A network fault managing system for a network including network elements as nodes includes a fault node indication data storage section, a fault indication data storage section, a flag, a fault node indication data processing section, a fault indication data processing section and an output unit. The fault node indication data storage section stores a fault node indication data set in which fault nodes are managed in a tree form. The fault node indication data processing section receives a fault association notice having a fault occurrence position identifier and a fault indication data, the fault occurrence position identifier indicating a fault node in which a fault has occurred, and the fault indication data indicating data associated with the fault, and determines whether a fault node indication data corresponding to the fault node specified by the fault occurrence position identifier of the fault association notice is present in the fault node indication data set. Also, the fault node indication data processing section generates the fault node indication data based on the fault occurrence position identifier to store in the fault node indication data set of the fault node indication data storage section, when the fault node indication data is not present in the fault node indication data set, and sets the flag.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a network management system. More particularly, the present invention is directed to a network management system to manage the state of a fault network element and to notify a fault occurrence location in a large-scale communication network.
2. Description of the Related Art
An conventional example of a network fault management system will be described in Japanese Laid Open Patent Application (JP-A-Heisei 5-33692). According to the system described in this reference, the state of a fault is checked based on a structure data of a tree form. That is, a knowledge base is previously prepared to store a fault diagnostic tree in which nodes represent various fault states. The fault diagnostic tree is traced based on fault data received from an apparatus in which any fault has occurred, to specify a kind of the fault.
Also, in the large-scale network, distribution management is generally used for the network fault management system. In the distribution management system, fault data is displayed for every distributed network management system. The fault data indicative of a fault which has occurred in the network is individually stored in the network management system in the order of occurrence of the fault. The fault data are displayed in a table form and are displayed in a graphic form, using the structure diagram of network elements. Instead, the apparatus in which the fault has occurred is displayed with a different color from normal apparatuses on the map showing the network structure.
In the network fault data management system described above, the fault can be specified using the fault diagnostic tree. However, the processing for specifying a fault occurrence location is not considered.
Also, for example, in the distributed network management system, the fault occurrence apparatus can be displayed on the network configuration screen. However, it is not possible to show what fault occurs where in the apparatus on the same screen. For this reason, the operator needs to change a control to the network management system which manages the fault occurrence apparatus and to change a display screen to the fault data screen of the apparatus. Especially, when a plurality of faults which have occurred in a plurality of network management systems should be displayed, the number of times of the changing operation of the display screen increases. Moreover, the fault data is dynamic, and generally, the occurrence and restoration of the faults are repeated in the large-scale network. Therefore, in the conventional fault data management system, the load of the operator becomes heavy.
In the conventional large scale network fault management system, it is this difficult for the operator who manages the network to grasp the occurrence locations of all faults which have occurred in the system and the states of the faults.
In conjunction with the above description, a large scale alarm display system is described in Japanese Laid Open Patent Application (JP-A-Heisei 2-301895). In this reference, the large scale alarm display system is composed of a network management system and a network alarm display unit. The network management system receives alarm information from each of network elements of the large scale network. Then, network management system carries out a display control of the alarm information from a level indicative of alarm contents of the whole large scale network to alarm contents of the network element as a minimum component of the network for every layer. The network alarm display unit receives the output of the network management system to display the alarm information.
Also, a network structure display system is described in Japanese Laid Open Patent Application (JP-A-Heisei 6-205007). In this reference, a station (ST2) and branch units (BB1 and BB2) which are connected to a component control unit (DU1) are displayed on a ring (16a). A network management unit (SGM) connected to the branch unit (BB1) and a station (ST1) connected to the branch unit (BB2) are displayed on rings (17a and 17b), respectively. The structure is determined by referring to a physical connection form and by detecting a logical connection order, and then is displayed on a CRT.
Also, a communication network fault display system is described in Japanese Laid Open Patent Application (JP-A-Heisei 6-141029). In this reference, a summary screen/a portion screen of a fault and a warning sound are determined based on programs (106 to 109) stored in a program memory (110) using a display information data base (104) which stores a network map group and relation of communication network elements and display data. The determined screen group is automatically displayed on a CRT (111), and a buzzer sound is outputted from a buzzer sound outputting unit (114). Thus, in a network management display system, the screen group indicating the whole states and details of the fault is automatically determined and displayed to quickly inform to an operator.
Also, a communication network monitoring system is described in Japanese Laid Open Patent Application (JP-A-Heisei 7-143123). In this reference, the network monitoring system collects fault alarms of components of a communication network to display on a hierarchical monitor screen. In this case, the fault alarms notified from the components of the communication network are classified for each of display elements on the monitor screen, and fault information related with the fault alarm is displayed in neighborhood of the relating display element. Thus, the fault alarm can be related with the corresponding display element in an upper level network map.
Also, a fault diagnosis apparatus is described in Japanese Laid Open Patent Application (JP-A-Heisei 7-143123). In this reference, a central processing unit (2) is connected with an input unit (3), a display unit (4), and a storage unit (1), and is composed of a diagnosis unit (20) for diagnosing a fault. A plurality of diagnosis data are stored in the storage unit (1) in correspondence to fault states, respectively. The diagnosis unit (20) is composed of a diagnosis tree selecting section (21), a testing section (22), a diagnosis tree designating section (21) and a test result determining section (23). The diagnosis tree selecting section (21) selects a diagnosis tree and a node relating to a fault to be handled from among nodes indicative of the fault states stored in a knowledge base (11). The testing section (22) tests in accordance with the content of the selected node. The test result determining section (23) selects the node having the highest probability from among the nodes indicative of the fault states and informs it to the diagnosis tree designating section (21) and controls the display unit (4) to display it.
Also, a fault diagnosis apparatus is described in Japanese Laid Open Patent Application (JP-A-Heisei 7-200499). In this reference, a central processing apparatus (2) is connected with an input unit (3), a display unit (4) and a storage unit (1). The central processing apparatus (2) is provided with a diagnosis unit (20). A plurality of diagnosis data are stored in the storage unit (1) in correspondence to fault states, respectively. The diagnosis unit (20) is composed of a diagnosis tree selecting section (21), a diagnosing section (22), a diagnosing result determining section (23). The diagnosis tree selecting section (21) selects nodes related to a fault to be measured from among nodes of the diagnosis tree of a knowledge base (11) stored in the storage unit (1). The diagnosing section (22) carries out the diagnosis based on the content defined in each of the selected nodes. The diagnosing result determining section (23) specifies the node indicating the fault state with the highest probability from among the selected nodes based on the diagnosis results and controls the display unit (4) to display the specified node and the related data.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide the technique for specifying the occurrence locations of faults which have occurred in a network and the fault classification.
Another object of the present invention is to provide the technique for dynamically managing fault data which dynamically changes.
In order to achieve an aspect of the present invention, a method of managing faults on a network including network elements as nodes, is attained by receiving a fault association notice having a fault occurrence position identifier and a fault data, the fault occurrence position identifier indicating a fault node in which a fault has occurred, and the fault data indicating a data associated with the fault. Then, the method is attained by determining whether any fault node indication data corresponding to the fault node specified by the fault occurrence position identifier of the fault association notice is present in a fault node indication data set in a tree form, and by generating a fault node indication data based on the fault occurrence position identifier to add to the fault node indication data set in the tee form, when any fault node indication data corresponding to the fault node specified by the fault occurrence position identifier is not present in a fault node indication data set. In addition, the method is attained by determining whether any fault indication data corresponding to the fault node indication data is present in a fault indication data set, the fault indication data indicating a type of the fault, and generating a fault indication data corresponding to the fault node indication data based on the fault data to add to the fault indication data set, when the fault indication data corresponding to the fault node indication data is not present in the fault indication data set. The method is attained by displaying the fault node indication data set in the tree form and the fault indication data set in response to the fault association notice or a display instruction.
Here, the fault data of the fault association notice may include a restoration data indicating that the fault has been restored. At this time, the method may be attained by deleting the fault node indication data corresponding to the fault association notice from the fault node indication data set and the fault indication data corresponding to the fault association notice from the fault indication data set in response to the restoration data of the fault association notice. In this case, the fault data of the fault association notice may include an fault importance level indicating whether the fault is important, and the fault indication data includes a fault importance indication data. At this time, the method may be attained by updating the fault importance indication data of the fault indication data corresponding to the fault node specified by the fault occurrence position identifier of the fault association notice based on the fault importance level, when the fault node indication data and the fault indication data are not generated and the fault data of the fault association notice does not include the restoration data.
Also, in the generating a fault node indication data, a first display indication data corresponding to the fault node specified by the fault occurrence position identifier may be generated, the first display indication data including a symbol. In the generating a fault indication data, a second display indication data for the fault indication data corresponding to the fault node specified by the fault occurrence position identifier may be generated, the second display indication data including a character string. At this time, in the displaying, the fault node indication data set in the tree form and the fault indication data set are displayed based on the first and second display indication data in response to the fault association notice or the display instruction.
Also, in the generating a fault node indication data, a first display indication data corresponding to the fault node specified by the fault occurrence position identifier may be generated, the first display indication data including a symbol. In the generating a fault indication data, a second display indication data for the fault indication data corresponding to the fault node specified by the fault occurrence position identifier may be generated, the second display indication data including a character string. At this time, in the deleting, the first and second display indication data respectively corresponding to the fault node indication data and the fault indication data are deleted. Also, In the displaying, the fault node indication data set in the tree form and the fault indication data set is displayed based on the first and second display indication data in response to the fault association notice or the display instruction, and the fault node indication data set in the tree form of the fault nodes from which the fault node is deleted is displayed.
Also, in the generating the fault node indication data, a first display indication data corresponding to the fault node specified by the fault occurrence position identifier may be generated, the first display indication data including a symbol. In the generating the fault indication data, a second display indication data for the fault indication data corresponding to the fault node specified by the fault occurrence position identifier may be generated, the second display indication data including a character string. In the updating, the second display indication data corresponding to the fault node specified by the fault occurrence position identifier of the fault association notice may be updated based on the fault importance level, when the fault node indication data and the fault indication data are not generated and the fault indication data of the fault association notice does not include the restoration data. At this time, in the displaying, the tree form of the fault nodes and the data associated with the fault are displayed based on the first and second display indication data in response to the fault association notice or the display instruction, and the tree form of the fault nodes in one of which the fault importance level is updated is displayed.
Also, the fault node indication data of the fault node has an address to a list of parent node addresses corresponding to a parent node, an address to a list of child node addresses which designate child nodes connected to the fault node, and a list of fault indication data addresses which designate the fault indication data.
Also, in the generating the fault node indication data, a new data generation flag may be set when the fault node indication data is generated. In the determining whether a fault indication data corresponding to the fault node indication data is present in a fault indication data set, the new data generation flag is checked to determine whether a fault indication data corresponding to the fault node indication data is present in a fault indication data set.
In order to achieve another aspect of the present invention, a network fault managing system for a network including network elements as nodes, includes a fault node indication data storage section, a fault indication data storage section, a flag, a fault node indication data processing section, a fault indication data processing section and an output unit. The fault node indication data storage section stores a fault node indication data set in which fault nodes are managed in a tree form. The fault node indication data processing section receives a fault association notice having a fault occurrence position identifier and a fault indication data, the fault occurrence position identifier indicating a fault node in which a fault has occurred, and the fault indication data indicating data associated with the fault, and determines whether a fault node indication data corresponding to the fault node specified by the fault occurrence position identifier of the fault association notice is present in the fault node indication data set. Also, the fault node indication data processing section generates the fault node indication data based on the fault occurrence position identifier to store in the fault node indication data set of the fault node indication data storage section, when the fault node indication data is not present in the fault node indication data set, and sets the flag. The fault indication data processing section determines based on the flag, whether a fault indication data corresponding to the fault node indication data is present in a fault indication data set, the fault indication data indicating a type of the fault, and generates the fault indication data based on the fault indication data to store in fault indication data set of the fault indication data set, when the fault indication data corresponding to the fault node indication data is not present in the fault indication data set. The output unit outputs the fault node indication data set in the tree form and at least a part of the fault indication data set.
Here, the fault indication data of the fault association notice may include a restoration data indicating that the fault has been restored. At this time, the fault node indication data processing section deletes the fault node indication data from the fault node indication data set in response to the restoration data of the fault association notice. The fault indication data processing section deletes the fault indication data from the fault indication data set in response to the restoration data of the fault association notice.
Also, the fault indication data of the fault association notice may include an fault importance level indicating whether the fault is important, and the fault indication data includes a fault importance indication data. In this case, the fault indication data processing section updates the fault importance indication data of the fault indication data corresponding to the fault node specified by the fault occurrence position identifier of the fault association notice based on the fault importance level, when the fault node indication data and the fault indication data are not generated and the fault indication data of the fault association notice does not include the restoration data.
Also, the fault node indication data processing section may generate a first display indication data corresponding to the fault node specified by the fault occurrence position identifier, the first display indication data including a symbol. At this time, the fault indication data processing section generates a second display indication data for the fault indication data corresponding to the fault node specified by the fault occurrence position identifier, the second display indication data including a character string. The output unit outputs the tree form of the fault nodes and a data associated with the fault based on the first and second display indication data in response to the fault association notice or the display instruction.
Also, the fault node indication data processing section generates a first display indication data corresponding to the fault node specified by the fault occurrence position identifier, the first display indication data including a symbol, and deletes the first and second display indication data respectively corresponding to the fault node indication data. At this time, the fault indication data processing section generates a second display indication data for the fault indication data corresponding to the fault node specified by the fault occurrence position identifier, the second display indication data including a character string, deleting the first and second display indication data respectively corresponding to the fault node indication data and the fault indication data, and deletes the fault indication data corresponding to the fault node indication data. The output unit outputs the tree form of the fault nodes and a data associated with the fault based on the first and second display indication data in response to the fault association notice or the display instruction, and outputs the tree form of the fault nodes from which the fault node is deleted.
Also, the fault node indication data processing section may generate a first display indication data corresponding to the fault node specified by the fault occurrence position identifier, the first display indication data including a symbol. At this time, the fault indication data processing section generates a second display indication data for the fault indication data corresponding to the fault node specified by the fault occurrence position identifier, the second display indication data including a character string. Also, the fault indication data processing section updates the second display indication data corresponding to the fault node specified by the fault occurrence position identifier of the fault association notice based on the fault importance level, when the fault node indication data and the fault indication data are not generated and the fault indication data of the fault association notice does not include the restoration data. The output unit outputs the tree form of the fault nodes and the data associated with the fault based on the first and second display indication data in response to the fault association notice or the display instruction, and outputs the tree form of the fault nodes in one of which the fault importance level is updated.
Also, the fault node indication data of the fault node may have an address of a list of parent node addresses corresponding to a parent node, an address to a list of child node addresses which designate child nodes connected to the fault node, and a list of fault indication data addresses which designate the fault indication data.
In order to achieve still another aspect of the present invention, a computer-readable recording medium in which a program is stored to execute the above-mentioned methods of managing faults on a network including network elements as nodes.

