The present invention is directed to a golf alignment system that generates a visible, audible and/or tactile response indicating when a golfer is properly aligned with respect to an intended target line or to a golf ball. One embodiment includes a first shoe having at least one transmitter disposed on an instep portion thereof. A second shoe has at least one receiver disposed on an instep portion thereof. The receiver is activated by a signal from the transmitter when the first shoe is in a predetermined position relative to the second shoe. Activation of the receiver causes actuation of an indicator, such as a light emitting device which projects a visible reference line on the ground. The present invention is also directed to a method of aligning a golf ball.

The game of golf includes many "basics" that can make the game difficult if not grasped by the player. For example, proper grip, posture, stance, alignment and ball position may all affect a player's performance. There are many schools of thought with regard to ball position for a golfer. For example, golf students are sometimes taught to play every shot from the center of their stance, regardless of the club being used. Other instructors may teach the students to play every shot approximately 1 to 2 inches off their left heel (for right handed golfers). Other instructors may advise their students to move the ball placement from the center of the stance towards the left heel as club length increases. Unless the student is standing in front of a mirror or working directly with the instructor, it is often difficult for a student to determine whether the ball is properly positioned and aligned relative to his or her feet.
Various training devices, systems and methods have been developed for the game of golf in an effort to improve one's skill level. Some systems focus on proper ball position in relation to a player's stance. Some such systems include a mat with a first set of markings and/or lines thereon for aligning a player's feet, which correspond with a second set of markings for aligning a golf ball. Other devices provide a T-shaped or cross-shaped device having a first elongated measuring stick having markings for aligning a player's foot, and a second elongated stick perpendicular to the measuring stick for aligning the ball. Other devices include an elongated aiming rod that is secured to the shoe of the player. Such mats, measuring stick devices and aiming rods are relatively bulky and often difficult to set up and transport. In addition, many are impractical for use on a golf course. Furthermore, the markings or lines typically cannot be adjusted to account for different golfing styles.
Other systems provide a series of stripes disposed on a pair of golf shoes. The golfer may bring his or her feet close together so that the stripes on the left shoe are aligned with the stripes on the right shoe. Such systems are not as bulky as mats or elongated sticks. However, the reference lines provided on such shoes only provide an alignment line that is as long as the width of the golfer's shoes. Thus, such alignment markings do not provide an overly accurate or helpful reference line for aligning the golfer with the target. In addition, the lines on the shoes are not adjustable, and therefore may only be helpful for use with some clubs.
Relatively complex training systems have also been developed which monitor a player's movement when swinging a club. For example, some systems include a platform housing a tee manipulation mechanism which includes a plurality of transmitters for transmitting infrared beams along predetermined paths defining a three-dimensional space within the platform. The beams are positioned so that improper club or body position may be sensed by the system. The information may trigger a status light board, or it may be processed by a microprocessor for detailed analysis of the golfer's swing. Some such systems also include a video camera for additional analysis of the golfer's form. Other systems include a laser source coupled to an optics system remote from a player. A line of light is produced which is then aligned with the target path. The player is intermediate the system and target, and aligns the ball and club using the line of light. While such systems may provide feedback for a golfer, they are complicated and expensive. In addition, such systems are not for use on a course.
Other systems include a laser device that is used in conjunction with a mat. The mat includes a series of lines. The laser device is removably affixed to the player's clothes. The device projects a laser beam outwardly from the golfer, which is aligned with the lines on the mat. As noted above, systems requiring a mat are bulky and impractical for use on a course.
Other systems provide a laser device that is removably affixed to the player's clothes, and emits a laser beam toward the target. However, such devices are often inaccurate because they fail to provide a consistent reference line for the golfer. The orientation of the reference will change if the device is affixed to different positions on the golfer's clothes. Even if the device is affixed in the same position on the golfer's clothes each time, clothing such as pants and shirts typically move and flex as the golfer moves, or due to windy conditions. As such, the reference line emitted from the laser device moves as the golfer moves. Furthermore, such devices typically fail to provide for adjustment depending on the club being used, the desired ball position, and the specific playing style unique to a particular golfer.
Other training systems include a hand-held laser device that projects an I-shaped pattern on the ground in front on a player, having first and second parallel lines connected by an intermediate line perpendicular thereto. The player aligns his or her feet with an inner line. The ball is aligned with an outer line. While such laser devices are relatively portable, they do not provide an overly accurate system for ball and foot alignment given the projected pattern varies depending on how the golfer is holding the device. For example, the golfer must accurately align the pattern on the ground by holding the device the proper distance from his or her body. In addition, the device must be held at a proper angle. Typically, a golfer tires as the game progresses. In addition to focusing on the basics of the game, the golfer must now also focus on proper use of the handheld laser device. Any variation in position and angle of the device relative to the golfer and the ball may adversely affect proper alignment and ball position. Thus, such systems have not proven reliable or helpful for most golfers.
Other systems provide a laser device that may be attached to the player so that the laser beam is directed to a point on the ground in front of the golfer's feet. For example, the device may be clipped to the hat of the golfer. The beam is pointed at the ball or a reference point on the ground. Such devices attempt to aid the golfer in keeping his or her head down throughout the swing by providing the golfer a reference point on which to focus during the swing. However, such systems typically fail to provide a reference line for aligning the target. In addition, any movement of the golfer's head will change the position of the reference point. The golfer creates the reference point by simply positioning his or her head or moving the laser device. However, no guidance is provided as to whether the correct reference point is being created. In addition, such devices do not aid a golfer in aligning with the target, achieving proper ball position, or maintaining proper stance.
Various systems include a laser device that is mounted over the club head or integral with the club head. The device projects a laser beam perpendicular to the striking face. The beam is aligned with the target. However, the beam will move as the club head moves. Thus, such devices are typically provided on a putter, since putting usually involves only a limited range of club motion compared to other clubs. Even for use on a putter, such devices are not overly accurate since the club head will move. In addition, if the golfer is not properly gripping the club, the reference line created by the beam will not be accurate. For example, if the club face is "open", the beam will not be correctly aligned with the target.
Therefore, there is a need for a golf alignment device and system that solves some or all of the above-noted problems.

Golf alignment device, method and apparatus


When a file server is to create data that does not permit falsification in an external storage, it is not possible to guarantee that the rewriting of this data can be prevented from a computer connected to the external storage without going through a file server. Provided is a storage system configured from a first storage having a file I/O processing unit and a second storage connected to this first storage, wherein the first storage includes a unit for requesting a change of access authority to the storage area in the own storage and in the second storage provided to the own storage. An access request to a storage area in a second storage from a computer connected to a second storage without going through a file I/O processing unit is restricted based on the change of access authority executed by the second storage upon receiving the request from the first storage.

The present invention relates to a storage apparatus system for preventing the falsification of data.
In recent years, the United States is obligating specific organizations to store specific data in a state where it cannot be falsified during a designated period. For instance, the HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), which is a law concerning the interoperability and accountability of health insurance, is obligating medical institutions to store the medical data of patients for two years after the death of patients. Further, SEC17a-4 is obligating financial institutions and securities firms to store business logs including e-mails for as long as such institution or firm exists. An organization in default of these obligations will be subject to punishment by fine or imprisonment. Thus, demands are increasing for a function of guaranteeing that data will not be falsified during the retention period.
Conventionally, these organizations stored such data with a retention period in a non-rewritable, recordable recording medium such as a tape or optical disk. A data recording format in which data can only be written once and cannot be deleted or changed as described above is referred to as WORM (Write Once Read Many). Nevertheless, a recording medium such as a tape or optical disk has a low data I/O processing performance, and there is a problem in that it is insufficient in storing the vast amounts of data in recent years. Further, with a non-rewritable, recordable recording medium, even when the data is no longer required after the lapse of the retention period, there is a problem in that it is not possible to improve the utilization efficiency by deleting such data.
Thus, the gazette of US20040186858 (Patent Document 1) discloses technology of recording data with a retention period in a magnetic disk, which is a rewritable storage medium having a high I/O processing performance. The system disclosed in Patent Document 1 is configured from a user terminal and a file server. The file server is interconnected to the user terminal, and performs I/O processing of data in file units. Further, the file server has a magnetic disk for storing files transmitted from the user terminal.
An administrator of the file server defines a part of the storage area of a magnetic disk of the file server as a storage area (hereinafter referred to as a "WORM area") dedicated to storing files with a retention period (hereinafter referred to as a "WORM file"). When an administrator of the file server issues a command for deleting or migrating the WORM area, the file server returns an error. Further, the file server retains an attribute value showing that it is a WORM area in the file server for recognizing which storage area is a WORM area. The user terminal connected to the file server configures a file as a WORM file by issuing a specific command containing the file retention period to the files stored in the WORM area.
When the file server receives a rewrite request of a file from the user terminal, it checks whether such file is a WORM file. If it is a WORM file, the file server checks whether the file retention period has already lapsed. If the file retention period has not lapsed, the file server does not permit the rewrite request of the file, and notifies the user terminal that the file cannot be rewritten. Like this, a retention period is set for each file, and it is thereby possible to guarantee that the file will not be falsified by the administrator of the user terminal or file server during the retention period.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Storage apparatus for preventing falsification of data


A protective device for protecting equipment includes an insulation base substrate, a fusible conductor arranged on the insulation base substrate and connected to a power supply path for the equipment so that the fusible conductor is fused off by a preset abnormal current or voltage, an insulation cover mounted on the insulation base substrate to overlie the fusible conductor via a preset spacing, and a flux coated on a surface of the fusible conductor and disposed in the spacing. The fusible conductor is fused off to break a current path when the abnormal voltage is applied to the equipment. The fusible conductor is secured to a conductor layer and to pair electrodes provided on the insulation base substrate via an electrically conductive paste containing a metal component exhibiting wettability with respect to the fusible conductor in the fused state.

