Glycolipids and phospholipids are obtained by dissolving a mixture of complex lipids in a solvent to form a solution and then passing the solution over a boric acid gel. Glycolipids are retained in the gel, and phospholipids are eluted through the gel.

This invention relates to a method for the separation of glycolipids from a lipid mixture containing complex lipids (CLS).
Complex lipids are chemical structures that are widespread in biological tissues where they occupy a fundamental position in the intermediate metabolism and in the cells of certain organs, such as the brain and the liver. They are divided into two main classes, namely: the phospholipids (PLS) which give mineral phosphates by hydrolysis, for example phosphatidyl choline (PC), phosphatidyl ethanolamine (PE), phosphatidyl inositol (PI); and the glycolipids (GLS) of which the structural bases sphingosine, for example the cerebrosides, hematosides, gangliosides, glycerol, for example the mono- and digalactosyl diglycerides, or sterols, for example the steryl glucosides and their esters, contain at least one sugar residue. The quantity of (GLS) in the CLS is generally 3 to 10 times smaller than that of the PLS.
The animal GLS, which are present in high concentrations in the brain, constitute important functional components of the membranes and are involved in the intramembranal transport, cell recognition, synaptic transmission, cell growth, hormone fixation, enzymes, bacteria, bacterial toxins, malignant tranformations and in many other biological functions. The GLS are thus used, for example, in medicine, in pharmacology, in geriatrics and in cosmetics.
It is known that GLS can be completely or partly extracted from biological tissues by means of various mixtures of polar organic solvents, for example chloroform-methanol, hexane-isopropanol, tetrahydrofuran-water. In these processes, they are only obtained in admixture with the neutral lipids (NLS) and the PLS so that these extracts are called total lipids (TLS). Alternatively, the biological tissues are first extracted with acetone to eliminate a large part of the NLS, for example the triglycerides, sterols and free fatty acids, after which the residual membranal lipids are extracted with the polar organic solvents mentioned above. The TLS may continue to be separated in various ways. The most widely used method is the Folch process which comprises collecting, in a two-phase solvent system of chloroform, methanol and water, an upper phase containing the majority of gangliosides, the GLS containing more than 4 to 5 sugar residues and traces of acidic PLS (APLS) and a lower phase containing the majority of the PLS, the ceramides, the steryl glucosides, the ceramides mono-, di- and trihexosides and all the non-polar lipids, for example the triglycerides. However, the separation of the lipids is not clean so that, for example, hematosides are found in the two phases.
One known large-scale method for separation of the NLS and CLS is based on the use of a mixture of hexane and ethanol. Other methods use liquid chromatography, but are attended by the disadvantage of inadequate capacity, for example 30 mg lipids per g silica gel. A very attractive process which is described in patent application DE 2 915 614 comprises separating the TLS into NLS and PLS on silica gel, although there is no mention of the other CLS, such as the gangliosides or the GLS. In this process, the NLS are defined as that part of the TLS which is soluble in hydrocarbons, as opposed to the PLS which form micelles in those solvents. Only the lipids which form micelles are freely eluted from the silica gel while the NLS remain adsorbed.
However, this process is attended by disadvantages. In fact, many GLS do not spontaneously form micelles in the presence of hydrocarbons. As a result, solid particles insoluble in the hydrocarbons are formed and obstruct the column of silica gel which thus adsorbs the NLS. Accordingly, only the PLS are quantitatively eluted from the column.
Although complete recovery of the GLS from the CL mixtures is possible, it takes an unusually long time. In the standard method, the lipids are first completely dried for 24 to 48 h over phosphorus pentoxide and then acetylated with acetic anhydride in pyridine. The acetylated GLS are then separated from the other lipids by liquid chromatography in a column of Florisil, the GLS are deacetylated and neutralized, the salts are eliminated and, finally, the product is dried by freeze-drying. The method is destructive to all the PLS and to certain GLS containing bonds sensitive to bases, for example the gangliosides with N-O-diacetyl neuraminic acid. In addition, the operation takes several days or even a whole week.
It has been proposed to resolve the difficulties discussed in the foregoing by a simple method of liquid chromatography comprising preparing a reuseable resin containing phenylboronic acid (PBA) groups fixed by covalent bonding to a matrix of crosslinked polystyrene. The resin selectively retains all the GLS by the formation of a complex between the PBA groups and the cis-diol groups of the sugar part of the GLS, thus providing for complete elution of the PLS and NLS. The GLS are then decomplexed with an aqueous organic solvent. However, the charging capacity of the resin is relatively low, typically 0.7 to 7 mg TL per g or 0.18 to 1.8 mg per ml resin (apparent volume). The volume of elution solvent required for 1 mg TL is of the order of 2.5 to 25 ml. It has been found that the commercially available resin cartridges containing 100 mg resin are ineffective for separating the PLS and GLS.

Process for obtaining glycolipids and phospholipids


An implantable medical device includes a control circuit for controlling the operation of the device and for obtaining physiological data from a patient in which the medical device is implanted. The implanted device also includes a communication circuit for transmitting the physiological data to an external device. A first power source is coupled to the control circuit and provides power to the control circuit. A second power source is coupled to the communication circuit and provides power to the communication circuit.

