One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that facilitates automatically generating a performance table for an object, wherein the object is subject to fluid flow. The system operates by first receiving a description of the object and testing parameters for the object. The system executes a flow solver using the testing parameters and the description of the object to produce an output. Next, the system determines if the output of the flow solver indicates negative density or pressure. If not, the system analyzes the output to determine if the output is converging. If converging, the system writes the output to the performance table for the object.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to airfoil performance. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for automatically generating airfoil performance tables.
2. Related Art
In order to analyze the performance of an airfoil, airfoil analysis codes typically make extensive use of two-dimensional performance data. This two-dimensional airfoil performance data is typically stored in "C81 airfoil performance tables." C81 tables are text files, which list the lift coefficient, drag coefficient and pitching moment coefficient as functions of angle of attack for a range of Mach numbers. Typically, the angle of attack spans angles from −180° to 180°, while the Mach number ranges from 0.0 to 1.0. In the past, tables were created from experimental data and researchers' best estimates as to how the airfoil should perform at certain flow conditions.
Due to the high cost of wind tunnel tests, only a handful of airfoil sections have been tested over the entire 360° angle of attack and Mach number ranges. These data are often faired into tables being created for new geometries as a way of filling in the gaps where experimental data is not available. Due to this process, it is difficult to ensure any level of consistency in existing tabular data as far as compressibility effects, viscous effects or even sectional geometries are concerned.
C81 tables are thus often incomplete, and often contain inconsistencies in reference Reynolds numbers, airfoil geometry, and the like. These problems make relying on C81 tables for design tradeoff studies and geometry modifications problematic at best.
Hence, what is needed is a method and an apparatus for automatically generating airfoil performance tables without the problems described above.

Method and apparatus for automatically generating airfoil performance tables

The Regents of the University of California


The invention relates to a circuit arrangement for igniting and operating a high-pressure discharge lamp provided with a control circuit which limits the voltage to a value Vb across the output terminals of the circuit arrangement such that: EQU Vla<Vb<Vi.. wherein Vla is the nominal lamp voltage and Vi is the threshold voltage across the output terminals at which the ignitor starts.

The invention relates to a circuit arrangement for igniting and operating a high-pressure discharge lamp, provided with input terminals for connection to a supply source, output terminals for connection to the lamp a switching device for operating the lamp at a nominal lamp voltage Vla during stable lamp operation and for generating an open voltage Vo at the output terminals before the lamp has ignited, an ignitor for generating an ignition voltage pulse when the voltage at the output terminals reaches a threshold value Vi, and a control circuit for controlling the switching device.
A conventional circuit arrangement, such as disclosed in European Patent No. 0401931 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 5,068,572) is suitable for igniting and operating, inter alia, high-pressure sodium lamps and metal halide lamps. These lamps typically have a discharge vessel in which an electric discharge is maintained during operation and which is enclosed with intervening space by an outer bulb. An ignitor produces a high ignition voltage pulse (a few kV and more). The ignitor becomes operative through the choice of an open circuit voltage Vo across the output of a commutator being greater than the voltage threshold Vi for triggering ignition of the lamp, that is, Vo>Vi. Once the ignitor becomes operative, an ignition voltage pulse is generated. The lamp will ignite and the voltage across the lamp will drop abruptly to around ten volts. As soon as a stable discharge is established in the lamp, the voltage across the lamp gradually rises to the lamp voltage Vla. The circuit arrangement is so designed that the lamp voltage Vla is lower than the voltage Vi, which in its turn is lower than the open voltage Vo.
A control circuit ensures that switching device of the circuit arrangement acts as a controlled current generator when in the stable operational state of the lamp. No more ignition voltage pulses are generated by the ignitor as soon as the voltage at the circuit arrangement connection terminals to the lamp drops to the lamp voltage Vla or lower. The generation of ignition voltage pulses after the lamp ignites is undesirable because this forms a load on the circuit arrangement. It is often suggested in the literature, therefore, to limit the operation of the ignitor by switching it off after a certain period of time has elapsed.
Conventional ignitors which are turned off after a prefixed period has elapsed have a number of disadvantages. These disadvantages include a comparatively high open voltage Vo remaining at the output terminals if the lamp has not yet ignited. The ignitor will also generate ignition voltage pulses after the lamp is extinguished, for example upon reaching the end of its operational life. High-pressure sodium lamps and metal halide lamps can ignite upon the application of ignition voltage pulses at the end of life after extinguishing and cooling-down. This gives rise to the characteristic flickering behavior of the lamp. Flickering is unpleasant to observe, but more importantly, is detrimental to the circuit arrangement and typically leads a considerable amount of interference radiation (radio interference, etc.).

Discharge lamp igniting and operating circuit with a timer controlled output voltage limit


A sound reproduction apparatus capable of providing a target sensation of sound localization to a listener by using a standard head-related transfer function is provided. In a microphone amplifying section, only the high frequency components of a left sound pickup signal and a right sound pickup signal, which are input from a dummy head microphone, are delayed by a delay circuit. Consequently, since the reproduction sound of the low frequency components having small individual differences can be output earlier, a listener in a reproduction sound field space can perceive the sensation of sound localization by the reproduction sound of the low frequency components that arrive earlier. As a result, even when a standard head-related transfer function is used, it becomes possible to enable the listener in the reproduction sound field space to perceive the target sensation of sound localization.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sound reproduction apparatus capable of three-dimensional stereophonic sound reproduction and a sound reproduction method for use with the sound reproduction apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hitherto, as a sound field reproduction system for reproducing a three-dimensional stereophonic sound field, for example, a sound system for reproducing three-dimensional stereophonic sound using two speakers in front of and two speakers behind a listener, that is, a total of four speakers, is known. In addition to the sound reproduction system described above, a three-dimensional sound reproduction system for reproducing a three-dimensional stereophonic sound field using two speakers has also been proposed.
When the sound reception of a concert hall is reproduced in a listening room by using a sound reproduction system for reproducing a stereophonic sound field by using two speakers, a sound signal that is radiated from a sound source, such as a musical instrument, and that arrives at the ears of the audience accompanied with the reverberations of the hall is necessary. It is known that such a sound signal is obtained by picking up sound by using a dummy head microphone such that microphones are mounted at the positions of two ears of a dummy head based on the shape of the head of a human being, that is, by binaural sound pickup.
Examples of binaural sound pickup include a method in which a sound signal that arrives at the ears of the audience is directly picked up by arranging a dummy head microphone in a seat of a concert hall, and a method in which sound is picked up by electrically superposing propagation characteristics from the position of the sound source, which are determined by measurements or simulation, to the ears of a listener onto a signal of a sound source such as a musical instrument (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 5-115098). In the former case of the sound pickup method for directly picking up sound, the propagation characteristics from the position of the sound source to the ears of the listener are acoustically superposed onto the sound from the sound source.
However, in these sound reproduction systems, since propagation characteristics from the position of the speaker disposed in the listening room to the position of the listener are not necessary, a filter for canceling such propagation characteristics needs to be provided.
In order to transmit the sound to the tympanic membrane, which is recorded by the dummy head microphone, to the tympanic membrane of the listener by using a speaker, as a technology for canceling propagation characteristics from the playback speaker to the listener, technologies, such as TRADIS (True Reproduction of All Directional Information by Stereophony) and OSS (Ortho-Stereophonic System), have been developed. Also, a technology in which a technique for inserting indoor propagation characteristics of a performance as given in a concert hall is combined with the above has been proposed (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 10-70798).
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 5-30600 discloses a method in which a frequency band that is effective for sound image control is separated by a filter, and sound image control is performed on a signal of the frequency band, so that the amount of computation is reduced. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 7-107598 discloses a method in which signal processing is performed by increasing the number of band divisions, and a sound image having natural expansion is reproduced.
A head-related transfer function, which indicates propagation characteristics from the position of the sound source to the ears of the listener in the binaural sound pickup described above, is also called a head diffraction transfer function, and the propagation characteristics are measured by using the sound source direction (angle) as a parameter.
However, since such a head-related transfer function depends on the head shape and the pinna shape, it differs for each listener. In particular, since the characteristics of the high frequency band have large individual differences, a head-related transfer function that applies to many persons cannot be realized over a wide band.
In order to improve the quality of the reproduction sound image when a sound signal picked up by binaural sound pickup is reproduced, theoretically speaking, it is necessary to optimize the sound pickup device for each listener. More specifically, since the head-related transfer function needs to be measured for each listener and optimized, a sound pickup device that is commercially practical for the general public cannot be constructed.
Accordingly, in order for the head-related transfer function to apply to many listeners, it is considered that superposition is performed by permitting a certain degree of error in order to generalize the head-related transfer function. However, if the head-related transfer function is generalized over a wide band, there is a risk of the sound localization of the stereophonic sound becoming unstable, and the sound image that should originally be perceived as a front sound image is mistakenly perceived as a back sound image, that is, so-called reverse front/back mis-perception occurs.
Variations in the head-related transfer function described above occur due to variations of the head shape and the pinna shape of the listener and due to the relationship with the wavelength of sound waves that arrive from the sound source. For this reason, variations in the head-related transfer function for each listener are small for the low frequency components and are large for the high frequency components.
Therefore, if, during sound pickup, an upper limit is provided for the sound band in which sound is picked up and the sound pickup is performed by targeting only the low frequencies, the head-related transfer function can be generalized. However, in that case, there is a drawback in that an unnatural sound having no high frequency components is generated.
As described above, in the conventional binaural sound pickup, since a head-related transfer function is difficult to generalize (standardize), it is not possible to provide a target sensation of sound localization with a natural sound to a large number of listeners.
The problems, described up to this point, resulting from the individual differences of propagation characteristics from the sound source to the ears of the listener affect not only the reproduction of the above-described propagation characteristics from the position of the sound source to the ears of the listener in the original sound field, but also a canceling filter for canceling propagation characteristics from the playback speaker to the ears of the listener in a listening room.
More specifically, since the characteristics of the canceling filter depend on the propagation characteristics of the listener, strictly speaking, it is necessary to design a canceling filter for each listener. The characteristics of such a canceling filter can also be generalized. However, since an error becomes larger particularly in the high frequency band, there are drawbacks in that the canceling effect is small, and the perception of the sound image direction becomes unstable.

