In a piston-ported engine, a sealing ring may be placed in a groove in the cylinder. As the groove is of greater diameter than the cylinder, the sealing ring overlaps into a helix allowing it to be enter the cylinder. However, such a helix does not fit into a groove without when in the helix. Alternatively, a shorter sealing ring is placed into the groove. However, the gap is too large. According to one embodiment, a groove of double the width of the ring is provided and the helical ring is installed and caused to unwind in the groove so that the ring sits in a plane. A spacer ring is placed in the groove to fill the extra space in the groove. An elastomeric material or a tension spring in an outer groove in the sealing ring can be used to cause the ring to press against the piston.

Rings are used to seal between a reciprocating piston and a cylinder. Conventionally, the rings are placed in grooves in the piston. In FIG. 1, a piston 100 is shown viewed from the top. Piston 100 has a piston skirt extending downwardly from the piston top. The piston skirt is generally cylindrical and has grooves formed in the outer surface. The inward edge of the groove is shown as a dashed circle 102. A piston ring 104 is shown that is spread apart to form a gap 106.
The situation when piston ring 104 is allowed to contract into the groove in piston 100 and into the cylinder (not shown) is shown in FIG. 2. Gap 106 is much smaller in the configuration in FIG. 2 than in the expanded position shown in FIG. 1. It is advantageous that gap 106 is very small when ring 104 is installed into the cylinder (not shown) so that a minimal amount of gases can pass through gap 106.
In a two-stroke engine, it is undesirable to lose oil through the ports both from an oil consumption and emissions perspective. Thus, two-stroke engines are provided with an oil ring that is located either in the lower portion of the piston i.e., below the ports or in the cylinder wall below the ports at TDC. A disadvantage of having the oil ring in the piston is that the engine is longer in the direction along the cylinder liner axis. In an OPOC engine, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,170,443, which is incorporated herein in its entirety, the extra length is in the longest dimension of the engine. A stationary seal can be a challenge to install the seal with a small gap in the cylinder liner.
An example of an OPOC engine 10 is shown in FIG. 27. An inner piston 12 and an outer piston 14 are associated with a right cylinder (not shown to view the pistons) and an inner piston 13 and an outer piston 15 are associated with a left cylinder (not shown). Pistons 12 and 13 couple to crankshaft 20 via pushrods 16 and pistons 14 and 15 coupled to crankshaft 20 via pullrods 18 (a pair of pullrods 18 for each outer piston). Inner pistons 12 and 13 have a groove near the bottom of the piston. In contrast, outer pistons 14 and 15 have only grooves for compression rings and no groove to accommodate an oil sealing ring. The oil sealing rings are disposed in grooves in the cylinder liners, not shown in FIG. 27.
A sealing ring, which may serve as a stationary oil ring mounted into the cylinder liner, is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. A cylinder 120 has a groove formed in an inner surface of cylinder 120. The base of the groove is shown as a dashed circle 122 (hidden line in the view shown in FIG. 3). A ring 124 with a small gap 126 is shown inside cylinder 120. When ring 124 is expanded to fit inside the groove in cylinder 120, gap 126 becomes intolerably large. That is, the gas flow through gap 126 would be too great.
In one alternative of a stationary seal, the cylinder is formed in two parts which couple axially. The groove is located at the end of one cylinder part. The ring is installed into the groove before the two parts of the cylinder are assembled. Disadvantages of this configuration include: higher part count: 2 pieces plus bolts for assembly; extra material to accommodate the bolts; and the requirement that the two pieces be perfectly aligned during machining and final assembly to provide a completely collinear cylinder liner in which the piston may freely reciprocate.
It would be desirable to have a ring that could be installed in groove in a single-piece cylinder, but without a large gap.

Dual ring configuration for a stationary seal


A medical connector having a substantially cylindrical shape, a first upper end for receiving a male luer, and a second lower end, and including:                a disc shaped valve member arranged at the first upper end and having an uppermost surface and a lowermost surface, a slit formed at a center portion thereof, an upper groove formed in a circumferential edge portion of the uppermost surface, and a lower groove formed in a circumferential edge portion of the lowermost surface;        a housing with a pedestal for supporting the disc shaped valve member;        a protrusion projecting upwardly from the pedestal and being arranged in the lower groove; and        an annular ring member disposed on the circumferential edge portion of the uppermost surface, and having a claw portion projecting downwardly and being arranged in the upper groove on the uppermost surface of the valve member.

In general, a medical connector, to which a medical connection tool such as a syringe or a luer lock connector can be connected, is disposed in an infusion route in order to mix and inject medicinal solution into the infusion route or to draw out body fluid therethrough. As the medical connector, there are known a cylindrical connector called a mechanical valve type in which a bellows cylindrical rubber valve with a spike built in the center portion thereof (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-505064 or Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-323397) and a connector called a split septum type which comprises a housing provided with a disc shaped valve (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-197254).
The mechanical valve-type connector is configured to internally communicate the connection tool with the infusion route in such a manner that a male luer of a connection tool is inserted into an opening of the connector while pushing a rubber valve and then, a slit of the distal end portion of the rubber valve is opened by the spike at the center portion. Although the mechanical valve-type connector is formed into a cylindrical shape so as to be connected to the luer lock connector, manufacturing cost increases because the shape of the rubber valve is complicated.
Meanwhile, the split septum-type connector is a connector formed by a housing to which the disc shaped valve is fixed, and manufacturing cost decreases because the shape is simple. The split septum-type connector is configured to allow the infusion route to communicate with the connection tool in such a manner that the male luer of the connection tool is directly inserted into the slit of the disc shaped valve to open the slit. Accordingly, in order to maintain resealing performance of the slit, the disc shaped valve is fixed to the inside of the housing so that an elastic repulsive force is large.
In the past, in order to fix the disc shaped valve, a swaging process has been used (see, for instance, PCT Japanese Translation Patent Publication No. 2-502976). The fixation method is carried out in such a manner that a valve is inserted into a cylindrical housing and then, the upper end portion of the housing is deformed inward by the swaging process to fix the valve thereto. However, in such a fixation method, it is difficult to control the deformed part and to stably fix the disc shaped valve. In addition, the upper surface of the disc shaped valve is not flush with the upper surface of the housing, and thus a stepped portion is formed therebetween. When the stepped portion is formed between the upper surfaces of the disc shaped valve and the housing, it is not possible to sufficiently disinfect the upper surfaces before using the connector, and thus germs may be mixed with the fluid in the infusion route.
For this reason, in order to fix the disc shaped valve to the housing, for instance, a connector disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-197254 is configured such that a housing of which the upper end portion is deformed inward is disposed so as to cover the valve from the upside and then a holder member is used to fix the housing. With such a configuration, although a stepped portion is not formed on the upper surface of the connector, the shape becomes complicated because the number of components increases. In addition, since the outer diameter of the connector itself becomes large, it is not possible to carry out the connection operation of the luer lock connector in which a female screw is formed on the outer circumference of the male luer. Accordingly, when a connection operation of the luer lock connector is carried out, it is necessary to use an exclusive connector, thereby deteriorating the merit that the shape of the split septum-type connector is simple.


An approach for addressing (e.g., preventing) detected network intrusions in a virtualized/networked (e.g., cloud) computing environment is provided. In a typical embodiment, users may group components/systems of an environment/domain according to a range of security sensitivity levels/classifications. The users may further configure rules for responding to security threats for each security sensitivity level/classification. For example, if a “highly dangerous” security threat is detected in or near a network segment that contains highly sensitive systems, the user may configure rules that will automatically isolate those systems that fall under the high security classification. Such an approach allows for more granular optimization and/or management of system security/intrusion prevention that may be managed at a system level rather than at a domain level.

The networked computing environment (e.g., cloud computing environment) is an enhancement to the predecessor grid environment, whereby multiple grids and other computation resources may be further enhanced by one or more additional abstraction layers (e.g., a cloud layer), thus making disparate devices appear to an end-consumer as a single pool of seamless resources. These resources may include such things as physical or logical computing engines, servers and devices, device memory, and storage devices, among others.
One advantage of cloud computing environments is that users and developers have tools to enable the creation and utilization of services in a condensed period of time. However, as the infrastructures for users to run their workloads in cloud environments continue to grow, available security managements tools and services struggle have not always kept pace with this growth. In particular, challenges may exist in detecting and effectively addressing network-based security attacks (i.e., intrusions). For example, existing approaches typically rely on a quarantine approach once a source of an intrusion is determined and/or rely on tools that may not be designed to be operated by an average user who may desire to actively secure their resources.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Security management in a networked computing environment

International Business Machines Corporation


According to one embodiment, a liquid crystal display device includes a first substrate including a first transmissive electrode, a second transmissive electrode, a third transmissive electrode, a fourth transmissive electrode, a fifth transmissive electrode, and a reflective electrode, a second substrate including a first color filter opposed to the first transmissive electrode and the fourth transmissive electrode, a second color filter opposed to the second transmissive electrode and the fifth transmissive electrode, a third color filter opposed to the third transmissive electrode, and a fourth color filter opposed to the reflective electrode, and a liquid crystal layer held between the first substrate and the second substrate.

