 14C researches. Since the emergence of the AMS, its development and 14C application have always promoted each other, and the continuous development of the AMS technology has always driven expansion of the 14C application field. Scientists' exploitation of new fields of 14C or deep exploitation of the existing fields has further prompted the AMS to have to push forward the former 14C-AMS analysis technology.
In recent years, the governments of various countries have been faced with security problems such as radionuclide contamination, many environmental problems caused by the social development, and constantly emerging new interdisciplinary problems, all of which have contributed to continuous development of the AMS research direction. Developed countries have planned to implement environmental monitoring based on 14C-AMS determination and fast monitoring and response of radioactive contaminations, to prevent from possible chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear incidents (CBRN), and provide the basis for making scientific decisions by the governments. With the development of biomedicine, 14C is widely used as a tracer agent, and its characteristics of requesting fast and large-scale basic data are reflected clearly. At present, the global warming is closely related to CO2 and other greenhouse gases released from human activities. How much CO2 comes from emissions of fossil fuels is the urgent environmental issues and important scientific issues at present. The emerging monitoring of Δ14C in the atmosphere will explain the quantity of contribution of fossil fuel carbon emissions to CO2 from another separate perspective, and establish a scientific method for calculating fossil fuel carbon emissions.
The above completely new and unique research field and direction request fast and abundant 14C determination data, to provide timely and continuous basic data for researches.
However, the solid target sample sputtering approach used for the conventional 14C-AMS analysis method has been far from meeting the requirements of fast testing of large-scale samples. Before traditionally testing a 14C unknown sample, it is necessary to send the unknown sample to an appropriate chemical pre-treatment and sample preparation laboratory, so that the special chemical laboratory converts C contained therein into CO2, purifies the CO2, and then reduces the CO2 to graphite after a long time (it takes at least 4 hrs to reduce a conventional amount of sample using H2/Fe method, and up to about 12 hrs using Zn/Fe method). Therefore, the period of acquiring 14C determination data is very long, and the whole period of a single sample is at least 2 days or more.
In this case, first, it is impossible to meet the research field requesting for fast obtaining analysis results; second, many laboratories cannot meet the requirements for scientific researches requesting for using large-scale samples as the basic data support within limited machine hours; and third, the possibility of sample contamination in a long process will also be greatly increased with the increase of the process duration and the decrease of the sample amount.
Thus, the mode of the conventional chemical treatment approach of samples with the addition of a solid ion source bombarded using a graphite target sample, and then led out for AMS determination has been completely unable to meet the requirements for fast analysis and testing of large-scale or a very trace amount of samples.
At present, the internationally explored and researched gas ion source led out by gas target sample sputtering mainly includes three types as follows:
First, microwave plasma ion source, developed by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Prepared CO2 is introduced into an ion source through a silicon capillary to produce C+ beam. In order to obtain a negative ion beam for AMS determination, a charge exchange "passage" is provided next to the ion source, and C+ here is converted into C− beam. For a very small sample size, trace CO2 is introduced into the ion source with argon as a carrier. At the charge exchange passage, argon is collected by a beam dump due to occurrence of the charge exchange, while C− is accelerated and stripped, and then determined in a probe. This approach takes advantage of a positive ion source which is then converted into desired negative ions for AMS determination, needs very complex design, and fails to ensure the final yield of the C− beam. At the same time, determination of other nuclide using this ion source is constrained. More importantly, the scheme does not achieve fast and simple 14C determination scheme. Therefore, the ion source is a device exquisitely reflecting physical theories and ideas, but is not adapted for the actual large-scale and fast 14C testing.
Second, the gas ion source introduces CO2 into an ion source head by a self-designed gas loading system. The system is transformed from a solid/gas cesium sputter ion source based on NEC MC-SNICS. CO2 is preburned, and sealed within a Pyrex glass tube with an outer diameter of 6 mm. Then, the glass tube is put in a corrugated tube, and after vacuum degree is reduced, the glass tube filled with CO2 is broken by bending the corrugated tube. CO2 (with helium) is injected into the source ion head through a control valve at a certain speed, to achieve sample determination. The system has provided the basis for solving the Cs sputter ion source for the possibility of gas target sample analysis. However, this approach still separates the original sample treatment from the AMS testing, and does not integrate it to achieve the purpose of fast analysis. However, it initially establishes the theoretical and practical basis for determining CO2 target sample using Cs+ sputter negative ion source.
Third, the gas ion source is designed mainly based on the concept of solid sample processing. CO2 is obtained by combustion through an elemental analyzer, and may be referred to as an EA-AMS ion source. The ion source is transformed on the basis of MC-SNICS produced by NEC and SO-110 solid/gas cesium sputter ion source produced by HVEE. The elemental analyzer achieves obtaining pure CO2 by fast combustion and separation of solid samples, and then CO2 is introduced into an improved ion source target material with helium as the carrier gas. CO2 is converted by a special cesium sputtering target head into C−, which is then led out for AMS determination. Such an ion source is the latest exploration direction in the research and development of gas ion sources at present, and will be likely to solve fast online combustion and AMS testing of a large amount of samples. What is more important is that such an ion source is mainly provided for fast analysis of pure CO2 directly generated from a solid sample by elemental analysis, does not involve direct analysis of atmospheric samples, and thus does not bind to a CO2 purification system, so that now the atmospheric samples requesting fast batch testing cannot be determined through the ion source.

INSTITUTE OF EARTH ENVIRONMENT, CHINESE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES


Combustion devices described herein comprise a compliant combustion chamber wall or segment. The compliant segment deforms during combustion in the combustion chamber. Some devices may include a compliant wall configured to stretch responsive to pressure generated by combustion of a fuel in the combustion chamber. A coupling portion translates deformation of the compliant segment or wall into mechanical output. One or more ports are configured to inlet an oxygen source and fuel into the combustion chamber and to outlet exhaust gases from the combustion chamber.

Combustion devices that employ a metal piston and rigid combustion chamber to generate mechanical power are well developed and widely used.
Conventional combustion devices tend to be relatively heavy and non-portable. At smaller scales and lower weights, the efficiency of combustion systems rapidly decreases. Small-scale engines also suffer from leakage in the piston-cylinder gap, which is normally a negligible loss for larger engines. Since the piston-cylinder gap cannot be readily scaled down with engine size, leakage becomes more problematic as engine size decreases. Other problems associated with rigid combustion-based systems—at any size—include corrosion, temperature warping in small gaps, and wear. Rigid combustion systems of any size also need to be relatively heavy to achieve the rigidity needed to maintain tight tolerances in the piston-cylinder gap.
Many portable devices employ one or more batteries as a power source. Disposable or rechargeable batteries are used in most portable electronic devices for example. Intermittent bursts of power are important in the design and operation of many portable devices, where batteries often fall short. Batteries by themselves also offer no mechanical output; electrical output from them must be supplied to a motor to produce mechanical work.
In view of the foregoing, alternative power generation and combustion devices, particularly those suitable for mobile and portable use, would be desirable.