The present invention relates generally to a power source for an implantable medical device, and more particularly, the present invention relates to a dual cell power source for optimizing implantable medical device performance.
A variety of different implantable medical devices (IMDs) are available for therapeutic stimulation of the heart and are well known in the art. For example, implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) are used to treat those patients suffering from ventricular fibrillation, a chaotic heart rhythm that can quickly result in death if not corrected. In operation, the ICD continuously monitors the electrical activity of a patient's heart, detects ventricular fibrillation, and in response to that detection, delivers appropriate shocks to restore normal heart rhythm. Similarly, an automatic implantable defibrillator (AID) is available for therapeutic stimulation of the heart. In operation, an AID device detects ventricular fibrillation and delivers a non-synchronous high-voltage pulse to the heart through widely spaced electrodes located outside of the heart, thus mimicking transthoratic defibrillation. Yet another example of a prior art cardioverter includes the pacemaker/cardioverter/defibrillator (PCD) disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,375,817 to Engle, et al. This device detects the onset of tachyarrhythmia and includes means to monitor or detect progression of the tachyarrhythmia so that progressively greater energy levels may be applied to the heart to interrupt a ventricular tachycaria or fibrillation. Numerous other, similar implantable medical devices, for example a programmable pacemaker, are further available.
Regardless of the exact construction and use, each of the above-described IMDs generally includes three primary components: a low-power control circuit, a high-power output circuit, and a power source. The control circuit monitors and determines various operating characteristics, such as, for example, rate, synchronization, pulse width and output voltage of heart stimulating pulses, as well as diagnostic functions such as monitoring the heart. Conversely, the high-power output circuit generates electrical stimulating pulses to be applied to the heart via one or more leads in response to signals from the control circuit.
The power source provides power to both the low-power control circuit and the high-power output circuit. As a point of reference, the power source is typically required to provide 10-20 microamps to the control circuit and a higher current to the output circuit. Depending upon the particular IMD application, the high-power output circuit may require a stimulation energy of as little as 0.1 Joules for pacemakers to as much as 40 Joules for implantable defibrillators. In addition to providing a sufficient stimulation energy, it is desirable that the power source possess a low self-discharge to have a useful life of many years, and that it is highly reliable, and able to supply energy from a minimum packaged volume.
Suitable power sources or batteries for IMD's are virtually always electrochemical in nature, commonly referred to as electrochemical cells. Acceptable electrochemical cells for IMDs typically include a case surrounding an anode, a separator, a cathode and an electrolyte. The anode material is typically a lithium metal or, for rechargeable cells, a lithium ion containing body. Lithium batteries are generally regarded as acceptable power sources due in part to their high energy density and low self-discharge characteristics relative to other types of batteries. The cathode material is typically metal-based, such as silver vanadium oxide (SVO), manganese dioxide, etc.
In some cases, the power requirements of the output circuit are higher than the battery can deliver. Thus, it is common in the prior art to accumulate and store the stimulating pulse energy in an output energy storage device at some point prior to the delivery of a stimulating pulse, such as with an output capacitor. When the control circuit indicates to the output circuit that a stimulating pulse is to be delivered, the output circuitry causes the energy stored in the output capacitor to be applied to the cardiac tissue via the implanted leads. Prior to delivery of a subsequent stimulating pulse, the output capacitor is typically recharged, with the time required for the power source to recharge the output capacitor being referred to as the "charge time".
Regardless of whether an output capacitor(s) is employed, one perceived drawback of currently known therapeutic pulsing IMDs is that they often have to be replaced before their battery depletion levels have reached a maximum. When an IMD's output capacitor is being recharged, there is a drop in battery voltage due to the charging current flowing through an inherent battery impedance. Although this voltage drop may not be significant when the battery is new or fresh, it may increase substantially as the battery ages or is approaching depletion, such that during a capacitor recharging operation, the voltage supply to the control circuit may drop below a minimum allowable level. This temporary drop can cause the control circuit to malfunction. The IMD may be removed and replaced before any such malfunctions occur, even though the battery may still have sufficient capacity to stimulate the heart. Simply stated, the rate capability of currently available lithium-based cells is highly dependent upon time or depth-of-discharge as the cell develops high internal resistance over time and/or with repeated use. For IMD applications, this time or depth-of-discharge dependence limits the battery's useful life.
One solution to the above-described issue is to provide two batteries, one for charging the output circuit or capacitor and a separate battery for powering the control circuit. Unfortunately, the relative amounts of energy required by the device for the control and charging/output circuitry tend to vary from patient to patient. The capacity of the battery to power the control circuit can only be optimized with regard to one patient profile. Thus for other patients, one battery may deplete before the other, leaving wasted energy in the device. An example of such a system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,614,331 to Takeuchi et al.
An additional, related concern associated with IMD power sources relates to overall size constraints. In particular, in order to provide an appropriate power level for a relatively long time period (on the order of 4-7 years), the power source associated with the high-power output circuitry typically has a certain electrode surface area to achieve the high-rate capability. Due to safety and fabrication constraints, the requisite electrode surface area can be achieved with an increased cell volume. The resulting cell may satisfy output circuitry power requirements, but unfortunately may be volumetrically inefficient. Even further, recent IMD designs require the power source to assume a shape other than rectangular, such as a "D" or half "D" contour, further contributing to volumetric inefficiencies.
In general terms, then, currently available electrochemical cell designs, especially Li/SVO constructions, may satisfy, at least initially, power requirements for the output circuitry. The inherent volumetric inefficiencies of these cells, however, dictates an end-of-life point at which less than the cell's useful capacity has been used. Once again, currently available cells exhibit an output circuitry charge time that is highly dependent upon time of use or depth-of-discharge. Over time, the cell's impedance increases, thereby increasing the resulting charge time. Virtually all IMDs have a maximum allowable charge time for the output circuitry. Once the cell's charge time exceeds the maximum allowable charge time, the IMD may be replaced. The volumetrically inefficient cell may quickly reach this maximum charge time, even though a large portion of the cell's capacity remains unused (on the order of 40% of the useful capacity). Thus, regardless of whether the power source incorporates one or two cells, the resulting configuration is highly inefficient in terms of the high-rate battery's useful capacity.
Manufacturers continue to improve upon IMD construction and size characteristics. To this end, currently available power source designs are less than optimal. Therefore, a need exists for an IMD power source having superior space-volumetric efficiencies and a higher energy density, without a proportional increase in charge time.
Yet another issue associated with IMD power sources involves the use of a wireless transceiver to communicate IMD data with an external device. The data communicated by the IMD may include physiological data related to the patient in which the IMD is implanted. For example, if the IMD is a pacemaker or cardioverter/defibrillator, the physiological data may include electric cardiac signals obtained from electrodes implanted within the patient's heart as previously discussed. The external device with which the IMD communicates this physiological data may include a computer, for example, that monitors and/or processes the physiological data that is received from the IMD.
The IMD may also communicate data related to its performance, such as the intensity level in which it delivered a therapeutic shock for a given set of electric cardiac signals monitored via the implanted electrodes. The external computer device may analyze the received data and transmit programming data to the IMD to adjust its therapy. For example, the programming data may indicate to the IMD to reduce the intensity of the therapeutic shock delivered to the patient.
Typically, the wireless transceiver within the IMD requires relatively high current pulses, thus resulting in a higher drain from the power source within the IMD. As the sophistication of the IMD and the number of communication transmissions performed by the IMD is expected to increase over the next several years, a much higher burden may be placed on the IMD's power source, thus reducing its life. Because the accessibility of the power source is achieved typically via a surgical procedure, this reduction in battery life is a concern.
The present invention is directed to reducing the effects of one or more of the problems set forth above.

Implantable medical device with a dual power source


A rigidly-coupled projector-camera system is augmented with laser pointers. The projector-camera system and lasers can be used to determine homography between the projector and a display surface, so that a projection of any desired geometry can be made on the display surface.

A projector with rigidly attached camera can be used as a handheld projection system, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/394,314 "Geometrically Aware Projector," filed by Raskar et al., on Mar. 21, 2003, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/012,930 "Method for Calibrating a Projector with a Camera," filed by Raskar et al. on Dec. 10, 2001, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/394,315 "Projector as an input and output device," filed by Beardsley et al., on Mar. 21, 2003, all incorporated herein by reference, and Raskar et al., "iLamps: Geometrically aware self-configuring projectors, SIGGRAPH Proceedings, 2003.
As the projector projects an output image on a display surface, the camera acquires an input image of the output image. The input image can be used to determine a pose of the projector relative to the display surface. Then, the output image can be adapted to the display surface according to the pose of the projector. For example, it is possible to perform keystone correction.
However, those projector-camera arrangements require that the camera views the entire projected image to extract four vertices in the output image for calibration. More specifically, the camera must view four points projected from known location on the image plane of the projector, e.g., the four corners of the projected image.
This constrains the content of projected images. The projected images cannot have any dark area in the vicinity of the calibration vertices, for example, along the image boundary. The problem is even more difficult when projecting onto a textured surface, rather than a homogeneous surface.
This problem can be solved by also attaching four laser pointers to the projector. Now, the content of the output images do not need to be constrained. In addition, laser light is bright and has a predetermined color, so that the calibration vertices are relatively easy to detect with a camera.
This raises a new problem. Prior art calibration methods assume that the projector and the camera are 'pinhole' devices. However, the rays generated by the laser pointers do not necessarily originate at the focal point of the projector. Therefore, the arrangement with laser pointers cannot be treated as a pinhole projection.
Therefore, there is a need to calibrate a projector with laser pointers.

Projector-camera system with laser pointers

Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc


The present invention discloses a method and device for suppressing vibration of boom of concrete pump truck, in which the boom cylinder is connected with the vibration suppression cylinder; the information about hydraulic pressure in the boom cylinder and/or about changing of concrete pumping direction is monitored by a pressure sensing unit in real time; the monitored information about hydraulic pressure and/or about changing of concrete pumping direction is transmitted to the control unit for vibration suppression cylinder; the control unit for vibration suppression cylinder analyzes and processes the monitored information and adjusts the volumes of the rod side chamber and the non-rod side chamber in the vibration suppression cylinder such that the vibration suppression cylinder may generate a pulsed vibration and the pulsed vibration at the end of the boom is less than or equal to the vibration amplitude caused by the intermittent concrete supply at the end of the boom in amplitude, with a phase difference of 180° between the two vibrations. The vibration suppression method and device for boom of concrete pump truck according to the present invention may be simply configured, easily implemented and operated to effectively suppress the boom vibration.

Presently, a large apparatus provided with a multi-segments rotary boom, such as a concrete pump arranged on a truck chassis or a concrete distributing boom arranged on a mobile lifting platform, is widely used in construction sites for distributing concrete from the pump truck to desired job sites. The apparatus generally comprises a pump truck chassis, a concrete pump, a pipe and a boom which is also referred to as a "distributing boom". Concrete is alternatively fed into the transporting pipe by means of a connecting mechanism by a double feeding cylinder mounted on the truck chassis. The pipe follows the movement of the multi-segments rotary boom in a certain and constant way such that concrete may be transported to a desired job site. The boom usually comprises 2-5 segments. Referring to FIG. 1, which shows a side view of a boom of a concrete pump truck when the truck is running or the boom is in its retracted position, a first boom segment 3, a second boom segment 4, a third boom segment 5, a fourth boom segment 6 and a fifth boom segment 7 are folded together through retraction movement of the pistons of boom cylinders 2. Each segment of the boom rotates with respect to one another about pivots 9 so as to be folded and unfolded. Due to the restriction of the available space and the configuration, the rotation of these boom segments about the pivots 9 is limited within a certain range. A driving means, i.e. a boom cylinder 2, is required to drive each segment of the boom to rotate. With a movement of the piston in the boom cylinder 2, the next neighborhood segment of the boom is driven to rotate by a linkage 8. A rotating platform 1 is mounted on the truck chassis or the mobile lifting platform. When operated, the rotating platform 1 and components thereon may rotate about a vertical axis, and concrete is transported to a hose 10 located at the end of the boom through a pipe attached to the boom and then discharged from the outlet of the hose 10 to prescribed sites. Since the segments of the boom may rotate with respect to one another, the concrete transporting pipe attached thereon is also capable of rotating about pivots 9. Considerable resonance may be developed at the hose 10 attached to the end of the boom if concrete is intermittently supplied. Since such apparatus usually employs a double-piston feeding cylinder to supply concrete circularly, a pulsed impulsion is easily induced during supplying concrete such that the boom may vibrate. Such a vibration is especially disadvantageous in that it may cause a misalignment of the end of the boom as well as a cracking of the boom. If a supply frequency of the double-pistons feeding cylinder for supplying concrete is close to one half of the current natural frequency of the boom or approximate to the current natural frequency of the boom, considerable resonance, which will have an amplitude above 1000 mm under certain circumstance, may be developed in the boom. Therefore, to reduce damages and dangers caused by the resonance to the boom and the operator, the supply frequency of the pump has to be reduced such that the vibration of the end of the boom is limited within a certain range.