In recent years, in color display devices, methods for improving display luminance have been proposed. As an example, there has been proposed a liquid crystal display device in which one unit pixel is constituted by arranging a red (R) pixel, a green (G) pixel, a blue (B) pixel and a white (W) pixel in one row.
In this liquid crystal display device, when an image is displayed indoors, transmissive light of the white pixel contributes to display. Thus, even if the backlight unit is driven at low luminance, the display luminance is enhanced and the visibility is secured. On the other hand, when an image is displayed outdoors, ambient light (e.g. sunlight) is reflected and glare occurs. Thus, in order to secure the visibility, it is necessary to drive the backlight unit at high luminance, leading to an increase in power consumption.


A handlebar assembly is provided for a vehicle such as a motorcycle. The handlebar assembly includes a base, a left arm, a left handle, a right arm, and a right handle. The left and right arms are attached to the base and are rotatable with respect to the base about respective left and right arm axes. The left and right handles are respectively attached to the left and right arms and are respectively rotatable with respect to the left and right arms about left and right handle axes. Vehicles including the handlebar assembly are also disclosed.

Conventional motorcycles often include a handlebar assembly having left and right handles. Control actuators can be attached to one or both of the left and right handles to facilitate an operator's control of features of the motorcycle. In some circumstances, the left and right handles can be pivotally adjusted such as to accommodate different positions of an operator of the motorcycle. However, in many of the available pivotal positions of such left and right handles, an operator may not be able to reach and/or comfortably manipulate the control actuators attached to the left and right handles.

Handlebar assemblies and vehicles including same


A new Osteospermum plant particularly distinguished by having a yellow flower color, vigorous growth habit, plant structure with minimal branching, and an earliness to ray floret, is disclosed.

The present invention comprises a new and distinct cultivar of Osteospermum, botanically known as Osteospermum hybrida, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name 'SAKOST021'. 'SAKOST021' originated as a naturally occurring, whole plant mutation of 'Kakegawa AU20' (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 18,980) discovered in 2005 in Kakegawa, Japan. 'SAKOST021' has a deeper yellow flower color than that of 'Kakegawa AU20'.
From 2006 to 2007, the 'SAKOST021' was vegetatively propagated from cuttings and re-evaluated in an open field and in a greenhouse. The stability of the distinct characteristics of the new variety was confirmed. The selection was subsequently named 'SAKOST021'.


The present invention relates to a marker that can be used as aging biomarker. More specifically, the present invention relates to the analysis of nucleolar size as a biomarker for aging and metabolic health and its relation to the virtual age, or the life expectancy of animals, including humans. The aging biomarker of the invention can be used to study the effect of medication, food compounds and/or special diets on the wellness and virtual age, or the life expectancy of animals, including humans.

Over the last several decades, studies in model genetic organisms have revealed that animal lifespan is plastic and regulated by evolutionarily conserved signaling pathways. These pathways include reduced insulin/IGF and mTOR signaling, reduced mitochondrial function, dietary restriction mediated lifespan, and signals from the reproductive system, which act through specific constellations of transcription factors to extend life. Whether they converge on common regulators or shared downstream processes, however, has remained largely an open question. One process universally required across the major lifespan pathways is autophagy, the turnover of cellular components through lysosomal degradation. Accordingly, a key transcriptional regulator of autophagy, HLH-30/TFEB has been shown to be responsible to extend life in various C. elegans lifespan pathways. More recently, it was shown that the Mondo complexes also do so, as part of an extensive HLH transcriptional network together with HLH-30/TFEB. However, the full extent of this regulatory tier and the precise relationship to downstream processes remain poorly understood. A related question is whether there are common causal biomarkers of aging. Considerable efforts have been invested to identify biomarkers predictive of biological age, including physiologic readouts, metabolic parameters, glycomic profiles and others. Nevertheless, markers with strong predictive power, and those proximal to the process of aging have remained elusive. More recently, the discovery of a DNA methylation clock, which monitors changes in hundreds of sites across the genome, has been used to robustly predict human chronological age, as well as aspects of biological age, but the functional and physiologic significance of this remains obscure. The nucleolus is a nuclear subcompartment where ribosomal RNA is synthesized and assembled into ribosomal subunits. It is a dynamic organelle subject to inputs from growth signaling pathways, nutrients, and stress, whose size correlates with rRNA synthesis. The nucleolus is also a production site for other ribonucleoprotein particles, including various splicing factors, the signal recognition particle, stress granules and the siRNA machinery. It thus can be thought of as a central hub of protein and RNA quality control and assembly.

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Forderung der Wissenschaften e.v.


The invention concerns a method of connecting a subscriber unit (12) to a fiberoptic communication network (14) via a fiberoptic interface device (30) adapted to function as an interface device (30) in a coarse wavelength division multiplex (CWDM) system. The interface device (30) comprises an electric circuit arrangement (32) and a first (34) and a second (36) receiving section adapted to receive transceiver modules (24, 70). According to the method, an opto-electric transceiver module (24) is arranged in said first receiving section (34) and connected to said fiberoptic communication network (14). A first electric transceiver module (70) is provided and arranged in said second receiving section (36). The interface device (30) is connected, via said electric transceiver module (70), to said subscriber unit (12) via electrical conduction paths (82, 86). The invention also concerns a method of testing the function of said interface device (30).

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to methods involving interfaces adapted for use in coarse wavelength division multiplexing (CWDM) fiberoptic communication networks. Such interfaces are used to adapt, adjust or convert optical signals transmitted between different network units. Dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) typically uses wavelength separations of about 1.6 nm. CWDM, on the other hand, typically has a wavelength separation in the order of about 20 nm. CWDM has inter alia the advantage that the different components used in the system are less expensive. Furthermore, the power requirements are usually lower compared to DWDM and also the physical size of the used laser is normally smaller and it is not cooled in a CWDM system.
2. Technical Background
FIG. 1 shows an example of a part of a fiberoptic communication network according to the prior art. The figure shows a subscriber or client unit 12 connected to a larger fiberoptic network 14 via an interface 10 and a multiplexer/demultiplexer 11. In a typical case the subscriber may be a company which may also have its own fiberoptic network. The subscriber may, for example, obtain access to the larger fiberoptic network 14 by an agreement with another company, which can here be called the provider. The provider may have several clients which all are connected to the larger fiberoptic network 14. The larger fiberoptic network 14 may for example be the Internet. The connection between the subscriber unit 12 and the interface 10 is normally bi-directional, which in this document means that signals can be sent in two opposite directions, indicated by arrows in FIG. 1. The communication is normally implemented via two optical fibers 16, 18. Also the communication between the interface 10 and the multiplexer/demultiplexer 11 normally takes place over two optical fibers 20, 22. The interface 10 is used to adapt the signals from the client unit 12 to the multiplexer/demultiplexer 11 and vice versa. The interface 10 may, for example, carry out wavelength conversion, amplification, signal conditioning, data regeneration, noise reduction etc. The interface 10 normally includes means for converting optical signals from the client unit 12 to electrical signals and means for converting electrical signals to optical signals before they are transmitted to the multiplexer/demultiplexer 11. The interface 10 also normally includes means for converting optical signals from the multiplexer/demultiplexer 11 to electrical signals and means for converting electrical signals to optical signals before they are transmitted to the client unit 12. The conversion in the different directions may be carried out via transceivers, 24, 26 which form part of the interface 10. The transceivers 24, 26 can be formed as pluggable modules which can be plugged into a circuit board.
The client unit 12 may be located at a shorter or longer distance from the interface 10.
FIG. 2 shows in more detail an example of an interface 10 according to the prior art and thus a known manner of connecting a subscriber unit 12 to a fiberoptic communication network 14 via a fiberoptic interface 10, which is adapted to function as an interface in a coarse wavelength division multiplex (CWDM) system.
It should be noted that the interface, as the concept is used in this document, includes the attached transceiver modules 24, 26. The concept "interface device" does however refer to the interface without the transceiver modules 24, 26.
The interface device 30 comprises an electric circuit arrangement 32, a first receiving section 34 adapted to receive a first opto-electric transceiver module 24 and a second receiving section 36 adapted to receive a second opto-electric transceiver module 26. The first opto-electric transceiver module 24 includes a first receiver unit 38 for receiving optical signals from an optical conduction path 22, the first receiver unit 38 comprising a first opto-electrical converter 40 for converting the received optical signals to electrical signals, which are adapted to be conducted to said electric circuit arrangement 32. The first opto-electric transceiver module 24 also includes a first transmitter unit 42 for transmitting optical signals to an optical conduction path 20, the first transmitter unit 42 comprising a first electro-optical converter 44 for converting electrical signals, received from said electric circuit arrangement 32, to optical signals before they are transmitted from the transmitter unit 42.
The second opto-electric transceiver module 26 is similar to the first opto-electric transceiver module 24 and thus includes a second receiver unit 46 for receiving optical signals from an optical conduction path 18, the second receiver unit 46 comprising a second opto-electrical converter 48 for converting the received optical signals to electrical signals, which are adapted to be conducted to said electric circuit arrangement 32. The second opto-electric transceiver module 26 also includes a second transmitter unit 50 for transmitting optical signals to an optical conduction path 16, the second transmitter unit 50 comprising a second electro-optical converter 52 for converting electrical signals, received from said electric circuit arrangement 32, to optical signals before they are transmitted from the transmitter unit 50.
The first 34 and second 36 receiving sections can be designed such that said first 24 and second 26 opto-electric transceiver modules may be plugged into the respective receiving section 34, 36 and unplugged therefrom in a quick-connect manner.
The interface device 30, together with said attached first 24 and second 26 opto-electric transceiver modules, is arranged to adapt the signals from said subscriber unit 12 before transmitting the signals to said multiplexer/demultiplexer 11, and also to adapt signals from said multiplexer/demultiplexer 11 before they are transmitted to said subscriber unit 12.
As has been mentioned above, the interface device 30 is normally connected to the subscriber unit by attaching said first 24 and second 26 opto-electric transceiver modules to said receiving sections 34, 36, by connecting the multiplexer/demultiplexer 11 to the first opto-electric transceiver module 24 via optical fibers 20, 22 and by connecting the subscriber unit 12 via the optical fibers 16, 18 to the second opto-electric transceiver module 26.
An interface device 30 of the above kind may be tested in order to make sure that the interface device 30 functions accurately. This test may be done before the interface device 30 is sold or used in the fiberoptic communication network. The testing can be done by arranging opto-electric transceiver modules 24, 26 in said first 34 and second 36 receiving sections. Furthermore, optical fibers 16, 18, 20, 22 are connected to said opto-electric transceiver modules 24, 26. The optical fibers 16, 18, 20, 22 are also connected to a test equipment. By sending appropriate optical pulses and monitoring the response in the test equipment, the function of the interface device 30 may be checked.
An interface as described above can be quite expensive. In particular the transceivers that form part of the interface are often expensive