Sound reproduction apparatus and sound reproduction method


A process for printing an image (I.sub.C) on a lenticular lens material (12) with a printing press (10). A separate film negative (B, C, Y, M) is prepared for each color used in printing the image. One of the negatives (B) is selected and each of the other negatives, and the lens material, is registered with the selected negative. Each of negatives is adjusted to the selected negative so all of the negatives and the lens material are in registry with each other. Separate printing plates (18) are prepared from each of the negatives. The plates are mounted on the press at respective printing stations and the lens material is run through the press with each of the plates being used to print on the material. The plates are adjusted, as necessary, to align the plates and register the color dot patterns printed by each plate to the color printed by the plate made from the selected negative. After the adjustment, the lens material is run through the press and printed with the resulting printed image displaying desired visual effects when viewed through lenticules (14) formed on the other side of the lens material from the side (16) on which the image is printed.

This invention relates to printing processes involving lenticular lens material and, more particularly, to such a printing process in which a thin sheet lenticular lens material is used and in which high quality printing, with desired optical effects, is achieved.
Lenticular lenses are known and used in the printing industry primarily in the printing of advertising and promotional materials, packaging labels, hang tags for merchandise, product tags, and security labels. A preliminary step in a printing process includes selecting segments from two or more visual images used to create a desired visual effect and interlacing these segments. The interlaced segments are then mapped to a selected lenticular lens material in a prepress operation, so when the segments are printed on the material the final result exhibits a desired visual effect such as zoom-in, zoom-out, stereoscopic or 3-dimensional, and movement. The lenticular lens material used in this printing process includes a transparent web which is flat on one side with a plurality of lenticules being formed on the other side. The mapped images are printed directly onto the flat side of the lens material. The lenticules comprise convex lenses formed in a side-by-side arrangement with the lenticules extending parallel to each other the length of the web. Different lens materials have a different number of lenticules per inch (LPI) with the particular LPI selected depending upon the particular application. Once the image segments and material is selected, the previously noted prepress operation is performed with the image segments being mapped with respect to the focal points of the lenticules on the selected lens material.
The major cost component in a lenticular printing operation is the lens material. Heretofore, the lens material has typically been between 20-25 mils thick and the material cost has represented 50-75% of the total cost of a printing project. It is therefor beneficial to try to reduce the cost of the lenticular lens material, if this can be done without sacrificing the quality of the printed product. One way of reducing cost is to decrease the thickness of the lens material. However, doing so creates significant problems which must be overcome to produce a quality product. For example, even though sheet thickness is reduced, the LPI of the material is actually increased. This means that the width of each lenticule is narrower which, in turn, reduces the margin of error which is acceptable during printing. Factors such as temperature, humidity, uniformity of pressure exerted on the material as it is drawn through the printing press, all also have a greater impact on the quality of the printed material than with a conventional thicker lens material. Non-uniform pressure will cause a thin lens material to stretch, distorting the material and causing the printed pattern to no longer be aligned with the focal points of the individual lenses. Similarly, if the temperature and humidity to which the lens material is subjected is not maintained at a constant value, the material will again distort with an unacceptable result being produced.
Overall, and in accordance with the present invention, the quality of the printing operation has been found to be best controlled by meticulously controlling the alignment of the film, printing plates, and lens material prior to the start of printing. In addition, by controlling the pressure on the material as it is run through the press, the temperature and humidity in the area where the press is located, distortions which may occur during printing are further minimized or eliminated altogether. The printing process of the present invention overcome the numerous problems which must be addressed during press set-up and the subsequent printing operation so the result is a printed sheet of lenticular lens material which has the clarity and color delineation required to produce the visual effects desired by the customer.

Printing process using a thin sheet lenticular lens material


Particles of sand coated with oil are loaded into a housing (1). A fluidizing unit (3) is provided towards the bottom of the housing. The fluidizing unit fluidizes the particles and discharges them from the housing to a separator, such as one or more hydrocyclones (8, 14), in which the oil and sand particles are separated. The coated particles can be introduced in the housing (1) via a cyclonic separator (50, 52) which provides some preliminary separation.

The production fluid from an oil well includes varying proportions of oil, water and gas in which are entrained solid particles, hereinafter referred to as "sand". This mixture is normally fed to a phase separator in which settling under gravity occurs into an upper gaseous layer, a middle oil layer, and an lower water layer. These are removed through separate outlets from the separator. The sand naturally settles out in the bottom of the water layer in the tank and it will be undesirable to allow this to be discharged through the water outlet, not least because the sand particles will be coated with oil and it is unacceptable to discharge such coated particles with the water back into the environment. Consequently the coated sand particles are recovered from the bottom of the phase separator and, according to one method, supplied to a vessel fitted with impellers which rotate in opposite directions to suspend the contaminated particles in water, causing dynamic contact of the particles, which mechanically strips away the oil coatings from the solid particles. The clean solid particles may then be discharged to the environment but the carrier water has to be treated, normally by flotation, to remove the oil. This is difficult, costly, and takes space which is at a premium on, for example, a marine platform.
Other situations obtain where it is necessary to clean oil-coated sand particles, for example when an oil spillage contaminates a beach.

Apparatus and method for removing oil from oil-coated particles


The engine acceleration detection device compares a intake manifold pressure at a certain crankshaft angle with the intake manifold pressure at 720 degrees before this crankshaft angle. If the difference between these two pressures is a predetermined value or more and the former is higher than the latter, the engine acceleration detection device determines that the engine is in acceleration status. The acceleration of the engine is determined without using a throttle valve opening sensor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an acceleration/deceleration detection device and method for a four-cycle engine, and more particularly to a device and method for detecting the acceleration and deceleration of the engine without using a throttle valve opening sensor.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a typical engine, a throttle valve opening sensor, intake manifold pressure sensor (intake air pressure sensor) and crankshaft angle sensor are connected to an engine control device. The throttle valve opening sensor detects the opening degree of the throttle valve, and the manifold pressure sensor detects the intake air pressure inside the intake air passage. In the engine control device, the engine speed is acquired by numerical processing on the output value of the crankshaft angle sensor. The acceleration and deceleration of the engine is determined (detected) based on the engine speed and the throttle valve opening. The basic fuel injection volume is determined based on the engine speed, and the compensation fuel volume during acceleration is determined based on the throttle valve opening. Such an engine control device is disclosed in Japanese patent Application Kokai (Laid-Open) No.8-135491. The throttle valve opening sensor is indispensable to detect the acceleration and deceleration of the engine.