In the method and circuit for creating a modulated signal, one input signal of a phase comparator (509) of a phase-locked frequency synthesizer is an offset frequency (f.sub.2), which is created from an adjustable oscillator's (511) output signal (f.sub.TX) by mixing it with a mixer frequency (f.sub.1) and filtering the obtained result in a low pass filter (508). The other input signal is a fixed reference frequency (f.sub.r). The adjustable oscillator (511) is controlled with a control signal (V.sub.CMOD), which contains a component resulting from the phase difference of said input signals (f.sub.r, f.sub.2). Modulation is created in the output signal (f.sub.TX) of the loop by adding a frequency or phase change to at least one of the input signals (f.sub.r, f.sub.2) or their derivatives, advantageously with pulse delay technology.

The present invention relates to a method and circuit for creating a modulated signal with a frequency synthesizer based on a phase-locked loop. A fixed-frequency reference signal and a signal created by down-converting from the output signal of the frequency synthesizer are input to the phase comparator of the loop.
A known method of creating a modulated transmitting frequency is shown in FIG. 1. The transmission frequency f.sub.TX is generated in a closed phase-locked loop by controlling a voltage-controlled oscillator 109 (VCO) with a control voltage V.sub.CMOD which is formed from the loop's internal control signal V.sub.C and an external modulation signal MOD, which are summed in a summing circuit 110. As is characteristic of a phase-locked loop, the control voltage V.sub.C is formed with a phase comparator, which is part of the phase-locked circuit 107 (PLL), and a loop filter 108 (LPF) by creating a signal that is proportional to the phase difference between the output signal of the VCO 109 and a reference signal preprogrammed for circuit 107, and then filtering the signal in the loop filter 108 (LPF). Only those phase or frequency changes caused by the modulating signal MOD that are faster than the settling time of the loop can be detected in the output signal f.sub.TX of the VCO, which means that the loop has a high pass type frequency response to the modulating signal MOD.
FIG. 1 also shows a conventional heterodyne receiver in which the receiver signal f.sub.RX is mixed with a local frequency f.sub.1 in a mixer 3 and filtered with a passband filter 4 to form an intermediate frequency f.sub.IF. A local frequency f.sub.1 is generated in an oscillator 5, which may be a phase-locked frequency synthesizer or a crystal oscillator, for example. The antenna 1 of the transceiver, a duplex filter 2 and the power amplifier 106 of the transmitter are also shown in the figure for clarity.
The frequency adjustment range of voltage-controlled oscillators used in mobile phones is about 30 MHz (e.g., when the carrier frequencies are 890-915 Mhz) and the control voltage range is less than 5 V, whereupon a one kilohertz deviation in the output frequency of the VCO corresponds to a 200 .mu.V variation in control voltage and, as a consequence, noise in modulation signal MOD easily cause inaccuracy in output signal f.sub.TX. Furthermore, the modulation coefficient defined as the ratio between the frequency change of VCO 109 and the corresponding change in control voltage V.sub.CMOD is not constant but varies as VCO output frequency f.sub.TX changes. As a result, the modulation coefficient changes easily from device to device and in proportion to frequency or temperature. The solution shown in FIG. 1 is advantageous from the point of view of the transmitter's energy efficiency, because the output power of the VCO 109 is applied almost directly to the transmission signal f.sub.TX. The solution is simple but not suitable for DC modulation or digital phase modulation due to the high pass nature of its frequency response and its sensitivity to noise.
The problems of the solution shown in FIG. 1 can be partially eliminated with the solution shown in FIG. 2, in which the transmission frequency f.sub.TX is formed by mixing a common local frequency f.sub.1 of the transceiver unit and a modulated offset frequency f.sub.OFF generated in an oscillator 209. The modulation coefficient can be realized according to practical requirements, whereupon, for example, a frequency deviation of about 1 KHz can be created with approximately a one volt variation in the modulating signal MOD. Either a frequency f.sub.1 +f.sub.OFF or f.sub.1 -f.sub.OFF at the output of mixer 208 is selected with passband filter 207 as the transmission frequency f.sub.TX. The signal is attenuated approximately 10 dB in the mixer 208 and the filter 207, thus reducing the overall efficiency of the circuit when compared to the solution in FIG. 1. The signal outputted by the filter 207 is applied by amplifier 206 to the duplex filter 2. If the oscillator 209 is a crystal oscillator, for example, this construction can be used to create DC modulation. The frequencies of crystal oscillators that can be modulated are typically below 50 MHz, limiting the applicability of the solution shown in FIG. 2. The solution has further problems because it is not accurate enough for phase modulation.
The I/Q modulator 310 shown in FIG. 3 is suitable for creating controlled phase modulation. Unmodulated, constant-amplitude, transmitting frequency signal f.sub.C and signal f.sub.Cp/2 having the same amplitude and a 90-degree phase shift as compared to signal f.sub.C are multiplied by modulating signal components I and Q in multipliers 308 and 309, respectively. The resulting signals are added together in a summing circuit 307, the output of which is the modulated transmitting frequency f.sub.TX to be applied by amplifier 306 to the duplex filter 2. The problem with this circuit is that the I/Q modulator 310 is difficult to implement, especially at high frequencies, because multipliers 308 and 309 must have good linearity. Multipliers 308, 309 and summing circuit 307 are usually implemented as active circuits, such as well-known Gilbert cell multipliers, whose current consumption may be tens of milliamperes. Another problem with this circuit is that it is difficult to prevent the unmodulated signal f.sub.C of transmission frequency from leaking through the multiplier into the transmission. For these reasons, instead of I/Q modulation at transmitting frequency, I/Q modulation at offset oscillator frequency f.sub.T, as shown in FIG. 4, is often used. A modulated offset oscillator frequency f.sub.OFF is up-converted with the help of the local frequency f.sub.1 to transmission frequency f.sub.TX which is applied by amplifier 406 to the duplex filter 2. In this circuit the modulator circuit 410 is operated at a much lower frequency than the transmission frequency, such as 90 MHz, while the transmission frequency f.sub.TX is about 900 MHz. The transmission frequency f.sub.TX is selected with filter 412 from one of the output frequencies of mixer 411, f.sub.1 +f.sub.OFF or f.sub.1 -f.sub.OFF, that are mixed from frequencies f.sub.1 and f.sub.OFF. The filter also attenuates leakage of frequencies f.sub.1 and f.sub.OFF to the transmitter. The current consumption of the structure shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 is high, mainly due to the multipliers and summing circuits 307 and 407 of I/Q modulators 310, 410, and the loss of signal energy in filter 412 of FIG. 4.