Methods of connecting and testing interfaces for CWDM fiber-optic systems


A self-contained lever device that can engage and lift and hold the lid of a large trash container open for ease of access. The lever device has oppositely disposed contoured engagement ends and an intermediate grip and deployable storage hooks can be disassembled into three sections for initial transportation prior to assembly.

1. Technical Field
This device relates to levers and lid retainment devices that are used to prop and hold lids and doors open by use of an elongated stick-like element with integral attachment lid engagement fittings.
2. Description of Prior Art
Prior art devices of this type have been directed to a variety of tubular stick-like elements that engage and hold lids and doors open, see for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,228,737, 6,244,650 and a trash container lid holder as seen in U.S. Pat. No. 5,595,317.


An electronic device includes a sound output circuit, a notification sound control circuit, and a stop instruction accepting circuit. The sound output circuit outputs a sound. The notification sound control circuit controls a notification sound output by the sound output circuit. The stop instruction accepting circuit accepts a stop instruction of the notification sound. The notification sound control circuit increases frequency of the notification sound in phases as time elapses when the notification sound is output by the sound output circuit, and stops the notification sound output by the sound output circuit when the instruction is accepted by the stop instruction accepting circuit.

Unless otherwise indicated herein, the description in this section is not prior art to the claims in this application and is not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
There is known an electronic device that outputs notification sound at the frequency corresponding to a target's age of the notification sound as a typical electronic device.

Electronic device that outputs easily recognizable notification sound and recording medium


A developing device for use in an image forming apparatus is constructed such that a pair of upper and lower auger rollers 35 and 34 are arranged in the vicinity of a toner supply port 21A, thereby to transport toner from the toner supply port 21A through a spiral tooth 34A of the lower auger roller 34 toward both ends of the supply roller 20 and from the both ends through a spiral tooth 35A toward the toner supply port 21A, thus circulating toner above the toner supply roller 20 in its both side directions, and that a position of the toner supply port 21A of a toner cartridge 21 corresponds to respective center positions 35C and 34C of the upper and lower auger rollers 35 and 34.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a developing device for use in an image forming apparatus such as a laser printer, etc., for developing an electrostatic latent image by supplying toner to the electrostatic latent image formed on an outer peripheral surface of a photosensitive drum and transferring the image developed on the surface of the photosensitive drum onto a sheet, and particularly to a developing device in an image forming apparatus capable of supplying toner which is supplied through a toner supply port formed in the developing device on a supply roller so that constantly fresh toner may be stuck uniformly on all over the supply roller, thereby capable of forming the image excellent in quality, for a long period.
In addition, the present invention relates to a developing device for use in an image forming apparatus such as a laser printer, etc., for developing an electrostatic latent image by supplying toner to the electrostatic latent image formed on an outer peripheral surface of a photosensitive drum and transferring the image developed on the surface of the photosensitive drum onto a sheet, and particularly to a developing device for use in an image forming apparatus, capable of smoothly supplying toner supplied from a toner storing part through a toner supply roller to a developing roller without causing toner clogging of a toner supply path formed around the toner supply roller and the developing roller, thus for a long time obtaining the resultant image excellent in quality.
2. Description of Related Art
Regarding conventional developing devices for use in image forming apparatuses such as laser printers, etc., there have been proposed various types of the devices, wherein the developing devices are often constructed in a unit type to be attachably mounted in a laser printer. Such a developing device is usually provided with an exchangeable toner cartridge for storing therein toner, and a toner supply port constructed of an opening for toner supply formed at a substantially center position of the toner cartridge in its width direction and another opening for toner supply formed in a frame of the developing device, through which toner is supplied.
One embodiment of the developing device will be explained with reference to FIG. 10. FIG. 10 is an explanatory view showing schematically a main construction of the developing device in the prior art.
In FIG. 10, the developing device has a toner cartridge 100 which accommodates therein toner and is provided with an opening for toner supply at an almost center in its width direction. This toner cartridge 100 is provided therein with an agitator 103 for agitating toner to supply same into a developing chamber 102 side through a toner supply port 101. A frame F of the developing device is provided with an opening for toner supply positioned corresponding to the toner supply opening of the toner cartridge 100. Those openings of the toner cartridge 100 and the frame F form the toner supply port 101 in combination with each other.
Inside the developing chamber 102 defined by an upper frame F1 and a lower frame F2 of the frame F, a toner supply roller 104 is arranged rotatably in a lower frame F2 side, for supplying the toner supplied through the toner supply port 101 to a developing roller 105. On an internal wall of the upper frame F1, above the developing roller 105, a blade 107 is fixedly secured with a fixing element 106, whereby to regulate a thickness of toner layer formed on the surface of the developing roller 105. This developing roller 105 is also arranged in contact with a photosensitive drum 108. On the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 108 is formed an electrostatic latent image by an image exposure device not shown which performs a scanning operation with a laser beam in accordance with image data. The developing roller 105 supplies toner on the electrostatic latent image formed on the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 108 to develop the image. The image developed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 108 is then transferred onto a sheet fed from a sheet feeder not shown, forming a resultant image, i.e., a visual image on the sheet.
In the toner cartridge 100 of conventional developing device mentioned above, however, toner would drop from and scatter outside the toner cartridge 100, for instance, in exchanging the toner cartridge 100. Such the toner scattering may cause toner sticking on other components of the laser printer and thus contamination of those components. To prevent the toner scattering, the conventional toner cartridge 100 is generally provided with only one toner supply port 101 at an almost center position in the width direction of the toner cartridge 100, i.e., in a vertical direction with respect to the drawing paper of FIG. 10, also corresponding to the width direction of the laser printer.
Accordingly, during a toner supplying operation to supply toner from the toner cartridge 100 to the developing chamber 102 through the toner supply port 101, the toner often tends to remain in the center portion of the toner supply roller 104. This causes a shortage of toner to be supplied to both side portions of the toner supply roller 104. In this case, it is impossible to supply toner uniformly to all over the toner supply roller 104, resulting in uneven toner supply with respect to the developing roller 105 and thus the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 108. As a result, the resultant image on the sheet would uneven in density, namely, dark in a center part on the sheet and pale in both side parts on the same, thereby causing a problem of a deterioration in image quality.
Furthermore, to solve the aforesaid problem that unevenness in the image density occurs due to ununiform supplying and sticking of toner onto all over the toner supply roller 104 in the toner cartridge 100 of the conventional developing device mentioned above, there may be provided an auger roller 109 (FIG. 11), for example, which is arranged rotatably above the toner supply roller 104, for circulating the toner supplied from the toner supply port 101 in a predetermined direction. With this auger roller 109, toner can be transported and circulated above the toner supply roller 104 inside the developing chamber 102, thereby enabling uniform supplying and sticking of toner to the toner supply roller 104.
However, there may occur a problem that such the auger roller 109 disposed above the supply roller 104 blocks a smooth flow of toner along the toner supply path formed around the toner supply roller 104 and the developing roller 105, thus causing the toner supply path to be clogged with the toner. If a toner clogging in the toner supply path occurs in such a way, it prevents appropriate supply of toner from the toner supply roller 104 to the developing roller 105, which would cause an extreme deterioration in quality of the resulting image obtained by developing the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 108. It is therefore difficult to continuously form the image excellent in quality.