Acceleration/deceleration detection device and method for four-cycle engines


A hammer drill (100) comprises an electric motor (110), a piston (127) as a driving member and a controller (199) which controls and drives the electric motor (110). The piston (127) is reciprocated by rotation of the electric motor (110) and thereby a hammer bit (119) is driven in its longitudinal direction. The hammer bit (119) is moved forward in response to a forward movement stroke of the piston (127) and thereby a hammering operation is performed by the hammer bit (119). The controller (199) sets a duty ratio of a driving pulse signal which drives the electric motor (110) in the forward movement stroke of the piston (127) to be larger in order to prevent a reduction of a rotation speed of the electric motor (110) due to a load applied on the electric motor (110) during the forward movement stroke of the piston (127).

Japanese non-examined laid-open Patent Publication No. 2004-255542 discloses an electric hammer which performs a hammering operation by driving a hammer bit. The electric hammer has a motor and a piston, and rotation of the motor is converted into a linear reciprocating motion of the piston. By utilizing the linear motion of the piston, the hammer bit held by a tool holder is hit by a hammering element within the piston via an intermediate element and thereby the hammering operation is performed.


There is described an image forming system that includes an image forming apparatus provided with a first paper sheet outlet to eject the paper sheet outside therefrom; a post processing apparatus that is provided with a second paper sheet inlet; and a relay conveyance apparatus that is installed between the image forming apparatus and the post processing apparatus. The relay conveyance apparatus includes a relay conveyance unit, disposed at an upper space of the relay conveyance apparatus and provided with a first paper sheet inlet and a second paper sheet outlet and a coupling unit, which fixes the image forming apparatus and the post processing apparatus to the relay conveyance apparatus, in such a manner that the first paper sheet outlet and the second paper sheet outlet substantially coincide with the first paper sheet inlet and the second paper sheet inlet, respectively.

The present invention relates to an image forming system that is constituted by an image forming apparatus and a plurality of paper sheet processing apparatuses, which are coupled to each other in the system.
Various kinds of peripheral apparatuses are optionally coupled to the image forming apparatus, such as an electro-photographic image forming apparatus, so as to form a versatile image forming system.
This kind of image forming system is utilized not only as a utility in an office or a copy center, but also in the field of the POD (Print On Demand).
Conventionally, a single post processing apparatus, in which various kinds of processors, such as a stapler, a puncher, etc., are integrated, is generally combined with the image forming apparatus as the peripheral apparatus of the image forming apparatus employing the electro-photographic imaging method.
According as the functional demands for the peripheral apparatus have been diversified, however, it becomes difficult to integrate various kinds of functional structures into a single apparatus. As a result, a trend for forming and using the image forming system in which a plurality of peripheral apparatuses are concatenated with each other has emerged recently.
For instance, Patent Document 1 (Tokkai 2004-161466, Japanese Non-Examined Patent Publication) sets forth an image forming system in which a post processing apparatus having a folding function is coupled to the image forming apparatus, and further another post processing apparatus having an end stitching (plane stitching), a center folding and a saddle stitching functions is coupled.
Further, Patent Document 2 (Tokkai 2005-254362, Japanese Non-Examined Patent Publication) sets forth an image forming system in which an interface module is installed between the image forming apparatus and an post processing apparatus having a punching and a saddle stitching functions, so that the interface module can supply an additional paper sheet, other than the paper sheets conveyed from the image forming apparatus.
As described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 (Tokkai 2004-161466 and Tokkai 2005-254362 Japanese Non-Examined Patent Publication), in the configuration in which a plurality of post processing apparatuses are concatenated to the image forming apparatus, the conveyance path in the paper sheet processing apparatus to be disposed at an intermediate position (hereinafter, referred to as an relay conveyance apparatus) is designed to be as shorter as possible, in order to suppress the occurrence probability of the apparatus stopping accident due to the conveyance malfunction as a whole by reducing the conveyance malfunction in the relay conveyance apparatus, in order to improve the efficiency of the apparatus as a whole by increasing the processing velocity in the image forming mode in which the relay conveyance apparatus is deactivated, etc. In addition, even if the relay conveyance apparatus is designed to conduct a kind of paper sheet processing, a relatively simple processing structure is installed into the relay conveyance apparatus.
According to the reasons mentioned in the above, the relay conveyance apparatus tends to be designed in such a manner that the horizontal width of the relay conveyance apparatus is as shorter as possible when viewing it from the front of the image forming system.
In Patent Documents 1 and 2 (Tokkai 2004-161466 and Tokkai 2005-254362 Japanese Non-Examined Patent Publication), the post processing apparatus PZ and the interface module 4, both serving as the relay conveyance apparatus, are also designed in such a manner that the horizontal width of each of them is shorter than that of the image forming apparatus or the other post processing apparatus to be disposed at the both sides of them.

Image forming system, relay conveyance apparatus and method for installing image forming system

Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.


An orthodontic bracket comprising a base plate having an edge configuration in which the mesial and distal edges are formed to extend in parallel to mesial and distal secants of the tooth crown. Those secants extend close to the mesial and distal edges of the tooth's crown when seen in front view between the mesial and distal junctions of the enamel, respectively, and the cement at the gingival edge of the tooth and the junction of the incisal edge or cusp and the mesial and distal edge, respectively, of the tooth's crown. Thereby, the positioning of the bracket in conformity with the anatomy of the tooth's crown is facilitated.

There are numerous tooth configurations and sizes which vary from one patient to another. In most cases, however, the teeth of the majority of people conform to certain profiles and sizes, such that orthodontic brackets mounted on the teeth can also be standardised to correspond to certain tooth sizes and configuration.
With the advance of higher quality casting and finishing processes, the sizes of orthodontic brackets have gotten smaller, in particular to reduce the cost of raw materials and for aesthetic purposes so as to draw less attention to the patient. However, the smaller the brackets are the more experience the orthodontist needs for properly mounting the brackets to the teeth of a patient.
From U.S. Pat. No. 5,022,854 an orthodontic bracket is known which aims to obviate the problems in aligning and positioning the bracket on the tooth. This known bracket has a trapezoidal configuration comprising a pair of tie wings, each having non-parallel mesial and distal edges and further having an occlusal edge sustantially parallel to the occlusal plane of the tooth and to a sight line defined by the archwire slot formed through the tie wings. The edges of the tie winge form sight lines that intersect at a focal point located at the tip of the tooth root to assist in positioning the bracket. Further, a V groove is provided along the longitudinal axis of the bracket to form a sight line that also intersects the focal point. However, the location of this focal point can only be verified with the aid of X-rays so the orthodontist must compare the real tooth with its X-ray image when applying the bracket to the tooth. Further, it is to be noted that although this crowns of the teeth conform to certain profiles and sizes the tips of the teeth's roots sometimes deviate from the focal point defined by the intersection of the sight lines of the bracket. Bringing the focal point of the bracket into alignment with the tip of the tooth root then results in a misalignment of the bracket with respect to the visual surface of the tooth.
It is thus, an object of the present invention to provide an orthodontic bracket which enables an increase in the accuracy in aligning and positioning the bracket on the tooth. It is a further object of the invention to reduce the amount of time that a patient is in the chair while the orthodontist is mounting brackets. It is a still further object of the invention to provide an orthodontic bracket that will reduce the likelihood that an orthodontist will have to re-mount the bracket to correct for misalignmeat between the bracket and the tooth.


A urinary incontinence device comprising a tubular insert having a free distal end and an opposing proximal end, the insert being configured to be received within the urethra of a patient and being sufficiently flexible to be collapsed under constriction of the urethra. A flange radially projects out from the proximal end of the insert and is configured to seal against the opening of the urethra. An expandable reservoir is attached to the flange on the opposing side of the insert. A fluid channel extends from an opening on the exterior of the insert to the reservoir.