A conventional protective device, mounted on say a secondary cell device, has a protective function not only against over-current but also against over-voltage. This protective device includes a heating member and a fusible conductor layered on the heating member via an insulation layer. The fusible conductor is formed by a segment of a low melting metal and may be fused off by over-current. In case of an over-voltage, current is supplied to the heating member in the protective device, and the fusible conductor is fused off due to heating of the heating member. The fusible conductor may be fused off as a result of high wettability of the fusible conductor of a low melting metal in the fused state against the surface of the conductor layer the fusible conductor is connected to. The low melting metal in the fused state is drawn close to a conductor layer, such as an electrode, as a result of which the fusible conductor is fused off to break the current.
On the other hand, in keeping up with reduction in size of the electronic equipment, such as mobile equipment, reduction in size or thickness and stability of the operation as well as a high operating speed may be beneficial. In light of this, a protective device having a fusible conductor of low melting metal is arranged on an insulation substrate and sealed with an insulation cover, and in which the fusible conductor is coated with a flux. This flux is provided to prevent oxidation of the surface of the fusible conductor and to allow the fusible conductor to be fused off promptly and stably at the time of heating of the fusible conductor.
Such a type of the protective device is shown in FIGS. 13 and 14. This protective device includes a heating member 2 of a resistance material between a pair of electrodes 5a provided on both ends of a base substrate 1. A conductor layer 4 connected to one of the electrodes 5a is provided on top of the heating member 2 via insulation layer 3. Another pair of electrodes 5b is provided on the lateral sides of the base substrate 1. A fusible conductor 6, formed by a low melting metal piece, is connected between the electrodes 5b by a solder paste 7. The fusible conductor 6 is also connected to an underlying conductor layer 4 by the solder paste 7. A flux 8 is coated on the fusible conductor 6 on the base substrate 1, and an insulation cover 9 is mounted to overlie the base substrate 1.
The fusion/disruption of the fusible conductor 6 of the low melting metal due to over-current may occur as follows: When the fusible conductor 6 is fused, the fusible conductor 6 in the fused state is drawn close to the conductor layer 4 and the electrodes 5b, because of wettability of the fusible conductor 6 with respect to the surfaces of the electrodes 5b or the conductor layer 4 the fusible conductor is connected to. As a result, the fusible conductor 6 between the electrodes 5b is disrupted to break the current. Hence, this wettability markedly influences the current breaking characteristic.
A protective device, improved in fusion characteristic in light of the wettability and the aggregation performance at the time of fusion/disruption of the fusible conductor, is disclosed in Patent Document 1. The protective element includes an insulation substrate, a pair of electrodes mounted spaced apart from each other on the surface of the insulation substrate, and a fusible alloy conductor connected between the pair electrodes. The protective element also includes a flux deposited on the fusible alloy conductor and an insulation/sealing material that overlies the flux. An underlying layer, whose wettability against the fusible alloy conductor in the fused state is smaller than that of the insulation substrate, is formed at the fusible alloy conductor forming position. When the fusible alloy conductor is fused, the fused alloy conductor is flipped by the underlying layer and hence is disrupted promptly. Moreover, no sparking is produced at the time of fusion/disruption. The fusible alloy may readily be aggregated by its surface tension onto the electrode to ensure reliable disruption.
Another protective device to shorten the circuit breaking time due to aggregation of the low melting metal at the time of fusion/disruption is disclosed in Patent Document 2. In Patent Document 2, two or more strands of low melting metal are provided between a pair of electrodes designed to cause the current to flow through the low melting metal. In so doing, the low melting metal between the electrodes is separated into independent sections to increase the number of fusion/disruption start points in the low melting metal to have the operating time shortened and improve stability.


A method for improving the oxidation stability of an ashless hydraulic fluid or an ashless paper machine oil, comprising:    a. selecting a base oil having greater than 90 wt % saturates, less than 10 wt % aromatics, a base oil viscosity index greater than 120, less than 0.03 wt % sulfur, a sequential number of carbon atoms, greater than 35 wt % total molecules with cycloparaffinic functionality, and a ratio of molecules with monocycloparaffinic functionality to molecules with multicycloparaffinic functionality greater than 2.1; and    b. replacing a portion of an original base oil in the ashless oil with the selected base oil to produce an improved ashless lubricating oil; wherein the improved ashless lubricating oil has a result in the rotary pressure vessel oxidation test that is at least 50 minutes greater than the result in the rotary pressure oxidation test of the ashless hydraulic fluid or ashless paper machine oil.

WO 00/14183 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,103,099 to ExxonMobil teach a process for producing an isoparaffinic lubricant base stock which comprises hydroisomerizing a waxy, paraffinic, Fischer-Tropsch synthesized hydrocarbon feed comprising 650-750° F.+hydrocarbons, said hydroisomerization conducted at a conversion level of said 650-750° F.+feed hydrocarbons sufficient to produce a 650-750° F.+hydroisomerate base stock which comprises said base stock which, when combined with at least one lubricant additive, will form a lubricant meeting desired specifications. Hydraulic oils are claimed, but nothing is taught regarding processes to make or compositions of lubricating oils having excellent oxidation stability.
Conoco ECOTERRA™ Hydraulic Fluid is formulated with high quality hydrocracked base oils and fortified with an ashless, zinc-free antiwear additive package. It has a high oxidation stability, such that the ISO 32 grade has a result of 700 minutes in the rotary pressure vessel oxidation test (RPVOT) by ASTM D 2272 at 150° C. The ISO 46 grade has a result of 685 minutes, and the ISO 68 grade has a result of 675 minutes. Conoco ECOTERRA™ Hydraulic Fluid, however has a low viscosity index of about 102 or less.
PetroCanada PURITY™ FG AW Hydraulic Fluids have RPVOT results of between 884 and 888 minutes, but they too only have viscosity indexes of about 102 or less.
PetroCanada HYDREX SUPREME™ is an ISO 32 hydraulic fluid with a RPVOT result of about 1300 minutes. HYDREX SUPREME™ is a trademark of PetroCanada. The base oil in this product is a highly refined water-white base oil. The base oil used in the PetroCanada HYDREX SUPREME™ hydraulic fluid does not have a viscosity index that is exceptionally high, and the base oil is available in limited quantities. It is blended with a significant amount of viscosity index improver to provide it with a viscosity index of about 353. Additionally, hydraulic fluids having high viscosity indexes and good oxidation stabilities have been made from synthetic base oils, and also from high oleic base oils made from vegetable oils. These types of base oils, however, are expensive and not available in large quantities.
What is desired is a lubricating oil having excellent oxidation stability and high viscosity index made using a base oil having greater than 90 wt % saturates, less than 10 wt % aromatics, a viscosity index greater than 120, less than 0.03 wt % sulfur and a sequential number of carbon atoms, without the inclusion of high levels of viscosity index improvers; and a process to make it.

Method for improving the oxidation stability of ashless oil


A custom designed drive mechanism to be utilized in conjunction with an ink jet printer having a motor, transmission, and gripping apparatus to transmit articles of manufacture to be printed upon through an enclosure having a linear bearing and spring system, an optical sensor, digital encoder and print mechanism such that the articles of manufacture travel in a single direction.