Developing device with an auger roller for providing a fresh and consistent stream of developer in an image forming apparatus


Molecular markers for lung and colorectal carcinomas and methods of using them in blood sample assays are disclosed. The method comprises measuring the expression of the markers in a blood sample from a subject for detecting the presence and/or severity of lung and/or colorectal cancer, and for monitoring and/or assessing the prognosis of the subject's response to a cancer therapy. Also disclosed are kits for detecting, diagnosing, and/or monitoring lung or colorectal carcinomas.

There are two main types of lung cancer, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and small cell lung cancer. NSCLC accounts for about 80% of lung cancers. Three most common types of NSCLC in the United States are adenocarcinoma/bronchoalveolar (35-40%), squamous cell carcinoma (25-30%) and large-cell carcinoma (10-15%). Lung cancer is most easily and successfully treated if it is caught early. An early-stage cancer is less likely to have grown to a large size or to have spread to other parts of the body (metastasized). Large or metastasized cancers are much more difficult to be treated.
Colorectal cancer, also called colon cancer or large bowel cancer, includes cancerous growths in the colon, rectum and appendix. It is the third most common form of cancer and the second leading cause of cancer-related death in the Western world. Many colorectal cancers are thought to arise from adenomatous polyps in the colon. These mushroom-shaped growths are usually benign, but some may develop into cancer over time. The majority of the time the diagnosis of localized colon cancer is through colonoscopy.
Diagnostic markers for early stage lung and colorectal cancers will have a significant impact on the morbidity and mortality of these diseases. Detection of cancer cell-specific biomarkers provides an effective screening strategy. It can also screen for and detect post-operative residual tumor cells, and for occult metastases, an early indicator of tumor recurrence. Early detection can thus improve survival in patients before symptoms are detectable clinically while undergoing treatment and while in remission. Certain markers were known in the art to make predictions of a patient's cancer risk using tumor tissues, however, it was not predicted nor predictable that the same markers could be detected in blood (see "DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION; Detections of cancer gene markers in tissue versus blood samples").
Therefore, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the art to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies, especially in connection with the method of detecting lung and/or colorectal cancers from peripheral blood samples.


Apparatus for coating an item with a dry particulate material. An electrically operated sifter in a dry coating assembly generates a shower of the dry particulate material which coats the items held in an open mesh basket. A collector recovers residual material which can then be returned to the sifter. Extraneous clumps formed from the dry particulate material and any liquid coating can be readily removed from the sifter. An optional wet coating assembly allows an operator to coat the items with a batter before the application of the dry particulate material.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to apparatus for applying a dry particulate material to an item and more specifically to apparatus for applying an edible coating, such as breading, to food.
2. Description of Related Art
Applying dry particulate material to an item is particularly prevalent in food preparation where this process is generally known as "breading". In breading, the dry particulate material may comprise bread crumbs, flour, meal or like materials. The item can comprise fish, shellfish, poultry, meat, vegetables or any other food item.
The prior art discloses two basic breading processes. In a first, a liquid material, commonly a batter, coats the item prior to the application of the dry particulate material. U.S. Pat. No. 3,910,227 (1975) to Reece discloses one such process where food is first coated in a batter bowl and then dredged in a pan of flour, the flour constituting a breading material. U.S. Pat. No. 5,020,427 (1991) to Kennefick et al. discloses the second process. Food is first dredged in flour, immersed in a batter and then dredged in flour again.
There are two basic market segments for breading apparatus that can implement either or both of these two approaches. One market segment includes industrial food processors that produce high volumes of products. U.S. Pat. No. 3,759,218 (1973) to Korstvedt discloses a breading apparatus for this market segment. It includes a food conveyor, a breading hopper that drops breading material onto the food, a breading recycler, pressure rollers, blowers and related electrical control circuits. These machines are complex to make and to use and expensive to operate. Requirements for extensive floor space for operation and operator training require a significant initial investment if the equipment is to operate efficiently. Investments of such a magnitude are generally only justified in high volume commercial breading or other coating processes.
Another market segment, commonly called the "food service segment," includes individual restaurants. For this market segment breading apparatus is generally used on an order-by-order basis. There are requirements for the food service segment that are antithetical to the apparatus requirements for high volume industrial production. For example, in the food service segment, breading apparatus must be easy to use with only minimal operator training. It must be compact to minimize the floor space requirements. The apparatus must operate with minimal maintenance and be easy to clean. It is a further advantage if the apparatus has the ability to minimize direct contact between the food and the operator.
Prior art breading apparatus appropriate for restaurant applications attain some, but not all, of the foregoing objectives. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,129,167 (1964) to Frangos discloses a combination breading table and power sifter which incorporates a driving arrangement for laterally vibrating a sifting component to break up clumps and beads (hereinafter "clumps") formed when the dry breading materials mix with the batter. In use, an operator loads food into a batter bowl in a counter and then dredges the wet food through a dry breading mixture in a pan, all by hand. When the quantity of clumps becomes objectionable, all the materials from the breading pan are loaded into the power sifter which then isolates the clumps. The sifted material then is transferred to the dredging pan. While this apparatus provides the breading function, it is overly complex to use and overly expensive to manufacture. This apparatus still requires an operator to handle the food during dredging. Further, no breading can occur during a sifting operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,696,778 (1972) to Moore discloses a breading machine with a lid. A rotatable container assembly located in a breading chamber is filled with breading material. Food is loaded into the container assembly. Rotation of the container assembly causes external vanes to lift and disperse the breading material over the food. Clumps are either broken up or directed to a drawer for subsequent disposal. This apparatus does not disclose any facilities for coating the food with batter or the like. Its design and manufacture are complex and costly. It also requires excessive maintenance and does not permit visual observation of the progress of the breading operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,910,227 (1975) to Reece discloses an apparatus for hand breading foods that includes a batter pan, a flour pan, a sifter and a catch pan on a common support. Breading material is applied by dredging the food through the breading material so an operator must physically touch the food during the breading process.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,458,586 (1984) to Reed discloses a combined breeder, marinator and preparation unit. Mixing occurs in a sealed, motor-driven mixing drum with a removable lid and agitator blades. After the breading process terminates, the drum tilts to discharge its contents onto a grate. Excess breading material falls through the grate into a catch basin. When an exit portal on the catch basin is removed, the breading material drops into a motorized sifter to be accumulated in a sifter catch pan for reuse. This structure is overly complex and costly, requires excessive maintenance and training and does not permit visual observation of the breading process progress.
The previously described U.S. Pat. No. 5,020,427 includes a support that defines a plurality of laterally disposed stations. A fry basket rack at a first station receives breaded food that was dredged manually in flour at a second station and then moved to a sifter basket. The sifter basket moves to a batter station and the food transfers to a batter basket. After immersing the food and the batter basket in the batter, the food is transferred back to the sifter basket that moves to the second station for further manual dredging. The sifter basket provides a tumbling operation with the excess breading dropping back into the flour pan. The sifter basket retains any clumps that are formed during the process. As the contents of the basket are returned to a fry basket rack, clumps transfer through a chute in the sifter to a trough. This apparatus requires manual handling of food. It includes various mechanisms for rotating baskets and performing other operations that increase the initial cost of the apparatus and the complexity and costs of training and use.
None of the foregoing or other prior art breading processes and apparatus have succeeded in providing, in a simple apparatus, all of the desirable features of breading apparatus for use in the food service segment. What is needed is affordable apparatus for depositing a dry particulate material, such as a breading mixture, onto an item, such as food, that allows an operator to observe the process visually in real time, but without handling the food by hand directly, that requires minimal space, that is easy to use with minimal training, that is easy to maintain and clean and that provides both the wet coating and dry coating operations required for breading.