This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 60/036,218, filed Jan. 28, 1997.
1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices for controlling and regulating urinary incontinence in women.
2. Present State of the Art
Urinary incontinence in women is a relatively common problem which exists in three primary forms. Stress urinary incontinence occurs as a result of physical stress, such as Lifting, coughing, or sneezing. Urge urinary incontinence is a result of gradual loss of control of the nerves that control the micturition process. Mixed urinary incontinence is a combination of symptoms of stress urinary incontinence and urge urinary incontinence.
The problem is often a source of difficulty or embarrassment to the affected woman. One solution, in relatively mild cases, has been the use of pads or diapers to absorb the uncontrolled seepage of urine. This can be undesirable as it sometimes results in restricting the type or style of clothing wished to be worn, as well as requiring frequent changing of absorbent devices. Discomfort and irritation due to the lingering presence of captured urine against tender urogenital tissues is another problem existing with external absorbent systems.
More severe cases require the temporary use of an intraurethral device to control the involuntary seepage or flow of urine. Several devices are known in the prior art for dealing with the problems of urinary incontinence in women. One device comprises a relatively rigid valved catheter having an extendible sealing portion on the interior end of the catheter. The sealing portion must be relatively rigid as it secures the device in the patient and defines at least one aperture to allow the passage of urine into the device. A manually operable valve is located between the internal and external ends of the catheter to enable the woman to selectively control elimination of urine at desired places and times. Other types of valved devices are known, and these generally comprise rigid tubular casings with valves inserted at various locations.
Still other prior art devices comprise solid plugs which are inserted into the urethra to block the involuntary seepage or flow of urine. Several such devices are known in the prior art. As claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,082,006, one prior art device comprises a relatively thin, solid shaft having at least one knob or thickening of the shaft along its length. Another device, as claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,090,424, comprises a flexible urethral plug which has a soft molded inflatable plastic catheter and a transportable fluid. The device is inserted into the urethra. Pressure applied to an external bellow causes the fluid to be transported into the interior end of the device. The interior or distal end of the device increases in diameter as a result, securely implanting the plug on a temporary basis. Removal is accomplished by deflating the implanted plug.
Most devices employ some kind of enlargement of the interior end of the catheter or shaft to secure the device within the urethra following placement. This can result in discomfort to the woman, and may lead to a sensation of a necessity to void the bladder when it may not be necessary. Additionally, many women suffering from stress urinary incontinence have bladder necks and proximal urethras that will open up during a stress event. This condition exists when the bladder neck becomes deformed from its normally perpendicular state to one which sags downward. When this condition is encountered, securing of the device via an enlarged distal end within the urethra may be negatively affected due to the enlargement occurring at the wrong position on the device.
Further, many prior art devices utilize a form stable catheter or shaft which remains temporarily implanted in the urethra. As a result, the urethra will necessarily be deformed from its normally collapsed configuration which is naturally assumed at all times except during urination, when it will be open. Additional problems, such as bladder and urethral infections may also develop from the extended presence of a relatively rigid artificial body in the urethra, and associated open urethra. The insertion of the rigid device can also transfer bacteria to the bladder.


A system, method and interface for compiling literary works from specialized databases and/or from unique interfaces is provided, including a custom database compiled from plural existing literary indexes, wherein a master index is harmonized from said existing indexes according to common terms (e.g., book, chapter and verse for biblical indexes) with deleted duplicates. In exemplary embodiments, the master index is also augmented by ingestion of additional literary works in digital form that are chopped up based on said common terms (e.g., book, chapter, verse) extracted from the literary work.

Conventional literary works are generated between a writer and a publisher. Even compilations are traditionally controlled by a designated publisher who is tasked with the effort of compiling a compelling work.
What is needed in the art is a mechanism that serves to allow custom compilations from a database in intuitive manners.

System, method and interface for compiled literary work

HARPERCOLLINS CHRISTIAN PUBLISHING, INC.


An optical device including a waveguide and an electrode is described. The waveguide includes at least one optical material having an electro-optic effect. The electrode includes a channel region and extensions protruding from the channel region. The extensions are closer to a portion of the waveguide than the channel region is.

Optical modulators and other electro-optic devices are generally desired to meet certain performance benchmarks. For example, an optical modulator is desired to be capable of providing a sufficient optical modulation at lower electrode driving voltages. A large optical modulation may correspond to the waveguide having a large length in the direction of transmission of the optical signal. However, the optical modulator is also desired to consume a small total area. The optical modulator is also desired to have low electrode (e.g. microwave) signal losses for the electrical signal through the electrodes and low optical losses for the optical signal traversing the waveguide. Further, the optical modulators are desired to be capable of providing the low loss transmission and large modulation at low voltages over a wide bandwidth of frequencies. Therefore, an electro-optic device that may have low electrode losses, low optical losses, consume a controlled amount of area, and/or provide the desired optical modulation at low voltages is desired.

Electro-optic devices having engineered electrodes


A system and method for determining the traceability of network request traffic over a communications network for reducing strain in traffic processing resources, which includes: provisioning a direct interconnect on the communications network between the server and a predefined source, the direct interconnect providing a private service interface, a defined pairings data of the predefined source with the direct interconnect stored as a network traffic almanac; provisioning a public service interface on the communications network; receiving a request traffic having an address of the predefined source via the public service interface; consulting the defined pairing data with the address to determine the request traffic matches the predefined source; and de-prioritizing the processing of the request traffic based on the request traffic being received on the public service interface rather than on the direct interconnect by dynamically applying a prioritize criterion to the second request traffic before generating a response traffic.

Currently, difficulties exist in determining the traceability of traffic in real-time in high-capacity communications network environments. Individual packets have source addresses embedded as parameters within them; however, the authenticity of those parameters is difficult to determine. A packet with a non-authentic source address parameter is said to be "not traceable" by sole reference to that parameter. The stateless transport that in the early days of transactional network protocols (e.g. DNS protocols) reflected practical limitations in computation and network capacity remains as important today, as network request (e.g. query) load has increased and the demands for application performance have also increased. Further, the cost of computation and connectivity have decreased dramatically and so has the tolerance for transactional latency and incoherence. Stateless transport over the communications network can be efficient, but also cannot provide any effective traceability of a client for any network-based transaction. Since the DNS protocol, like many other transactional protocols, generally involves a small request and a large response, there exists the potential for payload amplification to be exploited by attackers. For example, large numbers of available servers globally, together with the stateless transport and lack of traceability of clients, makes payload amplification a common mechanism for network attacks. For example, a DNS amplification attack is a reflection-based distributed denial of service (DDos) attack, whereby the attacker spoofs look-up requests to domain name system (DNS) servers to hide the source of the exploit and direct the response to the target. Through various techniques, the attacker turns a small DNS query into a much larger payload directed at the target network. Whist some success has been observed in eliminating DNS resolvers from the pool of available amplifiers by restricting their use to a constrained pool of clients, such constraints are not reasonable for authoritative servers which, more or less by definition, are intended to serve the whole communications network without exception.
As one example of network congestion, most serious attacks in the past several years have been characterised by a large number of well-connected and highly-distributed sources of attack traffic, possibly further exploiting amplifiers, delivering coordinated payloads over relatively short periods of time towards a set of victims. The traffic sources are generally pre-compromised consumer devices that are primed and ready to respond to direction from a command and control infrastructure. That these devices are commonly installed in consumer networks is highly relevant, since in practical terms it means (a) they are highly distributed, (b) they are increasingly well-connected, (c) they are very unlikely to be upgraded regularly, even if patches are available, and (d) there is no practical expectation of being able to contact a human operator. These devices represent botnets that continue to increase in size and capability, with no real expectation that this trend will reduce. Whilst significant efforts have been made to encourage access providers to coordinate in attack mitigation both in real-time and after-the-fact as part of forensic analysis, the observed impact of botnet-sourced attacks remains high. Efforts to reduce the opportunities for such devices to deliver source-spoofed traffic have been largely ineffective, partly because they are non-universal (and partly because residential networks tend to self-repair by the action of network address translation at their borders) but mainly because there is no great need to use amplifiers if your botnet is large enough. In recent years we have seen DNS servers promoted from accomplices in the denial of service business to victims.
Further, it is recognised that the existence of a thriving market in denial-of-service orchestration (and the use of DNS servers as amplifiers or targets as part of that market) is a somewhat tangential and ironic illustration of the importance of availability and performance for Internet-accessible services: ironic in the remaining observed cases where the very performance that attacks seek to degrade is framed by the performance and availability of the network (e.g. DNS) infrastructure that is used to amplify (or sink) the attack traffic. For example, an operator of authoritative DNS services hence has the unenviable job of simultaneously providing responsive and highly-available DNS service for legitimate request traffic whilst at the same time suppressing service for illegitimate traffic with no definitive way of distinguishing between either, and making that intractable decision in real time in an environment where competition dictates that the latency between request and response be as close to zero as possible.

Determining traceability of network traffic over a communications network


A method of determining the coupling moment in a friction coupling with an electro-mechanical actuator which comprises a supporting element axially supported in a housing and a displaceable setting element axially supported on said supporting element, wherein the supporting element is axially supported in the housing via an undisplaceably enclosed hydraulic medium and that the pressure in the hydraulic medium is measured and used by lookup tables of values for the actuator and for the friction coupling for the purpose of calculating the coupling moment in a central ECU.