Ink Jet printing is a common method of non-impact printing. An ink jet printer emits intermittent streams of ink droplets from tiny nozzles in response to received electrical signals. The present invention is applicable to all types of ink jet printers.
When used in industrial applications, specifically as it pertains to the printing of text, graphics or barcodes on feed, seed or similar product bags, conventional ink jet printers suffer from a variety of drawbacks and disadvantages. For example, when an ink jet print head becomes damaged the printing process must be stopped until inventive device 100 can be restored to proper operational status. For systems that contain fixed print heads this means that that an operator has to stop an assembly line and physically disconnect an ink jet printer from its ink supply and mounting so that it can be removed for maintenance. This is a time consuming and often expensive process, both in terms of the lost production stemming from a shut down line and the maintenance costs associated with servicing the print head.
In addition to the above, it is advantageous to incorporate both feed and print mechanisms in one unit. Having separate feed and printing mechanism can cause distortion in the print quality resulting from mismatched feed and print rates. Print quality is also compromised by warping, slippage, or buckling of bag 200 by the print handler.
Moreover, print quality due to "stitching", a condition that occurs when overlapping print nozzles are not coplanar, is often un-adjustable or, if it can be adjusted it requires special tools to do so. Stitching results in a visible gap in between print produced by multiple print heads. The advantage of an adjustment mechanism to eliminate this condition is that overall print resolution increases as well as the number of applications that the printer may be used for. For example, very course inconsistent print may be acceptable for printing bar codes on feed bags, but stitching may prevent the inclusion of fine text or graphics.
Many existing industrial printers are not designed to print on both sides of bag 200 simultaneously.
Industrial ink jet applications require specialized ink delivery systems. To overcome the shortcomings of existing ink jet industrial print systems, a customized feed mechanism and print head system is provided. The first object of the invention is to provide even and uniform transport of bag 200 through a printing system. A related object is to link the feed mechanism to a closed loop system wherein the print speed may be matched to the speed in which the transport mechanism is operating. Another object of the invention is to provide transport for print mediums, such as bag 200, of various thicknesses. It is yet another object of the invention to incorporate mechanisms that serve to eliminate stitching quickly and without the use of tools. It is still another object of the invention to enable the quick tool-less replacement of print heads. Another object of the invention is to place print accurately and repeatedly at a predetermined distance from the leading edge of bag 200. Lastly, it is an object of this invention to place print on two sides of bag 200 simultaneously.


A system for testing a fiber-optic component with infrared radiation is provided. The testing system has a source of infrared radiation, an optic coupler, a detecting circuit, and an analog tape recorder. The optic coupler directs the infrared radiation onto the fiber-optic component. The detection circuit is electrically connected to the tape recorder. The detection circuit has an amplifier, a potentiometer connected in parallel to the amplifier, and a photoelectric transducer connected in series to the amplifier. These components are mounted on a non-conductive board. A power source supplies voltage and is connected to the amplifier. The circuit operates by having the photoelectric transducer sense the infrared radiation emitted from the tested fiber-optic component and convert the radiation into an electrical signal. The amplifier then amplifies the electrical signal to the voltage necessary for driving the tape recorder.

Fiber-optic components, including switches, connectors, and mechanical splices, which are used in naval weapons systems typically undergo rigorous mechanical shock and vibration. This shock and vibration significantly affects the performance of the fiber-optic components and, in turn, the naval weapons systems. A capability of detecting any optic changes which occur during mechanical shock and vibration would therefore enhance the overall performance of the weapons system.
Prior art devices for testing fiber-optic components include systems comprising a light source, an optic coupler, an analog detector circuit, and an analog tape recorder. These systems commonly use a commercially available detector circuit which has a power supply. The detector circuit measures the amount of light emitted by converting the light into an electric signal and then amplifying the signal to a voltage which can drive the analog tape recorder.
The devices used to convert the emitted light for these detector circuits comprise photoelectric transducers, which are almost exclusively semiconductor photodiodes. The currents supplied by these receivers are proportional over more than eight orders of magnitude to the light incident upon them when operated in a conducting state, i.e., when the voltage on these devices is kept very small. Thus, the devices which perform the amplification of electrical signals for the electrical circuit should require a low voltage.
One device capable of amplification at a low voltage is an operational amplifier. Operational amplifiers have a feedback branch, and the feedback resistance in this branch must be as high as possible to optimize performance because low voltages become submerged in noise. Typically, the feedback branch has an element with a nonlinear, e.g. exponential, characteristic. This element results in the voltage at the output of the amplifier becoming a logarithmic measure of the light incident upon the photoelectric transducer. The disadvantage of this design is that the upper angular frequency of the transfer range varies with the level of steady light. For the case of low illumination intensities, the signal frequencies of interest become uncontrollably cut. As a result, the detector circuit as a whole has a narrow dynamic range of sensitivity.
Examples of prior art for detector circuits with operational amplifiers include U.S. Pat. No. 4,218,613 by Bletz. Bletz discloses a circuit for amplifying electric signals obtained by a photoelectric transducer as a function of the intensity of illumination upon the transducer. The circuit comprises an operational amplifier connected in series with the photoelectric transducer and having a feedback branch. The feedback branch has an electrical element with a nonlinear characteristic connected in parallel with a resistance. The nonlinear electrical element is either a diode or a transistor having its base at zero potential. This circuit attempts to have optimum noise control with a wide dynamic range.
Another example of prior art is U.S. Pat. No. 4,795,905 by Zierhut, which discloses a circuit layout for an infrared room surveillance detector. This circuit comprises a high impedance operational amplifier connected directly to the terminals of a pyrometer used as an infrared sensor. The reaction resistor of the operational amplifier has a high impedance, preferable in a range of 10.sup.11 to 10.sup.12 ohms. A blocking diode or a transistor connected as a blocking diode connects between the negative terminal of the operating voltage source and the reference voltage output. The circuit has a low noise component in the detector output signal and a constant amplification over a relatively broad frequency range, but is not particularly well-suited for systems testing mechanical shock and vibration because the baseline noise continues to expand throughout the operation.

Fiber-optical testing system having a detection circuit

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


A tile includes a protecting layer, a printing layer, and a filler layer. The protecting layer, the printing layer, and the filler layer are laminated to each other in a top-to-bottom sequence. The protecting layer, the printing layer, and the filler layer are made of polyethylene terephthalate (PETG). Hence, the tile made of PETG meets environmental friendly requirements, is suitable for use in different locations, and easy adhesion in installation. A method for manufacturing a tile includes the steps of: providing a protecting layer, a printing layer, and a filler layer, wherein the protecting layer, the printing layer, and the filler layer are made of PETG; laminating the protecting layer, the printing layer, and the filler layer in a top-to-bottom sequence so as to form a semi-finished product; and stress-releasing the semi-finished tile product to form a tile.

People use different floor coverings in interior decoration. In view of the environmental issue has been paid more and more attention universally, to select an environmental friendly floor covering has become a main trend nowadays.
At present, the floor tiles made of Polyvinylchloride (PVC) gain the main market share of the floor coverings. It is mainly because of easy processing and low raw material cost.
However, PVC floor tiles will produce hydrogen chloride (HCl) when combustion or decomposition of the recycled PVC floor tiles. Consequently, it brings acid rain and soil acidification. Furthermore, the plasticizer used in PVC floor tiles is an endocrine disrupting chemical (EDC). Hence, some international organizations, such as Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) has been trying to set up regulations to restrict the use of aforesaid chemical substances.
At present PVC free floor tiles, such as tiles made of polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE) and Surlyn have the problem on installation. Due to the molecular surface tension of PP, PE and Surlyn, the tiles are not easy to adhere to the floors and cause a great deal of failures in installation.
Therefore, it is imperative to invent a kind of floor tile and a manufacturing method to meet the environmental friendly requirement and meanwhile, easy adhesion in installation.

Tile and method for manufacturing the same


Testicular germline markers and their use for predicting the presence or not of reproductive cells in testis of an infertile or hypo fertile male subject are provided. More particularly, identification of specific protein biomarkers of post-meiotic germ cells in the human seminal plasma was carried out by an integrative genomics approach. It was demonstrated that the presence of such biomarkers could be monitored in the seminal plasma of azoospermic subjects in order to select for a testis biopsy and testicular sperm extraction (TESE) only subjects for which there are high probabilities to find reproductive cells. The results indicate the analysis of seminal plasma is a non-invasive approach for predicting the presence of reproductive cells.