A new mail transport protocol is proposed for use over a reliable byte-stream transport. This protocol is faster, simpler and more streaming than prior methods, and handles binary and unicode data more efficiently. The protocol requires fewer communication round trips between servers per message transferred than existing methods. It transmits and receives byte data as is without requiring further per-byte processing on advanced operating systems such as UNIX, and requires only new-line processing in text on legacy operating systems.

With the rapid growth of the Internet globally, the current protocols for the delivery of electronic mail (e-mail) on the Internet have become increasingly ill equipped to handle the demands of non-English using users and users wanting to e-mail file attachments. There are three prevalent standard protocols which govern Internet e-mail: The Simple Mail Transport Protocol (SMTP, defined in the Internet Architecture Board's Request for Comments (RFC) 821), which is a standard for the exchange of mail between two computers and specifies the protocol used to send mail between TCP/IP hosts; MAIL, a standard on the format of the mail messages; and DNS-MX, a standard for the routing of mail using the Domain Name System.
The SMTP protocol dictates that data sent via SMTP can only be 7-bit ASCII data, with the high-order bit cleared to zero. This is adequate in most instances for the transmission of English text messages, but is completely inadequate for non-English text or non-textual data. There are two prevalent approaches to overcoming these limitations: Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME), which specifies a mechanism for encoding text and binary data as 7-bit ASCII within the mail envelope defined by MAIL (contained in RFC 822); and SMTP Service Extensions ("ESMTP"), which define mechanisms to extend the capabilities of SMTP beyond the limitations imposed by RFC 821.
There are three current RFCs which describe ESMTP. RFC 1651 sets a standard for a receiver-SMTP to inform a sender-SMTP which service extensions it supports. RFC 1651 modifies RFC 821 to allow a client SMTP agent to request that the server respond with a list of the service extensions that it supports at the start of an SMTP session. If the server SMTP does not support RFC 1651 it will respond with an error and the client may either terminate the session or attempt to start a session according to the rules of RFC 821. If the server does support RFC 1651, it may also respond with a list of the service extensions that it supports. It is clear that this method creates problems of compatibility and its usefulness is limited unless the servers involved supports the needed service extensions.
The next two RFCs define specific extensions. RFC 1652, entitled SMTP Service Extension for 8 bit-MIMEtransport, attempts to supplement the MIME approach for sending 8-bit content. RFC 1652 is a protocol for 8-bit text transmission which allows an SMTP server to indicate that it can accept data consisting of 8-bit bytes. A server which reports that this extension is available to a client must leave the high order bit of bytes received in an SMTP message unchanged if requested to do so by the client. The MIME standard allows messages to be declared as consisting of 8-bit data rather than 7-bit data. Such messages cannot be transmitted by SMTP agents which strictly conform to RFC 821, but can only be transmitted when both the client and the server conform to RFCs 1651 and 1652. Whenever a client SMTP attempts to send 8-bit data to a server which does not support this extension, the client SMTP must either encode the message contents into a 7-bit representation compliant with the MIME standard or return a permanent error to the user. Further, this service extension does not permit the sending of arbitrary binary data because RFC 821 defines the maximum length of a line which an SMTP server is required to accept as 1000 characters. Non-text data could easily have sequences of more than 1000 characters without a Carriage Return/Line Feed (CRLF) sequence. Finally, this service extension specifically limits the use of non-ASCII characters (those with values above decimal 127) to message bodies. Non-ASCII characters are not permitted in RFC 822 message headers.
The third SMTP Service Extension, RFC 1653, is a protocol for message size declaration. It allows a server to inform a client of the maximum size message it can accept. Without this extension, a client can only be informed that a message has exceeded the maximum size acceptable to the server (either a fixed upper limit or a temporary limit imposed by a lack of available storage space at the server) after transmitting the entire message. When this happens, the server discards the failing message. If both client and server support the Message Size Declaration extension, the client may declare an estimated size of the message to be transferred and the server will return an error if the message is too large.
Each of these SMTP Service Extensions is a draft standard protocol and each has a status of being elective, resulting in spotty and inconsistent implementation by users. Further, these are merely ad-hoc extensions to the existing SMTP standard, and many inherent problems and shortcomings of SMTP is merely masked.
It is an object of the current invention to disclose a mail transport protocol which is faster, simpler, more efficient and streams data better than SMTP, and which handles binary and Unicode better than existing methods.


Modified DNA polymerases have an affinity for DNA such that the polymerase has an ability to incorporate one or more nucleotides into a plurality of separate DNA templates in each reaction cycle. The polymerases are capable of forming an increased number of productive polymerase-DNA complexes in each reaction cycle. The modified polymerases may be used in a number of DNA sequencing applications, especially in the context of clustered arrays.

Several publications and patent documents are referenced in this application in order to more fully describe the state of the art to which this invention pertains. The disclosure of each of these publications and documents is incorporated by reference herein.
The three-dimensional crystal structure of certain DNA polymerases has revealed three separate subdomains, named palm, fingers and thumb (Joyce, C. M. and Steiz, T. A. (1994) Function and structure relationships in DNA polymerases, Annu. Rev. Biochem., 63, 777-822), each having key roles during DNA polymerisation.
The C terminal thumb subdomain of DNA polymerases has been implicated in DNA binding and processivity (Doublie et al. 1998. Nature 391, 251; Truniger et al. 2004. Nucleic Acids Research 32, 371). Residues in this region of DNA polymerases interact with the primer:template duplex.
Disruption of the structure of this region either by the introduction of site-directed mutations or truncation by the deletion of a small number of amino acids, has provided evidence for variants with reduced DNA affinity and processivity without gross changes in other physical properties such as dNTP affinity and nucleotide insertion fidelity (Truniger et al. 2004. Nucleic Acids Research 32, 371; Minnick et al. 1996. J. Biol. Chem., 271, 24954; Polesky et al. 1990. J. Biol. Chem., 265, 14579).
Polymerases may be separated into two structurally distinct families called family A and family B.
The C-terminal subdomain of family B polymerases has been poorly studied, but is believed to be involved in DNA binding based primarily on the inspection of the x-ray crystal structure of the closed form (DNA-bound) of polymerase RB69. Mutagenesis studies have been conducted within this thumb domain for two examples of the family B class, namely Phi29 and T4. However, these studies were limited to amino acid deletions of large portions of the domain. The same type of deletion has been carried out for Klenow (a family A polymerase). The performance of the variants in these studies was evaluated in terms of their ability to bind and incorporate dNTPs, the effect the deletion had on fidelity, their affinity for DNA and also their interaction with accessory proteins.
No studies of the thumb domain of the polymerase from a thermophilic archaeon have previously been carried out.
The subject matter of the present invention was presented in prior filed U.K. Provisional Application No. 0509508.8 filed May 10, 2005, priority of which is believed to be available under 35 U.S.C. §119, and the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety. In said application, the structural aspects of the polymerases and the related materials of the present invention were disclosed as they are herein, and were accompanied by information providing further background and characterization of function, which was also in accordance with the understanding of the inventors at the time. Since filing said application, further study of the enzymes in question has taken place and additional data illustrating and advancing the understanding of their function and application, has resulted, which is now felt to be desirably presented herein.
Accordingly, it is toward the advancement of the understanding and application of the present invention that the present application is directed.


Parsing routines extract from a conventional pronunciation dictionary an entry, which includes a dictionary word and dictionary phonemes representing the pronunciation of the dictionary word. A correspondence table is used to compress the pronunciation dictionary. The correspondence table includes correspondence sets for a particular language, each set having a correspondence text entry, a correspondence phoneme entry representing the pronunciation of the correspondence text entry and a unique correspondence set identifying symbol. A matching system compares a dictionary entry with the correspondence sets, and replaces the dictionary entry with the symbols representing the best matches. In the absence of a match, symbols representing silent text or unmatched phonemes can be used. The correspondence symbols representing the best matches provide compressed pronunciation dictionary entries. The matching system also generates decoder code sets for subsequently translating the symbol sets. A decoder system uses the decoder code sets for translating symbol sets in the compressed pronunciation dictionary to generate phonemes corresponding to selected text.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to data compression, and more particularity to a system and method using correspondence techniques to compress a pronunciation guide.
2. Description of the Background Art
Computer Random Access Memory (RAM) and disk space are becoming more available and affordable in desktop computer systems. A typical desktop computer system currently provides on the order of sixteen megabytes of RAM and one gigabyte of hard disk memory. This increasing availability allows programmers the freedom to create application programs and data files which occupy several megabytes of computer memory. However, minimizing the size of data files remains important for optimizing system performance and use of memory resources.
To minimize storage requirements, programmers compress large data files. One type of large file is a pronunciation dictionary, which includes dictionary words for a language such as American English and dictionary phonemes (phonetic sounds) representing the pronunciation of each of the dictionary words. A typical uncompressed pronunciation dictionary occupies up to about ten megabytes of memory.
Information such as a pronunciation dictionary can be compressed using certain symbols to replace redundant data. For example, a typical compression technique assigns symbols to represent particular patterns of redundant data such as multiple zeros or one. Multiple compression techniques may be performed successively to eliminate more redundancies and compress data further. Accordingly, a pronunciation dictionary may be compressed to around thirty percent or less of its original size.
Previous techniques for compressing pronunciation dictionaries do not take into account redundancies inherent in dictionary words and dictionary phonemes. Therefore, as an addition to other techniques for compressing a pronunciation dictionary, it is desirable to have a system and method for taking advantage of redundancies in pronunciation.