Method and circuit for creating a modulated signal in a transceiver


A time recorder receives bar coded time cards, punches time data on the cards and stores the time data in memory. Each card has a bar code at each end corresponding to the same value. For each pay period, a unique bar code and the card on which it is printed are assigned to each employee during an initialization process. A card is inserted upside down into the time recorder for each employee and the bar code is read by the system and assigned to an employee. At the same time, employee information is printed on the card.

Punch card type time recorders are in widespread use for tracking working hours of employees. Typically, a time card for each employee is prepared for each pay period such as a week. The employee punches in and out by selecting his card from a rack and placing it in the time recorder which prints (punches) the time and perhaps the day of the week or the date. At the end of the pay period, the cards are collected and the work hours are manually compiled to create totals of regular and overtime hours. A new card is also prepared for each employee for the next pay period.
To avoid the manual compilation of the time data, systems have been introduced which store the in and out times for each employee in memory. Cards are still used to maintain a paper record. For the electronics system to maintain the time record in memory, the employee must identify himself to the electronics as he punches in and out. To that end, information regarding the employee is input to the system along with that employee's number. Employee numbers have been encoded on punch cards in machine readable form. For each pay period, the user purchases a block of punch cards which are sequentially numbered and encoded, the number of cards in a block of cards being at least as great as the number of employees.
Yet another approach has been the use of cards having machine readable magnetic stripes. The employee number and other information is magnetically encoded on the card by the time recorder and is later read by the time recorder each time the employee punches in and out.

Time recorder with code reader and data storage


The topical use of EgLN-3 inhibitors is disclosed for the treatment of dry eye.