Network fault information management system in which fault nodes are displayed in tree form


An apparatus for detecting an insulation defect in at least one device connected into an electrical power transmission or distribution network and having: leakage current measuring sensors (10) arranged on a ground line (19a, 19b, 19c) of the device; a measurement signal analogue/digital converter (58, 60); and a signal processing unit (14) including a comparison circuit (75) for comparing the measurement signal with a maximum threshold value representative of the maximum value of the leakage current permitted to flow in the ground line (19a, 19b, 19c), to obtain an insulation defect signal. The processing unit (14) includes a discriminator circuit (76) for discriminating, in the insulation defect signal, between a component of a useful signal and a component of a disturbance signal.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for detecting an insulation defect in at least one device connected into an electrical power transmission or distribution network and provided with an earthing ground line. It also concerns a detection process implemented within such an apparatus.
The detection apparatuses of this type, known in the state of the art, include means of measuring a leakage current travelling down the said earthing line and liable to contain at least one discharge internal to the said device and engendered in the presence of an insulation defect, these means being arranged on the earthing line of each device, a unit for capture of the measurement signal delivered by the measuring means including means of analogue/digital conversion of the said measurement signal, and a signal processing unit linked to the capture unit and including means of comparing a digital signal resulting from the said conversion with a maximum threshold value representative of the maximum value of the leakage current permitted to flow in the said earthing line, with a view to obtaining, from this comparison, an insulation defect signal.
Such detection apparatuses allow the monitoring of devices by analysis of partial discharges and thus ensure the detection of any aging of the internal insulation of the devices.
These apparatuses are especially adapted to the monitoring of current or voltage transformers of electrical power transmission or distribution networks.
However, the apparatuses of this type have numerous drawbacks, especially by virtue of the fact that they are not capable of effectively distinguishing between the discharges engendered by the network in particular by the corona effect and the discharges engendered in the presence of an insulation defect. They are therefore liable to generate false alarms.

Apparatus for detecting insulation defects in devices connected into power distribution networks


An image forming apparatus includes a main body; a scanning unit disposed above the main body to be opened and closed; a paper discharging cover which is disposed on a top end of the main body below the scanning unit to open and close an opening formed on the main body and printing media are stacked; a fusing unit that is disposed behind the paper discharging cover inside the main body and includes a pressing roller and a heating roller; a first cover that is disposed above the fusing unit and guides a printing medium passed through between the pressing roller and the heating roller to the paper discharging cover; and a second cover disposed above the first cover to cover the first cover. When the second cover is opened and closed, the pressing roller and the heating roller are separated from and in contact with each other.