Method and device for suppressing vibration of boom of concrete pump truck


The presently disclosed subject matter provides synergistic mixtures for inducing hygienic behavior in honey bees and related compositions and methods.

Honey bees are the most important commercial pollinator world-wide for agricultural production and food security. Agriculture depends on animal pollination for over 100 different crops that provide >30% of the human diet and also supply fiber, fuel, and drugs. Honey bees are responsible for 80% of managed insect pollination and their economic impact on U.S. food crops in the year 2000 has been estimated to be $14.6 billion. However, honey bees and other insect pollinators suffer from a combination of factors, including habitat loss, pesticide exposure, pathogens, and stress due to active management. Recently, honey bee health has been marked with sharp declines and losses of colonies, with reports of "colony collapse disorder." The failure to identify a single factor as the cause of colony collapse disorder indicates that the global honey bee health crisis is complex and heterogeneous: Multiple stressors may act synergistically to lead to symptomatic health declines and colony failure and the causes may vary in time and between locations.
While no single factor has been identified as the cause of colony collapse disorder, the introduction and spread of parasites and associated pathogens and pesticide exposure have a central role in the health decline of honey bees. Disease control in the honey bee is crucial because it remains the most important commercial pollinator world-wide and its pollination services are irreplaceable in many agricultural systems. Moreover, honey bees are significant pollinators in natural ecosystems and are potential vectors of diseases that threaten native pollinator communities.
The ectoparasitic mite Varroa destructor in particular is a threat to honey bee health and apiculture today. Varroa are obligate honey bee parasites, requiring honey bee colonies for their own reproductive success. Mature, fertilized Varroa females enter a brood cell to lay eggs, and both the Varroa female and its offspring feed on the brood. Varroa causes physical and physiological damage when feeding on the brood. Varroa is a vector of viruses and has been associated with viral amplification and honey bee disease susceptibility. Pesticides are problematic because of toxicity to honey bees, beekeepers, and crops; general ecosystem pollution; and resistance development in Varroa.
Varroa is conventionally treated with synthetic acaricides, most notably coumaphos, tau-fluvalinate, flumethrin, and amitraz. These substances are toxic and persistent and may accumulate in the hive, consequently harming honey bee health. For example, miticides fluvalinate and coumaphos, have been found to have lethal and sublethal effects on honey bee queens, workers, and drones. Moreover, resistance build-up in resident Varroa populations decreases the efficacy of chemical control. Synergistic effects of fluvalinate and coumaphos have been measured, where the toxicity of each chemical is significantly increased in bees previously exposed to the other. Furthermore, immunosuppression caused by chemical exposure makes honey bees more susceptible to parasites like Varroa, as well as to the pathogens they vector. In addition to affecting honey bee health, miticides compromise beekeeper health, enter bee products including those consumed by humans and contribute to general ecosystem pollution.
Other control strategies such as physical mite removal and use of organic acids and essential oils have been proposed as alternatives, but have many limitations that compromise efficacy, such as the labor-intensive application, temperature-sensitivity, and potential side-effects on honey bees. Despite substantial evidence of the need, no adequate solution for control of Varroa has been developed.
Traditional efforts to keep honey bees healthy have focused on management techniques and treatments (primarily chemotherapies). These treatments may lead to a loss of honey, are expensive and labor-intensive, and pose human health risks. Moreover, their long-term efficacy is questionable: None of the honey bee diseases have been eradicated due to past management. On the contrary, a steady emergence of novel pests and pathogens can be observed.
Beekeepers have selectively bred honey bees for hygienic behavior as an alternative. The mechanism for hygienic behavior is not completely understood, but the trait can be measured, for instance, by frequency of certain behaviors in honey bees. Minnesota Hygienic (HYG) is a breed of honey bees based on the high frequency of honey bee removal of freeze-killed brood (FKB). A circle of brood is frozen with liquid nitrogen and percent removal of the killed brood is recorded, thus assessing the effectiveness of the general detection and removal of dead brood. However, the olfactory trigger for hygienic removal of mite-infested and other live brood may be significantly lower than that of dead brood. HYG breeding relies on olfactory triggers of dead brood and results in bred honey bees that may lack sufficient sensitivity to living diseased brood. Another example is Varroa Sensitive Hygienic (VSH), which is a breed of honey bees based on measured changes in mite removal and/or mite reproduction. VSH breeding is based on a more narrowly defined goal but hygienic behavior may just be one mechanism for these bees to suppress mite reproduction. It has been unclear whether VSH bees are truly distinct or whether suppression of mite reproduction is due to the interruption of the mite reproductive cycle by hygienic removal of infested brood. While the HYG and VSH hygienic honey bee colonies exhibit reduced mite and disease loads compared to unselected hives, the selective breeding programs are not widely adopted by beekeepers due to lack of specificity, difficulty and expense of current selection assays. Also, hygienic lines do not yet serve as complete alternatives to chemical Varroa control, as chemical treatments are sometimes required to control severe mite infestations in hygienic hives.
Moreover, despite the presence of natural honey bee social immune mechanisms like hygienic behavior, honey bee health is currently being severely threatened. Following global pollinator population trends, managed honey bee colonies in the United States have declined steadily for over six decades, from 5.9 million colonies in 1947 to 2.4 million colonies in 2005. Total annual colony losses in the United States have exceeded 33% in four of the last five years, exceeding 45% between April 2012 and April 2013. Honey bee losses are largely attributed to introduction and spread of new parasites and associated pathogens, and to lethal and sublethal effects of agrochemical exposure.
The long-term sustainability of apiculture depends on the balance between the benefit of honey bee keeping to the individual and the costs of honey bee management and losses. There remains a need for improving selection of honey bees for hygienic behavior and use of hygienic behavior by honey bees to prevent or treat a diseased honey bee colony to ensure adequate supplies of managed pollinators for agriculture. U.S. Pat. Nos. 10,512,251 and 10,524,455 disclose tritriacontene compositions and methods for inducing hygienic behavior. However, there remains a need for further improvement.

Synergistic mixture for inducing hygienic behavior in honey bees, and related compositions and methods

University of North Carolina at Greensboro


A transponder is disclosed comprising a multichannel front-end circuit; each channel of the multichannel front-end circuit a resonant circuit associated with a respective antenna and producing, in use, an input voltage; a conditioning circuit configured to provide a conditioned input voltage from the input voltage, and a comparator configured to compare the conditioned input voltage with a reference voltage; wherein the front-end circuit further comprises: a variable load connectable across each of the resonant circuits, and a controller configured to, in use, vary the variable load and detect an output from each of the comparators.

Wireless systems are commonly used to transmit information from a first device, such as a base-station, to a second device, such as a key. Moreover, such wireless systems typically involve transmitting information from the second device to the first device, to provide bi-directional communication of information. The second device may then be termed a transponder.
In some applications, the second device may not include its own power supply, and in such applications, it is well known for the second device to obtain the power it requires to operate from external sources by scavenging power or energy. One particular example of such energy scavenging is the use of the energy associated with the transmission of information from the first device, to provide the power for the second device to transmit information back to the first device. Such a system may be termed a field-supplied application. Partly due to the possibility of relatively high powers in the field, such field-supplied applications are particularly prevalent in RFID applications, in which the second device may be, for instance, a passive RFID transponder, or other NFC (near field communication) applications.
In order to efficiently receive power, or to efficiently transmit information, it is important that the front-end circuit of a field supplied application is well-coupled to the field transmitted from and supplied by the base station. It is well-known that the coupling between the field and the antenna coil in the front-end circuit of a transponder is heavily dependent on relative orientation of the antenna coil in the front-end circuit relative to the orientation of the field. In vector terms the coupling depends on the dot product between the two orientations. If the orientations are orthogonal, there will be little or no coupling, and thus the device may not work. In order to prevent this, it is known to include two or three, generally or substantially orthogonal, front-end circuits in the transponder, in order to ensure that at least one circuit is well coupled to the fields. Each front-end circuit may be considered as a separate channel. An immobilizer device includes three orthogonally-oriented antennas configured to receive a signal from a field generated by a base station is disclosed in United Stated patent application publication number US2012/0105219.
In order to utilise the available energy most efficiently, it may be desirable to choose one of the two or three separate channels, and transmit information only on that channel, disabling the other channels. Such a system is disclosed in United States patent application publication number US 2010/0290368, which discloses a half-duplex RFID transponder with an integrated three-dimensional front-end circuit which includes three LC resonant circuits arranged in a three-dimensional configuration. A channel selector is adapted to detect which one of three storage capacitors associated with respective channels, is first charged with a threshold voltage, to select the receiver channel associated to the LC resonant circuit which is coupled to the storage capacitor which is first charged and to deactivate the two other receiver channels.
It would be desirable to provide an alternative method of detection of the most strongly coupled channel, and an associated device.