Dry eye, also known generically as keratoconjunctivitis sicca, is an ocular surface disease characterized by tear film compositional/rheological abnormalities and excessive inflammation that leads to dysregulation of the corneal and conjunctival epithelial cell barrier function. It is a common opthalmological disorder affecting millions of Americans each year. The condition is particularly widespread among post-menopausal women due to hormonal changes following the cessation of fertility. Dry eye may afflict an individual with varying severity. In mild cases, a patient may experience burning, a feeling of dryness, and persistent irritation such as is often caused by small bodies lodging between the eye lid and the eye surface. In severe cases, vision may be substantially impaired. Other diseases, such as Sjogren's disease and cicatricial pemphigoid manifest dry eye complications.
Although it appears that dry eye may result from a number of unrelated pathogenic causes, all presentations of the complication share a common effect, that is the breakdown of the pre-ocular tear film, which results in dehydration of the exposed outer surface and many of the symptoms outlined above (Lemp, Report of the National Eye Institute/Industry Workshop on Clinical Trials in Dry Eyes, The CLAO Journal, volume 21, number 4, pages 221-231 (1995)).
Practitioners have taken several approaches to the treatment of dry eye. One common approach has been to supplement and stabilize the ocular tear film using so-called artificial tears instilled throughout the day. Other approaches include the use of ocular inserts that provide a tear substitute or stimulation of endogenous tear production.
Examples of the tear substitution approach include the use of buffered, isotonic saline solutions, aqueous solutions containing water soluble polymers that render the solutions more viscous and thus less easily shed by the eye. Tear reconstitution is also attempted by providing one or more components of the tear film such as phospholipids and oils. Phospholipid compositions have been shown to be useful in treating dry eye; see, e.g., McCulley and Shine, Tear film structure and dry eye, Contactologia, volume 20(4), pages 145-49 (1998); and Shine and McCulley, Keratoconjunctivitis sicca associated with meibomian secretion polar lipid abnormality, Archives of Ophthalmology, volume 116(7), pages 849-52 (1998). Examples of phospholipid compositions for the treatment of dry eye are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,131,651 (Shah et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 4,370,325 (Packman), U.S. Pat. No. 4,409,205 (Shively), U.S. Pat. No. 4,744,980 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,883,658 (Holly), U.S. Pat. No. 4,914,088 (Glonek), U.S. Pat. No. 5,075,104 (Gressel et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,278,151 (Korb et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,294,607 (Glonek et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,371,108 (Korb et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,578,586 (Glonek et al.). U.S. Pat. No. 5,174,988 (Mautone et al.) discloses phospholipid drug delivery systems involving phospholipids, propellants and an active substance.
Another approach involves the provision of lubricating substances in lieu of artificial tears. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,818,537 (Guo) discloses the use of a lubricating, liposome-based composition, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,800,807 (Hu et al.) discloses compositions containing glycerin and propylene glycol for treating dry eye.
Although these approaches have met with some success, problems in the treatment of dry eye nevertheless remain. The use of tear substitutes, while temporarily effective, generally requires repeated application over the course of a patient's waking hours. It is not uncommon for a patient to have to apply artificial tear solution ten to twenty times over the course of the day. Such an undertaking is not only cumbersome and time consuming, but is also potentially very expensive. Transient symptoms of dry eye associated with refractive surgery have been reported to last in some cases from six weeks to six months or more following surgery.
Aside from efforts directed primarily to the alleviation of symptoms associated with dry eye, methods and compositions directed to treatment of the dry eye condition have also been pursued. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,041,434 (Lubkin) discloses the use of sex steroids, such as conjugated estrogens, to treat dry eye conditions in post-menopausal women; U.S. Pat. No. 5,290,572 (MacKeen) discloses the use of finely divided calcium ion compositions to stimulate pre-ocular tear film production; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,966,773 (Gressel et al.) discloses the use of microfine particles of one or more retinoids for ocular tissue normalization.
Some recent literature reports suggest that patients suffering from dry eye syndrome disproportionately exhibit the hallmarks of excessive inflammation in relevant ocular tissues, such as the lacrimal and meibomian glands. The use of various compounds to treat dry eye patients, such as steroids [e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 5,958,912; Marsh, et al., Topical nonpreserved methylprednisolone therapy for keratoconjunctivitis sicca in Sjogren syndrome, Ophthalmology, 106(4): 811-816 (1999); Pflugfelder, et. al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,153,607], cytokine release inhibitors (Yanni, J. M.; et. al. WO 0003705 A1), cyclosporine A [Tauber, J. Adv. Exp. Med. Biol. 1998, 438 (Lacrimal Gland, Tear Film, and Dry Eye Syndromes 2), 969], and 15-HETE (Yanni et. al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,696,166), has been disclosed.
The EgLN enzyme family are 2-oxoglutarate-dependent prolyl hydroxylases that catalyze the constitutive hydroxylation of the HIF-1α protein under normoxic conditions [Peso et al., J. Biol. Chem. 2003, 278(49), 48690-48695; Ivan et al., PNAS 2002, 99(21), 13459-13464]. The hydroxylated HIF-1α protein is targeted for polyubiquination and proteasomal degradation by pVHL, the protein product of the von Hippel-Landau gene. Under hypoxic conditions, oxygen concentration becomes rate-limiting and EgLN-catalyzed hydroxylation is inefficient. Consequently HIF-1α escapes destruction and forms a heterodimer with HIF-1β. The complex is transported to the nucleus, where it acts as a transcription factor to up-regulate production of hypoxia-induced proteins and growth factors, especially VEGF.
The EgLN-3 isozyme also appears to be involved as an effector of apoptosis in sympathetic neurons under certain conditions. In particular, EgLN-3 is a downstream effector of nerve growth factor (NGF) withdrawal-induced apoptosis in NGF-dependent neurons. Expression of SM-20, a rat ortholog of EgLN-3, increases after NGF withdrawal in sympathetic neurons [Lipscomb et al., J Neurochem. 1999, 73(1), 429-432]. Induced expression of SM-20 causes apoptosis in sympathetic neurons even in the presence of NGF in a caspase-dependent process [J Neurochem. 2003, 85(2), 318-328]. Although SM-20 is normally resident in the mitochondria, a truncated form that localizes to the cytoplasm due to loss of a mitochondrial targeting sequence still induces apoptosis [Lipscomb et al., J Biol Chem. 2001, 276(7), 5085-5092].
These findings have recently been extended to developing neurons [Lee et al., Cancer Cell 2005, 8, 155-167]. During embryogenesis, sympathetic neuronal precursor cells that fail to make synaptic connections are starved of NGF and undergo c-Jun-dependent apoptosis [Schlingensiepen et al., Cell Mol. Neurobiol. 1994, 14, 487-505]. The risk of a type of neuronal cancer called familial pheochromocytoma is increased by germline mutations that inactivate pVHL or NF1 (an antagonist of the NGF receptor TrkA), or that activate c-RET (the receptor for glial derived neurotrophic factor, which cross-talks with TrkA). In each of these cases the intracellular concentration of the c-Jun antagonist JunB increases, inhibiting apoptosis. Germline mutations that reduce the activity of succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) also increase familial pheochromocytoma risk. Succinate is a co-product of EgLN-3-catalyzed proline hydroxylation and feedback inhibits the enzyme, and thus needs to be removed by SDH for EgLN-3 prolyl hydroxylase activity. Sporadic pheochromocytoma due to somatic mutation in one of these genes is rare since apoptosis of "unconnected" sympathetic neuronal precursor cells is not important once embryogenesis is complete.
NGF withdrawal-induced apoptosis requires EgLN-3 proline hydroxylase activity. EgLN-3-induced cell death is not reduced by co-expression of JunB. Additionally, EgLN-3 expression knockdown by siRNA inhibits c-Jun induced cell death. These observations indicate that EgLN-3 is necessary and sufficient for NGF withdrawal-induced apoptosis, and acts downstream of c-Jun. The presumed protein target of EgLN-3-catalyzed proline hydroxylation that is important for apoptosis induction has not been identified, although it is suspected that pVHL's polyubiquination (and subsequent marking for proteasomal destruction) of a hyperphosphorylated form of atypical protein kinase C is responsible for pVHL's suppression of JunB.
Corneal nerves likely play a key role in maintaining homeostasis of the ocular surface by communicating with brain regarding required lacrimal gland support. In support of this theory, it has been observed that patients that undergo LASIK refractive surgery (where corneal nerves are severed) suffer from an increased incidence of dry eye [see for example: Ang, R. T.; Dartt, D. A.; Tsubota, K. Curr. Opin. Opthalmol. 2001, 12(4), 318-322]. Patients who suffer from dry eye have been reported to have aberrant corneal nerve morphology [Zhang et al., Cornea. 2005, 24(7), 818-824]. Mice deficient in the neurotrophic factor neurturin develop the characteristics of dry eye [Song et al., Invest. Opthalmol. Vis. Sci. 2003, 44(10), 4223-4229].
If corneal nerve dysfunction plays a role in dry eye disease pathology, then neurotrophic factors may represent a potential treatment [for a discussion, see: Pepose and Johnson, Am. J. Opthalmol. 2005, 139(6), 1090-1094]. Topical application of NGF has been reported to accelerate corneal innervation [Bazan and co-workers, Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science 2005, 46(9), 3121-3127; in this case the effect was synergistic in combination with the polyunsaturated fatty acid DHA] and enhance corneal sensitivity [Joo et al., Arch. Opthalmol. 2004, 122(9), 1338-1341] in rabbit models of refractive surgery, while treatment of dogs suffering from dry eye with topical NGF has been disclosed to improve tear quality, resolve corneal haze, and increase conjunctival goblet cell density [Coassin et al., Graefes Arch. Clin. Exp. Opthalmol. 2005, 243(2), 151-155].
The c-jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) pathway may play an important role in dry eye disease pathology. For example, JNK inhibition has been reported to reduce expression of IL-1β, TNF-α, and IL-8 induced by hyperosmolar stress in human limbal epithelial cells [Pflugfelder and co-workers, Exp. Eye Res. 2005, in press] and to increase tear production in a mouse model of dry eye [Zoukhri et al., J. Neurochem. 2006, 96(1), 126-135], and JNK inhibitors have been claimed for the treatment of dry eye (Gamache, US Published Patent Application, US 2004058875 A1).
The use of certain EgLN-3 enzyme inhibitors for the treatment of obesity (Fourney et al., U.S. Published Patent Application US2004/0235082A1), anemia via increasing endogenous erythropoietin production (Arend et al., U.S. Published Patent Application US2004/0254215A1), and fibrotic diseases (Weidmann et al., U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,093,730 and 5,719,164)), has been disclosed. Additionally, the use of certain EgLN-3 enzyme inhibitors has been disclosed for the postoperative treatment of glaucoma operations (ostensibly to maintain the filtration bleb) (Wiedmann et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,020,350). However the use of the compounds of the present invention for the treatment of dry eye has not been disclosed.


Disclosed is a system and a method for simultaneously applying a kinetic spray coating and a thermal spray coating onto a substrate using a single application nozzle to produce a combined coating. The system may include a higher heat capacity gas heater to permit both the thermal spray and the kinetic spray. The method involves providing two populations of particles to the nozzle simultaneously wherein one population is thermally softened in the nozzle under the spray parameters and the other is not. The system increases the versatility of the spray nozzle and addresses several problems inherent in kinetic spray applied coatings.