Infertility is a common problem throughout the world. Approximately fifteen percent of all couples encounter fertility problems during their reproductive lifetime and in about half of the cases the cause is of male origin (1-2). Despite the possible deleterious role of lifestyle, environmental and/or genetic factors evoked on male reproduction, the aetiologies of most infertility cases remain unknown. According to various sources, male factors represent about one third to 40% of all infertility situations. Routine semen analysis may indicate defective sperm production or diminished sperm motility as well as an abnormal sperm morphology resulting of a defective spermiogenesis. It may also reveal the absence of spermatozoa in semen, a situation termed azoospermia which concerns about 8% of men with fertility problems (3). It is the consequence of either an obstructed or discontinuous male genital tract such as the bilateral agenesis of the vas deferens (obstructive azoospermia; OA) or a failure of the testis to initiate or maintain spermatogenesis due to endogenous or exogenous abnormalities (non-obstructive azoospermia, NOA).
One of the most dramatic revolutions to occur in the field of assisted reproductive technology over the past two decades was the introduction of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), which has indeed revolutionized the treatment of severe male infertility (4). For men with azoospermia, surgical retrieval of sperm cells from the epididymis or testicular biopsies in combination with ICSI opened new avenues in the management of male infertilities (5-7). In the vast majority of obstructive cases, spermatozoa are often abundant in the epididymis or seminiferous tubules, thus allowing high rates of retrieval through percutaneous epididymal sperm aspiration (PESA), microepididymal sperm aspiration (MESA) or testicular sperm aspiration (TESA) (8). However, in NOA subjects, the epididymis is devoid of spermatozoa and spermatogenesis is severely impacted or reduced. Regardless of the underlying aetiology, which often remains unexplained, restoring the fertility of NOA subjects generally relies on recovering spermatozoa from testicular biopsies via a sperm extraction procedure (testicular sperm extraction; TESE), which is then followed by in vitro fertilization with ICSI (9). Unfortunately, testicular spermatozoa are found in only around 50% to markedly lower rates of subjects with NOA (10). This poor result is due to the fact that both testes may be devoid of germ cells (i.e. Sertoli-Cell-Only syndrome; SCO), house an incomplete spermatogenesis (i.e. maturation arrest) or, under the best circumstance, contain only scarce residual sites of complete spermatogenesis. In the latter situation, spermatozoa can be retrieved by chance from a testis biopsy. This is the reason why counseling is crucial in the management of infertile men. None of the subjects parameters examined to date have been shown to predict successful biopsy/TESE outcomes (11).
Thus, it appears crucial for clinicians to identify factors that may predict a high probability of spermatozoa retrieval since unsuccessful sperm recovery procedures have significant emotional and financial implications. However, none of the examined parameters to date could be used to predict successful outcomes (11).
Apart from its obvious role in transporting male gametes, the seminal plasma provides a protective environment for ejaculated spermatozoa and improves their fertilization potential. Seminal plasma is a highly complex fluid, which contains proteins secreted from several glands in the male reproductive tract, including the testis, epididymis, seminal vesicles and prostate. Indeed, like most body fluids, seminal plasma contains many proteins at widely different concentrations, which renders scarce proteins very difficult to identify and quantify. Also, reproductive disorders can cause certain compositional changes that are known to alter the properties of seminal plasma. Thus, this bio fluid is considered to be a promising source of biomarkers of male infertility and/or pathologies of the male genital tract. In addition, although its production may be altered, seminal plasma continues to be produced in most cases of infertility. Over the past decade, several studies have investigated the protein composition of seminal plasma in healthy donors and have identified numerous proteins through proteomic analyses (12). For example, a large-scale mass spectrometric analysis of human seminal plasma, conducted using an LTQ-FTICR instrument, allowed 923 seminal plasma proteins to be identified with high confidence (13). However, most previous studies have failed to identify known components of the seminal plasma, such as human beta-defensins (e.g, HBD1). This confirms that accessing the proteins present at very low concentrations is hampered by the overwhelming signals produced by a few dominant proteins. Indeed, thorough analysis of very complex biofluids requires an optimized strategy that is not exclusively based on mass spectrometry sensitivity and dynamic range.
However, there is a need to identify non-invasive technique and new methods for predicting the presence of reproductive cells in testis of an infertile or hypofertile subjects. In this way, it has been suggested that the characterization of new testicular germline biomarkers in the seminal plasma may be highly desirable.

Method for predicting the presence of reproductive cells in TESTIS

INSERM (Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale)


A grey gold alloy which is nickel-free, cobalt-free, iron-free, silver-free, copper-free, zirconium-free, niobium-free, chromium-free and manganese-free, including, expressed in weight percent, from 75.0 to 76.5% of Au, from 15 to 23% of Pd, from 0.5 to 5% of Rh, from 0 to 7% of Pt, and from 0 to 5% of at least one of the alloying elements Ir, Ru, Ti, In, Ga, B and Re, the respective percentages of all the alloying elements adding up to 100%.

There are two main sorts of grey gold alloys on the market: alloys in which the whitening metal for the gold is nickel, and those where this metal is palladium. However, alloys containing nickel are used less and less due to their allergenic properties on contact with the skin, which precludes their use in external timepiece components. Consequently, palladium alloys are used for this function.
Grey gold alloys intended to be used in the fields of watchmaking and jewelry must satisfy two constraints relating first to their brightness/whiteness and secondly to their capacity for deformation. They must therefore have a pure white colour and brightness and excellent ductility and resistance to corrosion. More specifically, the desired grey gold alloys must have values in the L*a*b colour space (CIE 1976) such that L 80, a*<1.5 and b*<7, preferably b*<6, and more preferably b*<5, and a Vickers hardness comprised between 140 HV and 225 HV, the lowest values being the most favourable for deformation.
As the whitening effect of palladium is less than that of nickel, these alloys necessarily have a high palladium content, which reduces their mechanical properties. Further, rhodium plating is often used to improve the colour and reflectivity of the alloys, in order to enhance the brightness of the jewels when the alloys are used for settings.
This rhodium plating is a major long-term drawback because the rhodium plating layer, on the order of 1 to 5 microns, always eventually wears away. Consequently, the after-sales service is faced with an expensive re-plating operation, due to the need to conceal the difference in colour between the alloy and the rhodium improvement layer.
These colours can be compared through several references mentioned above.
EP Patent 1010768 relates to 18 carat grey gold alloys having a palladium content comprised between 12 and 14%, and also comprising cooper, which gives values in the L*a*b colour space such that 1.8<a*<2.3 and 7<b*<10.
EP Patent 1227166 relates to 18 carat, palladium-free, grey gold alloys comprising copper and manganese, which gives values in the L*a*b colour space such that 2.6<a*<6 and 10<b*<13.
EP Patent 1245688 relates to 18 carat grey gold alloys having a palladium content comprised between 5 and 7%, also comprising copper and silver, which gives colour values in the L*a*b system such that 1.5<a*<4.5 and 10.5<b*<15.2.
The a* and b* colour values of the alloys described in these three patents are too high to claim that it is unnecessary to improve the surface by rhodium-plating.
EP Patent Application 2546371 relates to 18 carat grey gold alloys having a palladium content comprised between 2 and 12% and a chromium content comprised between 13 and 23%, which gives values in the L*a*b colour space such that 0.25<a*<0.7 and 3<b*<4.2.
WO Patent Application 2010/127458 relates to 18 carat grey gold alloys having a palladium content comprised between 18 and 24% and a content of various elements comprising Zr, Nb or Mn comprised between 1 and 6%, which gives values in the L*a*b colour space such that 1.1<a*<1.5 and 4.5<b*<5.7.
The alloys described in the latter two patent applications have sufficient a* and b* colour values to claim that it is unnecessary to improve the surface by rhodium-plating. However, the hardness of these alloys is too high (cf. alloys No. 2 (370 HV) and 3 (276 HV) in Tables 1 and 2 below) to ensure ease of use during deformations in the manufacturing process.

The Swatch Group Research and Development Ltd


This invention relates to thieno tetrahydropyridine and isoquinoline derivative compounds which are useful as antiarrhythmic agents, pharmaceutical compositions comprising such compounds, novel intermediates for their preparation and their methods of use. More particularly these thieno tetrahydropyridine and isoquinoline derivative compounds have been demonstrated to increase the effective refractory period (ERP) of isolated perfused cardiac tissue in vitro.

It has been estimated that in persons between the ages of 35 and 64 years of age, nearly 1 death in three is due to coronary heart disease Gordon, T.; Kannel, W. B. J. Amer. Med. Assoc., 1971, 215,1617] and there are approximately 400,000 sudden cardiac deaths annually in the United States alone [Green, H. L.; et al, Amer. J. Cardiology, 1989, 63, 1]. Over the last few years, development of drugs to treat cardiac arrhythmias (sudden cardiac death) has received much attention [Steinberg, M. I.; Lacefield, W. B.; Robertson, D. W. Class I and III Antiarrhythmic Drugs. In Ann. Reports in Med. Chem., Bailey, D. M., Ed.; Academic Press, Inc.: Orlando, 1986; 21, pp 95-108; Arrowsmith, J. E.; Cross, P. E. Antiarrhythmic Agents. In Ann. Reports in Med. Chem., Bristol, J. A., Ed.; Academic Press, Inc.: San Diego, 1990; 25, pp 79-88]. A classification of these drugs has been presented by Vaughan Williams [Vaughan Williams, E. M. J. Clin. Pharmacol., 1984, 24, 129] which is based on their electrophysiological effects on cardiac tissue.
Class I agents and subclasses (Ia, Ib, Ic) are defined as antiarrhythmic agents which have inhibitory effects on the sodium channel which result in a reduction of conduction velocity in the cardiac tissue . The Class I agents are currently the most widely used for antiarrhythmic therapy. Recent results of the Cardiac Arrhythmia Suppression Trial (CAST), [N. Engl. J. Med., 1989, 321, 4061, have raised concerns about the Class IC subtype (e.g. flecainide) and suggest that antiarrhythmic drugs having other mechanisms of action should be considered.
Specific Class III antiarrhythmic drugs (e.g. d-sotalol) do not affect cardiac sodium channels or conduction velocity. These agents selectively prolong the cardiac action potential duration and thereby increase the effective refractory period (ERP). Prolongation of refractoriness is an effective means of preventing or terminating atrial and ventricular arrhythmias, the latter of which can be life threatening.
The discovery and development of new Class III antiarrhythmic agents which may be effective for the prevention of sudden cardiac death is desirable and is an object of the present invention.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide novel compounds which are useful as antiarrhythmic agents. Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth, in part, in the description which follows and in part will be obvious from this description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention are realized and obtained by means of the methods, and the combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Thieno tetrahydropyridines useful as class III antiarrhythmic agents