Multichannel transponder and a method of determining a most strongly coupled channel or more strongly coupled channels

Abstract: A method of operating such a transponder to determine a most strongly coupled channel, or more strongly coupled channels, is also disclosed.


A temperature controlling method is used to control a temperature of a heat roller for a fixing unit for use in a facsimile machine. A print engine prints a transmission report after information has been transmitted to a receiving end. An electric power is supplied to a heater in the heat concurrently with transmission of information to a receiving end so as to increase the temperature of the heat roller to a preheat temperature Tp. The heat roller is then maintained at the preheat temperature Tp during the transmission of the information to the receiving end. After the transmission of the information has been completed, the temperature of the heat roller is increased from the preheat temperature Tp to a fixing temperature Tf.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of controlling the temperature of a heater of a fixing unit for use in an electrophotographic printer type facsimile machine.
2. Description of Related Art
Some facsimile machines are designed to print out a transmission report after the transmission is over, thereby outputting information reporting on the facsimile transmission to the user.
Such information includes date of facsimile transmission, time length for transmission, ID number or telephone number of the receiving end, the total number of transmitted pages, and transmission results (e.g., Safely transmitted/Transmission failed/Busy line/Error pages).
The transmission report is not necessarily printed out when the transmission is over. The printing out of the transmission is usually set "ON" or "OFF" by the user before each transmission. Some facsimile machines retain the "ON" state until the transmission report is reset by the user, once the printing of the transmission report is set "ON".
Some facsimile machines are equipped with an electrophotographic printer as a print engine where a toner image formed on the surface of a photoconductive drum is transferred onto a print medium by a transfer roller. The print medium is then advanced to the fixing unit where the toner image is fused. The fixing unit includes a pair of heat rollers. One of the pair of heat rollers has a heater therein. A thermistor is located in proximity to the heat roller having the heater built therein and detects the temperature of the heat roller. When the print medium passes between the pair of heat rollers, the toner image is fused with the heat and pressure applied by the heat rollers.
No printing operation is performed during periods such as a standby period and a transmission period. The heater is switched off during the standby period and transmission period, thereby saving electric power.
The related art will be described with respect to a facsimile machine incorporating an electrophotography type printer.
Prior to sending a facsimile, the user inputs a command as to whether or not a transmission report should be printed and subsequently depresses a START switch. Upon depressing the START switch, the facsimile machine activates a transmitting operation for transmitting the information to the receiving end.
After the transmission is over, a check is made to determine whether TRANSMISSION REPORT has been set ON. If it is determined that TRANSMISSION REPORT has not been set ON, then the facsimile machine does not print out the transmission report, and the facsimile machine enters the standby state where the machine waits till the next transmission operation is activated.
If it is determined that the printing of the transmission report has been set ON, the heater is energized to heat the heat roller to a fixing temperature Tf. The thermistor detects the temperature of the heat roller. When the outputs of the thermistor reaches a predetermined value or fixing temperature Tf, the transmission report is printed out. Then, the print medium is ejected, and the printing operation of the transmission is over.
With the aforementioned conventional facsimile machine, if the TRANSMISSION REPORT has been set ON, the heater is supplied with electric power after the transmission of information is over. As soon as the heat roller reaches the fixing temperature Tf, the printing operation starts to print out the transmission report.
For example, if the fixing temperature Tf is 155.degree. C., it takes about 17 seconds for the heat roller to reach 155.degree. C. when an ambient temperature Ta is 25.degree. C. In other words, the printing operation of the transmission report starts 17 seconds after the facsimile has been sent to the receiving end.
The time period from the activation of transmission till the transmission report has been printed out is the sum of the time for sending information to the receiving end, the time for heating up the heat rollers, and the time for printing the transmission report. The total time required is too long.

Method of controlling heater for use in a facsimile machine


The invention is directed to a layout of nonvolatile memory device. The memory cell has a gate electrode, a first doped electrode, and a second doped electrode. The first doped electrode is coupled to the bit line. The gate electrode is coupled to one separated word line. A shared coupled capacitor structure is coupled between all of memory cells of the adjacent bit lines from the second doped electrode. The capacitor structure has at least two floating-gate MOS capacitors. Each floating-gate MOS capacitor has a floating-gate transistor having a floating gate, a first S/D region and a second S/D region; and a MOS capacitor coupled to the floating gate. The first S/D region is coupled to the second doped electrode of the corresponding one of the transistor memory cells, and the second S/D region is shared with an adjacent one of the floating-gate transistor.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to Non-volatile memory structure. More particularly, the present invention relates to a non-volatile memory device with CMOS logic process.
2. Description of Related Art
Non-volatile memory has its wide applications in various field, such as the multimedia or particularly to the portable multi-media applications including digital camera and audio player, or the smart cellular phone. All of these apparatus need to store data or contents when power is off. Nonvolatile memory then has various applications.
In the various applications for integration nonvolatile memory, from fabrication and operation point of view, it is desired to adapted in the standard CMOS LOGIC process. Those applications include software updates, storing ID code, manufacture code, and look-up table. However, incompatibility process between conventional stack gate EPROM/FLASH memory and CMOS LOGIC process leads to increase process integration difficulty and cost overhead. A single-poly EPROM (erasable programmable read-only memory) cell is then proposed to prevent process incompatibility issue. As known in the current conventional technology, a memory cell has an NMOS transistor and PMOS transistor placed adjacently. The PMOS gate in N-well works as control gate and inversion layer is formed when positive voltage is applied to N-well/P+ Diffusion node. However the space-apart region of N-well capacitor and EPROM cell causes a large cell size in the conventional design.
FIG. 1A is a circuit, schematically illustrating the conventional circuit design for EPROM. In FIG. 1A, an NMOS transistor with the gate FG is forming on a p-type substrate. However, in order to have the capability to store the binary data, the PMOS transistor is formed in N-well to serve the capacitor function, wherein the gate oxide layer with the gate and the substrate form as a capacitor.
FIG. 1B is drawing, illustrating the equivalent circuit in operation for the conventional EPROM. In FIG. 1B, the MOS transistor is coupled with a capacitor at the gate electrode. The gate electrode is then coupled to the word lines W0, W1, . . . Two adjacent cells has the common source region coupled to the voltage source VS, and each of the drain region is coupled to the bit line, BL0, BL1, BL2.
In the foregoing conventional design, it at least has several disadvantages. For example, the cell size is very large. This is because of device isolation limitation between P+ Diffusion in N-well to N+ Diffusion in P-well. Also and, it is not suitable for embedded Flash/EEPROM applications because the over-erase issue may be caused.


A novel lifting tool for lifting rooted trees and the like from the ground. There is: at least one main boom; at least one outrigger coupled to a first end of the main boom; at least one mounting member coupled to a second end of the main boom, the mounting member adapted to couple the main boom to a lifting force machine; and at least one set of tongs coupled to the main boom, the tongs adapted to clamp a tree or the like to be lifted around at least a portion of the periphery of the tree or the like, and lift the tree or the like when the main boom is lifted. The tongs are located along the main boom at a position to multiply the force input by the lifting force machine. In the preferred embodiment, the lifting force machine is subsumed by a skid loader.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to the removal of trees, shrubberies and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Tree removal methods are typically limited to either elaborate and very large tree trunk digging approaches, or those involving lifting trees with smaller equipment such as skid loaders. The former approach is both costly, and leaves a large hold in the ground after removal. The latter approach greatly limits the size of the trees or shrubberies that can be lifted, since a typical skid loader may only be able to supply a lifting force of about 3,500 pounds.
What is desirable but not provided by the prior art is an approach for lifting larger trees from the ground using only skid loaders, while not leaving large ground holes afterwards.


A lens module includes a base, a rotating component, a positioning component and a lens barrel. The base includes at least one first positioning member and a hollow body which defines a receiving hole therein. An annular ledge is formed in the receiving hole. The rotating component includes an annular rotating barrel which is rotatably received in the receiving hole and contacts the ledge. An inner screw thread is formed on the inner wall of the rotating barrel. The positioning component defines a center hole therein and is positioned on the base and restricts the rotating barrel to contact the ledge. The lens barrel includes a main body passing through the center hole and at least one second positioning member engaging with the at least one first positioning member. An outer screw thread is formed on the main body and engages with the inner screw thread.

1. Technical Field
The disclosed embodiments generally relates to imaging devices and, more particularly, to a lens module which has an accurate focusing function.
2. Description of Related Art
Currently, digital camera modules are included as a feature in a wide variety of electronic devices. A lens module is a critical component of the digital camera module. When digital camera modules are assembled, a focus distance of lenses may need to be adjusted via the lens modules to get clear images.
A typical lens module includes lenses, an image sensor, a lens barrel, and a stepping motor. The lens barrel encloses the lenses therein and is driven by the stepping motor to move with respect to the image sensor along the axis of the lenses, so that the image sensor can get clear images. However, the axis of the lens barrel is usually offset from the optical axis, which affects focusing of the lens module.
Therefore, a new lens module is desired to overcome the above-described shortcoming.