1. Field
The present disclosure relates to an image forming apparatus. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to an image forming apparatus with a scanning unit having a cover structure of a fusing unit that is formed to easily remove a printing medium jammed in the fusing unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
An image forming apparatus, such as a laser composite apparatus, that forms an image by an electro photographic method and has a scanning unit has a structure of lifting the scanning unit so that an image forming cartridge can be detached from a main body of the image forming apparatus.
In the image forming apparatus having the above structure, when a jam occurs near the fusing unit during printing, the scanning unit is lifted, and then the printing medium jammed in the fusing unit is removed.
However, the fusing unit has a pressing roller and a heating roller for applying predetermined pressure and heat to the printing medium. The pressing roller presses the heating roller with a predetermined pressure. Therefore, it is not easy to remove the printing medium jammed between the pressing roller and the heating roller
Accordingly, an image forming apparatus has a structure that when a paper discharging cover on which the printed printing media are stacked is lifted, the pressing roller of the fusing unit is separated from the heating roller. However, there is a problem that since the scanning unit disposed above the main body cannot be opened over 90 degrees, the opening angle of the paper discharging cover is limited by the scanning unit. Also, there is a problem that since even though the paper discharging cover is opened, a guide cover that guides the printing medium being discharged from the fusing unit to the paper discharging cover is not opened, it is not easy to remove the jammed printing medium from the fusing unit.


A surgical instrument assembly for use in snare cauterization operations includes a first tubular sheath member containing a metallic electrical snare cauterization loop. A second tubular sheath member is disposed inside of the first tubular sheath member. A flexible suture member is releasably connected to the cauterization loop, and is provided with a one-way slip knot at its distal end thereby forming a loop of a size corresponding to that of the cauterization loop. The proximal end of the suture member is disposed in the distal end of the second tubular sheath member and is releasably joined to a manually-controlled flexible tensioning device. During use of the instrument, the cauterization loop and connected suture member is expanded from a collapsed configuration and passed over a polyp or other body tissue that is to be removed. The suture member is released from the cauterization loop, the slip knot is tightened around the base of the polyp or body tissue to effect ligation, the cauterization loop is tightened around the free end of the polyp and severed. The stalk of the polyp remains securely ligated by the suture.

Flexible snares introduced by endoscopes are widely used in surgical procedures requiring the removal of selected body tissue or of an organ from inside of a body cavity. The snare, typically a loop or noose formed at the distal end of a flexible metal wire, is moved from the distal end of the endoscope or laparoscope!* by movement of a handle or plunger attached to its proximal end. The snare can be used in conjunction with cautery in order to cauterize the tissue at the site of the resection and thereby reduce or eliminate bleeding.
However, depending on the size, condition and nature of the tissue or the organ that is to be resected by the snare, complications in the form of excessive bleeding at the site can occur. For example, during a fiberoptic colonoscopy, a polyp is visualized by the endoscopist and the loop of the metal cautery snare is placed around the stalk of the polyp. The proximal end of the snare is attached to an electrical power source. The snare is tightened upon the stalk of the polyp, the cautery is applied and the polyp is transected.
Polyps are pre-malignant lesions which, if left in the colon, become cancerous. There are about 600,000 polypectomies performed each year in the United States alone. Of these, approximately 200,000 procedures involve large polyps. Large polyps are those measuring 2 cm or more in diameter. A polyp of this size is carried by a stalk that has an artery running through it. The artery supplies the polyp with blood, and when the stalk is transected by the snare, there is a danger that this artery will bleed. The larger the polyp, the larger is the blood supplying artery in the stalk and the greater the danger of bleeding.
When such arterial bleeding occurs, the lumen of the colon fills with blood, and it is extremely difficult for the surgeon to see the stalk from which the blood is spouting. If the stalk can be visualized, the endoscopist tries to re-snare the transected stalk, tighten the snare upon it and, if successful, must then hold the snare in this position for 15 minutes hoping for coagulation to occur and for the bleeding to stop. If the bleeding does not stop, or if the stalk cannot be re-snared, the patient has to have immediate surgery, and the segment of colon with the bleeding artery has to be resected.

Surgical cauterization snare with ligating suture


A source terminal reflects user information of a communication destination terminal in setting information for ad hoc communication, and establishes an ad hoc network by notifying management information including the setting information to terminals surrounding its own terminal. The communication destination terminal monitors the user information of its own terminal in a received management information, and judges that the call is for its own terminal when the user information of its own terminal exists, and reflects the setting information including in the management information in the setting information for the ad hoc communication, and executes the ad hoc communication with the source terminal by participating in the ad hoc network. Then, ad hoc communication processes, manually executed conventionally, is executed automatically.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a radio terminal and an ad hoc communication method, in particular, in which communication processes are suitably executed automatically when radio terminals having an ad hoc communication function execute ad hoc communication with each other.
(2) Description of the Related Art
By the development of the communication technologies, at present, a communication medium, which is optimal in various communication environments and in using various applications, can be selected by installing a plurality of communication media in single terminal. A wireless LAN (local area network) and cellular dual mode terminal that has been recently released in the market, by installing a wireless LAN communication function in a radio terminal, such as a cellular phone, can switch communication between cellular communication and wireless LAN communication at any time, corresponding to its communication environments. For example, in the office, a call by the VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) by utilizing the wireless LAN is executed, and outside the office, a call by utilizing a cellular communication network can be executed.
In this, in the wireless LAN (IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 802.11 Standard), which is installed in the radio terminal, such as the cellular phone, there are two modes of the infrastructure mode and the ad hoc mode. In the case where a user sets the radio terminal to the infrastructure mode, the radio terminal can execute communication via a network by connecting to a nearest access point by wireless. And in the case where the user sets the radio terminal to the ad hoc mode, the radio terminal can directly communicate with a radio terminal that has been set to the ad hoc mode.
Generally, the user sets the radio terminal to the infrastructure mode, and connects the radio terminal to a network in a company or the Internet. However, at the ad hoc mode communication (hereinafter, in some cases, referred to as ad hoc communication), there is a limitation that radio terminals communicating with each other must exist in an area where radio waves can reach both the radio terminals, but there are advantages that the radio terminals can communicate in a state in which an access point does not exist and also communication charges are not necessary because the facilities of the infrastructure are not used. Further, at the ad hoc mode communication, the radio terminals can set a channel for each other, therefore, its communication band can be utilized effectively. Consequently, for example, in the case where a radio terminal that desires to communicate exists in an area where radio waves can reach, it can be supposed that it is effective that the radio terminal executes direct communication by switching the mode to the ad hoc mode.
As technologies relating to the ad hoc communication, there are technologies that have been proposed in the following Patent documents 1 and 2.
In the technology of the Patent document 1, on-demand type communication in which communication terminals move rapidly, two-way communication can be executed for a party being composed of indefinite communication terminals that share topics, and traffic in a network is decreased inside the same group, and the power consumption of the communication terminals is decreased. This is the object of the technology of the Patent document 1. In order to achieve this, when multiple address relay transmission is executed to the indefinite communication terminals, unnecessary communication to communication terminals, which do not have interest or have not existed because of the moving, is prevented.
That is, for each of a plurality of communication terminals that execute group communication, the period of validity, which is longer than going and returning time of communication between the communication terminals being adjacent to each other and is shorter than time supposed to be required for a communication terminal to move out of an area where the communication is available, is set. And the group communication is executed among the communication terminals except the communication terminals whose period of validity has passed.
On the other hand, the technology of the Patent document 2 has an object that a network is formed by asynchronous ad hoc communication. In order to achieve this, a wireless network is formed by the process in which each of radio communication terminals confirms each existence by exchanging management information and also asynchronous communication is executed based on the reception timing described in the management information. With this, without disposing apparatuses becoming control stations such as access points, each of the radio communication terminals can directly communicate with each other in the asynchronous communication. Further, it is not necessary that the information reception be always executed, therefore, the power consumption of each radio communication terminal can be reduced.
[Patent document 1] Japanese Patent Laid-Open (Kokai) 2001-285345
[Patent document 2] Japanese Patent Laid-Open (Kokai) 2003-229869
As conditions that the ad hoc communication is executed between the radio terminals, two conditions are required, that is, as mentioned above, the radio terminals exist in an area where radio waves reach each other (condition 1), and setting information of an ad hoc network is made equal to each other by switching both the radio terminals to the ad hoc mode (condition 2).
In this, the conventional method for executing the ad hoc communication, users of the radio terminals verbally decide the setting information of the ad hoc network beforehand (the condition 1 is satisfied) and the users have executed the setting by inputting the decided setting information in the radio terminals manually (the condition 2 is satisfied). However, executing the setting manually by the users is a very bothersome task for the users. And in this case, since the users decide the setting information verbally, an application for the voice call such as the VoIP is not necessary, and the ad hoc communication has been used only in a limited use such as a file transfer.
And also, in the technologies of the above-mentioned Patent documents 1 and 2, the matching of the setting information for the ad hoc communication of each terminal has been already secured, and each terminal is in a state in which each terminal has already participated or can participate in the ad hoc network. More actually, it is a premise that each terminal is in a state in which the matching of the parameter (the setting information for the ad hoc communication) called as the SSID (Service Set ID) in the management message (beacon message) stipulated in the IEEE 802.11 standard has been secured. Therefore, even in these technologies, it is necessary for each user to input the setting information such as the SSID decided beforehand in the terminal in advance. In this, in the infrastructure mode, the SSID is identification information given to a terminal and an access point being components of the wireless network, and communication cannot be executed when the same SSID is not set in the access point and the terminal.