System and method for using a correspondence table to compress a pronunciation guide


Embodiments herein provide systems and methods for multi-area selecting etching. In some embodiments, a system may include a plasma source delivering a plurality of angled ion beams to a substrate, the substrate including a plurality of devices. Each of the plurality of devices may include a first angled grating and a second angled grating. The system may further include a plurality of blocking masks positionable between the plasma source and the substrate. A first blocking mask of the plurality of blocking masks may include a first set of openings permitting the angled ion beams to pass therethrough to form the first angled gratings of each of the plurality of devices. A second blocking mask of the plurality of blocking masks may include a second set of openings permitting the angled ion beams to pass therethrough to form the second angled gratings of each of the plurality of devices.

Optical lenses have long been used to manipulate light for various advantages. Fresnel lenses, for example, are used in lighthouses to bend light from all angles of a point light source into a beam or beams. Fresnel lenses are one particular type of blazed grating. More recently, micro-diffraction gratings have been utilized in holographic and augmented/virtual reality (AR & VR) devices.
One particular AR & VR device is a wearable display system, such as a headset or head mounted display operable to display an image within a short distance from a human eye. The image can be a computer generated image on a display, such as a micro display. The optical components are arranged to transport light of the intended image, generated on the display to the user's eye to make the image visible to the user. The image generated can form part of a light engine, wherein the image itself generates collimated light beams guided by the optical component to provide an image visible to the user.
Different kinds of optical components have been used to convey the image from the display to the human eye. These optical components include lenses, mirrors, optical waveguides, holograms and diffraction gratings, or slanted gratings. Slanted gratings are one particular type of blazed gratings, and may be used for AR & VR systems, such as wearable display systems, displays on mobile devices, etc., wherein the functional design relies on efficient light input and/or output coupling from the grating to the viewer's field of view.
New manufacturing methods require etching slanted gratings of different angles, orientations, and field shapes in high volume on standard industry equipment, at close proximity to each other. Cost and quality of augmented reality glasses are presently limited by current patterning and etch methods, as well as the trend of increasingly smaller devices.

Methods and systems for multi-area selective etching


Methods are provided for removing CO2 and/or H2S from a gas phase stream, such as a refinery flue gas stream, a coal-fired or petroleum-burning power plant, or a natural gas stream. A gas phase stream containing CO2 and/or H2S can be contacted under effective conditions with an aqueous slurry of supported amine particles. The CO2 and/or H2S can react with the supported amines to form bicarbonates, carbonates, carbamates, sulfide salts, or other species. Because the amine is part of, bonded to, or otherwise supported on a particulate substrate, the reaction product from the amine reaction can also remain bound to the particle. After reacting supported amines with CO2 and/or H2S captured from a gas stream, the supported amines particles can be separated from the aqueous slurry environment for regeneration of the supported amine and release of the CO2 and/or H2S.

In conventional amine contacting systems, an aqueous solution of dissolved amines is contacted in a counter current manner with a gaseous stream containing CO2 and/or H2S. The gases to be separated react with the solubilized amines at a temperature range of about 30° C. to about 60° C. The "rich" solution of amines reacted with CO2/H2S is then heated with steam stripping to a temperature range of about 110° C. to about 140° C. in order to release the CO2 and/or H2S. In such conventional processing a significant amount of energy is required to heat the entire rich aqueous solution. While feed/product heat exchange for the stripping step is normally utilized, such heat exchangers significantly affect the capital cost of the system, often dictating the maximum amine circulation rate that can be utilized.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,846,240 describes a chilled ammonia based CO2 capture system. CO2 is adsorbed using an ammonia solution or slurry at a temperature below ambient. If a slurry is used, the particles in the slurry correspond to particles of ammonium carbonate and/or bicarbonate that have precipitated in the solution. When a slurry is used, the carbon capture and release mechanism is based on consumption and generation of CO2 as the particles convert between carbonate and bicarbonate forms. In addition to maintaining the ammonia at a below ambient temperature, preventing loss of ammonia in exhausted flue gas is also a concern.
An article by Langeroudi et al. (Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 2009, Vol. 113, pp. 21866-76) describes CO2 solubility experiments performed on aqueous slurry solutions of silica particles including grafted amines. The solubility experiments included exposing the slurry solutions to various partial pressures of CO2 in a static reaction vessel.

ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company


A generic interface for a module, method of providing a generic interface, and a module controller system providing a register slave having a generic interface are described. The interface includes an addressable interface, a control interface, and a module interface configured to interact with two or more module configurations. The interface has multiple operating modes at least one of which includes a monitor mode. The method includes receiving an address from a register master identifying the module address to be monitored, reading the received module address content from the module, and transmitting the read content to the monitor port. The system includes a register master, a register slave connected with the register master and adapted to connect with the module, and a monitor port connected with the register slave to receive the monitored module address contents. The register slave configured to interact with two or more module configurations and having a monitor mode for monitoring a specified module address.

Microprocessors often include modules for storing instructions and data and/or for operating on instructions and data. The modules include storage or memory modules and functional modules. Memory modules include registers, random access memory, read only memory, etc. Functional modules include counters, finite state machines, output of logic functions, etc. The microprocessor accesses the modules through the use of a control system including a register master connected with one or more register slaves. One or more of the register slaves are associated with, and provide the microprocessor interface to, a module. That is, the microprocessor transmits an address to the register master and specifies whether a read of data located at the provided address is to be performed or a write of data provided by the microprocessor to the provided address is to be performed. The register master communicates this information to the register slave.
The register slave then requests an access to a particular location, e.g., a memory location if the module is a memory module, a logic function if the module is a functional module, specified by the provided address. The access type is specified by a read or write control signal. The register slave interface with the module varies based on the control signals, i.e., the control and data signals transmitted across the register slave-module interface varies depending on the module to which the register slave is interfaced.
In many cases the module access is partitioned into two separate pieces: a master component such as the register master and a slave component such as the register slave. The master component handles interfacing with the microprocessor bus. The slave component is custom configured for each particular module type and handles interfacing with the module. The master component communicates with the slave component using a particular protocol, i.e., timing and order of data and control signals. Each module to be addressed under previous approaches requires design and testing of a new interface between the microprocessor, register master, slave component, and module. Further, for each new module to be interfaced with a microprocessor, design and testing of a corresponding slave component is required. That is, each slave component interface with the master component and the module is designed anew for each new module to which the slave component is interfaced.
Designing anew or redesigning the slave component for each new module incurs increased development time and cost. Further, testing requirements are increased for both functionality (correctness), timing, and corner case condition detection and correction. Further still, increased testing and development frequently requires increased time and cost related to updating testing tools and procedures to account for a new design. Further still, in order to obtain additional functional capabilities in a new design, e.g., testability, additional design and development costs are incurred.

Generic interface for operating modes of modules

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A trocar assembly that includes a trocar and a seal cartridge configured to be releasably coupled to the trocar. The seal cartridge includes a top cap that includes a main body and a latch ring. The latch ring is grounded to the main body at a first angular position and has a latch located at a second angular position angularly offset from the first angular position. Applying a radial load on the latch causes the latch ring to flex in torsion at an intermediate portion that angularly interposes the first and second angular positions.

During laparoscopic surgery, one or more small incisions are formed in a patient's skin and a trocar assembly is inserted through the incision to provide access to an internal body cavity, such as the patient's abdomen. The trocar assembly operates as a pathway that can be used to introduce various surgical instruments and tools into the abdomen.
A trocar assembly generally includes a trocar and a seal assembly operatively coupled to or forming part of the trocar. The trocar includes a trocar housing and a cannula that extends distally from the trocar housing and provides the pathway into the patient's abdomen. The seal assembly includes one or more seals that help maintain insufflation of the penetrated body cavity and also seal about surgical tools extended through the trocar and into the patient's abdomen.
In some applications, the seal assembly may comprise a seal cartridge at least partially received within the trocar housing and releasably coupled thereto. Due to minimal space constraints, it is desired to releasably couple the seal cartridge to the trocar housing simply and efficiently. The seal cartridge may be allowed to rotate continuously and freely within the trocar housing once releasably coupled or may be allowed to rotate to discrete positions to allow for multiple orientations of the insufflation valve relative to the remainder of the trocar housing.