A new technique for producing coatings on a wide variety of substrate surfaces by kinetic spray, or cold gas dynamic spray, was recently reported in articles by T. H. Van Steenkiste et al., entitled "Kinetic Spray Coatings," published in Surface and Coatings Technology, vol. 111, pages 62–71, Jan. 10, 1999 and "Aluminum coatings via kinetic spray with relatively large powder particles" published in Surface and Coatings Technology 154, pages 237–252, 2002. The articles discuss producing continuous layer coatings having low porosity, high adhesion, low oxide content and low thermal stress. The articles describe coatings being produced by entraining metal powders in an accelerated air stream, through a converging-diverging de Laval type nozzle and projecting them against a target substrate. The particles are accelerated in the high velocity air stream by the drag effect. The air used can be any of a variety of gases including air or helium. It was found that the particles that formed the coating did not melt or thermally soften prior to impingement onto the substrate. It is theorized that the particles adhere to the substrate when their kinetic energy is converted to a sufficient level of thermal and mechanical deformation. Thus, it is believed that the particle velocity must be high enough to exceed the yield stress of the particle to permit it to adhere when it strikes the substrate. It was found that the deposition efficiency of a given particle mixture was increased as the inlet air temperature was increased. Increasing the inlet air temperature decreases its density and increases its velocity. The velocity of the main gas varies approximately as the square root of the inlet air temperature. The actual mechanism of bonding of the particles to the substrate surface is not fully known at this time. It is believed that the particles must exceed a critical velocity prior to their being able to bond to the substrate. The critical velocity is dependent on the material of the particle and to a lesser degree on the material of the substrate. It is believed that the initial particles to adhere to a substrate have broken the oxide shell on the substrate material permitting subsequent metal to metal bond formation between plastically deformed particles and the substrate. Once an initial layer of particles has been formed on a substrate subsequent particles bind not only to the voids between previous particles bound to the substrate but also engage in particle to particle bonds. The bonding process is not due to melting of the particles in the air stream because while the temperature of the air stream may be above the melting point of the particles, due to the short exposure time the particles are never heated to a temperature above their melt temperature. This feature is considered critical because the kinetic spray process allows one to deposit particles onto a surface with out a phase transition.
This work improved upon earlier work by Alkimov et al. as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,302,414, issued Apr. 12, 1994. Alkimov et al. disclosed producing dense continuous layer coatings with powder particles having a particle size of from 1 to 50 microns using a supersonic spray.
The Van Steenkiste articles reported on work conducted by the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS) and by the Delphi Research Labs to improve on the earlier Alkimov process and apparatus. Van Steenkiste et al. demonstrated that Alkimov's apparatus and process could be modified to produce kinetic spray coatings using particle sizes of greater than 50 microns.
The modified process and apparatus for producing such larger particle size kinetic spray continuous layer coatings are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,139,913, and 6,283,386. The process and apparatus described provide for heating a high pressure air flow and combining this with a flow of particles. The heated air and particles are directed through a de Laval-type nozzle to produce a particle exit velocity of between about 300 m/s (meters per second) to about 1000 m/s. The thus accelerated particles are directed toward and impact upon a target substrate with sufficient kinetic energy to bond the particles to the surface of the substrate. The temperatures and pressures used are sufficiently lower than that necessary to cause particle melting or thermal softening of the selected particle. Therefore, as discussed above, no phase transition occurs in the particles prior to bonding. It has been found that each type of particle material has a threshold critical velocity that must be exceeded before the material begins to adhere to the substrate by the kinetic spray process.
One difficulty associated with all of these prior art kinetic spray systems arises from defects in the substrate surface. When the surface has an imperfection in it the kinetic spray coating may develop a conical shaped defect over the surface imperfection. The conical defect that develops in the kinetic spray coating is stable and can not be repaired by the kinetic spray process, hence the piece must be discarded. A second difficulty arises when the substrate is a softer plastic or a soft ceramic composite. These materials can not be coated by a kinetic spray process because the particles being sprayed bury themselves below the surface rather than deforming and adhering to the surface.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Spray system with combined kinetic spray and thermal spray ability


An optical network system, including multiple nodes, an optical switch, and a switch controller, is configured to achieve communication in the optical domain. Each node is configured to receive both high frequency and low frequency inputs, generally utilized for handling data and addressing information, respectively. The two types of information are combined to create an amplitude modulated optical signal. Subsequently, the two types of information are separated by examining the optical power average of the signal being transmitted. Using one portion of the signal for addressing information, the switch controller can perform necessary routing and arbitration functions. Appropriate communications can then be sent back to the nodes and the optical switch to achieve the necessary configuration. The protocol utilized allows for subsequent arbitration and data transmission cycles, allowing the system and switch controller to configure transmission paths and arbitrate any communication issues. All optical data transmission is then commenced.

The present invention relates to optical communication systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to optical networks used for communication between multi-processing systems.
Switching networks are widely used to provide very flexible network communication. Presently used communication methods, known as packet routing, allows for the effective transmission of information over a network from one component to a targeted destination. In these systems, the information is first configured as a packet which typically includes addressing information and data. The addressing information is typically contained in a header, which is then followed by the data (often referred to as the payload). Using this format, switching networks are capable of determining a desired address, and subsequently transmitting the packet from a source to a defined destination.
As is well known, optical communication is widely used in today's society for numerous reasons, including the speed and accuracy achieved using fiber optic cables. Present optical communication networks use both electrical and optical components to achieve switching and routing, which can provide undesirable complications. Specifically, present day switching networks require an optical to electrical transformation, where optical signals are first converted to electrical signals within the switching network. Once in the electrical domain, the signals can then be processed to allow appropriate configuration of switching networks, and transmission to the appropriate locations. The signals are then converted back to the optical domain when transmitted to the desired locations based on the addressing and network protocol being used.
A network which utilizes this optical-electrical-optical conversion has certain disadvantages. First, considerable power is required to achieve the required conversion/transformations. Power consumption is always an issue which is to be considered and minimized.
Further, the above-mentioned conversions also create size issues. Specifically, to accommodate both electrical and optical components and the interfaces there between, requires space to house all of these components. Along with the requirement for additional components, cost and reliability issues are also raised. That is, the increased number of components obviously requires more cost and the greater possibility of failure. Further, the operation constraints of the optical/electrical conversions also create limits on the operating capabilities of the system. Specifically, the components must be configured to accommodate conversions at various rates, thus placing additional operational constraints on the system itself. These limitations also complicate the scalability of the system, as changes to the data rates and/or protocols would require similar changes to all the components.
In response to these disadvantages, it would be desirable to create a communication system that will allow data to be switched between various nodes while remaining in the optical domain. Further, it is desirable to create a communication system wherein routing control (addressing) is implemented independent of the data rate. By separating the two aspects, scalability and reliability are greatly improved.
Prior systems have attempted to switch data in the optical domain, however, have not necessarily required independence between data rate and addressing. In one scheme, a system has been devised which utilizes packet type communication with the packet including a header and payload. In this instance, the header is removed from the payload and processed to achieve appropriate switching. Upon receipt, a new header is re-associated with the payload to form a new packet more compatible with the switch involved. While optical switching is attained, the addressing/arbitration is not necessarily performed independent of the payload. As such, several limitations continue to exist. For example, considerable buffering is required for the payload while arbitration functions are dealt with.
In an attempt to address some of the speed and power problems addressed above, one solution presented has involved the use of headers encoded at a much lower frequency than the payload. Thus, lower frequency detectors can be utilized to read and interpret the header information and provide appropriate arbitration. This solution, however, requires the separation of the header and payload, and considerable buffering to insure operation.