Friction couplings for the range of application mentioned here have torque control purposes, i.e. more particularly they serve to control the distribution of torque at two wheels of a driven axle or between two drivable axles. To be able to carry out suitable control processes, the coupling moment transmitted by the coupling has to be known, i.e. it has to be constantly determined by suitable means. In prior art processes of for determining the coupling moment, the values such as speeds, temperatures etc. are measured by sensors, theoretical values (transmission ratios, efficiency etc.) are calculated, and corrected factors (friction coefficients, efficiency, temperature and speed dependencies etc.) as determined by tests are stored. The measured, calculated and interpolated values are evaluated in a computer or processor unit and the correct current for achieving a calculated coupling moment is set at the electric motor of the actuator. There is thus provided an open loop.
Because of existing non-linearities and deviations in the coupling behavior and in the behavior of the actuator, the coupling moment values set in this way and thus the respective torque values at the wheel or axles in some cases greatly deviate from the theoretical physical values. The degree of accuracy achieved in this way for setting the coupling moment is sometimes not sufficient. Storing the required evaluation tables in an Electronic Control Unit (ECU) or in a processor is complicated and does not allow the complete physical model of the coupling to be copied sufficiently accurately. For evaluating the measured, calculated and interpolated values ECU storage and computer capacity are used and are time-consuming. Several sensors are required for obtaining the required measured values (speed measurements, temperature sensors, etc.).

Axial setting device with torque determining means


According to one embodiment, a method for exchanging data in a system that includes a main processor in communication with an active memory device is provided. The method includes a processing element in the active memory device receiving an instruction from the main processor and receiving a store request from a thread running on the main processor, the store request specifying a memory address associated with the processing element. The method also includes storing a value provided in the store request in a queue in the processing element and the processing element performing the instruction using the value from the queue.

The present invention relates generally to computer systems, and more particularly to low latency data exchange for a computer system with remote processing.
In computer systems with distributed execution of tasks transfer of data between a remote processing unit and a main processor can affect system performance and latency. In systems including several levels of cache, a communication of data includes copying the data to each cache level as the data is transferred to or from a remote location. Copying of data to each cache level can increase latency and power consumption in the computer system.

International Business Machines Corporation


A golf bag umbrella is mounted within a golf bag and includes a central spring connection mounted to an extension shaft to permit pivotal displacement of the umbrella structure for access to golf clubs and the associated golf bag.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of invention relates to umbrella structure, and more particularly pertains to a new and improved golf bag umbrella wherein the same is arranged for pivotal mounting to permit access to golf clubs in the golf bag.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various umbrella-like structure has been utilized in the prior art and exemplified in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,788,996 to Forshee wherein an umbrella-like cover is arranged for mounting overlying golf clubs providing for a rain cover. In a similar manner, U.S. Pat. No. 5,005,623 to Webster sets forth a rain cover for mounting overlying an upper edge or entrance opening of the golf bag.
Similar rain hood type structure is set forth in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,977,451 to Duba; 4,953,768 to Muso; and 4,699,164 to Pilney, et al.
Accordingly, it may be appreciated there continues to be a need for a new and improved golf bag umbrella as set forth by the instant invention which addresses both the problems of ease of use as well as effectiveness in construction in permitting positioning of the umbrella structure within the golf bag while simultaneously permitting access to golf clubs within the golf bag structure and in this respect, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.


An ultrasonic liquid-level sensing system has a sensor with a number of reflectors mounted one above the other along the length of a tube that extends upwardly from a transducer and is filled with liquid to the same height as outside the tube. Liquid height is calculated from the difference between the arrival times of the pulses reflected from the two uppermost submerged reflectors and the difference between the arrival times of pulses reflected from the surface of the liquid and the uppermost submerged reflector.

This invention relates to liquid-level gauging.
The invention is more particularly concerned with ultrasonic liquid-level gauging sensors and systems.
Ultrasonic liquid-level sensors utilize the fact that ultrasonic vibrations travel freely in a liquid but are rapidly attenuated in air or other gas. If an ultrasonic transducer is mounted on the base of a liquid reservoir so that it directs energy up towards the liquid/air interface, the energy will be reflected back down to the transducer by this interface. By measuring the time taken between transmission and reception of an energy pulse, it is possible to measure the distance between the transducer and the liquid/air interface and, from this, the depth of liquid.
It is common practice for ultrasonic transducers of this kind to be mounted at the lower end of a tube that extends from the bottom to the top of the liquid reservoir. The tube is open at the bottom so that liquid fills the tube to the same depth as in the reservoir outside the tube. The tube serves several purposes. It helps isolate the transducer from other sensors or sources of interference. It also confines the ultrasonic beam, so that it is directed only at the region of the liquid surface directly above the transducer. Furthermore, the tube produces within it a region of liquid surface that is substantially damped of waves.
Another advantage arising out of the use of the tube is that it is easy to provide a reference height, by mounting some form of reflector at a known height within the tube. In this way, the transducer will receive a reflection from the liquid surface and one from the reference reflector against which the liquid height can be calibrated. This enables the ultrasonic gauging system to compensate for different liquids having different acoustic propagation properties and for temperature variations which can affect ultra-sound propagation. An example of an ultrasonic probe having a tube of this kind is described in, for example, EP 0106677. In this previous arrangement, the reflected pulse from the reflector below the liquid level is used to provide an average indication of the velocity of sound in the fluid below that reflector. This indication of the average velocity is used, in conjunction with the time of travel of pulses reflected from the liquid surface, to calculate the fluid height. Although this does take into account variation in acoustic propagation of fluids, it does not produce accurate results where there is considerable stratification of the fluid. In aircraft applications, for example, the fuel remaining in a tank after a flight may be at a very low temperature. On refuelling, with warmer fuel, this will lie above the cold fuel and will have very different acoustic propagation properties. Taking the average of the acoustic velocity within the fuel below the uppermost submerged reflector will not, therefore, necessarily give a very accurate indication of the acoustic propagation properties for the fuel above the reflector.

Smiths Industries Public Limited Company


A lamp socket with a water sealing and electric leakage preventing structure, including a channel-like rubber gasket fitted into a top wire groove in a socket body to hold an electric wire and having two slots for the passing of a positive metal contact plate and a negative metal contact plate of the socket body, a rubber cover pad covered on the rubber gasket over the electric wire and compressed against the electric wire and the rubber gasket by a socket cap being fastened to the socket body to seal the periphery of the electric wire and to prevent water from passing to the contact areas between the electric wire and the positive and negative metal contact plates.

The present invention relates to lamp socket for Christmas tree light sets, and more specifically to such a lamp socket which has a water sealing and electric leakage preventing structure.
"UL" of the USA and "CSA" of Canada define strict specifications on electric lamp sockets. However, these specifications do not define any structure to protect lamp sockets against rain water. When a Christmas tree light set is installed outdoors, rain water may pass through gaps in lamp sockets, causing a short circuit, electric leakage, or electric shock.

Lamp socket with a water sealing and electric leakage preventing structure

7F, No. 16, Alley 3, Lane 227, Nung-An St.


A gear housing includes a first gear axle parallel to a second gear axle, with the first axle in fixed communication with a lift lever to effect rotation of the first axle and associated first gears to effect rotation of second gears about the second axle, with the second axle mounted to the commode seat to simultaneously lift the commode seat and lid in a unitary manner.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of invention relates to commode seat lift structure, and more particularly pertains to a new and improved commode seat lid lift apparatus wherein the same simultaneously effects the lifting of a commode lid and seat relative to an associated commode assembly.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The manual lifting of commode seats, particularly in commercial establishments, is not only undesirable but may at times contribute to the spreading of disease and unknown contamination. The instant invention attempts to overcome deficiencies of the prior art by providing for a structure of compact and unitary mounting relative to a commode assembly to provide for the simultaneous lifting of a commode seat and lid, particularly for use by males in the commode structure. The U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,951,324; 4,803,741; 4,534,073; and 3,504,385 are examples of prior art structure arranged to the lifting of commode seat structure.
The instant invention attempts to overcome deficiencies of the prior art by providing for an organization directed to the simplicity and ease of mounting and retrofit of the organization relative to existing commode structure, as well as to the employment of such an original manufacture of such commode structure and in this respect, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.