Seal cartridge design for trocar assemblies


A layout architecture having high-performance and high-density design used in a standard cell integrated circuit is provided. The layout architecture includes a substrate, a first conductor, a second conductor, a third conductor, a fourth conductor, a first device region, a second device region, a third device region and a forth device region. The first device region is arranged adjacent to the first conductor on the substrate. The second device region is arranged adjacent to the first device region on the substrate and is arranged beneath the second conductor. The third device region is arranged adjacent to the second device region on the substrate and is arranged beneath the third conductor. The fourth device region is arranged between the third device region and the fourth conductor on the substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a layout architecture. More particularly, the present invention relates to a layout architecture having high-performance and high-density design.
2. Description of Related Art
FIG. 1 is a layout architecture of conventional standard cells. The conventional standard cells C1-C4 are arranged between a conductor T1 and a conductor T2, and can function as, for example, an amplifier, an adder, a multiplier, and a phase inverter, respectively. Therefore, the standard cells C1-C4 have different widths W1-W4 depending on the complexity of the functions. In FIG. 1, the width W4 is larger than the width W2, thus the layout area of the standard cell C4 is larger than that of the standard cell C2 when having the same height H1. Therefore, the standard cell C4 is suitable for serving as a layout architecture of a circuit with complicated design or a high drive current, while the standard cell C2 is suitable for serving as a layout architecture of a circuit with simple design or a low drive current.
FIG. 2A is a circuit block diagram of a conventional logic device cell. FIG. 2B is a layout view of the conventional logic device cell in FIG. 2B. First, referring to FIG. 2A, the logic device cell in FIG. 2A comprises a pre-driver 20 and a driver 21 for outputting a logic operation signal. The AND gates G1 and G2 of the pre-driver 20 perform logic operation on an input signal and then outputs it into a NOR gate G3, and the NOR gate G3 performs logic operation on the input signal and then outputs it through a buffer B1 of the driver 21.
In the layout shown in FIG. 2 where the pre-driver 20 in FIG. 2A is working, conductors 201 and 204 have a supply voltage VCC and a ground voltage GND, and are respectively connected to a P-type metal oxide semiconductor (PMOS) region 202 and an NMOS region 203. A rectangle layout is formed between the conductors 201 and 204 to function as the pre-driver 20. The driver 21 comprises a PMOS region 212, an NMOS region 213, and the conductors 201 and 204. The driver 21 is different from the pre-driver 20 in that, since the driver 21 needs a high current, the PMOS region 212 and the NMOS region 213 of the driver 21 need a large layout area. However, under the circumstance that the conductors 201-204 have the same height, the layout width of the driver 21 must be larger than that of the pre-driver 20, thereby causing an excessive width of the whole layout. If the layout area is increased by increasing the height between the conductors 201 and 204, although the layout width of the driver 21 is greatly decreased, the area of other standard cells (such as the pre-driver 20) arranged between the conductors 201 and 204 is increased accordingly. However, since the pre-driver 20 is a low-current structure and needs a small device area, the layout area of the pre-driver 20 is wasted due to the inefficient utilization of area.
FIG. 3 is a view of a layout architecture for a logic cell disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,838,713. Referring to FIG. 3, the conventional technology may solve the problem that the conventional driver 21 needs a large layout width, as shown in FIG. 1. A PMOS region 322 of a driver 32 is arranged beneath a conductor 302. As such, the driver 32 can realize the device layout under the height of conductors 301 and 303, and a pre-driver 31 is arranged between the conductors 301 and 302, and has a low height. Such a design may avoid wasting of the layout area of the pre-driver 31. However, one main disadvantage of such a layout architecture is that the architecture adopts a discrete form for the area of the NMOS regions 312 and 323, instead of the PMOS region 322 which appears in the form of a whole block. Due to such discrete form, some of the circuits cannot be shared and should be designed repeatedly, such that the complexity is increased and some layout area is wasted. Besides, the connecting wire is so long that it is difficult for routing.

Layout architecture having high-performance and high-density design


A hearing device is provided that includes at least a signal processing unit and at least a fuel cell to supply the signal processing unit with energy. The fuel tank of the fuel cell includes a membrane or an area with micro openings to let the fluid or gas to be used by the fuel cell pass into the fuel tank and to block other fluids from entering the fuel tank.

This invention relates to a hearing device comprising at least a signal processing unit and at least a fuel cell to supply the signal processing unit with energy. Hearing devices may be e.g. behind-the-ear hearing aids or in-the-ear hearing aids or hearing instruments.
Hearing aids or hearing instruments are usually powered with batteries, namely zinc-air batteries, due to their relatively high energy-to-volume ratio. The availability and cost of these batteries are significant factors in the cost-of-ownership of hearing aids or hearing instruments however. That is the reason why accumulators are not used in large numbers due to their comparative low energy storage capacity. Although improvements in storage capacity in batteries as well as in accumulators are ongoing, no significant increases in view of factors or orders of magnitude can be expected.
Other means such as solar power (U.S. Pat. No. 5,303,305) or the use of body heat (DE 19 530 382) has been investigated, but such methods generate too little energy for a reasonable usage in hearing aids or hearing instruments.
The use of fuel cells for hearing instruments is described in DE 10 115 429 with low temperature fuel cells based on methanol as fuel. The benefit of this type of energy storage is based on its significantly higher capacity which allows either less refilling or more applications requiring higher power consumption.
Nevertheless, the fuel cell concept of DE 10 115 429 suffers from several disadvantages. If the fuel tank is arranged detachable from the fuel cell within the hearing device, mechanical connections are required, which are prone to break and space is needed for the connection elements, and furthermore electrical contacts are required, which are prone to oxidize. If the fuel cell is integrated in the hearing device, a spacious mechanical vent for refilling is required, as known from cigarette lighters, with the further disadvantage of being difficult to handle, especially for elderly people.
Furthermore, such a fuel tank needs to be made of at least partly transparent material in order to optically check its filling state. But even with transparent material, such an optical check needs a certain light condition with a certain minimum amount of ambient light for the recognition of the filling state. The transparent material must further be biocompatible for the use in hearing devices, especially for in-the-ear hearing devices, and has to be worked together with the other shell material.
To accurately estimate the filling state of the fuel cell, a regular shape of the tank is required, thereby limiting the degree of freedom for the integration of the tank within the small volume of a hearing device shell. A further problem is to be seen by surface tension effects on such small tank volumes, of miniaturized devices such as small hearing devices, which may mislead the user about the actual filling state.


A method of fabricating a micromechanical device. Several of the micromechanical devices are fabricated 20 on a common wafer. After the devices are fabricated, the sacrificial layers are removed 22 leaving open spaces where the sacrificial layers once were. These open spaces allow for movement of the components of the micromechanical device. The devices optionally are passivated 24, which may include the application of a lubricant. After the devices have been passivated, they are tested 26 in wafer form. After testing 26, any surface treatments that are not compatible with the remainder of the processing steps are removed 28. The substrate wafer containing the completed devices receives a conformal overcoat 30. The overcoat layer is thick enough to project the micromechanical structures, but thin and light enough to prevent deforming the underlying micromechanical structures. Once the devices on the wafer are overcoated, the wafer is separated 32, and the known good devices are cleaned 34 to remove debris left by the dicing process. Once the devices are separated and cleaned, the overcoat may be removed, however, the overcoat typically is left in place to protect the device during the initial stages of the packaging process. Typically the devices are mounted 36 in the package substrate, the overcoat removed 38 from the devices, and the package containing the micromechanical device finished by sealing the package to enclose the device.