Radio terminal and ad hoc communication method


Mixer structures are described which include a current mirror for insertion of trickle currents to an input differential amplifier and an output interface for coupling an output differential amplifier to an output port. The current mirror trickle currents improve the mixer's conversion gain and third-order intercept point and the current mirror introduces them without introducing spurious signals. The output interface couples mixer currents to the output port while isolating the output port from power-supply spurious signals.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to mixers and more particularly to integrated-circuit mixers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Basically, a mixer multiplies two signals in a nonlinear process which generates intermodulation products whose frequencies are the sums and differences of integral multiples of the input signal frequencies. For example, if the input signals have angular frequencies of .omega..sub.1 and .omega..sub.2, the intermodulation products will have frequencies of n.omega..sub.11 .+-.m.omega..sub.2. In particular, sum and difference signals are generated which have frequencies of .omega..sub.1 +.omega..sub.2 and .omega..sub.1 -.omega..sub.2 respectively. Other exemplary intermodulation products are second-order products (harmonics) having frequencies such as 2.omega..sub.1 and 2.omega..sub.2 and third-order products having frequencies such as 2.omega..sub.1 -.omega..sub.2 and 2.omega..sub.2 -.omega..sub.1.
In an exemplary mixer use, an intermediate frequency (IF) signal is mixed with a local oscillator (LO) signal to generate (typically with filtering to remove undesired intermodulation products) a radio-frequency (RF) signal (i.e., the IF signal is upconverted by the LO signal to form an RF signal). In this use, the ratio of the RF signal to the IF signal is typically referred to as the mixer's conversion gain.
Conversely, an RF signal can be mixed with an LO signal to generate (again with filtering to remove undesired intermodulation products) an IF signal at a frequency where filtering and/or gain may be easier to implement (i.e., the RF signal is downconverted by the LO signal to form an IF signal). In this use, the ratio of the IF signal to the RF signal is typically referred to as the mixer's conversion gain.
When the fundamental frequencies .omega..sub.1 and .omega..sub.2 are close to one another, the third-order intermodulation products 2.omega..sub.1 -.omega..sub.2 and 2.omega..sub.2 -.omega..sub.1 lie in the region of the fundamentals and are difficult to filter out. Accordingly, the nonlinear elements of mixers are sometimes placed in balanced arrangements which oppose the third-order intermodulation products of the elements to thereby reduce their amplitude at the mixer output. The third-order intercept point is a mixer figure of merit. Increasing the third-order intercept point of a mixer reduces the amplitude of its third-order intermodulation products.
The nonlinearities of semiconductor diodes and transistors have been extensively employed in mixer structures. Integrated circuit mixers are often realized with transistors which not only produce the necessary nonlinear multiplication process but provide conversion gain as well.
FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary mixer 20 which has an isolation amplifier 22 inserted between an input differential amplifier 24 and an output differential amplifier 26. The input differential amplifier 24 includes a pair of transistors 27 and 28 whose emitters are respectively coupled to ground through current sources 31 and 32 and are coupled together by a resistor 34. The bases of the transistors 27 and 28 form a first input port 36 and output paths of the input differential amplifier 24 are formed by the collectors 37 and 38.
The output amplifier 26 includes two differential pairs 40 and 42 of transistors 44. The bases of the differential pairs are cross-coupled to form a second input port 50. The collectors of the differential pairs are cross-coupled and connected to a bias port 52 by output resistors 53 and 54. The cross-coupled collectors also form an output port 56.
The emitters of the differential pairs 40 and 42 are connected to the output paths 37 and 38 of the transistors 30 and 32 by the isolation amplifier 22. In particular, the isolation amplifier has isolation transistors 60 and 62 which are respectively coupled in cascode relationships with transistors 27 and 28 of the differential input amplifier 22. That is, the emitters of isolation transistors 60 and 62 are respectively connected to the collectors 37 and 38 of the input transistors 27 and 28. Collectors of the isolation transistors 62 and 64 are respectively connected to the emitters of the differential pairs 40 and 42 and bases of the isolation transistors 62 and 64 are connected to a bias port 66.
The isolation amplifier 22 facilitates the introduction of trickle currents 68 and 69 by current resistors 70 and 71 which are coupled between the collectors 37 and 38 of the input differential amplifier and the bias port 52. The magnitudes of the trickle currents are set by a voltage at the bias port 66 and by the impedance of the current resistors 70 and 71.
The mixer 20 is of a type conventionally referred to as a "Gilbert mixer". In an exemplary operation of the mixer 20, a first signal having an angular frequency of .omega..sub.1 is applied at the first input port 36 and a second signal having an angular frequency of .omega..sub.2 is applied at the second input port 50. First-signal currents generated by the input differential amplifier 24 are passed through the isolation amplifier 22 to generate differential first-signal currents in the output differential amplifier 26. The second signal also generates differential currents in the output differential amplifier 26 which mix with the first-signal differential currents to produce intermodulation products at the output port 56.
More particularly, the transistors 44 of the output differential amplifier 24 are essentially arranged in a mixing ring. First-signal currents are applied across the cross-coupled emitters of this ring and second-signal currents are applied to the cross-coupled bases of the ring. Currents of the first signal are switched on and off at the rate of the second signal to generate intermodulation products which are coupled to the output port 56 from collectors at opposite sides of the ring.
The balanced arrangement of the mixing ring facilitates a reduction of the second-order intermodulation products. Introduction of the trickle currents 68 and 69 increases the collector currents of the input differential amplifier 24 above the currents 72 and 73 that flow through the isolation amplifier 22. The added current enhances the amplifier's transconductance and, thus, the mixer's conversion gain and its third-order intercept point. Unfortunately, the current resistors 68 and 69 provide paths from the bias port 52 for the introduction of power supply fluctuations that modulate the transconductance of the input differential amplifier 24. This effect can be reduced by increasing the magnitude of current resistors 70 and 71 but this reduces the trickle currents 68 and 69 and the advantages which they provide. In addition, resistors 53 and 54 provide paths which introduce power supply noise into the output port 56.

Mixer structures with enhanced conversion gain and reduced spurious signals


A window assembly includes first, second, third, and fourth frame pieces connected together to form a rectangular frame. Each of the frame pieces has an inside face defining a glass-receiving groove and a muntin-engaging face orthogonal to the inside face and defining a muntin-receiving channel. A first muntin is oriented in the first frame piece muntin-receiving channel and the second frame piece muntin-receiving channel, and a second muntin is oriented in the third frame piece muntin-receiving channel and the fourth frame piece muntin-receiving channel. The first and second muntins cross over to engage at a first half lap joint. The frame pieces are connected to each other with rabbet joints. The window assembly can be part of a garage door arrangement. A method of making a window assembly includes connecting together the frame pieces with rabbet joints and orienting first and second muntins to engage at a lap joint. Methods of retrofitting existing windowless garage doors to include windows includes cutting a hole in the garage door and dropping a window assembly into the hole. The window assembly can then be removably secured to the garage door with fasteners.

Windows are used to provide exterior light into otherwise enclosed buildings. Windows are also used to enhance the attractiveness of enclosed buildings. They can also help to prevent criminal activity by allowing for the activities within an enclosed building to be visible from the exterior through the window.
Windows on garage doors are useful for all of these reasons. There is a need for an inexpensive, quick-assembled window that can be used in, for example, garage doors.


A buckle device capable of reducing an impact noise generated when a tongue plate (2) is inserted and eliminating a coil spring member energizing a release button (50) and a lock pin holder so as to simplify a structure, wherein a lock bar (30) has both end parts inserted into slots (16) and is mounted on a pair of side plate parts (12), both end parts of the lock bar (30) are engaged with a pair of guide grooves (54) in a pair of guide wall parts (52) of a synthetic resin release button (50) and, when the tongue plate (2) is inserted, the lock bar (30) is moved rapidly to the front end part of the slots (16) and, in this case, the end parts of the lock bar (30) are supported on a supporting part (55) at the end of the guide groove (54), not on the end of the slots (16).