Data communication network using optical power averaged multiplexing


A method and system for calculating an interlace artifact in image data are disclosed. A motion picture of the image data comprises a series of frames, captured at a predefined interval of time. During processing of the motion picture, the frames are divided into fields, each field comprising one or more pixels. A difference between the pixels of the fields is calculated. Thereafter, edges of the pixels are calculated in the fields. The method and system then identify the focused area in the fields. To calculate the interlace artifact in the motion picture, the displacement of the focused area is calculated by using motion vectors. The artifacts are calculated as a ratio of a number of pixels based on motion vector calculation.

Digital image processing is currently used in a variety of applications. Digital image processing includes image data acquisition, restoration, encoding, decoding processing, object recognition, and data filtering and enhancement. The image data that is processed during digital image processing includes, but is not limited to, motion pictures and images. During processing, the image data may become distorted due to introduction of artifacts in the image data. The artifacts are distortions in the image data that can be introduced inadvertently by hardware or software, or unintentionally by an operator. Artifacts introduced by hardware and software generally degrade the image data and distort interpretation. The artifacts may also be introduced in the image data due to faults that occur during acquisition of the image data, such as the improper handling of an image data acquisition device, or an induced noise. The artifacts introduced in the image data include, but are not limited to, an interlace artifact, a blur artifact, an aliasing artifact, and a noise artifact. The interlace artifact is introduced during interlacing of the motion picture. Interlacing involves creating frames of the motion picture using multiple fields. Interlaced motion picture is designed to be captured, transmitted or stored and displayed in the same interlaced format. The fields are captured at different instances; hence the interlaced motion picture exhibits motion artifacts if the recorded objects are moving fast enough to be in different positions when each individual field is captured. These artifacts may be visible when interlaced motion picture is displayed at a slower speed than it was captured or when still frames are presented. The presence of the artifacts results in an incorrect perception of the image data by the human eye. To overcome the artifacts, their calculation is necessary.
A traditional technique for calculating artifacts in the image data calculates the interlace artifact by using vertical frequency detection. Frequencies in the image data are detected by using the Discrete Fourier Transform that are then used to calculate the interlace artifact. However, the aforementioned technique fails to quantify and estimate the quality of the motion picture. Another traditional technique calculates the motion between frames of the motion picture. The motion between the frames is then used to calculate the interlace artifact. However, this technique suffers from the drawback of being incapable of quantifying the quality parameters of the motion picture.
Yet another traditional technique detects the motion of focused objects in an interlaced motion picture by using motion vectors. However, this technique does not quantify the artifacts.
Therefore, there exists a need for a method and a system for calculating the interlace artifact in the image data. The method and the system should preferably be capable of real-time quality checking of the image data. Further, the method and the system for calculating the interlace artifact in the image data should preferably be computationally faster than the traditional techniques for calculating the interlace artifact.

Method and system for calculating interlace artifact in motion pictures


A copolymerized polyester heat shrinkable film which can be used as a label, a cap seal or a direct packaging for various containers is disclosed. The copolymerized polyester heat shrinkable film is made of a copolymerized polyester resin having alternating structures of acid moieties which are derived from acid components and diol moieties which are derived from diol components, the acid components comprising terephthalic acid, and the diol components comprising isosorbide 1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol and ethylene glycol. The copolymerized polyester heat shrinkable film has a shrinkage initiation temperature of equal to or more than 60° C., and a maximum heat shrinkage ratio of less than 2% at 60 to 70° C., and a maximum heat shrinkage ratio of 50 to 90% at 90 to 100° C.

Heat shrinkable plastic products are widely used in the field of film such as a shrinkable packaging, a shrinkable label, and so on due to their shrinking property when heated. Specifically, polyvinylchloride (PVC), polystyrene or polyester based plastic film has been used as a label, a cap seal or a direct packaging for various containers.
However, in case of the polyvinylchloride (PVC) film, hydrogen chloride gas, dioxin precursors and so on are produced when incinerated. Thus, the use of the material is not environmentally desirable. In addition, when the PVC film is used as a shrinkable label for a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) container, the label and the container should be separated for recycling the container.
The polystyrene film has a good stability during a shrinking process and has a good appearance. On the other hand, the polystyrene film is not good in a chemical resistance, and thus special ink compositions should be used to print on the film. In addition, the polystyrene film has a poor storage stability at room temperature, and therefore the dimensions of the film are liable to change due to its natural shrinkage.
The polyester film does not have the drawbacks in an environmental aspect and in the chemical resistance, and is considered as a substitute heat shrinkable film replacing the two above-mentioned materials. As the use of a PET container increases, the use of a shrinkable label made of the polyester film also increases because an additional label separating process is not necessary for recycling the PET container.
However, the conventional heat shrinkable polyester film has a low heat resistance, which requires a new improvement. Specifically, when a shrinkable label made of the heat shrinkable polyester film is affixed on a container, and the container is exposed to heat (for example, when hot drink (60 to 70° C.) is contained in the container), the shrinkable label may be further shrunk and deformed. Therefore, the label can be deformed from its original desired shape.

Copolymerized polyester heat shrinkable film


Embodiments of a community-integrated smart playground of this disclosure and a method of its use include tracking geo-specific play data, populating a queue of digital notices, displaying one or more of the digital notices on a mobile device as a user plays on the playground and progresses through a virtual game dependent upon the playground activity, and producing revenue for the playground through the display or use of the digital notices. The playground includes at least one physical play structure containing a computer-readable identification tag, the at least one physical play structure representing a physical play activity. The virtual game may be non-analogous to the physical play but game progress is determined by the physical play. The system and method of its use may be executed by at least one mobile device having at least one microprocessor in network communication with the computer-readable identification tag and including associated software.