A phototherapeutic device includes a sheet member that is attachable to a skin; a skin-condition sensor that is disposed in the sheet member and that detects information related to a condition of the skin; and a light-emitting device unit that is disposed in the sheet member, the light-emitting device unit operating on the basis of the information detected by the skin-condition sensor. The light-emitting device unit includes a plurality of light-emitting devices that emit light having different wavelengths.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a phototherapeutic device and a phototherapeutic method.
2. Description of the Related Art
To date, a cosmetic device (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2013-154229) that irradiates the skin with light guided from a lens or an optical facial beautifying mask (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-27702) including a light source unit that irradiates the face with light having different hues through a mask have been disclosed.

Phototherapeutic device and phototherapeutic method

PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.


A valve housing of a diaphragm valve has a first valve chamber, into which open a central channel and first and second channels. Valve seats are arranged in the housing, and a first diaphragm is adapted to seal against at least one of the first and second valve seats. A second valve chamber, into which opens a fourth channel, communicates with the central channel through an opening in the housing. A third valve seat is provided and a second diaphragm is adapted to seal the third valve seat.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a development of the three-way diaphragm valve described in WO 95/00782.
2. Description of the Background Art
That diaphragm valve is intended for controlling a flow of gaseous or liquid fluid and includes a valve housing having a valve chamber. Into the valve chamber opens a central channel and on each side thereof a first side channel and a second side channel, respectively. Valve seat means is arranged in the housing and an elastic diaphragm is adapted to be brought into and away from sealing contact with at least one of the valve seat means by means of control means for actuating the diaphragm. At least one portion of each valve seat means is common to the central channel and one of the side channels. Two control means are arranged to press the diaphragm against one such portion each, thereby to shut passage of fluid between the central channel and the respective side channel. The two control means also raise one portion each of the diaphragm off the respective portion of the valve seat means thereby to open passage of flow between the central channel and the respective side channel.


An exemplary mechanical shutter includes a barrel, a first blade, a second blade, a third blade, a magnet, and a magnetic field generator. The barrel defines a through hole and an aperture in the hole. The first blade is arranged in the hole and mounted on the barrel. The second blade is slidably mounted on the first blade. The third blade is slidably mounted on the second blade. The magnet is attached to the third blade. The magnetic field generator is mounted on the fixture and spatially corresponding to the magnet. The magnetic field generator applies a magnetic field to the magnet. The magnet and the magnetic field generator cooperatively move the blade group between an extended position and an retracted position.

1. Technical Field
The disclosure generally relates to mechanical shutters, and particularly, to a camera module using the mechanical shutter.
2. Description of Related Art
A typical mechanical shutter includes a motor, a driving shaft, and a spring. It is, however, difficult to achieve reduction in the size of such mechanical shutters.
Therefore, what is needed is a mechanical shutter that can overcome the described limitations, and the camera module using the mechanical shutter.

Mechanical shutter and camera module having same


A carrier for carrying sporting equipment and other items comprises a base member that is assembled to a pair of shoulder straps, to be carried in the manner of a backpack. Depending on the type of equipment to be carried, one of a plurality of interchangeable equipment-specific members is selected and secured to the base member in a simple and efficient manner, without the use of tools. The chosen type of equipment to be carried is then secured to the corresponding equipment-specific member.

Various sorts of backpack-type devices are well-known, and many of these are equipped with specialized structure to adapt them to carrying specific equipment. For example, a backpack intended for mountaineering use might be equipped with a strap to receive a coil of rope, a pocket for a water bottle, straps to receive a rolled-up sleeping bag, and so forth.
The present invention differs from such backpack-type devices in that different interchangeable equipment-specific members can be assembled to a singular base member, so as to be adapted to carry different types of equipment when different activities are intended.

Abstract: The base member may comprise a female dovetail joint, opening toward the top, and each of the equipment-specific members a corresponding male dovetail, so that the desired equipment-specific member can be assembled to the base member by simply sliding the male dovetail into the female dovetail, and gravity will retain the desired equipment-specific member in the desired position.

Abstract: In a further improvement, the male dovetail may be part of an intermediate member, which allows relative rotation of the equipment-specific member though a limited range.


A system for a universal serial bus (USB) device to perform power configuration to operate with a USB host. A connection to the USB host is enabled. Then a high-power configuration is reported to the USB host and successful enumeration by the USB host is monitored for. If such enumeration is not forthcoming within a preset time, the connection to the USB host is disabled and re-enabled, and a low-power configuration is then reported to the USB host. Optionally, the system can further ramp up power usage until a preset high-power configuration is reached, or until there is voltage sag on the VBUS and then either ramp power usage back down or measure the sag and set to a calculated power usage.

The USB was initially specified as an industry-standard extension to the personal computer (PC) architecture to allow connection to a host of up to 127 peripheral devices. Since its introduction, the USB standard has been widely applied in PC-type hosts for use with PC-type peripheral devices, and increasingly it is being applied in hosts and devices beyond the traditional PC field. FIG. 1 (prior art) is a schematic diagram depicting a typical USB architectural configuration.
The current specification for USB is defined in the document UNIVERSAL SERIAL BUS SPECIFICATION, Rev. 2.0, Apr. 27, 2000, by Compaq Computer Corporation, Hewlett-Packard Company, Intel Corporation, Lucent Technologies Inc., Microsoft Corporation, NEC Corporation, and Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (hereinafter the "USB specification").
FIG. 2 (prior art) is a schematic diagram depicting some key features of an exemplary USB connection 10. Here a USB host 12 has a USB port 14 (including a connector) to which a USB cable 16 can be attached to connect a USB-capable peripheral device (USB device 18). The USB device 18 includes conventional circuitry 20, to operate its USB functions as well as for whatever utilitarian functions it provides.
The USB cable 16 and the USB device 18 can be integrated, as shown in FIG. 2, or they may be distinct devices in their own right (in which case the USB device 18 will include a connector of its own to receive its end of the USB cable 16). It should also be noted that a large class of USB devices 18 now also exist that connect directly to a USB port 14. In fact, a sub-class of these devices are protocol converters that permit direct or cabled connection of non-USB devices to USB ports 14. Furthermore, the USB specification provides for a hierarchical arrangement of one or more USB hubs between a USB host 12 and any ultimate end USB devices 18 (see e.g., FIG. 1, wherein a USB-capable keyboard accepts keyed input and serves as a USB hub to a USB-capable mouse and a USB-capable pen input device). USB hubs and USB devices that are "downstream" from a given USB port are therefore sometimes collectively termed "USB slave devices."
While FIG. 2 is merely representative, it illustrates a salient feature of all USB connections. The USB specification defines a 4-conductor scheme, including a data+ conductor 22, a data− conductor 24, a ground conductor 26, and a VBUS conductor 28. When active, the VBUS conductor 28 is nominally powered at +5V by the USB host 12. By virtue of the ground conductor 26 and the VBUS conductor 28 it is thus optionally possible to power one or more USB devices 18. Some USB devices 18 even employ this feature parasitically, to recharge their own internal power supplies for use later when the USB device 18 is disconnected from the USB port 14.
USB devices that rely on power from the cable are called "bus-powered devices" and those that have an alternate source of power are called "self-powered devices." Furthermore, some USB devices are capable of operation in either bus-powered or self-powered modes, and some can selectively operate in either mode, depending on whether a USB port appears to be able to supply their power needs.
The USB specification dictates that a USB port must be able to supply a minimum of 100 mA at 5V on the VBUS circuit. Optionally, the USB port can support high-power devices that can draw up to 500 mA at 5V. When a USB device is first connected to a USB port, it must limit its power draw to the 100 mA minimum. As described in the USB specification, a USB host enumerates a USB device first in low-power mode, and determines its maximum configurable power draw. The USB device may report multiple power configurations, each requiring different power draw amounts. For example, the USB device may report a low power configuration for use with low power USB ports as well as a high-power configuration where it might enable a battery charger or other high-current function when connected to a USB port that can supply the extra power. After the USB host enumerates the USB device power configuration options, it can then set the USB device to use the highest-power configuration that is supported by the USB port that the USB device is attached to.
The challenge that arises is that some USB hosts, notably those running variants of the Microsoft Windows™ operating system, do not enumerate multiple USB device configurations. These USB hosts simply use the first configuration reported by the USB device. If the USB port cannot support the power requirements reported by the first USB device configuration, then the USB host will not configure the USB device and it becomes unusable on that USB port.
One solution to this problem is for the device to report a lower power requirement than it plans to use. This tricks the USB host into allowing the USB device to be configured on a USB port that may not supply enough power. Depending on the USB port such a USB device is attached to, this can lead to voltage sags on the VBUS and erratic USB device operation. Also, a USB device that draws more current than it reports in its configuration descriptors will not pass USB certification testing and cannot be sold with the USB-compatible logo.
Given that the USB specification makes no provision for a USB device to discover any of the characteristics of a USB port that it is attached to, and furthermore, given that many USB hosts will not correctly determine the amount of power that can be used by a USB device, what is sorely needed are mechanisms by which a USB device can independently determine the capabilities of an upstream USB port and manage its power draw accordingly.