There is provided a robot cleaner including a main body, a suction unit that sucks air including foreign substances into the main body, a moving unit that moves the main body, a dust collecting unit that has a filter for filtering the foreign substances included in the air sucked by the suction unit and a dust collecting case that collects the foreign substances filtered by the filter, and a detection unit that detects whether or not the filter is attached to the main body.

The present disclosure relates to a robot cleaner.
The robot cleaner is an electrical appliance that performs a cleaning operation of removing foreign substances while running on a certain cleaning target region. The robot cleaner is provided with a dust collecting unit for collecting the foreign substances sucked together with air. The dust collecting unit includes a filter for filtering the foreign substances from the air and a dust collecting case for collecting the filtered foreign substances by the filter. The dust collecting case is detachably provided in the robot cleaner, and the filter is detachably provided at the dust collecting case.
Disadvantageously, in a conventional robot cleaner, the robot cleaner is operated while only the dust collecting case is attached to the robot cleaner without attaching the filter thereto. In such a case, since the foreign substances sucked together with the air into the robot cleaner are not filtered by the filter, the foreign substances are discharged to the outside of the robot cleaner. Accordingly, it may be difficult to accurately operate the cleaning operation by the robot cleaner.


Airborne team game apparatus including a rectangular chamber-form, playing court having an elastomeric mesh floor, transparent upstanding sidewalls, a mesh ceiling and goals on respective end walls. A series of fan outlets provide an airborne body supporting updraft throughout the court so that players can fly past each other during play while throwing a game projectile into a goal to score. The game projectile is molded in one piece from elastomeric material and has a spherical portion centrally mounted in an inwardly tapering, annular vane or wing.

Several apparatus are known for maintaining the body airborne in a strong updraft, both for simulating the free-fall experience of skydiving and for amusement of the user.
For example, UK patent application 2,062,557, published in 1981; discloses apparatus for simulating free-fall conditions; U.S. Pat. No. 4,457,507 issued to St-Germain in 1984 teaches a levitationarium for air flotation of humans; U.S. Pat. No. 4,578,037 issued to Macangus et al in 1986 teaches a skydiving simulator. However, none of the teachings of the references is suggestive of game apparatus of the present invention. The teachings of the above references are incorporated herein by reference in so far as they may be relevant.

Airborne team game apparatus and projectile


A device for controlling drives of machine tools or production machines is disclosed, whereby the device includes a permanent storage medium associated with the device and a trace module that records actual process values after the trace module is triggered. The actual process values are permanently stored on the permanent storage media in form of files in a standard file format. The device makes it possible to permanently store actual process values recorded by a trace functionality, in particular by a trace module, in the device for controlling drives in a standard data format.

The present invention relates, in general, to a device for controlling drives in machine tools or production machines.
Nothing in the following discussion of the state of the art is to be construed as an admission of prior art.
In a modern machine tool or production machine, which can include, for example, a motor with a connected gear and load, a controller is typically associated with each drive. One controller can hereby simultaneously control several motors. The efficiency and the quality of almost all drives in machine tools and production machines depend directly on an optimized dynamic characteristic of the drive controller. A suitable test functionality for ensuring the desired control characteristic of the machine is therefore desirable.
A commercially available device for controlling drives in machine tools or production machines and for performing tests includes an internal trace module for recording signals, as well as an internal signal generator. The signal generator is used to add test signals to the control functions of the device as a measure of the excitation. The test signals can be, for example, a step excitation of a controller setpoint. In conventional, commercially available function generators, a user can only select a limited number of curve forms, for example, a step function, digital noise, a sine function and certain parameters (amplitude, offset, period duration, etc.). For performing the test, a trigger signal which can be generated by an external diagnostic/startup device, can trigger the trace module as well as the function generator. The function generator then adds the aforedescribed curve functions with predefined parameters to the control functions of the device, and records after triggering actual process values, which are also predefined through parameters, such as signals from external transducers or other signals within the control functions of the device. The user can then download to, for example, the diagnostic/startup device, the actual process values, that are non-permanently stored in the trace module, and evaluate the actual process values, wherein the signal curves are stored in the form of binary files that do not employ a standardized file format.
Another known test function is the so-called circularity test, which can only be performed in the presence of a supervisory controller. An application program in the supervisory controller generates a circular path in Cartesian coordinates. When the circularity test is selected, the supervisory controller configures, triggers and/or starts the trace module during the execution of the application program. However, the application program and the trace module are not precisely synchronized. Instead, the user has to initially start the application program, which includes following the path of a continuous circle, and subsequently activate the circularity test. The circularity test automatically compares the desired circle and the actual circle and determines the maximum deviations. These deviations are displayed on the user interface of the controller, but cannot be further processed directly by a supervisory automation plane or Internet services.
Because the aforedescribed circularity test is only a special test of a quality check of a machine tool or production machine and cannot be generally applied, it is customary to produce test workpieces in order to verify the accuracy and the dynamics of the machine. Because a test workpiece has typically a limited size, the machine characteristic is only checked in a correspondingly small portion of the machine workspace.
As mentioned above, the actual process values recorded by the trace module are not permanently stored and are also not stored in a standard file format, but have to be first transferred to an external startup/diagnostic device. The user can therefore not evaluate if, for example, the variation in the actual rotation speed during a change of the desired rotation speed stays within an acceptable limit, because for example process reference values recorded during the startup of the machine are no longer available for comparison. Another problem is that for a comprehensive evaluation, a startup/diagnostic device must always be connected to the device that controls the drive(s).
It is therefore desirable to permanently store actual process values that are recorded by a trace functionality, in particular by a trace module, in a standard file format in the device that controls the drives.