Conventionally, a seat belt device mounted on a vehicle is provided with a buckle device which comprises a tongue plate movably attached to the intermediate part of a webbing and a buckle body into and from which the tongue plate is inserted and retracted. This buckle device allows the webbing worn by the occupant to be releasably secured to the vehicle body with ease and reliability.
As described in JP, U, 6-66315, a buckle device is comprised of a metal frame, a hook member which is mounted on or supported by the frame pivotably or swingably and which is engageble with and disengageable from a tongue plate, a lock pin made of metal to lock and unlock the pivotal motion of the hook member, a lock pin holder to hold the lock pin, and a biasing member to urge the lock pin via the lock pin holder, an ejector, a spring member to urge the ejector, a release button which is urged by a coil spring in the same direction as that of withdrawal of the tongue plate to disengage the tongue plate, a base cover and lid cover made of plastics, and so forth.
The foregoing frame includes a base plate part and a pair of side plate parts rising from the base plate part, and the pair of side plate parts are formed with a pair of long holes, and a lock pin is passed through the pair of long holes and mounted across the pair of side plate parts. When inserting the tongue plate, the hook member is made to pivot by the tongue plate via the ejector and comes into engagement with tongue plate, and the lock pin is moved to a first position by the urging force of a biasing member to inhibit the pivoting of the hook member to the disengaging side thereby holding the tongue plate and hook member in an engaged state. The foregoing hook member is pivotally urged in the disengaging direction all the time, and when detaching the tongue plate by releasing the engagement between the tongue plate and the hook member, the hook member is made to pivot to the disengage side by switching the lock pin from a first position to a second position by depressing the release button made of plastics, and thus the tongue plate is made detachable.
The buckle device of JP, U, 6-66311 has a basic configuration comprising a buckle body, a hook member which is pivotally supported by the buckle body and is switchable between engaged and disengaged states with respect to the tongue plate, a lock pin which is supported by the buckle body and is movable between a first position to hold the hook member in engaged state, and a second position to disengage the hook member, a release button which is urged toward the withdrawal direction of the tongue plate by a coil spring, and so forth.
Moreover, in the buckle device of this publication, a lock lever is pivotably mounted near the lock pin to cope with a case in which a pretensioner is equipped to retract the buckle body to the tightening direction to tighten the webbing in an emergency of the vehicle. When inserting the tongue plate, the lock pin is moved to and held in the first position by the lock lever which is pivotally urged by a biasing member, and when detaching the tongue plate, the lock lever is forced to pivot to the non-locked position allowing the lock pin to move to the second position.
Furthermore, near the lock lever is provided a plate-like inertial body which is supported and guided to be movable closing to and away from the lock lever and is constantly urged by a spring member in the direction to move away from the lock lever.
When a buckle body comes into an abrupt stop after it is retracted in the tightening direction of the webbing by a pretensioner which operates in an emergency of the vehicle, the inertial body is moved to lock lever side by an inertial force against the urging force of the spring member and is brought into contact with the lock lever thereby preventing the lock lever from pivoting to the non-lock position. Thus arrangement is made to prevent the detachment of tongue plate from the buckle body, which occurs when the lock pin causes the lock lever to pivot to the non-lock position thereby disengaging the hook member.
The buckle device according to JP, A, 4-58963, comprises a latch member which can come into and out of engagement with a tongue plate, an operation member to release the engagement of the latch member, a lock member which moves to a release position in response to operation of an operational member to disengage the latch member, and a lock mechanism which can prevent disengagement of the latch member. An arrangement is made such that the lock mechanism is provided with a motion restriction member which is pivotably mounted on an operation member and partly protrudes into the movable area of the lock member, and when an impact occurs, the moving lock member comes into abutment with the motion restriction member while part of the motion restriction member, which is pivoting, is in the movable area, and thus the movement of the lock member to the release position is arrested.


Substituted pyridines of the general formula: ##STR1## wherein R.sup.1 is hydroxyl or chlorine, and a) X is hydrogen or chlorine, R.sup.2 and R.sup.3 together are .dbd.O, R.sup.4 is a group of the formula --OR.sup.5 and R.sup.5 is hydrogen, C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 -alkyl or benzyl or. b) X is hydrogen and R.sup.2, R.sup.3 and R.sup.4 together are .dbd.N--NH--, or PA1 c) X and R.sup.2 each is hydrogen and R.sup.3 and R.sup.4 together are --O--, or PA1 d) X and R.sup.2 each is hydrogen, R.sup.3 is hydroxyl and R.sup.4 is amino or hydroxy.. The compounds are obtained by subjecting nicotine to microbiological oxidation to give 5-succinoyl-2-pyridone, followed by chemical reactions. The compounds are suitable as intermediates for the preparation of pharmaceutically active compounds.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to novel 2,5-di- and 2,3,5-trisubstituted pyridines and to processes for their preparation from nicotine.
2. Background Art
2,5-disubstituted (or, in the case of alternative numbering, 3,6-disubstituted) pyridines such as, 6-hydroxynicotinic or 6-chloronicotinic acid, are valuable chemical intermediates, for example, for the preparation of retinoid analogues (U.S. Pat. No. 5,089,509) or renin inhibitors (U.S. Pat. No. 5,098,924).
The 2,5-disubstituted pyridines which could be obtained to date on an industrial scale are compounds which, like 6-hydroxynicotinic acid, as a rule have attached one C.sub.1 radical only in the 5- (or 3-) position.
To prepare compounds having longer carbon chains, this C.sub.1 radical must be extended by means of conventional synthetic methods with C-C coupling (U.S. Pat. No. 5,089,509, column 13). Since this method is complicated and expensive, it was desirable to obtain compounds having longer side chains and functional groups which can be used for further synthetic steps in a simpler fashion. It was, furthermore, desirable to make accessible compounds of this class which have attached to them a chlorine atom as an additional substituent in the 3-position of the pyridine ring (if numbered as 2-pyridone).

Di-and trisubstituted pyridines and their preparation


A method of, apparatus for, or storage device medium having instructions for publishing a first notification within a data processing system where the data processing system comprises a first source generating the first notification, a first destination device, and a second destination device. The source may be a storage unit, a printer, a processing unit, or any other device which is a component of the data processing system. The destination device is typically a monitor, a workstation, a computer, a PC, or other input/output type workstation. The method comprises of having the first destination device subscribe to receive notifications from the first source. In addition, the second destination device subscribes to receive the notifications serially republished from the first destination device. Upon the publication of a notification from the first source to the first destination device, the first destination device will publish the notification to the second destination device.

A data processing system operator often will require notification concerning events or problems which occur within or with respect to a component of the system. For example, the manager of a data processing system which contains multiple storage devices spread throughout diverse geographical locations may need to receive notification of the status of each storage device at a centralized location. Methods of event notification for events occurring within a data processing system exist, however, known methods often require an active attempt by the system manager to retrieve event information. Such active attempts might consist of the establishment of a VPN connection from a remote location to an internal network. Alternatively, event notification may initially be managed locally and subsequently reported to a central location in a time delayed fashion, such as by email or pager.
If an event notification system requires an active effort by the data processing system manager to retrieve event information, or when the relay of information occurs in a time delayed fashion, the manager will not have the ability to manage the events in real time. In addition, presently known centralized event notification tools lack the ability to serially replicate or republish an event notification from a first receiving workstation to other interconnected workstations. Thus, there is a need in the art for a method and apparatus to monitor notifications from multiple devices across a network grid along with the ability to replicate the notification information to other monitoring stations to form an autonomous real time event notification mesh network.

Notification method and apparatus in a data processing system

International Business Machines Corporation


Disclosed is a controlling method for fixing a scale ratio of browsing images of a touch device. The controlling method comprises the steps of: determining a zooming region on a display screen, which is determined by pinching the browsing image from a selected position to thus zoom in or zoom out the browsing image, and the scale ratio of zooming is accordingly determined; displaying a screen-locking icon on the display screen, wherein the scale ratio is locked when the screen-locking icon is triggered to be in a locking state; and displaying the other browsing images with the same scale ratio of zooming and with a viewing size same as the zooming region.

With the rapid progress of science and technology, electronic products, such as the tablet PC and the cell phone which are light, thin, small, and portable, have been developed to provide much convenience to people and improve the life quality. Most of the electronic products are equipped with an input device for inputting information, for example, a mouse or a keyboard, but such input devices are not thin and simplicity. As the result, new generation of input devices, such as a touch panel, are provided and have been applied to various electronic devices. In a touch panel, there is provided with a touching region that corresponds to a displaying region, so that a user can control the electronic products by sliding or touching icons that is displayed on the touch panel to execute the corresponding function.
The size of touch panel of an electronic product is always limited, and therefore it is inconvenient to show all icons of the touch panel.
In the electronic product, it generally provides a zooming function for zooming in/out an image to a desired scale. In a general image zooming method, a user selects a region of the panel that is to be zoomed at first, and the user determine to zoom in or zoom out for the selected region, and finally the user determines a scale of zooming ratio or a defaulted scale of zooming ratio is applied.
However, the above image zooming method has drawback as follows. One of the problems is that the procedure of operation is complicated, which includes a step that a user has to select the region to be zoomed, a step that a user has to choose either zoom in or zoom out function for the selected region, and a step that a user should select the scale ratio for zoom in or zoom out function. Besides, in the conventional method of locking a region of the touching device, the device generate a block on the displaying panel, and a user "drag" or "align" the block to determine the region to be locked. The conventional method is inconvenient.