Passive USB power configuration switching


A method of managing speech data in a system is provided. The method includes receiving speech data that is generated by a speech recognition module; searching data structures of a definition file for a speech tag based on the speech data, wherein the data structures define features of a display screen; and determining an action associated with the speech tag; and at least one of communicating data to an application of the system and generating display data based on the action.

Speech systems perform, among other things, speech recognition based on speech uttered by users of the system. The speech utterances typically include commands that communicate with or control one or more features of the system. Speech systems of aircraft related applications typically require specific semantic phraseology, ATC like phraseology, and/or specific speech commands. Thus, in order to use the system, flight crews are required to memorize and learn the phraseology, which is a major limitation and heavy burden on pilots.
In addition, development of such systems can be difficult. For example, in order to recognize the specific speech phraseology a complex and intelligent parser must be developed. In another example, the complex and intelligent parsers must be able to take in to account variants of the phraseology. These variants may be introduced, for example, when a pilot is under stress. In still another example, each time a new feature in the application is introduced, the semantic phraseology changes thus causing the complex and intelligent parsers to require modification.
Hence, there is a need for improved systems and methods for integrating speech recognition into existing systems. Other desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.

Methods and systems for integration of speech into systems


The present invention relates to the fields of medical microbiology and vaccines. In particular the invention relates to a process for detergent-free preparation of outer membrane vesicles (OMV) of Gram negative bacteria for use in vaccines, to OMV obtainable by said process, and to a pharmaceutical composition comprising such OMV. The present invention further relates to the use of OMV of the present invention as a medicament in particular for use in a method for eliciting an immune response.

Neisseria meningitidis is a human pathogen that can cause acute meningitis and septicemia, with fatality rates around 15% [Girard et al, 2006]. Serogroup B meningitis accounts for 30-40% of meningitis cases in North America [Sharip et al, 2006; Kaplan et al, 2006] and up to 80% in some European countries [Trotter et al, 2007; Gray et al, 2006], yet a broadly protective vaccine is not available. Effective vaccines against other serogroups have been developed based on capsular polysaccharide conjugated to a carrier protein [Snape et al, 2008]. This approach was not feasible for serogroup B, due to poor immunogenicity [Morley et al, 2001] and concerns for vaccination-induced autoimmunity [Finne et al, 1983]. To date, vaccines based on outer membrane vesicles (OMV) are the only vaccines that successfully controlled serogroup B epidemics with examples in Norway, Cuba, and New Zealand [Bjune et al, 1991; Thornton et al, 2006; Martin et al, 1998; Sierra et al, Fredriksen et al, 1991].
OMV are released from the outer membrane of gram negative bacteria and consist of a phospholipid (PL) bilayer that contains outer membrane proteins, lipopolysacchharide (LPS) and periplasmic constituents [Deatherage et al, 2009]. PorA protein was identified as the major protective antigen in OMV, but is highly variable between the circulating serogroup B strains which complicates vaccine development [Saukkonen et al, 1989; Martin et al, 2006]. For this reason, Rijks Instituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu (RWM), i.e the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (Bilthoven, The Netherlands) developed an OMV vaccine based on genetically modified N. meningitidis strains that express multiple PorA subtypes. This multivalent OMV vaccine was initially made with 2 trivalent PorA strains, expressing a total of 6 PorA subtypes [van der Ley et al, 1995; Claassen et al, 1996] and provided functional immunogenicity in phase II clinical trials. To ensure sufficient coverage for serogroup B strains circulating globally, a third trivalent strain was added [van den Dobbelsteen et al, 2007].
OMV vaccines are traditionally prepared with detergent extraction (dOMV purification process) to remove LPS and increase vesicle release. The LPS of N. meningitidis is highly toxic, but residual amounts (approx. 1%) are needed to maintain vesicle structure and adjuvate the immune response against PorA [Arigita et al, 2005; Arigita et al, 2003; Steeghs et al, 2004]. With balanced detergent concentrations the dOMV purification process provides these requirements, however there are major disadvantages. Along with LPS, detergent removes PL and also lipoproteins that contribute to immunogenicity, such as factor H binding protein [Koeberling et al, 2009; Koeberling et al, 2008]. The resulting immune response is directed against a specific PorA subtype, without eliciting cross-protection [Morley et al, 2001; van der Voort et al, 1996]. In addition, selective removal of LPS and PL changes the native vesicle structure and promotes aggregation [Hoist et al, 2009; Cametti et al, 2008]. Detergent-treatment is necessary to decrease LPS toxicity, but has detrimental side effects that complicate vaccine development.
Detergent-free OMV purification processes retain all LPS, resulting not only in a preserved native vesicle structure, but also in vaccines that are inherently toxic when used for parenteral immunization [Hoist et al, 2009]. Two detergent-free purification processes have been described. The native OMV (nOMV) process [Zollinger et al 1979; U.S. Pat. No. 6,558,677] comprises similar steps as dOMV, however with a detergent-free extraction step and the supernatant OMV (sOMV) process [Post et al, 2005; Devoe et al, 1973; Hoekstra et al, 1976] utilizes ultrafiltration or ultracentrifugation to purify spontaneously released OMV from the culture supernatant, without extraction. nOMV vaccines produced encouraging results in animals and humans, but high LPS content limited applicability of the vaccine to intranasal administration [Guthrie et al, 2004; Katial et al, 2002; Saunders et al, 1999; Drabick et al, 1999]. Preclinical data on sOMV vaccines is limited to a single study in mice, reporting cross-protection against a panel of serogroup B strains that was not found with dOMV, however potential differences in toxicity and stability were not addressed [Ferrari et al, 2006]. The sOMV process imposes an additional challenge, since it produces OMV yields that are too low for feasible process development [Post et al, 2005; Devoe et al, 1973].
Discovery of lpxL1 mutant strains at RIVM Bilthoven [van der Ley et al, 2001] provided a solution for the LPS toxicity issue. Deletion of lpxL1 attenuate LPS toxicity, while preserving the adjuvant activity needed for the immune response [Koeberling et al, 2008; van der Ley et al, 2001; Fisseha et al, 2005; van de Waterbeemd et al, 2010].
However, for clinical trials or GMP manufacturing of nOMV/sOMV a robust scalable production process is required in which the EDTA extraction step is needed for high yield, but to date causes undesired effects such as bacterial lysis [Prachayasittikul et al, 2010]. DNA release caused by lysis is a problem for large scale production since removal processes such as ultracentrifugation only have limited capacity.
Accordingly, since the processes available to date to prepare sOMV and nOMV either suffer from low yield and/or low purity and/or are limited to laboratory scale, there is a need for improved processes to prepare bacterial OMV, in particular for processes at industrial scale.

Process for detergent-free production of outer membrane vesicles of a gram-negative bacterium