Device for controlling drives in machine tools or production machines


The present invention provides three insertion elements and transposases encoded by the insertion elements that are derived from the genome of Ralstonia solanacearum, which has been isolated with a transposon trap vector.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transposable element isolated from the genome of Ralstonia solanacearum and a transposase encoded by the transposable element.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is known that transposable elements not only inactivate or activate genes before and after the transposition site by moving on the genome, but also cause various genome rearrangements such as deletion, inversion and duplication. It is also known that the transposable elements contribute to genome plasticity that is important for the evolution and the environmental adaptation of microorganisms (Arber et al., FEMS Microb. Ecol., 15: 5-14 (1994)).
Transposable elements can be classified into transposons and insertion sequence elements. Transposons are defined as genes involved in transposition and having phenotypic genes such as antibiotic resistances. On the other hand, insertion sequence elements (hereinafter, referred to as IS elements) are defined as genes that generally have a size of 2 kb or less and have no phenotypic genes other than the genes involved in gene transposition (Gay et al., J. Bacteriol., 164: 918-921 (1985)).
The IS element was first discovered in the late 1960""s as an element that causes mutation of E. coli. Thereafter, the IS elements of E. coli in particular were isolated and characterized. In the late 1980""s, there were reports of isolation of the IS elements from bacteria other than the E. coli group. At present, about 500 IS elements are reported to have been isolated from medical bacteria, environmental bacteria and others (Mahillon et al., Microbiol. Mol. Bio. Rev., 62:725-774(1998)).
The isolated IS elements are compared with each other based on the base sequence and the deduced amino acid sequence. The IS elements that have been found so far are classified into 17 families. Among these families, the IS3 family and the IS5 family are large families, and IS elements belonging to these families are isolated from bacteria ranging widely from Gram-negative bacteria to Gram-positive bacteria (Mahillon et al., ibid.).
The structure of the IS elements in the IS3 and the IS5 families is characterized by the presence of inverted repeat sequences at their terminals and the inclusion of two open reading frames encoding a transposase. It seems that the terminal inverted repeat sequences play an important role in transposition, because recombination occurs in these portions. For example, in insertion, 2 to 13 base pairs in the site where insertion occurs are overlapped as same direct repeat sequences on both sides of the IS element (Galas and Chandler, Mobile DNA, 109-162, ASM Press (Washington, D.C.) 1989).
Transposase is an enzyme that catalyzes an insertion reaction of a gene. In the IS elements of the IS3 family and the IS5 family, the transposase is encoded by two open reading frames and is expressed as one protein in translation. For example, in the case of the IS3 family, two open reading frames overlap, and a frame shift occurs in the overlapping portion. Then, the two open reading frames are translated successively so that the transposase is expressed (Ohtsubo and Sekine, Transposable Elements, pages 1-26, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, Germany (1996)).
Each of the IS elements obtained from various microorganisms has a sequence that is unique to the particular microorganism, although they are homologous. Utilizing the unique sequence, in the industrial fields of agriculture, foods, pharmacy and the like in which microorganisms are involved, the IS elements are used, for example, for identification of plant pathogenic bacteria, diagnosis of infectious diseases, determination of infection routes and isolation of useful genes. The IS element that is most common in practical use is IS6110, which is obtained from Mycobacterium tuberculosis and contributes to epidemiological surveys such as diagnosis of tuberculosis and determination of the infection route (Otal et al., J. Clin. Microbiol., 29:1252-1254 (1991)). Similar attempts have been conducted with various bacteria.
IS elements are characterized by being able to activate or inactivate genes before and after the inserted site by transposition. Utilizing this function positively, it is attempted to use the IS elements as a tool for isolating useful genes (Haas et al., Molecular Biology of Pseudomonas, 238-249, ASM Press (Washington D.C.) (1996)).
The isolation of the IS elements was not conducted strategically, but mostly was rather accidentally achieved by analysis of mutants. This is because, as seen from the definition, IS elements have no phenotype other than involvement in gene transposition, so that positive isolation was difficult. Various transposon trap vectors have been developed since positive selection of the transposable element (a method of utilizing activation of a detectable marker by transposition of the transposable element to a part of a structural gene) was successfully reported in 1985 (Gay et al., ibid.), and the IS elements have been isolated from bacteria such as Agrobacterium tumefaciens, Pseudomonas cepacia, Rhizobium meliloti, Rhizobium legumino sarum or the like by this method.
However, only 20 IS elements were isolated by this method, and this is a small number relative to the total number of the isolated IS elements. The isolation of new IS elements from various bacteria is expected to be accelerated as the positive selection is developed.
In regard to agriculturally important plant-related bacteria, Hasebe et al. isolated three kinds of IS elements from Pseudomonas glumae, which is a common pathogenic bacterium in rice plants in Japan, by utilizing a transposon trap vector pSHI1063 (Hasebe et al., Plasmid, 39:196-204 (1998)) (see Japanese Laid-Open Publication No. 10-248573). However, in reality, isolation of other IS elements has not been substantially researched. Isolation of IS elements of various plant pathogenic bacteria (microorganisms) makes it possible to counter the pathogenic bacteria, so that there is a demand for isolation and utilization of the IS elements in the field of agriculture.
Therefore, with the foregoing in mind, it is an object of the present invention to provide new IS elements derived from Ralstonia solanacearum, which is one of the common pathogenic bacteria in vegetables. The Ralstonia solanacearum is a worldwide common soil infectious plant pathogenic bacterium that causes wilt vessel disease to more than 100 species of more than 30 families including Solanaceae plants such as tomatoes, tobacco and potatoes. It is another object of the present invention to provide transposases that are encoded by these IS elements. These IS elements and the transposases make it possible to prevent infection to Ralstonia solanacearum, for example, by effecting recombination so that the transposases are inactivated, which is very useful in the field of agriculture.
In order to achieve the above objects, the inventors of the present invention have succeeded in isolating new IS elements from Ralstonia solanacearum and realized the present invention.
The present invention provides an insertion sequence element or a functional equivalent thereof comprising: a base sequence of Sequence I.D. No.2 at the 5xe2x80x2 terminal and a base sequence of Sequence I.D. No.3 at the 3xe2x80x2 terminal as terminal inverted repeat sequences; and a base sequence encoding amino acid sequences of Sequence I.D. Nos.4 and 5 as open reading frames between the terminal inverted repeat sequences. Herein, the open reading frame can be present overlapped or independently.
The present invention further provides an insertion sequence element consisting of the base sequence of Sequence I.D. No.1.
Furthermore, the present invention provides an insertion sequence element or a functional equivalent thereof comprising: a base sequence of Sequence I.D. No.7 at the 5xe2x80x2 terminal and a base sequence of Sequence I.D. No.8 at the 3xe2x80x2 terminal as terminal inverted repeat sequences; and a base sequence encoding amino acid sequences of Sequence I.D. Nos.9 and 10 as open reading frames between the terminal inverted repeat sequences. Herein, the open reading frame can be present overlapped or independently.
The present invention further provides an insertion sequence element consisting of a base sequence of Sequence I.D. No.6.
Furthermore, the present invention provides an insertion sequence element or a functional equivalent thereof comprising: a base sequence of Sequence I.D. No.12 at the 5xe2x80x2 terminal and a base sequence of Sequence I.D. No.13 at the 3xe2x80x2 terminal as terminal inverted repeat sequences; and a base sequence encoding an amino acid sequence of Sequence I.D. No.14 as an open reading frame between the terminal inverted repeat sequences.
The present invention further provides an insertion sequence element consisting of a base sequence of Sequence I.D. No.11.
The present invention further provides a transposase or a functional equivalent thereof expressed from a base sequence of positions 56 to 855 of Sequence I.D. No.1.
The present invention further provides a transposase or a functional equivalent thereof expressed from a base sequence of positions 65 to 822 of Sequence I.D. No.6.
The present invention further provides a transposase or a functional equivalent thereof expressed from a base sequence of positions 44 to 865 of Sequence I.D. No.11.
It should be noted that xe2x80x9cmovable genetic elementsxe2x80x9d (transposable elements) such as transposons may be significantly involved in the evolution and the environmental adaptation of organisms as self-mechanism of self-alternation of the organism""s genome. The gene of the present invention moves on the genome of microorganisms and has the nature of activating or inactivating the gene that is positioned downstream of the genome into which the gene of the present invention jumps. Utilizing this property, it is possible to isolate industrially useful genes efficiently. Furthermore, utilizing these genes, it is possible to determine the infection route and identify the bacteria in regard to Ralstonia solanacearum. Furthermore, the transposition function of the transposable element is promoted by utilizing the transposases of the present invention, so that it is possible to isolate industrially useful genes efficiently. In addition, it is expected that protectant effects such as promotion of a reduction in the pathogenicity caused by the mutation induction of Ralstonia solanacearum can be provided.
These and other advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying figures.

Insertion sequence element derived from Ralstonia solanacearum

National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences


The invention includes an apparatus and a method for transmitting sub-protocol data units from a plurality of base transceiver stations to a subscriber unit. The method includes estimating time delays required for transferring the sub-protocol data units between a scheduler unit and each of the base transceiver stations. The method further includes the scheduler unit generating a schedule of time slots and frequency blocks in which the sub-protocol data units are to be transmitted from the base transceiver stations to the subscriber unit. The time delays are used to generate the schedule. The time delays can be used to generate a look ahead schedule that compensates for the timing delays of the sub-protocol data units from the scheduler unit to the base transceiver stations. The sub-protocol data units are wirelessly transmitted from the base transceiver stations to the subscriber unit according to the schedule. The time delays can be estimated by time-stamping sub-protocol data units before sub-protocol data units are transferred from the scheduler unit to the base transceiver stations, and estimating the time delays by comparing the times the sub-protocol data units are actually received by the base transceiver stations with the time-stamping.