This disclosure is in the field of playgrounds and, more specifically, "smart playgrounds" that combine physical play activities with virtual play activities designed to work with one or more physical play structures of the playground to produce geo-specific play data.
A smart playground includes mobile games, apps or stories that are specifically designed to work with the equipment found in the playground. Examples of a smart playground may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 9,314,694 B2 to Nadel et al. and those using BIBA™ mobile games marketed by PlayPower, Inc. and Biba Ventures, Inc. While smart playgrounds provide many advantages over traditional playgrounds, neither type of playground has been connected to its surrounding community in a way that enables the playground to generate revenue for the playground through use of the playground.

Community-integrated smart playground and method of its use


A cleaning tool cover configured for removable application to a cleaning tool in order to provide a microfiber cleaning surface on the cleaning tool. The cleaning tool may include, for example, a sponge mop or a dust mop and the cleaning tool cover may be used wet or dry and may be attached to the cleaning tool using a variety of attachment structures. In one embodiment, the cleaning tool cover is configured as a bonnet having a recess and an elastic opening that may be enlarged temporarily to allow a mop head to be inserted into the recess and then allowed to retract to secure the cleaning tool cover to the mop. In another embodiment, the cleaning tool cover may include a plurality of flaps for attaching the tool cover to the cleaning tool.

This invention relates generally to cleaning tools, such as mops and brooms, particularly including sponge mops, and more particularly, to an adapter for modifying the performance of an existing cleaning tool to provide a microfiber cleaning surface.
Cleaning tools such as sponge mops are widely used in a few basic configurations, but generally include an elongated handle, a frame and a sponge portion. When used wet, the sponge portion is typically compressed in some manner for removing unwanted fluid before and during use of the sponge mop. A basic sponge mop 10 is illustrated in FIGS. 1A-C, which illustrate bottom (FIG. 1A), side (FIG. 1B) and top surface (FIG. 1C) views respectively. The basic components of the sponge mop include the sponge portion 100, a frame 102 for holding and reinforcing the sponge portion, and a handle portion 104.
As illustrated in FIGS. 2A-C, the mop handle 104 may be connected to the frame 102 in a variety of ways to provide a generally fixed angular relationship, FIG. 2A, to provide for some range of pivotal movement, FIG. 2B, about a single axis generally parallel to a longitudinal axis of the surface portion 100, or to provide for some range of rotational movement about a point, FIG. 2C, through a ball-and-socket or other suitable connection. Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that most sponge mops will also incorporate one of a wide variety of lever, rolling and/or hinge mechanisms (not illustrated) for compressing at least a portion the sponge portion 102 to some degree to assist in the removal of excess liquid.
Dust mops (not illustrated) are similar in some respects, but tend to be used dry and therefore tend to lack the mechanisms associated with sponge mops for compressing the mop head. Conventional dust mops utilize a cotton fiber head having loops or lengths of cotton and/or synthetic fibers or yarns extending from a fabric cover that is attached to a wire frame that is, in turn, attached to an elongated handle. While the conventional cotton fiber heads may do an adequate job of picking up dust and dirt on a floor, their performance may be enhanced by spraying the head with chemicals to increase the basic cotton fiber head's dust pickup capability. Although typical wire frames are not precisely manufactured components, the length and variable orientation of the cotton loops or yarns provided on the duster heads tend to act as cushions compensating for any non-planar condition of the frame or other support structure to maintain contact with the floor. In addition, if the floor surface is not planar, the cushioning effect of the cotton fiber head will tend to allow the mop head to maintain ample contact with the floor and thereby attract dirt, dust and other relatively small surface contaminants.


The invention relates to a method for inhibiting CD95-independent apoptosis, comprising the following steps:

The present invention relates to a method of inhibiting CD95-independent apoptosis, in particular in the case of AIDS. The invention also relates to a system for identifying substances which can be used for inhibiting CD95-independent apoptosis.
AIDS is characterized by a depletion of CD4+T cells and a dysfunction of the immune system. Previous data refer to the fact that a depletion occurs because the CD95 receptor is activated by the CD95 ligand present in increased amount in the presence of the glycoprotein gp120 of HIV, so that apoptosis, i.e. programmed cell death, is induced in CD4+T cells. This apoptosis is referred to as CD95-mediated apoptosis.
Experiments have been made to prevent the depletion of CD4+T cells in the case of AIDS. For this purpose, methods were carried out with substances which block the bonding of the CD95 ligand to the CD95 receptor. However, these methods did not fully prevent the depletion of CD4+T cells.
Therefore, it is the object of the present invention to provide a method by which the depletion of CD4+T cells in the case of AIDS can be investigated and optionally be prevented.
According to the invention this is achieved by the subject matters defined in the claims.
The subject matter of the present invention relates to a method of inhibiting CD95-independent apoptosis, the method comprising the steps of:
(a) blocking the bonding of HIV-1 gp120 to receptors CD4 and/or CXCR4 and blocking a factor competing for this bonding, respectively, and/or
(b) inhibiting the signal path induced by the bonding of (a).

Method for inhibiting CD95-independent apoptosis in AIDS

Abstract: (a) blocking the bonding of HIV-1 gp120 on receptors CD4 and/or CXCR4 or of a factor competing for this bonding, and/or

Abstract: The invention also relates to a system for identifying substances which can be utilized for inhibiting CD95-independent apoptosis.