DE STAAT DER NEDERLANDEN, VERT. DOOR DE MINISTER VAN VWS MINISTERIE VAN VOLKSGEZONDHEID, WELZIJN EN SPORT


In a waterproof connector (1), a filter (151), which is impermeable to liquid and permeable to air, is arranged between an outer circumferential surface of an insulating coating layer (13) of a first electric wire (11) and a wall surface of the first hole (33). On the other hand, a seal member (51), which is impermeable to liquid and air, is arranged between an outer circumferential surface of an insulating coating layer (313) of a second electric wire (311) and a wall surface of the second hole (313).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a waterproof connector.
2. Description of the Related Art
A gas sensor (hereinafter, also referred to as a sensor) for detecting a specific component of exhaust gas usually employs a waterproof structure for isolating an interior space (hereinafter, also referred to as an internal space) of the gas sensor casing from the exterior thereof to prevent foreign matter, such as water, from entering into the casing. When an engine having such a sensor attached to an exhaust pipe of the engine is running, a front end of the sensor is exposed to high-temperature exhaust gas. Thus, due to thermal conduction, the internal space of the sensor assumes a high temperature. When the engine is shut off, the internal space is cooled. In order to prevent expansion and contraction (variation in pressure) of air contained in the internal space (hereinafter, also referred to as internal air) caused by such thermal variation, the sensor, for example, may allow for exchange of internal air through its rear end portion. Specifically, the sensor may employ a filter which is permeable to air, but is impermeable to liquid.
On the other hand, in order to meet a demand for reduction in size and enhancement of waterproofness, a certain sensor (hereinafter, also referred to as a completely waterproof sensor) has a closed internal space without employing a filter for exchange of internal air. In sensors including such a completely waterproof sensor, a waterproof connector is usually attached to end portions (terminals) of electric wires extending outwardly therefrom. The waterproof connector is fitted, for connection, to a counterpart waterproof connector attached to external terminals of electric wires extending outwardly from an engine control unit (ECU).
In the case where electric wires of the completely waterproof sensor are connected to corresponding electric wires by use of waterproof connectors, the presence of an opening (defect) in an insulating coating layer of an electric wire connected to a counterpart waterproof connector, through which opening an internal core wire(s) is exposed to outside air, causes the following phenomenon in association with variation in air pressure of the internal space of the sensor during use. When the air pressure of the internal space becomes high as a result of exposure to heat, air contained in the internal space flows through an electric wire (i.e., through small clearances between a large number of the core wires constituting the electric wire) covered with the insulating coating layer, and flows out of the electric wire from the opening. In contrast, when the internal space assumes a negative pressure (vacuum) as a result of cooling, the outside air is drawn in from the opening. Accordingly, when water is splashed over the opening or when the opening is immersed in water, water is drawn in from the opening and flows through the electric wire toward the internal space of the sensor. As a result, when the completely waterproof sensor is repeatedly used, metal terminals or the like contained in the waterproof connectors (hereinafter, also referred to as connectors) and the sensor may corrode.
Measures to solve the above problem include use of a waterproof connector having a filter which is impermeable to liquid, but is permeable to air for allowing air flow between the interior and the exterior of the connector (as disclosed, for example, in Patent Documents 1 and 2). In the waterproof connector disclosed in Patent Document 1, a sealing rubber plug for preventing entry of foreign matter such as water is fitted into an idle cavity (hole) of a housing into which a metal terminal is not inserted; a through-hole extending between the interior and the exterior of the hole is formed in the rubber plug; and a filter which is permeable to air, but is impermeable to liquid, is provided in the through-hole.
In the connector disclosed in Patent Document 2, a sleeve-type filter (seal member) which can restrict passage of liquid and is permeable to air is arranged between an electric wire (lead wire) and a wall of an electric-wire insertion hole of a casing (hereinafter, referred to as housing) through which the electric wire is inserted, such that the outer circumferential surface of the filter is in close contact with the wall of the hole.
In the case where electric wires of the above-mentioned completely waterproof sensor are connected to corresponding electric wires by use of the waterproof connector disclosed in Patent Documents 1 or 2, provision of the air-permeable filter (or seal member) in the connector solves the above-noted problem due to variation in pressure within the sensor in a cooling-heating cycle, thereby preventing entry of foreign matter such as water into the connector or the sensor through the electric wire. That is, even when an opening (defect) is present in an electric wire connected to a counterpart waterproof connector, and the opening is immersed in water, water is not drawn in toward the sensor.
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (kokai) No. 2003-331979
[Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (kokai) No. 4-249079
3. Problems to be Solved by the Invention:
However, in the waterproof connector disclosed in Patent Document 1, the filter is provided in the sealing rubber plug which is inserted into the idle cavity (unused hole) into which no metal terminal is inserted. Accordingly, the waterproof connector employs a number of holes greater than the number of electric wires to be inserted into the holes. That is, in the waterproof connector of Patent Document 1, since the sealing rubber plug is inserted into a hole into which no metal terminal is inserted, an idle hole must also be provided. In other words, a connector of greater size must be used which is disadvantageous.
In the connector disclosed in Patent Document 2, even when a plurality of electric wires are inserted into a respective plurality of holes, the filters must be inserted between the wall surface of each hole and the outer circumferential surface of each electric wire. Thus, the filter attachment structure employed by the waterproof connector of Patent Document 2 suffers from poor waterproof reliability and high cost.

Waterproof connector with a filter impermeable to liquid but permeable to air and a seal member impermeable to both liquid and air


A method and device for removing metal fumes inside a snout in a continuous hot-dip plating plant are provided, which are capable of reliably removing metal fumes causing unplating from the snout without heating an outer wall of the snout. Heated inert gas is supplied to an inside of a snout which is formed between a continuous annealing furnace outlet and a hot-dip metal plating bath. Atmospheric temperature of the inside of the snout and temperature of an inner wall of the snout are maintained, gas having a flow rate greater than a gas supply flow rate is exhausted. A gas stream is formed which flows from the continuous annealing furnace to a surface of the hot-dip metal plating bath, which prevents quality defect from occurring caused by metal fumes generated from molten metal surface.

In a continuous hot-dip plating plant, in which a steel plate is plated by being continuously immersed in a hot-dip metal plating bath, it is necessary that the steel plate is immersed in the hot-dip metal plating bath while maintaining the steel plate at a temperature suitable for plating and keeping the surface thereof in a non-oxidized state. For this reason, equipment having a rectangular cross section, which is referred to as snout, is formed between a continuous annealing furnace outlet and the hot-dip metal plating bath.
Since a bottom end of the snout reaches a bath surface of the hot-dip metal plating bath, metal vapor of molten metal generated on a molten metal surface is cooled on a surface of a wall of the snout, and is coagulated and deposited. When this drops, due to the self-weight, vibration, or the like, on the steel plate and attaches to the steel plate, or on the bath surface of the hot-dip metal plating bath and then attaches to the steel plate, it may cause quality defect which is referred to as unplating that a part of the steel plate is not plated. Further, the metal vapor of the molten metal is condensed and formed into a particle shape (having a size of 1 μm or less in many cases), and after having been deposited on the surface of the wall of the snout as metal fumes, is dropped on and attached to the steel plate or is directly attached to the steel plate, which causes a similar quality defect. Those metal vapor and metal fumes further gather together and form metal dust (having a size of 1 μm or more in many cases), which causes a more serious quality defect.
Accordingly, as shown in Patent Document 1, there is suggested technology that an electric heater is installed around a snout to heat the snout from an outside. When this method is adopted, the temperature of the inner wall of the snout rises, and hence, the amount of coagulation and deposition of metal fumes is reduced. However, the amount of coagulation and deposition does not become zero, and metal vapor evaporated from the molten metal surface is continuously coagulated and deposited on the inner wall of the snout, which will eventually drop and cause unplating.
Further, since the heating is performed from an outside using the electric heater, the temperature of the outer side of the snout becomes higher than the temperature of the inner side of the snout, and thus, thermal deformation of the snout easily occurs. When the shell of the snout cracks due to such thermal deformation and the air enters, this also causes quality defect.
In addition, Patent Document 2 suggests, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIGS. 2A to 2C, technology in which an exhaust port 2 is provided to each of the both left and right sides of a lower part of a snout 1 to exhaust atmospheric gas containing metal vapor evaporated from a molten metal surface, the metal vapor is condensed and separated using a separator 3, and then only the atmospheric gas is sent back to the inside of the snout through an air inlet port 4 provided to a position on each of the both left and right sides of an upper part. However, in this arrangement, a short path for the atmospheric gas is formed between the air inlet port 4 and the exhaust port 2, as shown in FIG. 2A. Accordingly, it is not possible to maintain the stream that can shut off the metal vapor in the central part of the snout 1. Therefore, some of the metal vapor slips through the central part of the snout to the upper part as shown by an arrow 5, and remains inside the snout 1. Further, some of the metal vapor that has slipped through to the upper part moves toward the continuous annealing furnace, and coagulates and deposits on the inner wall thereof, which causes unplating in the same manner.

Method and device for removing metal fumes inside snout in continuous hot-dip plating plant