The present disclosure relates to the field of communication technology, and provides a connector for photoelectric hybrid in free space of magnetic absorption comprising matching a male connector and a female connector and provided with a conductive pin and an electrical contact used for conduction, an optical communication module for optical communication and comprising optical fiber connector and lens capable of expanding the light beam output to each other, a spacing formed between the two lenses, and the male connector and the female connector aligned and remained in a plug-in state through a magnetic field. Furthermore, a guiding structure is provided to embody precise alignment of the lens of the male connector and the lens of the female connector. The connector can transmit both optical signals and electrical signals, and has the characteristics of high processing yield, high reliability, and convenient use.

In the field of communications, especially in the field of consumer products, such as smart terminals such as laptops, computers, TVs, and mobile phones, copper wires are configured to transmit signals and data in traditional applications. In order to meet the increasing transmission capacity and high-speed transmission requirements, the inventor has invented a communication method that replaces traditional cables, and has successively filed the following Chinese patent applications: 1. Communication terminal based on free space optical communication, communication device and communication system, of which the publication number is CN109586790A and 2. Optical fiber connection optical component, of which the publication number is CN110780391A.
On this basis, the inventor further studied, and provides a connector for photoelectric hybrid in free space of magnetic absorption.

Connector for photoelectric hybrid in free space of magnetic absorption


A mat-like structure contains a substantially planar support array, which may be in the form of a lattice or an array of separate members, and a plurality of elastically yielding integral elements consisting of at least two half-arches having their free ends connected to different points of the support array. The structure may be used, for example, for a vehicle seat, a snow chain or a load restraint device.

This invention relates to limited-compressibility support structures having elastically deformable elements.
German Patent No. 36 09 095 discloses a support structure of limited compressibility for use in a vehicle seat pad. That structure provides a spacer which assures that, even when a load is placed on the seat pad by a seated person, a space traversed by airflow is maintained in the pad. That structure comprises elements of an essentially plane truss referred to as compression distributors and not directly connected to each other. Each compression distributor includes compression members set perpendicular to the plane of the truss and abutting at their free ends by slightly convex elastically deformable parts, referred to as spacers, at their free ends. In top view, these convex deformable parts are more or less star-shaped, so that each indirectly connects several compression distributors. Near the vertices of their convexities, these parts connect in turn with similarly shaped elastically deformable elements constituting a second layer.

Limited compressibility support structure


A secured method of cryptographic computation to generate output data from input data and from a secret key includes a derived key scheduling step to provide a derived key from the secret key according to a known key scheduling operation. The method also includes a masking step, performed before the derived key scheduling step, to mask the secret key so that the derived scheduled key is different at each implementation of the method. The present method and component can be used in transfer type applications, such as bank type applications.

Components with strictly controlled access to the services and/or to the data typically have an architecture formed around the microprocessor and a program memory including the secret key. Such components are used for example in smart cards, especially for banking applications, via a control terminal or remote terminal. Such components use one or more secret key encryption or private key encryption methods to compute an output data from an input data. Such a method is used for example to encipher, decipher, authenticate or sign an input message or else verify the signature of the input message.
To ensure the security of the transactions, the secret key or private key encryption methods are constructed in such a way that it is not possible to determine the secret key used from the knowledge of the input data and/or the output data of the algorithm. However, the security of a component relies on its capacity to keep the secret key that it uses concealed, for this key cannot be modified.
One method frequently used is the DES (Data Encryption Standard) type method. This method can be used for example to give an enciphered message MS (or output data) encoded on 64 bits, from a plaintext message ME (or input data) also encoded on 64 bits, and a secret 56-bit key K0. The main steps of the DES are described in detail with reference to FIG. 1. After an initial permutation IP, the block formed by the permutated bits of the input data is separated into a left-hand part L0 and a right-hand part R0.
After this, 16 rounds of identical operations are performed. During each round of operations, the right-hand part (R0, . . . , R15) of an intermediate data computed during the previous round of operations is combined with a derivative key (M1, . . . , M16) during a transformation called a transformation F. The result of the transformation F is then added (XOR operation) to the left-hand part (L0, . . . , L15) of the intermediate data computed during the previous round of operations.
After the 16th round of operations, the left-hand part L16 and right-hand part R16 of the 16th intermediate data are assembled and a final permutation IP−1, which is the inverse of the initial permutation IP, terminates the procedure. An i-ranking round of operations included between 1 and 16 is described in detail with reference to FIG. 2. The 56 bits of an intermediate key Ki−1 computed during the previous round are shifted (operation Si) to give a new updated intermediate key Ki, then 48 bits out of 56 are selected by an operation PC of permutation/compression to provide a derived key Mi−Mi=PC(Ki)=PC(Si(Ki−1). The association of the steps PC and Si forms a key computation step ET2.
In parallel, the transformation F is carried out. The right-hand part Ri−1 of a piece of intermediate data computed during the previous round is extended to 48 bits by an expansion (operation E), combined with the derived key M by an XOR type operation, replaced by 32 new bits by a substitution operation (represented by the operation SBOX), then permutated once again (operation P). In practice, the operations F, P, E, PC, SBOX are identical for all the rounds. On the contrary, the operations S1 to S16 used during the computation of the derived keys K1 to K16 are different from one round to another.
All the characteristics of the operations IP, Ip−1, P, PC, E, SBOX, Si performed during the implementation of a DES method are known: the computations made, the parameters used, etc. These characteristics are, for example, described in detail in the patent application WO 00/46953 or in the "Data Encryption Standard, FIPS PUB 46", published on 15 Jan. 1977.
The security of a component using an secret key or private key encryption method lies in its capacity to keep the key that it uses secret, especially when it undergoes SPA type analysis. In an SPA analysis, the component is made to execute several time the encryption method that it uses by applying the same input data ME, and, for each execution of the method, the trace left by this execution is measured as a function of time. The trace represents, for example, the power consumption of the component or the electromagnetic energy radiated as a function of time. The set of measurements are then averaged to eliminate the noise from the measurement and obtain the real trace of the circuit for a fixed input data ME. For example, a set of 10 to 1000 identical measurements may be enough to eliminate the noise from the measurement and obtain the real trace of the component for a fixed input data ME.
The form taken by a trace such as this is shown in FIG. 3, in the case of a DES type method. This figure clearly shows the different steps of the DES method: initial permutation IP before the instant t1, 16 rounds of operation between the instant t2 and t1, t3 and t2, . . . , t17 and t16, and final permutation IP−1 after the instant t17. As can be seen in the trace of FIG. 3, it is thus fairly simple to obtain information on the secret key used in the case of a component using a standard DES method. For example, it is possible, for each round of operations, to determine an image of a derived key Mi by identifying the time interval during which a derived key transfer instruction is carried out before the execution of the XOR operation. Since all the derived keys M1 to M16 are obtained from the secret key K0 by known operations, the knowledge of simple images of the derived keys provides information on the secret key.
More generally, all the encryption methods using secret keys are more or less sensitive to SPA type analysis. Their sensitivity is especially important during the performance of a critical step during which the secret key is used either directly or in a derived form obtained by a known law of derived key scheduling. A critical step of this kind is for example a derived key scheduling step during which an updated derived key Mi is computed from a previously computed key Ki−1.

Secure method for secret key cryptographic calculation and component using said method


A mirror support plate for use with vehicles, which can be attached to a holder by way of a chucking and sliding connection. The support plate is provided with two ridges which protrude from its back and include at least one projection which extends towards the other ridge in such manner that the border region of the holder can be inserted between the back of the holder and the projections. The mirror support plate includes a first elastic element and second elastic element, which function as upper and lower elements. The elastic elements are designed so that as the holder is inserted, it elastically deforms the lower one of the first and second elastic elements towards the back of the mirror support plate allowing outer edges of the holder to move into frictional contact with the projections and the back of the support plate and its upper end into interlocking contact with the upper of the first and second elastic elements.