Deutsches Krebsforschungzentrum Stiftung des offentlichen Rechts


An instruction alignment unit includes a byte queue configured to store instruction blocks. Each instruction block includes a fixed number of instruction bytes and identifies up to a maximum number of instructions within the fixed number of instruction bytes. Additionally, the instruction alignment unit is configured to form a pair of instruction lists: a dispatch list and a latch list. The dispatch list includes instruction locators corresponding to instructions within the instruction blocks stored in the byte queue. Additionally, the first three instructions from instructions blocks being received from the instruction cache during a particular clock cycle are appended to the dispatch list. The dispatch list is used to select instructions from the byte queue for dispatch to the decode units. The latch list is used for receiving instruction locators for the remaining instructions from the instruction blocks received from the instruction cache during the particular clock cycle. Furthermore, the latch list receives instruction locators from the dispatch list which correspond to instructions not selected for dispatch to the decode units. The latch list is stored until a succeeding clock cycle, in which the stored program-ordered list is used as a basis for forming the dispatch list during that succeeding clock cycle. The instruction identification information and instruction bytes corresponding to the instruction can be located by selecting the instructions corresponding to the instruction locators at the front of the dispatch list.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of microprocessors and, more particularly, to instruction alignment mechanisms within microprocessors.
2. Description of the Related Art
Superscalar microprocessors achieve high performance by executing multiple instructions per clock cycle and by choosing the shortest possible clock cycle consistent with the design. As used herein, the term "clock cycle" refers to an interval of time accorded to various stages of an instruction processing pipeline within the microprocessor. Storage devices (e.g. registers and arrays) capture their values according to the clock cycle. For example, a storage device may capture a value according to a rising or falling edge of a clock signal defining the clock cycle. The storage device then stores the value until the subsequent rising or falling edge of the clock signal, respectively. The term "instruction processing pipeline" is used herein to refer to the logic circuits employed to process instructions in a pipelined fashion. Although the pipeline may be divided into any number of stages at which portions of instruction processing are performed, instruction processing generally comprises fetching the instruction, decoding the instruction, executing the instruction, and storing the execution results in the destination identified by the instruction.
Microprocessor designers often design their products in accordance with the x86 microprocessor architecture in order to take advantage of its widespread acceptance in the computer industry. Because the x86 microprocessor architecture is pervasive, many computer programs are written in accordance with the architecture. X86 compatible microprocessors may execute these computer programs, thereby becoming more attractive to computer system designers who desire x86-capable computer systems. Such computer systems are often well received within the industry due to the wide range of available computer programs.
The x86 microprocessor specifies a variable length instruction set (i.e. an instruction set in which various instructions employ differing numbers of bytes to specify that instruction). For example, the 80386 and later versions of x86 microprocessors employ between 1 and 15 bytes to specify a particular instruction. Instructions have an opcode, which may be 1-2 bytes, and additional bytes may be added to specify addressing modes, operands, and additional details regarding the instruction to be executed.
Unfortunately, having variable byte length instructions creates numerous problems for dispatching multiple instructions per clock cycle. Because the instructions have differing numbers of bytes, an instruction may begin at any memory address. Conversely, fixed length instructions typically begin at a known location. For example, a 4 byte fixed length instruction set has instructions which begin at 4 byte boundaries within memory (i.e. the two least significant bits are zeros for the memory addresses at which instructions begin).
In order to locate multiple variable byte length instructions during a clock cycle, instruction bytes fetched by the microprocessor may be serially scanned to determine instruction boundaries and thereby locate instructions which may be concurrently dispatched. Serial scanning involves a large amount of logic, and typically a large number of cascaded logic levels. For high frequency (i.e. short clock cycle time) microprocessors, large numbers of cascaded logic levels may be deleterious to the performance of the microprocessor. Some microprocessor designs employ predecoding to identify the beginning and end of instructions as the instructions are stored into an instruction cache within the microprocessor. Even with predecoding, locating and dispatching multiple instructions per clock cycle is a complex and often clock-cycle-limiting operation. Multiple levels of multiplexing are employed, and significant bussing between the multiplexors and the instruction bytes being dispatched is needed to allow arbitrary selection of bytes from the instruction bytes being examined for dispatch. The first instruction to be dispatched may be located anywhere within the instruction bytes. The second instruction to be dispatched is then located at the end of the first instruction, etc.

Instruction alignment using a dispatch list and a latch list


A fouling monitor and method for sensing fouling in commercial waters and for differentiating between microbiological fouling and chemical fouling, which includes a dissolved oxygen probe disposed in a slip stream of water and means for providing an abundance of oxygen and nutrient to the microbial activity whereby a decrease in dissolved oxygen level is sensed due to the increased respiration of the microbes when microbiological fouling occurs. A polyester screen is mounted over the sensing end of the dissolved oxygen probe to promote microbiological fouling by providing a means for engaging the microbes and to enhance differentiation between the biological component and the non-viable/chemical component.

Commercial waters, such as those used in paper systems, cooling systems, mining systems, and metal systems, are susceptible to contamination and fouling. In order to control such fouling, such waters have been chemically treated generally by trial-and-error methodology. Either too much or too little chemical is used, which is unsatisfactory. Such fouling may be of the biological type or of the non-viable/chemical type. With respect to biological fouling, when it reaches a certain level, it becomes necessary to shut down the system for maintenance.
For example, in a paper system, when microbiological fouling in a white water reaches a certain biological level, it results in making rejectable paper that is costly to paper production. More specifically, the sessile portion of microbial activity causes deposits which are difficult to monitor. When sloughing of the deposits occurs in a paper machine, runability of the machine is affected by increased sheet defects and even paper breaks. At that time the system must be shut down for maintenance, resulting in down-time which interrupts production. It must be cleaned or "boiled out" before the system can be placed back in operation to make acceptable paper. With regard to controlling biological fouling, biocides are added to the water to kill the bacteria or microbes.
Current systems for measuring fouling lack sensitivity, require excessive maintenance, and are not automated. The only method now for differentiating between bacteriological fouling and chemical fouling is through use of destructive testing which measures "sliminess" subjectively, plate counts on a defined portion of the population, or microbial activity.
Dissolved oxygen (DO) probes have been suggested for detecting microbial activity since it is known that high levels of bacteria in fluids decrease dissolved oxygen levels. However, they are limited due to chemical fouling which gradually reduces the efficacy to measure accurate DO levels.
Further, DO probes have been used to measure microbial activity in solutions. Where the dissolved oxygen drops, it is assumed that microbial growth is occurring and the system is contaminated. However, dissolved oxygen can drop due to changes in air supply, probe-surface fouling, temperature variation, or a number of factors, thereby rendering the use of the DO probes unreliable. Thus, reliable measurement of microbiological fouling in processed waters has not been possible.

Method for monitoring fouling in commercial waters


A heat exchanger includes a plurality of plate-shaped fins arranged at intervals such that air flows between adjacent fins, each of the fins having insertion holes and a plurality of flat tubes extending through the fins such that a refrigerant flows through the tubes in a stacking direction of the fins, each flat tube having a cross-section having straight long sides and half-round short sides, each flat tube having long-side outer circumferential surface parts and a short-side outer circumferential surface part in contact with the fin and covered with the brazing filler metal. The fins and the flat tubes are joined with the brazing filler metal covering the outer circumferential surfaces of the flat tubes such that top part of each fin collar of each fin is in contact with the flat tube and base part of the fin collar is spaced apart from the flat tube.

Related-art heat exchangers include a heat exchanger configured such that many plate-shaped fins arranged parallel to one another are fixed with jigs, flat tubes, serving as heat transfer tubes, extend through the fins, and the fins and the flat tubes are joined with brazing filler metal for fixation (refer to Patent Literature 1, for example).

Heat exchanger, method of manufacturing same, and refrigeration cycle apparatus