NIPPON STEEL AND SUMITOMO METAL CORPORATION


A milling machine for shaping blanks to create filter lenses for a clip-on accessory whose pair of filter lenses register with a pair of optical lenses in prescription eyeglasses when the accessory is hitched onto the frame of the eyeglasses. The frame of the eyeglasses is composed of two like half sections having a predetermined geometry, an optical lens being mounted in each half-section. The filter lenses in the accessory which are joined by a bridge piece have a geometry matching that of the half-sections of the frame whereby the appearance of the clip-on accessory is compatible with that of the eyeglasses.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a machine adapted to mill blanks to create filter lenses for a clip-on accessory which hitches onto the frame of prescription eyeglasses having a pair of optical lenses, the filter lenses then being in registration with the optical lenses to protect the wearer of these eyeglasses from harmful radiation. More particularly, the invention relates to a computer-controlled milling machine which produces filter lenses for a clip-on accessory whose geometry matches that of the frame of the eyeglasses.
2. Status of Prior Art
An individual who is myopic (near-sighted) or hyperopic (far-sighted), or suffers from other visual defects normally wears a pair of eyeglasses in which optical lenses are mounted in a frame having temple pieces hinged thereto. The optical lenses are designed to correct for the visual defects of the wearer and are therefore usually prescribed by an optometrist or an eye doctor.
The same individual may on occasion be exposed to harmful radiation, such as intense sunlight, rays from a welding arc or from a laser beam instrument. He therefore requires sunglasses or other radiation protection glasses whose filtration characteristics depend on the nature of the harmful radiation to which the wearer is exposed.
When an individual wearing prescription eyeglasses switches to a pair of sunglasses to protect his eyes from harmful radiation, it is essential that the filter lenses of these sunglasses have the same corrective optical properties as the optical lenses in his eyeglasses—otherwise he will not see clearly through his sunglasses. However, a pair of prescription sunglasses tailored to the eyes of its wearer is at least as expensive as a costly pair of prescription eyeglasses. Hence the wearer may be reluctant or unable to bear these additional costs.
To avoid the need for prescription sunglasses, the wearer of prescription eyeglasses can convert his eyeglasses to sunglasses simply by hitching onto the frame of his eyeglasses a clip-on accessory. This accessory is provided with a pair of filter lenses that register with the optical lenses of the eyeglasses to filter out harmful radiation.
The typical clip-on is a universal accessory in the sense that it is capable of being clipped onto the frame of a pair of prescription eyeglasses regardless of the geometry or design of this frame. This is a distinct advantage, for in this era of "designer" frames, eyeglasses are now marketed in a broad range of distinctly different styles.
The disadvantage of a universal clip-on accessory which may have discouraged its more widespread use is that the standardized design of a clip-on accessory includes round filter lenses. This design is usually incompatible with the frame design of the eyeglasses onto which the accessory is hitched. It is the frame of eyeglasses that impart to eyeglasses its overall appearance. Thus if the frame is composed of trapezoidally-shaped half-sections and the filter lenses of the clip-on accessory hitched thereon are circular, the appearance of the accessory is then incongruous and unappealing.
Hence while a clip-on accessory may be said to fit onto a pair of prescription eyeglasses, it would be more realistic to say that the clip-on accessory misfits these eyeglasses and renders them unattractive.
To obviate this drawback, there is disclosed in PCT patent publication WO 95/04634 "Clip-on Sunglasses and System for Cutting Clip-on Sunglasses" a machine to custom-cut the filter lenses of the clip-on accessory so as to impart thereto the same size and shape as the half-sections of the frame of the eyeglasses onto which the clip-on is hitched. To this end, the machine includes a holder for the eyeglasses to be copied and for the clip-on, and a cutter and stylus to trace the contours of the eyeglasses and to custom-cut the clip-on in accordance with this trace.
Also disclosing a method of customizing a clip-on accessory is PCT patent publication WO 93/24856 (1993). In this method, the pair of filter lenses for the clip-on have their perimeters cut to conform to the contours of a particular pair of eyeglasses. Of prior art interest is U.S. Pat. No. 5,546,140 to Underwood which discloses a machine for custom-cutting clip-on sunglasses, the machine trimming the sunglasses to conform to the shape and size of a pair of eyeglasses.

Computer-controlled milling machine for producing lenses for clip-on accessory


Methods and system are provided for managing speech processing in an environment having at least two speech enabled systems. In one embodiment, a method includes: recording first user data that indicates an action of a user; determining, by a processor, a selection of a first speech enabled system based on the recorded user data; and generating, by the processor, a signal to at least one of activate and deactivate speech processing based on the first speech enabled system.

Speech recognition may be used for interaction with multiple systems in an aircraft. In some cases, the speech recognition capability of each system may be distinct. Interacting with multiple distinct speech systems when operating an aircraft can be difficult for a flight crew member to designate and keep track of which system they are interacting with.
In addition, the independent speech systems could have separate but overlapping vocabularies, which could result in unintended inputs or control actions if the flight crew believes they are commanding one system through speech, but in fact, are commanding another. If each system were developed such that there is little overlap in vocabularies, a risk of reduced recognition rates or non-responsive systems may result which may be frustrating or confusing to the crew members. These and other problems may exist for other environments having multiple independent speech systems.
Hence, there is a need for systems and methods for managing speech inputs in a multi-speech system environment. Other desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.

Methods and systems for managing speech recognition in a multi-speech system environment


A controller that can move the effect of a wall switch from its associated a controller that can move the effect of a wall switch from its associated switched power outlet socket to any regular (always on) socket by use of a transmitter/receiver paired device located separately in the switched and non-switched power outlets respectively, thus moving the effect of the wall switch without any wiring modifications to the sockets. The invention may use infrared light, ultrasonics, or radio-frequency radiations, or modulations on the power supply within the building such as the X-10 system. The preferred (and prototyped) solution does not require replaceable batteries but instead uses capacitive power storage for use after power has been removed from the transmitter in order to send the “off” signal to the receiver. Both transmitter and receiver use a capacitive power supply.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for moving the effect of a wall switch from its switched power outlet to a non-switched outlet and more particularly pertains to allowing a user to control a non-switched wall outlet with a switch. In this invention the control is plugged into existing wall electrical outlets and requires no construction or alteration of existing structures.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of remote control systems is known in the prior art. More specifically, remote control systems previously devised and utilized for the purpose of controlling systems from remote locations are known to consist basically of familiar, expected, and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which has been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,590,271 issued Jun. 29, 1971 to Peters relates to remote control system. U.S. Pat. No. 4,249,162 issued Feb. 3, 1981 relates to a remote control switch assembly. U.S. Pat. No. 5,898,384 issued Apr. 27, 1999 to Alt relates to programmable remote control systems for electrical apparatuses. U.S. Pat. No. 6,174,073 issued Jan. 16, 2001 to Regan relates to Radio frequency remote-controllable lighting system having a plurality of lighting units. U.S. Pat. No. 6,452,490 issued Sep. 17, 2002 to Garland relates to home/commercial security monitoring system. U.S. Pat. No. Re. 38,069 issued Apr. 8, 2003 to Posa relates to an electrical switched load relocation apparatus. Lastly, U.S. Published application Ser. No. 2002/0044042 published Apr. 18, 2002 in the name of Christensen relates to a RF home automation system comprising nodes with dual functionality.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not describe an apparatus for moving the effect of a wall switch from its switched power outlet to a non-switched outlet.
In this respect, the apparatus for moving the effect of a wall switch from its switched power outlet to a non-switched outlet according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in doing so provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of allowing a user to control a second outlet from a switch coupled to a first outlet.
Therefore, it can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for a new and improved apparatus for moving the effect of a wall switch from its switched power outlet to a non-switched outlet. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.

Apparatus for moving the effect of a wall switch from its switched power outlet to a non-switched outlet


Provided is an infrared optical system including: three lenses of a first lens, a second lens, and a third lens that are provided from an object side to an image-surface side, the first and third lenses being each configured as a spherical lens made of an inorganic material and having a positive refractive power, the second lens being configured as a meniscus lens made of a resin material and having aspherical surfaces; and an aperture stop that is provided between any two of the first to third lenses.

The present application relates to an infrared optical system for use in a system of obtaining infrared images such as thermography or night vision imaging, and to an infrared imaging apparatus using the infrared optical system.
Far infrared rays are in the wavelength range from 8 μm to 12 μm, and are emitted from human beings, animals, and others as heat, i.e., as infrared rays. This makes the far infrared rays popular for use with imaging in dark places or observing temperature distributions, for example.
With an optical system gathering such far infrared rays, a glass lens often used for general visible light is not used due to the low transmittance thereof, and instead, germanium (Ge) is popularly used as a material that passes therethrough the infrared rays well. Germanium has a high refractive index of about 4, and the surface reflectance is thus high but the absorption index is closely zero. As such, with an appropriate antireflective coating, germanium may have the transmittance of 90% or higher.

Infrared optical system and infrared imaging apparatus


A low-cost, high-speed data switching system and method uses several parallel switching systems or fabrics. In one of various embodiments, for example, the constituent data flows in a data stream can be selectively routed to a switching fabric that has the lowest input data rate. Data flows can be assigned to the various switching fabrics so as to balance the amount of data passing through each parallel system. Data flows can be re-assigned on an as-needed basis to insure maximum throughput. In the case where a data flow initially routed into one switching fabric must be re-routed to a different fabric, the ordering of data packets can be preserved by withholding the transfer of packets through the second fabric until the packets previously sent into the first fabric have cleared. Methods and apparatus of the present invention find application to parallel computing as well.

The Internet and its ever-increasing use, by a rapidly growing number of users, has created ever-increasing demands on data networks that carry everything from Internet e-mail messages to web pages to even voice traffic. The data networks that comprise the Internet are required to carry greater amounts of data, faster and faster. As a result, the data switches from which the networks are assembled are becoming increasingly complex and expensive.
Internet protocol (IP) data networks now routinely carry data at rates that are well over 1 gigabit per second. Switching equipment that is fast enough to handle such data, needs to be able to decode, among other things, address information embedded within an IP data packet and then, re-route packets to the appropriate destination. In managing the growth of data networks that carry high-speed data, a switching system that is able to switch high-speed data at relatively low cost would provide a significant advantage to network service providers, in part, by providing them with the equipment to maintain service levels albeit at a relatively low cost.

Method and apparatus to switch data flows using parallel switch fabrics