Controlling method for fixing a scale ratio of browsing image of touch device


The virtualization of file system placeholders is described. In one embodiment, a method for virtualizing placeholders includes monitoring placeholder creation initiated by at least one archival operation, generating placeholder data in a separate data store from a file system, wherein the placeholder data comprises a plurality of placeholders that correspond with a plurality of archived files, and servicing access requests for at least one archived file of the plurality of archived files using the placeholder data.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to file system management and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for virtualizing file system placeholders at a computer.
2. Description of the Related Art
In typical computing environments, small to large enterprises accumulate a significant amount of mission critical data related to various operations (e.g., business transactions, administration, resource management, manufacturing, services, and/or the like). Based on a file system (e.g., File Allocation Table (FAT), NT File System and/or the like), an operating system stores the mission critical data as files and then organizes these files within one or more volumes. Various data protection software programs may store the mission critical data in various storage devices (e.g., a tape drive, a hard disk drive and/or the like). Furthermore, archival software programs (e.g., Enterprise Vault) may preserve the mission critical data in a repository.
During an archival process, a software program (e.g., an agent associated with the archival software programs) creates a placeholder for an archived file, which replaces the archived file within the file system. The placeholder may be stored within a same folder in which the archived file resided. The placeholder may be dummy file that includes a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) for accessing the archived file in the repository. File system management software (e.g., MICROSOFT Windows Explorer) may display the placeholder as a whole file with each and every attribute but with a changed icon. When a user desires to access the archived file, the software program converts the placeholder into a physical file by downloading file data from the repository.
As the number of files on a computer increases, a number of placeholders also increases as a consequence. For example, the computer may include one million files on a single volume. If each and every file is archived, then a significant number of corresponding placeholders are created. An administrator, unfortunately, must allocate a significant amount of time and resources into managing placeholder creation and controlling access to the placeholders. These activities also consume various computer resources, such as processor cycles, memory capacity, network bandwidth and/or the like, which result in a poor computer system performance and stability. For example, a large number of placeholders slows down a backup process because of time spent analyzing each of the placeholders and determining whether a corresponding archived file is backed up or not. As another example, an anti-virus software program that performs routine security scans to detect and/or remove potential malware must scan each and every one of the placeholders.
Occasionally, a user may displace a placeholder within a file system. As a result, it is difficult to determine an original location (e.g., a directory, a folder and/or the like) associated with the displaced placeholder. In addition, when the archived file is restored, file data is stored at location associated with the archived file and not at a current location associated with the displaced placeholder. For example, the user may move a placeholder 'P' from a directory 'X' to a directory 'Y'. Hence, when the placeholder 'P' is accessed, the corresponding archived file is restored to the directory 'X' and not the directory 'Y'.
Furthermore, the user may migrate a home directory and/or one or more shared folders from one location (e.g., a server, a storage subsystem and/or the like) to another location (e.g., a server, a storage subsystem and/or the like). The placeholders, however, are not adjusted accordingly. Furthermore, access rights and permissions for the archived files must be maintained, which results in an additional burden on a file server to periodically scan for changes to the access rights.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a method and apparatus for virtualizing file system placeholders.

Method and apparatus for virtualizing file system placeholders at a computer


Provided is a remanufacturing method of a developer accommodating unit including a flexible container provided with an opening and configured to accommodate developer, and a frame member configured to accommodate the flexible container. The remanufacturing method includes refilling the developer into the flexible container.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a remanufacturing method of a developer accommodating unit for refilling a developer.
An image forming apparatus forms an image on a recording medium using an electrophotographic image forming process. Examples of image forming apparatuses include electrophotographic copying machines, electrophotographic printers (for example, laser beam printers and light emitting diode (LED) printers), facsimile apparatuses, and word processors.
A developing device includes developer, and a developing roller as a developer bearing member for developing an electrostatic latent image formed on a photosensitive drum as an image bearing member. The developing device is detachably attached to an image forming apparatus or a photosensitive drum unit including a photosensitive drum.
A cartridge (process cartridge) integrally includes a photosensitive drum and a developing roller, and is detachably attached to an image forming apparatus.
Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent No. 3320403 discloses a remanufacturing method of a cartridge having a developing device, more specifically, a remanufacturing method of a cartridge for refilling, using a funnel, toner into a storage container for storing toner, after removing a developing roller and a developing blade.

Remanufacturing method of developer accommodating unit


The application concerns melon plants (Cucumis melo) resistant to infection with tomato leaf curl New Dehli virus (ToLCNDV). The resistant melon plants have a genomic introgression fragment on chromosome 5 which confers tolerance to ToLCNDV in a dominant manner. Also disclosed are markers for identifying those fragments, methods for identifying or producing resistant melon plants.

Tomato leaf curl New Dehli virus (ToLCNDV) is classified as Begomovirus belonging to the family Geminiviridae. ToLCNDV has a bipartite genome consisting of two single stranded DNA molecules referred to as DNA A and DNA B (Saez et al., 2016, Annals of Applied Biology).
ToLCNDV was initially found to infect tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants in 1995 in India. Later ToLCNDV was found to infect also plants of other Solanacea species, like Solanum melongena (aubergine), chili pepper (Capsicum spp.) and Solanum tuberosum (potato). In 2012 infection of curcubit species (courgette, Cucurbita pepo var. giromontiina) by ToLCNDV was found in Spain and in 2015 the virus was identified as the disease source in melon, cucumber and courgette in Tunisia. In the meantime, infection of many Curcubitacea species such as Benincasa hispida (wax gourd), Citrullus lanatus (watermelon), Cucumis melo (melon), Cucumis melo var. flexuosus (snake melon), Cucumis sativus (cucumber), Cucurbita moschata (musky gourd), Cucurbita pepo (pumpkin), Cucurbita pepo var. giromontiina (courgette), Lagenaria siceraria (bottle gourd), Luffa cylindrica (sponge gourd), Momordica charantia (bitter gourd) have been proven. Infection of weeds (e.g. Eclipta prostrata—Asteraceae) and other crops such as Hibiscus cannabinus (kenaf—Malvaceae) and Carica papaya (papaya—Caricaceae) was also reported. In the Mediterranean region the disease does occur in various crop species in Italy (Sicilia), Spain and Tunisia. In Asian countries, infection was proven in different crops in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and Thailand. Further information on geographical distribution of ToLCNDV is lacking, but from the observations made today, the virus clearly seems to further spread geographically as well as to other crops. Disease symptoms in general comprise phenotypic appearance of yellow mosaic on leaves, leaf curling, vein swelling, and plant stunting. Cucurbits upon infection of young plants with ToLCNDV show stunted growth and decreased or suppressed fruit production. Also fruits showing skin roughness and longitudinal cracking have been reported. Thus, ToLCNDV causes economic losses in various important crop species and is a major threat. Infection of plants by ToLCNDV occurs persistently by transmission of the virus by the phloem sucking whitefly (Bemisia tabaci). (European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization, EPPO RS 2015/114, 2016/024, 2016/040, Entry date 2015-06).
In sponge gourd resistance to ToLCNDV has been shown to be controlled by a single dominant gene (Islam et al., 2010, Euphytica 174(1):83-89).
In tomato, transgenic plants resistant to ToLCNDV have been produced by silencing virus genes (Varma & Praveen, 2006, ISB News Report).
Assays for transmission of ToLCNDV by mechanically transferring the sap of an infected zucchini plant to non-infected plants from other cucurbit genera (Cucumis, Cucurbita, Citrullus, Lagenaria) have been developed. Five Cucumis melo accessions (subsp. agrestis var. momordica: Mom-KhaInd/Kharbuja, Mom-PI124Ind/PI 124112, Mom-PI124Ind/PI 414723 and subsp. agrestis wild types: Ag-WM9Ind/WM9, Ag-WM7Ind/WM7) resistant to ToLCNDV were identified (Lopez et al., 2015, Euphytica 204(3), 679-691). Confirmation of resistance of these accessions by using the natural whitefly infection system was not performed.
Saez et al. 2016, pages 214-216 (Proceedings of Cucurbitaeceae 2016, the XIth EUCARPIA Meeting on Genetics and Breeding of Cucurbitaceae Jul. 24-28, 2016, Warsaw, Poland) describe that ToLCNDV resistance of the C. melo subsp. agrestis accession WM-7 segregated in an F2 population in a 3:1 ratio of tolerant: susceptible, suggesting a single dominant resistance gene being present in WM-7. As in Lopez et al. 2015, supra, mechanical inoculation was used, and not natural infection via whitefly vector.
Various Cucurbita species (C. pepo, C. moschata, C. maxima, C. fraternal, C. ficifolia) have been screened for resistance to ToLCNDV by the mechanical sap transmission screening assay. Four Curcubita moschata accessions (PI 604506, PI 381814, Nigerian local, Kurokawa) were found to show low symptoms upon, mechanical infection with ToLCNDV. This result however could be reproduced upon whitefly infection only for two of the accession (PI 604506, PI 381814), demonstrating that resistance to ToLCNDV should be tested not only under artificial conditions but in addition by using the naturally occurring whitefly infection system (Saez et al., 2016, Annals of Applied Biology). Therefore, it is unclear if the accessions identified to be resistant to infection by ToLCNDV are resistant under natural growing conditions when the virus is transferred by whiteflies.
Attempts to control ToLCNDV infection of crop plants comprise vector (whitefly) control by insecticides applications and adaption of cultural practices, including use of virus free crop material (transplants), establishment of crop free periods, weed management (eliminating virus infected weeds) and destruction of infected plants in the field. However, because of the complex epidemiological factors associated with the disease, these attempts are not always effective (Saez et al., 2016, Annals of Applied Biology).
Therefore, there is a need to establish further measurements for reducing ToLCNDV infections, further spreading of the virus to other geographical areas and spreading to other crop species. Breeding of varieties resistant to ToLCNDV would be essential for managing the disease.