Micromechanical devices are small structures typically fabricated on a semiconductor wafer using techniques such as optical lithography, doping, metal sputtering, oxide deposition, and plasma etching which have been developed for the fabrication of integrated circuits.
Micromirror devices are one type of micromechanical device. Other types of micromechanical devices include accelerometers, pressure and flow sensors, gears and motors. While some micromechanical devices, such as pressure sensors, flow sensors, and micromirrors have found commercial success, other types have not yet been commercially viable.
Micromirror devices are primarily used in optical display systems. In display systems, the micromirror is a light modulator that uses digital image data to modulate a beam of light by selectively reflecting portions of the beam of light to a display screen. While analog modes of operation are possible, micromirrors typically operate in a digital bistable mode of operation and as such are the core of the first true digital full-color image projection systems.
Micromirrors have evolved rapidly over the past ten to fifteen years. Early devices used a deformable reflective membrane which, when electrostatically attracted to an underlying address electrode, dimpled toward the address electrode. Schlieren optics illuminate the membrane and create an image from the light scattered by the dimpled portions of the membrane. Schlieren systems enabled the membrane devices to form images, but the images formed were very dim and had low contrast ratios, making them unsuitable for most image display applications.
Later micromirror devices used flaps or diving board-shaped cantilever beams of silicon or aluminum, coupled with dark-field optics to create images having improved contrast ratios. Flap and cantilever beam devices typically used a single metal layer to form the top reflective layer of the device. This single metal layer tended to deform over a large region, however, which scattered light impinging on the deformed portion. Torsion beam devices use a thin metal layer to form a torsion beam, which is referred to as a hinge, and a thicker metal layer to form a rigid member, or beam, typically having a mirror-like surface: concentrating the deformation on a relatively small portion of the micromirror surface. The rigid mirror remains flat while the hinges deform, minimizing the amount of light scattered by the device and improving the contrast ratio of the device.
Recent micromirror configurations, called hidden-hinge designs, further improve the image contrast ratio by fabricating the mirror on a pedestal above the torsion beams. The elevated mirror covers the torsion beams, torsion beam supports, and a rigid yoke connecting the torsion beams and mirror support, further improving the contrast ratio of images produced by the device.
Other micromechanical devices include accelerometers, pressure and other sensors, and motors. These devices all share the common feature of having very fragile structures. The fragile structures can make it difficult to manufacture the micromechanical devices, especially in a cost effective manner. For example, once the sacrificial layers beneath the micromirror have been removed, the mirrors are very fragile and very susceptible to damage due to particles.
Because the particles become trapped in the mechanical structure of the micromirror array, and because the particles cannot be washed out of the array, it is necessary to separate the wafers on which the devices are formed, and wash the debris off the devices, prior to removing the sacrificial layers under the mirrors—also called undercutting the mirrors. Furthermore, because the chip bond-out process also creates particles, it is desirable to mount the device in a package substrate and perform the chip bond-out process prior to undercutting the mirrors.
Unfortunately, it is only after the mirrors have been undercut that the micromirror array is able to be tested. Assuming the production flow described above, all of the devices manufactured must be mounted on package substrates, bonded-out to the substrates, and undercut prior to testing the devices. Additionally, micromirrors typically require some sort of lubrication to prevent the micromirror from sticking to the landing surfaces when it is deflected. Therefore, the devices must also be lubricated and the package lid or window applied prior to testing the devices. Because a typical micromirror package is very expensive, the packaging costs associated with devices that do not function greatly increase the cost of production and must be recovered by the devices that do function.
What is needed is a method of testing the micromechanical structure of a micromirror array prior to packaging the micromirror array. This method would enable a production flow that would only package the known good devices. Thus, the significant cost associated with the packaging the failed die would be eliminated.


A switch system capable of being automatically configured and used with any electrical system, particularly vehicle electrical systems, having an operator-activated control and an electrical device. This switch system generally includes an electro-mechanical switch and a switch module. Upon activation of an operator-activated control, such as a turn signal lever, the electro-mechanical switch sends an electrical activation signal to the switch module. The switch module uses an electrical identification signal, also obtained from the electro-mechanical switch, and a look-up table to convert the activation signal into an electronic control message. The electronic control message is then used to control a corresponding electrical device, such as a turn signal lamp. A particular electro-mechanical switch embodiment providing error detecting capabilities is also shown.

Electro-mechanical switches are used to control electrical devices located throughout a vehicle. For instance, switches of this type are often used to control windshield wipers, cruise control units, turn signals, horns, etc., and can be mounted in a variety of vehicle interior locations, including on the steering wheel.
Traditionally, several methods have been used to couple an electro-mechanical switch, such as a steering column mounted switch, to an electrical device. According to one method, an electro-mechanical switch directly provides power from a switch output to an input of the electrical device. That is, power is supplied to the electro-mechanical switch such that when engaged, the switch provides power directly to the electrical device. This type of switch arrangement may be susceptible to certain drawbacks, such as larger-gauged wiring harnesses, increased power losses, high energy power distribution through certain components, and lack of flexibility regarding design changes.
According to another method for coupling electro-mechanical switches to electrical devices, the switches have electrical outputs customized to match electrical inputs of a switch module, which acts as an intermediary between the switch and the electrical device. This type of arrangement suffices for certain vehicle electrical systems, however, the more options and permutations available the more complex it becomes. For instance, consider the situation where a base-level switch having a first functionality and an up-level switch having a second functionality are both available. According to this method, the manufacturer would have to provide two separate switches, one for each level, two separate switch modules, one for each switch, and two separate wiring harnesses for connecting the switch and switch module pair. This type of arrangement can increase the cost of manufacturing, as more types of specially designed components are required, as well as complicate the logistics of determining which switch and wire harness is to be used with which switch module.
Thus, it would be advantageous to provide a switch system having an electro-mechanical switch and a switch module, where a single switch module of a standard design is capable of automatically configuring and operating with a variety of electro-mechanical switches.

Switch system capable of automatic configuration


Systems and methods for improving the timing alignment of non-overlapping waveforms are provided. In this regard, a representative system, among others, includes a waveform synthesizer that generates a plurality of input waveforms and inverters having inputs and outputs, wherein the inverters receive the input waveforms at the inputs of the inverters and invert the input waveforms, producing a plurality of inverted waveforms at the outputs of the inverters. The system also includes NOR gates having inputs and outputs, wherein the NOR gates receive the plurality of inverted waveforms at the inputs of the NOR gates and pass through one of the inverted waveforms at the outputs of the NOR gates.

Cross-coupled inverters 9, 11 have been used in pseudo-differential inverter strings to generate a differential set of transitions in otherwise uncoupled single-ended complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) signal paths, such as that shown in FIG. 1. The circuit arrangement 3 of the cross-coupled inverters 9, 11 insures that a time skew in either the top or bottom differential pair of signals is not allowed to propagate. The cross-coupled inverters 9, 11 are used to de-skew differential local oscillator (LO) clock waveforms prior to mixers 8, 10 for 50% duty cycle LO waveforms. Inverters 5 & 7 are inverter buffers in the forward path of the circuit arrangement 3.
The circuit arrangement 3 of the cross-coupled inverters 9, 11 de-skews input waveforms 12 at outputs 4, 6 by cross-coupled inverters 9, 11. The de-skewed waveforms are shown in FIG. 2. As demonstration, the waveforms 12, 14 are pseudo-differential CMOS input swings that have been deliberately skewed from perfect differential by 5 degrees at 1.6 GHz. The forward path and cross-coupled inverters "negotiate" on when to actually allow the output transitions to occur and the result is that the crossing voltage of waveforms 16, 18 are much closer in agreement than were the skewed input crossing voltages.
In addition, rediscovery of the N-path filtering technique has highlighted the emerging need for a technique to improve the pseudo-differential balance and duty cycle of 4-phase non-overlapping clocks.
Desirable in the art is an improved system and method for generating non-overlapping waveforms that would improve upon the conventional frequency conversion mixers.

Systems and methods for improving the time alignment of non-overlapping waveforms


The present invention is a method and apparatus for interfacing a host and a conditional access circuit to a digital device. A switching circuit is coupled to the host and the conditional access circuit to switch input streams into output streams. The input streams include a host stream from the host and the output streams include an interface output stream. An interface circuit is coupled to the steering circuit and the digital device to transfer the interface output stream to the digital device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to conditional access devices. In particular, the present invention is related to interfacing a conditional access device to a digital device.
2. Description of Related Art
Modern set-top boxes generally have a receiver to receive program data, or content, from a service provider and generate multiple transport streams. The content is normally scrambled before being transmitted to the receiver. The scrambled content is then de-scrambled by a conditional access (CA) device. Currently, entitlement management messages (EMM) typically use unique keys or signatures to deliver a group key or access parameters to CA devices. An EMM is a message used to deliver privileges (e.g., rights, keys) to a CA device. Typically the group are users or customers who share a particular set of entitlements. The National Renewable Security System (NRSS) defines two types of CA devices or modules: an NRSS part A module supporting a smart card form factor, and an NRSS part B module supporting a PCMCIA form factor.
The unscrambled content is then transferred or downloaded to a digital device such as a display device (e.g., digital television) for program viewing or a recording device (e.g., digital video cassette recorder) for program recording. In many scenarios, multiple digital devices are connected to the conditional access device for simultaneous activities such as viewing while recording or viewing at different display locations.
A standardized interface between the conditional access device and the digital device is desirable. However, it is important to safeguard the content or transport streams from unauthorized copying by the digital device. In addition, the interface should be flexible enough to accommodate several usage options such as store and playback.
Therefore, there is a need to have an efficient and flexible technique to interface a conditional access device to a digital device.

Interfacing a conditional access circuit to a digital device using input and output stream switching