The present invention relates to a mirror support plate as well as to a mirror arrangement incorporating the mirror support plate.
Rear-view mirrors in vehicles generally comprise a mirror pane which is attached onto a mirror support plate. The mirror support plate may be a simple frame or a housing in which the mirror pane is attached fixedly or so it may be adjustable either manually or by motor. This mirror support plate is attached onto a holder which is in turn attached to the vehicle.
In order to replace damaged mirror panes or support plates it is known to detach the mirror support plate from the holder by way of a detachable chucking and sliding connection. For this purpose the holder has two plate-shaped border regions arranged in opposed relation. The mirror support plate has two ridges on its back from which extended projections are designed so that the border regions of the holder can be inserted between the back of the mirror support plate and the projections.
A rigid stop against which the inserted holder is interlockingly pressed is provided in the insertion direction toward the upper end of the mirror support plate. The inserted mirror support plate is then held on the holder by its own weight. The sliding connection described above is preferably made in the form of a chucking and sliding connection whereby the border regions of the holder are fixed in a frictionally engaged manner between the back of the mirror support plate and the projections. EP 0 609 508 B1 discloses such a mirror arrangement with chucking and sliding connection where projections and border zones are complementary, so that the mirror support plate can be installed on the holder from the front and can then be displaced in insertion direction.
Due to the vibrations which occur during operation of the vehicle, a simple chucking connection is disadvantageous because the mirror support plate is prone to move relative to the holder. In the worst case the chucking connection may fail. For this reason EP 0 799 744 B1 proposes on the one hand a wedge-shaped arrangement of the ridges and the border regions of the holder in order to ensure automatic centering as a result of its own weight. Alternatively, the instant invention proposes providing a receiving channel on the holder which is open toward the top. Anchoring ridges on the mirror support plate are designed to cooperate with the channel so that when the holder is inserted from below into the mirror support plate it is held in position.
Left and right mirror support plates, as now known, are different, that is different mirror support plates must be produced and kept in stock for the left and for the right vehicle side because of the above-mentioned chucking and sliding connection which is designed for only one direction of insertion. This is costly.
It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a mirror support plate with a chucking and sliding connection that can be used as a left-side as well as a right-side mirror support plate. EP 0 609 508 B1 discloses such a mirror arrangement with a chucking and sliding connection whereby the projections and border region are designed so as to complement each other, so that the mirror support plate can be installed from the front on the holder and can then be displaced in the insertion direction.
In particular due to the vibrations occurring in operation, a mere chucking connection is disadvantageous because the mirror support plate could then move relative to the holder. EP 0 799 744 B1 therefore proposes on the one hand to dispose the ridges and border regions of the holder in a wedge shape in order to thus ensure automatic centering as a result of their own weight. Alternatively, the instant invention proposes to provide a receiving channel open at the top into which anchoring ridges are configured in a complementary fashion to engage and hold the mirror support plate with the holder when the holder is inserted from below into the mirror support plate.
Left and right mirror support plates of the invention are constructed to be interchangeable by rotation around its axis. This means that the mirror support plate provided for the right vehicle side is identical with the one for the left vehicle side when rotated around its longitudinal and transversal axis. In known mirror support plates constructed for one direction insertion, different mirror support plates must be manufactured and stored for the left and right vehicle side due to the above-mentioned chucking and sliding connection. This is costly.
It is, therefore, the object of the present invention to provide a mirror support plate with a chucking and sliding connection which can be used equally as a left and a right mirror support plate.
Another object of the invention is a mirror support plate which can be attached to a support by means of a chucking and sliding connection provided in that the mirror support plate has two ridges protruding from its back, each of which includes at least one projection which extends towards the other ridge in such manner that the border region of the holder can be inserted between the back of the support plate and the projection and is held in this position.
According to the invention, a mirror support plate is provided with a first elastic element and a second elastic element. The elastic elements are designed so that the holder may be inserted from either end of the support plate. During insertion, it engages and deforms the lower of the first and second elastic elements elastically in the direction of the back of the mirror support plate. The holder then moves into interlocking contact with the other or upper first and second elastic elements. The terms "upper" and "lower" refer here to the direction of insertion.
The holder can be inserted equally from one or the other end, in the direction of the two ridges, into the chucking and sliding connection. Depending on the direction of insertion, the uppermost one of the elastic elements in the insertion direction serves as a stop to delimit the insertion movement, i.e. the holder bears upon this upper elastic element. The other elastic element which is the lower one in the insertion direction, is deformed elastically downward by the holder as it is inserted and urged into position. With a completely inserted holder, the lower elastic element will snap back into its starting position or substantially into its starting position and, thus, fix the holder interlockingly in place. In an alternative embodiment the lower elastic element remains elastically deformed, even when the holder is completely inserted, so that it exerts an elastic force upon the holder which force acts to prevent the mirror support plate from sliding out of the holder. The holder is pressed advantageously against the projections of the lower elastic elements causing the frictional engagement of the chucking connection to thus be heightened. In either case a relative movement of the mirror support plate on the holder due to vibration is advantageously reduced.
The first and the second elastic element thus serve alternately, depending on the direction of insertion, one time as upper stop against the direction of insertion and the other time as lower force provider acting against any exiting movement of the holder against the direction of insertion. Thereby it is advantageously possible to provide only one mirror support plate for the left and the right vehicle side. Depending on the vehicle side, the mirror support plate is rotated around its axis by 180° and is attachable to the holder on either vehicle side. This action is possible because either of the elastic elements are able to function equally as the upper stop or the lower force transmitter. This is achievable as both of the elastic elements are elastically deformable allowing whichever is the lower one to be depressed as the holder is inserted.
The mirror support plate and/or the elastic elements are preferably made of plastic, as this reduces the cost of manufacture, and particularly, allows the elastic elements to have the desired deformation characteristics, i.e. spring hardness, etc. The mirror support plate and the elastic elements can advantageously be made in one piece and can thus be produced in one single forming process.
In an advantageous embodiment several projections extend from at least one ridge. The holder is preferably provided with a complementarily configured border region such as described in EP 0 609 508 B1. The chucking and sliding device described therein is incorporated to this extent in its entire content into the present application.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the elastic elements have a projection on their upper inner end constructed to provide a stop. The projections of the lower elastic elements in the direction of insertion, engage behind the inserted holder when in the inserted position. The lower elastic elements are advantageously still elastically deformed when engaged with the completely inserted holder which allows the elastic force to first act against outward movement of the holder while urging it against the projections on the ridge. The structure is such that the chucking and sliding connection under continued elastic deformation of the lower elastic element is easily undone. The projection on the elastic element supports the holder both interlockingly and from sliding out. The projections on the elastic elements are designed so that movement of the holder against the direction of insertion exerts a sufficient force upon the lower elastic element to further deform the latter, and thus, free the holder for outward movement. In this manner, it is possible to simply pull the mirror support plate against the direction of insertion into the holder for removal from the holder.
The first and/or second elastic elements comprise several elastic elements, so that a twisting of the inserted holder around the vertical axis is prevented.

Reversible mounting for mirror support plate


A merchandising display shelf track device for receiving a row of articles for sliding movement therealong has non-planar front face members connected to a base wall and sidewalls. Racking forces exerted on the front face members are transferred through the non-planar face members to the base wall and sidewalls to minimize racking. An anti-torsion bar connects the front face members to prevent spreading of the sidewalls and thereby minimize racking.

A display rack unit is assembled from multiple track devices for merchandising articles such as bottled or canned drink products. The display rack unit may include a plurality of elongated track devices detachably interconnected in side-by-side relationship at adjacent sidewalls forming channels for beverage containers to slide along. It is common for adjacent channels to share a common sidewall to conserve space in the cooler. The number of track devices used to assemble the display rack unit is determined such that the overall size of the unit is suitable for placement onto an existing display shelf in a retail environment to fill the width of the shelf. A single retail installation for dispensing canned or bottled beverages can have hundreds of individual channels.
When manufacturing display track devices, cost is a factor, as well as appearance. To reduce material, and thereby material cost, adjacent tracks share a common sidewall, and the sidewalls as well as other members are formed with openings or voids. Sidewalls can be made thinner to conserve material, but thinner sidewalls tend to be flimsy which is undesirable. Strengthening ribs can be formed in the sidewalls to improve rigidity, but ribs effectively increase sidewall thickness thereby requiring more cooler space. The sidewalls, particularly at the front of the display track, have a tendency to spread apart. During use, a track device experiences forces that not only tend to cause the spreading of the sidewalls, but also causes racking the entire display track. Racking is the tendency of one component, which, when subjected to a force, to stress other components thereby distorting the display track causing the display track device to malfunction or break. Racking is a twisting of the structure. Increasing component thickness cures racking and spreading but is undesirable because the increased bulk increases manufacturing costs and lacks the desired aesthetics.
For the retail environment, not only are thinner walls desired, but an unobscured view of the product label in the display track as well. Such constraints have led to the use of an upper cross member at the top front of the track device to bridge the sidewalls or front structure. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,325,221 (Parham), 6,237,784 (Primiano) and 5,645,176 (Jay) disclose track devices with a cross member.
The upper bridging cross member connects at each end to a sidewall or face panel to prevent spreading and reduce racking. Unfortunately, such cross members, when made with thin component thickness, are susceptible to breaking, with subsequent spreading. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that it would be highly desirable to have a display track device that conserves material and resists racking and spreading.