A system is provided for converting thermal energy derived from a solar field into electricity. The system is adapted to operate in accordance with at least two modes of operation, depending upon the thermal energy intake, and comprises: a first power generation sub-system comprising means to heat water into superheated steam by exchanging heat with a first heat transfer fluid being heated at the solar radiation collecting field, and a back pressure turbine for producing electricity; a second power generation sub-system comprising means to heat a second working fluid, and the second working fluid is used to operate a second turbine for producing electricity; and wherein the system is characterized in that when the thermal energy received at the first power generation sub-system exceeds a predetermined threshold of a selected criterion, both power generation sub-systems are operative to produce electricity and at least part of the heat required to heat the second working fluid is derived from exhaust steam being produced at the first power generation sub-system, whereas when the thermal energy received at the first power generation sub-system does not exceed that threshold, the thermal energy conveyed by the first heat transfer fluid is used essentially to heat the second working fluid and the electricity is generated only by the second power generation sub-system.

The current global framework, with growing oil price instability, limited oil and gas resources and the Kyoto Protocol environmental requirements, calls for continued improvements in the usage of renewable energy resources, including solar. During the last decades, interest in solar energy solutions has increased because the potential of solar energy has become apparent.
Even though solar radiation is a source of high temperature and energy at the origin, sun-earth geometrical constraints lead to a dramatic dilution of flux and to irradiance available for terrestrial of about 1 kW/m2 and consequently, to a supply of low temperature to the thermal fluid. It is therefore essential requisite for solar thermal power plants to make use of optical concentration devices that enable the thermal conversion of high solar flux and with relatively little heat loss. Typical concentration devices for solar radiation are: parabolic troughs, linear Fresnel reflectors, parabolic dishes, and power tower (or central receiver solar systems—CRS). Solar thermal power based on such concentrators is called Concentrated Solar thermal Power (CSP). The most common solar thermal power systems are parabolic trough and power tower.
A parabolic trough power plant is basically composed of three main elements: the solar system, the steam generator and the power block. The solar system comprises parabolic trough collectors' field and the oil (i.e. heat transfer fluid) circuit. At the solar field, solar radiation is collected and converted into thermal energy as the temperature of the oil circulating through the receivers, increases. Once heated at the solar field, the oil is pumped and conveyed to a steam generator, to produce high pressure/temperature steam. The steam is then used to produce power similarly to conventional steam power plants (e.g. Rankine cycle).
In power towers (or CRS), incident sunrays are reflected from large mirror collectors (heliostats), which track the apparent sun movement and concentrate the energy flux onto a solar receiver, where energy is transferred to thermal fluid. This fluid can also be direct steam. The thermal energy conversion into electricity is quite similar to fossil-fueled power plants.
Both parabolic trough and CRS are proven technology. However, their cost is not yet competitive with conventional alternatives unless subsidized. Therefore, it is yet desired to improve the existing plants cost effectiveness.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,444,972 describes a hybrid power plant driven by hydrocarbon fuels and solar energy. The solar system is CRS and the power block is condensing steam cycle (Rankine). Exhaust gas of a turbine and fuel added burner backup the solar field in generating the steam. Sensible heat storage and a receiver thermal shield are described in this publication as being optional features.
GB 2449181 discloses a combined gas/steam (or Brayton/Rankine) hybrid power plant. The heat input to the gas cycle partially depends on solar heating of air supplied to an initial combustion stage from a compressor of the gas turbine engine. Simplification and/or greater responsiveness of the gas turbine engine's fuel control system is achieved by providing the power plant with separate combustion stages being coupled to an associated turbine. Compensation for variations in insolation is achieved by controlling fuel flow to the initial combustion stage while compensation for variations in electrical load is achieved by controlling fuel flow to a subsequent combustion stage. The final turbine stage drives a generator, and the exhaust from the final turbine stage is passed through a heat recovery steam generator to raise further power in a steam turbine that also drives a generator. The second combustion stage, including a superheater, may be located in the steam cycle part of the combined cycle to further heat the steam before entry to the steam turbine. Concentrated solar energy may heat a heat transfer fluid, e.g. a molten salt, for intermediate heat transfer and heat storage.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,417,052 describes a hybrid, combined cycle power plant driven by CRS and natural gas. The combined cycle is Brayton/Rankine. The CRS heat transfer fluid (HTF) is molten salt. The molten salt preheats the air leaving the gas cycle compressor. The exhaust gases from the gas cycle drive a steam cycle for additional energy production.
US 2008127647 discloses a method for oversizing the Rankine power block with respect to the topping cycle block in combined cycles where the bottoming cycle is Rankine. The method describes the production of the additional steam in the Rankine plant by solar energy. The method is applicable in plants that are equipped with an oversized heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) and steam turbine system that is coordinated with duct burners or other means for additional steam generation.
US 20060260314 discloses an integration between a combined cycle power plant and a solar Rankine power plant. Relatively high temperature, low pressure reheat from the combined cycle power generation system can be used, through, for example, a superheater, to raise the temperature and pressure of a working fluid in a solar Rankine power generation system. The resulting integrated system has enhanced efficiencies as compared with stand-alone systems.
Most of the solar thermal power today is produced by parabolic trough technology. Typically, parabolic trough plants consist of large fields of parabolic trough collectors, a heat transfer fluid/steam generation system, a Rankine steam turbine/generator cycle, and optional thermal storage and/or fossil-fired backup system(s). The solar field is modular in nature and comprises many parallel rows of single-axis-tracking parabolic trough solar collectors, normally aligned on north-south horizontal axis. Each solar collector has a parabolic shaped reflector that focuses the sun's direct beam radiation on a linear receiver located at the parabola focal axis. The collectors track the sun from east to west during the day. A heat transfer fluid (hereinafter "HTF") is heated up to about 400° C. while being circulated through the receiver and returns to a series of heat exchangers (hereinafter "HE") in the power block where the solar heat absorbed by the HTF (typically synthetic oil) is extracted to generate high pressure superheated steam (e.g. 100 bar, 371° C.). The superheated steam is then fed to a conventional reheat steam turbine/generator (condensing turbine) to produce electricity. The expanded steam from the turbine is condensed in a saturated condenser and returned to the HE via feed-water pumps to be transformed back into steam. Wet cooling towers or sea water supply cold water to the condenser. After passing through the power block, the cooled HTF is re-circulated through the solar field.
The parabolic trough approach is currently the most proven and lowest cost large-scale solar power technology available today as described by H. Price et al. in "Advances in Parabolic Trough Solar Power Technology", Journal of Solar Energy Engineering V. 124, Issue 2, pp. 109-125, May 2002. However, the cost of parabolic trough power is not yet competitive with conventional alternatives unless subsidized (typical installation cost for 50 MW plants is in the range of 4-6 $/W). One of the reasons is that the standard condensing steam power block described above has several drawbacks that highly limit the overall plant cost effectiveness and deployment. Some of these drawbacks are the following:
1) Water Cooled Condenser:
The condensers in steam power units are typically water cooled type where the water are typically cooled by a wet cooling tower (WCT). Air cooled condensers (dry cooling towers—DCT) are inferior because they increase the steam condensation temperature, and the steam condensing cycle efficiency is very sensitive to that temperature. In addition, DCT are more expensive than WCT. Consequently, solar thermal power plants are installed mostly in locations where water is available, rather than in desert and arid areas where solar radiation levels are typically the highest.
2) Condensing Turbine:
Condensing steam turbines for solar plants, typically designed to generate 50-80 MW, have a very unique design which creates low market availability (up to two years of manufacturing lead time). This might introduce a significant bottleneck to projects time tables because the other components lead times are substantially lower (typically less than one year). Another downside of the condensing turbine is the performance penalty when scaling down. For instance, the difference between 60 MW and 5 MW turbine shaft (isentropic) efficiencies is about 6%. The performance penalty increase both the specific required collection area (m2/W) and the electricity specific cost ($/W). This is critical because the small and medium size plants (5-20 MW) market is currently growing rapidly.
3) Operation Time (Capacity Factor):
During day time, the solar radiation intensity varies. In a clear sky day, the radiation level increases gradually during the morning and reaches maximal level around noon while from afternoon to sunset, the insolation declines. In a standard (condensing turbine) power block, steam is fed into the turbine only when reaching a certain desired temperature, typically around 370° C. and an initial flow rate. Operating the turbine with substantially lower steam temperatures is eluded because that would expose the turbine blades to high levels of moisture which is destructive. Therefore, the standard routine in such a solar plant would be to wait until the heat transfer fluid heats up to about 390° C. so the desired steam top temperature can be achieved. However, this oil temperature can be obtained only when reaching a minimum insolation level, say 400 W/m2. Thus, during early mornings and late afternoons' periods the solar plant cannot produce power. The result is shorter plant operation time (or lower capacity factor) and of course, higher electricity cost.
4) Working Fluid:
Steam condensation increases the power block complexity and cost due to the following two reasons:
a) The saturated steam specific volume is very high (for example, 12 m3/kg at 50° C.), requiring large size condensing unit.
b) The saturated pressure of steam at typical condensing temperatures is much below atmospheric (for instance, at 35° C. the pressure is 0.056 bar). Consequently, the condenser must always be maintained under deep vacuum and free of oxygen. Addressing these constrains, increases the plant O&M costs.
Other power cycles are also described in the literature.
For example, A. I. Kalina in "Combined-cycle system with novel bottoming cycle", Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power v. 106, pp. 737-741 (1984) describe a thermodynamic cycle that is designed to replace the Rankine cycle as a bottoming cycle for a combined-cycle energy system as well as for generating electricity by using low-temperature heat sources.
P. A. Lobos and E. D. Rogdakis described in their publication "A Kalina power cycle driven by renewable energy sources", Energy, Jan. 31, 2009, a Kalina cycle using low-temperature heat sources to produce power. The main heat source of the cycle is provided by flat solar collectors. In addition, an external heat source is connected to the cycle, providing 5% up to 10% of the total thermal energy used in the cycle. The cycle operates at low pressure levels (0.2-4.5 bar) and low maximum temperature (130° C.). For given conditions, an optimum range of vapor mass fractions and operating pressures can be identified that result in optimum cycle performance. Simple equations have been derived that link the operational parameters with the independent variables as well as with the cycle efficiency.
The present invention seeks to provide a solution that eliminates the major part of the above problems while increasing the solar plant efficiency.