Display track device with anti-torsion bar


The present invention provides disk coercion by generating coercion percentages or values that can be used to coerce various disks according to each disk's particular labeled size or capacity. In one embodiment, a disk size is received and a base coercion scaling factor is provided such that the received disk size is coerced according to the base coercion scaling factor if the labeled disk capacity is below a disk size threshold. The coercion scaling factor increases for labeled disk capacity above the disk threshold. If the labeled disk capacity is above the disk size threshold, then a coercion scaling factor is provided according to the rate of increase of coercion scaling factors and the labeled disk capacity.

A. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to storage devices, and more particularly, to the method for defining capacity for a disk drive.
B. Background of the Invention
Disk arrays comprising multiple disk drives have emerged as a low cost alternative to the use of single large disks for non-volatile storage of information. The disk array when coupled to a host system, offers great improvements in performance, reliability, power consumption and scalability over a single large magnetic disk. An example of such a disk array is a Redundant Array of Independent Disks (hereinafter "RAID"). The use of multiple drives within such an array allows the recordation of redundant information on the disk drives so that lost data may be reconstructed in the event of a drive failure. Although the data may be recovered, a failed drive is often required to be replaced by a new physical disk drive.
The new drive may vary slightly in capacity as compared to the earlier failed drive. This slight capacity difference is due to the fact that the new drive may be purchased from different vendors or the model of the new drive may be different than the earlier drive which failed. For example, a 36 GB drive from one vendor may have slightly less or more capacity than 36 GB from a second vendor even if both vendors advertise the size of the drive to be of 36 GB capacity. This may also be true for the drives coming from the same vendor but possessing different models. Accordingly, when a drive of 36 GB fails, and is replaced by a new 36 GB drive of a different model or from a different vendor; the new drive may not have exactly 36 GB of capacity but vary by a fraction.
The variation in drive size by some fraction may lead to errors when large number of drives are used in an array thereby making overall volume of storage system to be slightly variant (approximately 2-3%) from the expected volume. When constructing or repairing a RAID, it is important to consider the actual size/capacity of the disks that are to be located within the array. If there are any size mismatches, then the array may not operate properly.
Prior art disk coercion techniques, such as the method shown in FIG. 1, are used to ensure disk capacity matches within the array. Disk coercion 101 may be basically described as an input/output algorithm wherein the disk size 102 is given as an input to obtain the coerced disk size 103 as an output. The disk size may also be provided as a block count of the disk 105 to get the coerced value of the respective block count 106. Disk coercion or drive coercion forces the drives within an array to use less than their full capacity so that when a drive fails and has to be replaced and if the replacement drive happens to be smaller, it is easily accommodated within the slightly reduced space on the disk. In principle, the coercion phenomenon forces the larger drives to use only the amount of capacity available on the smallest drive within the array. For instance in a RAID volume of 36, 35.7 and 36.5 GB drives, the 36 and 36.5 GB drives will be forced to use only 35.7 GB of their space.
The difficulty with prior art coercion techniques is identifying an appropriate coercion factor that reduces the available disk capacities below the smallest drive. One method that is used is coercing a disk within the array by a certain percentage factor, such as 2%, to ensure that its perceived capacity is smaller than the smallest disk within the array. However, as disk capacities within an array increase, the percentage factor may coerce the disk capacity by too little causing coercion to be ineffective.
A boundary based coercion method may be used which may allow an option to map out a reserved space to compensate for slightly smaller drive sizes that may be added later. In the boundary-based coercion, multiple disks are analyzed and their capacities are rounded down to an arbitrary boundary. However, such algorithms also lead to the size-matching problem as explained earlier. Further, as the difference between the size of the drive and the boundary increases, the amount of non-utilized storage and RAID inefficiencies increases.


A method for cleaning a microporous, water-wettable, alcohol-insoluble, polyamide membrane used for cold beer filtration using a dilute, alkaline solution which is non-destructive to the membrane and the filtration equipment and which removes and/or de-absorbs and otherwise renders loaded proteins, polysaccharides and other biomolecules flushable from the membrane with water.

Non-pasteurized, cold filtered draft beer is becoming an increasingly popular substitute for heat pasteurized beer. Beer is a complex liquid which contains a considerable amount of suspended solids and a number of organic constituents obtained from fermentation. Beer, being a complex solution, requires filtration in order to obtain a product of satisfactory quality. Commercial beer production generally involves multiple filtration steps where the first step is employed to remove larger particles and residues from the natural products associated with fermentation, "dirt." Often times a process may call for multiple dirt removal filtration steps for a particular type of beer. However, even following such steps the resulting filtrate is not necessarily safe for drinking since it may include an unacceptably high bacteriological titer.
For many years the industry has relied on heat pasteurization to reduce the amount of bacteria in draft beer to acceptable levels; those meeting governmental and industry standards. Heat pasteurization kills bacteria existing in the fermentation broth which is then subject to coarse filtration to remove relatively large suspended matter, e.g., 0.65 .mu.m and larger. However effective to reduce bacterial contamination, heat pasteurization forms many undesirable by-products which adversely affect the quality (taste) of the beer. Thus, the industry with increasing frequency is turning to cold filtration techniques, i.e., filtration occurring at about 33.degree. F.
In cold filtration processes, the application of heat is avoided which, in turn, avoids the formation of undesirable heat by-products. However, since heat is not employed to kill the ambient bacteria in raw beer ferment, filtration is relied on to provide the requisite degree of bacterial removal, at least to a titer satisfying the various mandatory standards. For example, the titer of lactose bacillus must be reduced significantly in order to meet such standards. To achieve such removal, the filter should have at least a 0.45 .mu.m rating which contrasts with the coarser 0.65 .mu.m rating for heat pasteurized beer.
In order to provide a reasonable degree of processing flexibility in selecting filtration parameters, the beer industry has turned to, among other things, supported polymeric membranes for cold beer filtration. Such membranes, such as those formed from polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) are particularly suited for cold beer filtration since the performance ratings are easily modified and the filters can be employed with typical batch processing equipment used for beer fermentation.
Thus, by departing from heat pasteurization and favoring cold filtering, the filters must provide increased performance criteria. Accordingly, cold filtration processes involve a higher degree of filtration to produce an effective bacterial removal rating in order to meet rigorous governmental pure food standards and sometimes more stringent industry standards while preserving the taste and quality of the beer.
The significant problem associated with the finer filters required for cold beer filtration is that they clog more easily than their coarser counterparts used for heat pasteurized beer. Clogging is due to protein and polysaccharide loading. Accordingly, supported polymeric membranes for cold beer filtration must either be disposed of or cleaned for re-use of the filters. To clean the filter membrane requires removal of proteins and polysaccharides sorbed in the membrane pores which cause membrane loading and eventual undesirable pressure rise in the filtering apparatus. Loading of chill haze constituents, e.g., proteins and polysaccharides occurs when such molecules which are smaller than the pore size of the particular filter but aggregates in the pores and thereby reduce the effective flow rate and uniformity of flow within the filter. In order to remove such loaded proteins and polysaccharides, techniques have been developed to clean such membranes and de-absorb and eliminate such macromolecules.
Commonly, the industry has turned to enzymes and detergents for cleaning PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride) filters. Cleaning such filters relies on various oxidizers employed in the enzyme or detergent. PVDF membranes are generally expensive and more difficult to manufacture and utilize than, for example, polyamide (nylon) membranes. However, to date, polyamide (nylon 66) membranes, while being less expensive, have been shunned for cold draft beer filtration, since commonly employed microporous membrane cleaning techniques, i.e., enzymes and detergent, are generally inapplicable and have proven unsuccessful with polyamide membranes. Accordingly, once polyamide membrane filter reaches a terminal .DELTA.p (pressure drop), the filter cartridges must be removed from the filtration tank, replaced, and the spent cartridges disposed of. This is both labor intensive and unduly costly.
The physical characteristics, apart from the cleaning problem, of polyamide membranes make them ideally suited for cold beer filtration since polyamide membranes provide process control flexibility, resist pressure deformation, provide uniform filtration characteristics for reducing bacteriological titers to satisfactory levels, are reliable and relatively inexpensive, and are easily adapted for different filter configuration. Furthermore, such polyamide membranes exhibit solution shape stability, substantially uniform flow characteristics, and substantially uniform bacteriological removal, i.e., pore ratings. An exemplary water-wettable, alcohol-insoluble, skinless, cast, polyamide membrane of the type for use in the instant invention is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,340,479, issued to Pall et al., and which is incorporated by reference herein. The polyamide (Nylon 66) membrane exhibits excellent performance characteristics applicable for use in cold draft beer filtration process. However, as noted, these polyamide membrane filters have not lent themselves to effective cleaning using detergents and enzymes; the commonly employed beer filter cleaning agents.
Microporous membranes conventionally when used for large scale cold draft beer filtration are generally disposed in an array fixed in a used filtration tank filter apparatus. Such tank filters may include an array of, for example, 80 forty inch filter cartridges. A tank of this type can be characterized by a filter assembly with an upper housing portion and a lower housing portion hinged to one another. The lower housing portion contains a flanged inlet port and a flanged drain port opening directly to a chamber. A centrally disposed standpipe in the chamber is in fluid communication with a flanged outlet port formed in the lower chamber and extending upwardly to and above the plane of separation between the upper and lower housing portions of the chamber. An easily accessible and replaceable, removable, sealed, filter array support with an array of stacked membrane filter cartridges, is positioned within the housing portions. The array support includes a lower perforated support plate and an upper, fluid impervious "tube sheet" or separation sheet, including a gasketed central opening dimensioned to complement the standpipe, is disposed and sealed between the upper and lower housing portions to provide a fluid tight seal therebetween.
In operation, the drain is blocked and the fluid, in this case, raw draft beer, is pumped into the lower housing portion. The fluid is confined, under pressure, in the lower chamber by the "tube sheet" and is constrained to flow only through the membrane filter elements. Thus, the beer passes from the outside of the cartridges to the inside of the cartridges through the microporous membrane and into the upper housing portion. The filtered beer collects in the upper housing portion and is removed, by gravity draining, through the outlet port in fluid communication with the standpipe.
The above arrangement is particularly useful since the filter array is cleanable either in place, or by opening the assembly by pivoting the upper and lower housing along the hinge and removing the filter array. If cleaned in place, the inlet source for raw beer is closed, and a cleaning fluid is introduced into the lower chamber. Sludge can be drained from the lower chamber drain as well as excess cleaning solution. The cleaning and rinsing fluid which passed through the filter cartridge to the upper chamber is drained from the assembly through the standpipe.
The beer brewing industry, commonly cleans brewing and processing equipment with a dilute caustic (NaOH) solution at elevated temperatures. Conventional membranes employed in beer filtration such as PVDF are not compatible with caustic solutions, i.e., the membranes will be damaged. Therefore, the membrane cartridges are either discarded or special provisions must be made to clean the filter cartridge units, alone apart from the tank and other filtering apparatus.
Finally, due to the inherent variations in different beers, there is no one uniform standard for filters used in cold beer filtration. Starting products are not identical, the bacterial involved in the fermentation and beer manufacturing process are not identical, and the final filtered beers are not identical. Accordingly, filter requirements differ from beer-to-beer since they are governed by the size of the bacteria which, in turn, are governed by the particular process employed for a particular beer. Thus, the performance characteristics and requirements for filters associated with cold draft beer filtration processes are not universal.