System for converting solar radiation into electricity


Systems and methods are disclosed related to determining device settings for a meeting based in part by parsing text from a meeting invitation or calendar entry, and controlling one or more remotely controllable devices during the meeting according to the determined settings. Based on contextual information determined from a parsed meeting invitation and/or related sources, controllable devices such as remote-controllable window shades, lighting equipment, camera equipment, display screens and/or other in-room equipment may be automatically assigned to determined settings before or during an in-person meeting, conference call or videoconference.

The number of computing devices that offer virtual assistant functionality and/or provide intelligent control of home or office devices continue to expand and diversify. Such computing devices include desktop computing devices, mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, home automation devices, and various other types of network-capable devices that are part of the "Internet of Things" (IoT). Some such devices may access cloud-based services, which provide remote clients with access to various services that are implemented largely within a distributed system accessible via a network. Virtual assistant functionality may include, for example, responding to spoken voice commands from a user. Some such devices, such as home automation devices, enable a user to speak a command to control another device in a room, such as requesting to turn the lights in a room on or off.

Device control based on parsed meeting information


A connector (10) for an electrical distribution system includes an internal member or wedge (12) received within an external member (11) having an inherent resiliency. The external member (11) has a pair of end portions (15, 16), each of which has an opening (17, 18) to receive a respective wire (13, 14), and the wires (13, 14) are clamped mechanically between the side edges of the internal member or wedge (12) and the respective end portions (15, 16) of the external member (11). No special tool is required, either for the initial installation or subsequent disassembly for repair or replacement, and the inherent resiliency of the external member (11) accommodates any material creepage or dimensional instability in the wire material due to line current variations or adverse weather conditions, particularly where aluminum wires are used.

In the installation and maintenance of electrical distribution systems, such as distribution transformers or substations, it is necessary to connect respective pairs of leads or wires and to maintain a solid mechanical retention of the wires as well as a good electrical connection therebetween despite fluctuations in the line current or severe weather conditions.
The wires may run from around 1/16 inch in diameter to around 5/8 of an inch for plier-applied connectors, depending upon the particular distribution system or subsystem. The smaller sized wires are usually made of aluminum or copper or a combination thereof for normal household currents; and the larger wires, which are primarily intended for outdoor distribution systems, are usually made of aluminum provided with a steel wire core.
The aluminum wire tends to "creep", that is, it lacks good dimensional stability; and the particular connector between the wires may not effectively compensate for that dimensional instability in the wire material.
The existing connectors used in junction boxes for residential duty and the like usually include a pair of clamping members drawn up tight by means of a screw therebetween. The screw may vibrate loose and, besides, there is no built-in compensation for material creepage.
In heavy-duty applications, the existing connectors may use a power actuated portable tool to drive a wedge into the connector, thereby retaining the wires mechanically and making the necessary electrical connection therebetween. Such a tool is supplied by AMP Incorporated (of Harrisburg, Pa.) under its trademark "AMPACT".
While perfectly suitable for the purposes intended, nevertheless, this is a special tool which may not be readily available to installers or maintenance personnel out in the field. Besides, each "shot" of this tool requires a cartridge, the cost of which may run around $1.00.

Electrical distribution system connector


The present invention provides an integrated antenna and visual display apparatus, or one of an antenna apparatus and visual display apparatus which is integratable with the other. Apertures are formed in a visual display, such as an OLED display. The apertures when formed in a conductive layer operate as radiating bodies of an antenna array. A subset of sub-pixels of the visual display can be removed in line with the apertures. An optically transparent substrate is located over the visual display, and an array of further conductive elements, which may be optically transparent, is disposed on an exterior of this substrate. The further conductive elements operate to direct the antenna signals through the substrate, by coupling in an impedance-matched manner with the radiating apertures.

It is anticipated that high-gain millimeter-wave and sub-millimeter-wave phased arrays will be incorporated as part of the future electronics and mobile devices such as 5G smart phones and laptops. These high frequency antennas are currently intended to be used mostly for high data-rate communications or near-range imaging. Antennas for such applications require relatively large aperture areas due to high antenna gain and wide-angle coverage requirements. Yet, most of the available real estate such as bezel area on a smart phone, for example, is already congested with multiple antennas for different types of communications bands. Therefore it is difficult to incorporate such antennas into devices, particularly when they are of limited size.
Currently, both organic light emission display (OLED) and liquid crystal display (LCD) remain in use. However, OLED is expected to surpass LCD technology in the near future. One type of OLED technology is referred to as active matrix OLED (AMOLED) technology. AMOLED is likely to be a preferred technology in future due to its superior color, contrast, low power and low cost.
As mentioned above, the area available for antennas in modern electronic devices is limited. Therefore there is a need to incorporate high frequency antennas into devices that obviates or mitigates one or more limitations of the prior art.
This background information is provided to reveal information believed by the applicant to be of possible relevance to the present invention. No admission is necessarily intended, nor should be construed, that any of the preceding information constitutes prior art against the present invention.


A method of accurately forming lower partitions than spacers on a substrate in an electrophoretic medium includes a first resist application step where a first negative resist is applied on the first substrate, a first exposure step where the first negative resist is exposed to light through a first mask having an aperture pattern for exposing a pattern of the partition to light, a second resist application step where a second negative resist is applied on the first negative resist, a second exposure step where the second negative resist and the first negative resist are exposed to light through a second mask having an aperture pattern for exposing a pattern of the spacer to light, and a development step where the first negative resist and the second negative resist are developed.

A conventional electrophoretic display medium well known in the art is provided with a dispersion medium injected between pair of substrates with positive or negative charged particles dispersed therein so as to display an image. In such an electrophoretic display medium, a pair of substrates is disposed to face each other. With the application of an electric field, charged particles migrate between the substrates, thereby displaying an image.
There provided in such an electrophoretic display medium are a partition that partitions the region between the substrates, and a spacer disposed on the outer circumference of a substrate for defining the distance between the substrates.
Patent document 1 discloses such an electrophoretic display medium in which a spacer and a partition are disposed between substrates.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. S56-108171
In order to manufacture such an electrophoretic display medium having a partition and a spacer, following methods are available. One method is to form a spacer on an outer circumference of a substrate, followed by forming a partition in a region inside the spacer formed on the outer circumference. The other method is to form a partition on a substrate, followed by forming a spacer on an outer circumference of the substrate so as to enclose the partition. In these methods, an adhesive is applied between the partition and the substrate so that the partition and the substrate are fixed together persistently. In order to fix the spacer and the substrate together persistently, an adhesive is also applied between the spacer and the substrate.
However, in such an electrophoretic display medium, if there is a demand that the partition be lower than the spacer, it is difficult to make a level difference between the partition and the spacer accurately in the above method where the partition and the spacer formed separately are mounted on the substrate. This is because of the difficulty in having an accurate control over the adhesive thickness between the partition and the substrate as well as between the spacer and the substrate.
The present invention is made to solve the above problem, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a method of allowing a partition and a spacer of different heights to be formed on a substrate accurately, and an electrophoretic display medium where a partition and a spacer of different heights are formed accurately.

Electrophoretic display medium and method of forming the same