Cold draft beer filter membrane cleaning process


A method and apparatus is provided for translating queries, such as path expressions and SQL/XML constructs, into SQL statements to be executed against an XML index, which improves processor time as opposed to applying path expressions directly to the original XML documents to extract the desired information. Simple path expressions, filter expressions, descendant axes, wildcards, logical expressions, relational expressions, literals, and other path expressions are all translated into SQL for efficient querying of an XML index. Similarly, rules for translating SQL/XML constructs into SQL are provided.

There are many database systems that allow storage and querying of eXtensible Markup Language data ("XML data"). Though there are many evolving standards for querying XML, all of them include some variation of XPath. XPath allows XML data to be queried based on path expressions. A path expression is any expression that specifies a path through the hierarchical structure of an XML document. The portion of an XML document identified by a path expression is the portion that resides, within the structure of the XML document, at the end of any path that matches the path expression.
A query that uses a path expression to identify one or more specific pieces XML data is referred to herein as a path-based query. The process of determining which XML data corresponds to the path designated in a path-based query is referred to as "evaluating" the path expression.
Unfortunately, even database systems that have built-in support for storing XML data are usually not optimized to handle path-based queries, and the query performance of the database systems leaves much to be desired. In specific cases where an XML schema definition may be available, the structure and data types used in XML instance documents may be known. However, in cases where an XML schema definition is not available, and the documents to be searched do not conform to any schema, there are no efficient techniques for querying using path-based queries.
Without XML indexes, path expressions were directly evaluated against the base tables. As a result, the processing of these expressions involved a complete scan of the base tables. Each scanned row was tested to ascertain whether it satisfied the path expression. Moreover, the evaluation of the path expression was typically done in a functional way manner by constructing a DOM (memory data structure) and traversing the DOM tree while evaluating the path.
Based on the foregoing, there is a clear need to improve the processing time of path-based queries by providing a way for path-based queries to retrieve data from XML documents without incurring the problems associated with a complete scan of the base tables and construction of expensive memory data structures.
The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section.

Efficient query processing of XML data using XML index


A non-transitory storage medium stores instructions readable by a computer of an information processing apparatus. The information processing apparatus includes an accepter configured to accept an operation of a user. When executed by the computer, the instructions cause the information processing apparatus to perform: executing an accepting processing in which the accepter of the information processing apparatus accepts a selecting operation that is an operation of selecting data; executing an obtaining processing in which the information processing apparatus obtains a URL corresponding to data specified by the selecting operation accepted in the accepting processing; and executing a creating processing in which the information processing apparatus creates a two-dimensional code storing the URL obtained in the obtaining processing.

The following disclosure relates to a two-dimensional-code printing system and a non-transitory storage medium storing a plurality of instructions readable by a computer of an information processing apparatus, for obtaining a uniform resource locator (URL) to create a two-dimensional code storing the obtained URL.
There is conventionally known a technique of creating a two-dimensional code storing a URL. For example, there is known a configuration for creating, from a URL of a website, a short URL associated with the URL and shorter than the URL, and creating a QR code (registered trademark) storing the short URL.

Non-transitory storage medium storing instructions for creating two-dimensional-code


An automated packaging system that can simultaneously process a single case or a plurality of cases and can be adjusted to accommodate packages and cases of various sizes. Individual packages are fed to the packaging system on the package conveyor. The packages are recognized by the system when they energize an electric eye which causes the package to be elevated above the conveying surface of the package conveyor and stopped below a pick and place mechanism. The individual packages are elevated by plates having upper surfaces that extend through slots in the conveying surface and are stopped by vacuum cups carried by the upper surfaces of the plates. The upper surfaces of the plates are inclined which causes the packages to climb the incline which functions to decelerate the movement of the package. A plurality of cases are stopped and then positioned longitudinally, by stops carried by a first chain on the case conveyor at locations aligned with the packages that have been stopped and elevated over the package conveyor. The pick and place head picks up the packages with vacuum heads. The pick and place heads can change the attitude of the package. The pick and place mechanism is then moved laterally over the case conveyor and the packages are lowered into the open cases. Empty cases are queued up on the case conveyor waiting to be moved into packaging position as soon as the filled cases are conveyed away. After the filled cases have been discharged from the case conveyor, a first chain is moved into position to stop the next group of empty cases to be moved into the packaging position. By handling one package at a time and by adjusting the case and the pick and place vacuum tube, each package can be placed in the case in any position desired. As a result, this invention is able to create any desired pattern in the case with packages facing any desired direction and overlapping each other by any degree desired.

The invention relates to an apparatus for packaging products, such as filled, sealed packages, into cases. More specifically, the invention relates to a system that can package products of any size or shape into cases of any size or shape in selected packaging sequences or patterns. The apparatus of this invention is particularly adapted for packaging filled, sealed packages into cases in predetermined patterns. Packages of this type are of a general pillow-shape rather than square or rectangular, and often contain delicate and breakable products such as potato chips. Thus, such packages must be deliberately and delicately picked up and placed in the case in packaging patterns that are devised to ensure safe transportation of the product to the retail consumer. The packaging of packages having undefined shapes presents a unique challenge to developing packaging schemes and patterns that will not damage the product and will prevent the packages from shifting around within the closed cases. Successful packaging schemes for efficiently packaging bags of specific size and shape into cases of specific size and shape frequently require the bags to overlie or overlap, and alternate layers are sometimes different. However, in the past, there were no machines or apparatuses that could automatically and efficiently carry out these packaging schemes and plans for the packages and cases of various sizes. This invention permits individual packages to be picked up, the orientation of the packages to be varied and the packages to be deposited in cases. The machine can be adjusted to accommodate any package and case size within the frame size of a particular machine and can be programmed to orientate the package to accord with the packaging scheme. The invention also permits, in this manifestation, the packaging pattern to change from one layer to the next. Furthermore, this invention contemplates an apparatus that will simultaneously package products in a plurality of cases in uniform packaging patterns.

Universal packaging system with vacuum lifter