Wireless communication systems commonly include information carrying modulated carrier signals that are wirelessly transmitted from a transmission source (for example, a base transceiver station) to one or more receivers (for example, subscriber units) within an area or region.
Spatial Multiplexing
Spatial multiplexing is a transmission technology that exploits multiple antennae at both the base transceiver station and at the subscriber units to increase the bit rate in a wireless radio link with no additional power or bandwidth consumption. Under certain conditions, spatial multiplexing offers a linear increase in spectrum efficiency with the number of antennae. For example, if three antennae are used at the transmitter (base transceiver station) and the receiver (subscriber unit), the stream of possibly coded information symbols is split into three independent substreams. These substreams occupy the same channel of a multiple access protocol. Possible same channel multiple access protocols include a same time slot in a time-division multiple access protocol, a same frequency slot in frequency-division multiple access protocol, a same code sequence in code-division multiple access protocol or a same spatial target location in space-division multiple access protocol. The substreams are applied separately to the transmit antennae and transmitted through a radio channel. Due to the presence of various scattering objects in the environment, each signal experiences multipath propagation.
The composite signals resulting from the transmission are finally captured by an array of receiving antennae with random phase and amplitudes. At the receiver array, a spatial signature of each of the received signals is estimated. Based on the spatial signatures, a signal processing technique is applied to separate the signals, recovering the original substreams.
FIG. 1 shows three transmitter antenna arrays 110, 120, 130 that transmit data symbols to a receiver antenna array 140. Each transmitter antenna array includes spatially separate antennae. A receiver connected to the receiver antenna array 140 separates the received signals.
FIG. 2 shows modulated carrier signals traveling from a transmitter 210 to a receiver 220 following many different (multiple) transmission paths.
Multipath can include a composition of a primary signal plus duplicate or echoed images caused by reflections of signals off objects between the transmitter and receiver. The receiver may receive the primary signal sent by the transmitter, but also receives secondary signals that are reflected off objects located in the signal path. The reflected signals arrive at the receiver later than the primary signal. Due to this misalignment, the multipath signals can cause intersymbol interference or distortion of the received signal.
The actual received signal can include a combination of a primary and several reflected signals. Because the distance traveled by the original signal is shorter than the reflected signals, the signals are received at different times. The time difference between the first received and the last received signal is called the delay spread and can be as great as several micro-seconds.
The multiple paths traveled by the modulated carrier signal typically results in fading of the modulated carrier signal. Fading causes the modulated carrier signal to attenuate in amplitude when multiple paths subtractively combine.
Communication Diversity
Antenna diversity is a technique used in multiple antenna-based communication system to reduce the effects of multi-path fading. Antenna diversity can be obtained by providing a transmitter and/or a receiver with two or more antennae. These multiple antennae imply multiple channels that suffer from fading in a statistically independent manner. Therefore, when one channel is fading due to the destructive effects of multi-path interference, another of the channels is unlikely to be suffering from fading simultaneously. By virtue of the redundancy provided by these independent channels, a receiver can often reduce the detrimental effects of fading.
An individual transmission link exists between each individual base transceiver station antenna and a subscriber unit in communication with the base transceiver station. The previously described spatial multiplexing and communication diversity require multiple antennas to each have transmission links with a single subscriber unit. Optimally, the base transceiver station can schedule data transmission according to the transmission link quality.
It is desirable to have an apparatus and method that provides scheduling of transmission of data blocks between multiple base station transceivers and receivers (subscriber) units. It is desirable that the scheduling be adaptive to the quality of transmission links between the base station transceivers and the receivers (subscriber) units. It is additionally desirable that the apparatus and method allow for spatial multiplexing and communication diversity through the multiple base station transceivers.

System and method for synchronizing data transmission from multiple wireless base transceiver stations to a subscriber unit


A solid-state image pickup device includes: a plurality of light receiving portions arranged in a matrix, and a vertical transfer register which is four-phase driven by first, second, third and fourth transfer electrodes of a three-layer structure. The vertical transfer register is provided for each of columns of the light receiving portions. The first and third transfer electrodes of the first layer are alternately arranged in a charge transfer direction, and the adjacent two of the first and third transfer electrodes extend in parallel to each other between the light receiving portions. With this solid-state image pickup device, the accumulated charge capacity of each transfer region composed of the adjacent transfer electrodes for two-phases is equalized and the area of the light receiving portion is increased irrespective of variations in processed dimension between the transfer electrodes.

The present invention relates to a solid-state image pickup device suitable for a CCD solid-state image pickup device, typically, of a total pixel readout type, and a fabrication method thereof.
FIG. 17 shows an essential portion of an image pickup region of a conventional total pixel readout type CCD solid-state image pickup device. A CCD solid-state image pickup device 1 shown in FIG. 17, if being of an inter line transfer (IT) type, includes an image pickup region 4 and a horizontal transfer register having a CCD structure (not shown). The image pickup region 4 includes a plurality of light receiving portions 2 for photoelectric conversion, which portions are taken as pixels arranged in a matrix, and a plurality of vertical transfer registers 3 each of which has a CCD structure and which is formed on one side of each column of the light receiving portions 2. The horizontal transfer register is used for transferring signal charges transferred from the vertical transfer registers 3 to an output unit.
FIG. 18A is a sectional view taken on line A1—A1 of FIG. 17, and FIG. 18B is a sectional view taken on line B1—B1 of FIG. 17. Referring to FIGS. 18A and 18B, the vertical transfer register 3 has transfer electrodes having a three-layer structure formed on a transfer channel region of a silicon semiconductor base 6 via a gate insulating film 7. These transfer electrodes are composed of first transfer electrodes 8A formed by a first polysilicon layer, second transfer electrodes 8B formed by a second polysilicon layer, and third transfer electrodes 8C formed by a third polysilicon layer, which are repeatedly arranged along a charge transfer direction "a". Reference numeral 9 designates an interlayer insulating film. Each of the first transfer electrodes 8A is formed into a band-shape extending in the horizontal direction in such a manner as to be common to a plurality of columns of the vertical transfer registers 3. The same is true for the second and third transfer electrodes 8B and 8C.
In the region between the light receiving portions 2 adjacent to each other in the vertical direction, the first, second, and third transfer electrodes 8A, 8B and 8C are sequentially stacked.
The solid-state image pickup device 1 is configured such that the transfer electrode 8 of the vertical transfer register 3 is divided into the three parts, that is, the first, second and third transfer electrodes 8A, 8B and 8C for each pixel (light receiving portion 2), and is three-phase driven for total pixel readout by applying three-phase vertical drive pulses φV1, φV2, and φV3 shown in FIG. 19 to these transfer electrodes 8A, 8B and 8C, respectively.
Another CCD solid-state image pickup device 11 having a configuration shown in FIG. 15 has been proposed. The device 11 is four-phase driven for total pixel readout by applying four-phase vertical drive pulses to transfer electrodes having a three-layer structure of each vertical transfer register.
FIG. 16A is a sectional view taken on line A2—A2 of FIG. 15. Referring to FIGS. 15 and 16A, the CCD solid-state image pickup device 11 is configured such that transfer electrodes 8 of a vertical transfer register 3 are formed by three polysilicon layers. To be more specific, second and fourth transfer electrodes 8B and 8D formed by the second polysilicon layer are alternately arranged along a charge transfer direction; each first transfer electrode 8A formed by the first polysilicon layer is disposed between the second and fourth transfer electrodes 8B and 8D arranged in this order, for example, from the left side in FIG. 16A; and each third transfer electrode 8C formed by the third polysilicon layer is disposed between the fourth and second transfer electrodes 8D and 8B arranged in this order, for example, from the left side in FIG. 16A.
FIG. 16B is a sectional view taken on line B2—B2 of FIG. 15. Referring to FIG. 16B, in the region between the light receiving portions 2 adjacent to each other in the vertical direction, the second and fourth transfer electrodes 8B and 8D formed by the second layer are stacked on the first transfer electrode 8A formed by the first layer, and the third transfer electrode 8C formed by the third layer is stacked on the second and fourth electrodes 8B and 8D.
The solid-state image pickup device 11 is configured such that the transfer electrode 8 of the vertical transfer register 3 is divided into the four parts, that is, the first, second, third, and fourth transfer electrodes 8A, 8B, 8C and 8D for each pixel (light receiving portion 2), and is four-phase driven for total pixel readout by applying four-phase vertical drive pulses φV1, φV2, φV3, and φV4 shown in FIG. 3 to these transfer electrodes 8A to 8D, respectively.
The other configuration is the same as that shown in FIG. 17 and FIGS. 18A and 18B, and therefore, corresponding parts are designated by the same characters and the overlapped explanation is omitted.
In the CCD solid-state image pickup device 1 shown in FIG. 17, since the vertical transfer register 3 is three-phase driven by the transfer electrode 8 divided into the three parts, that is, the first, second and third transfer electrodes 8A, 8B and 8C, the accumulated charge capacity in the vertical transfer register 3 is equivalent to one-third of the accumulated charge capacity in the vertical transfer path for one pixel. As a result, to ensure a sufficient accumulated charge capacity in the transfer portion, the width W1 of the transfer path must be broadened; however, if the width W1 of the transfer path is broadened, the area of the light receiving portion 2 is reduced in proportional to the broadened width W1.
The areas of the three transfer electrodes 8A to 8C divided from the transfer electrode 8 for each pixel may be desirable to be equalized to each other for ensuring a larger accumulated charge capacity; however, they actually become uneven largely depending on variations in processed line width among the transfer electrodes 8A to 8C. As a result, the accumulated charge capacity is determined by one of the transfer electrodes 8A to 8C having the smallest area, to thereby reduce the actual charge amount.
In the CCD solid-state image pickup device 11 shown in FIG. 15, which is four-phase driven for total pixel readout by the three-layer electrode structure, since the accumulated charge capacity is equivalent to two-fourth of the accumulated charge capacity in the vertical transfer path for one pixel, it becomes larger than that in the CCD solid-state image pickup device 1 shown in FIG. 17, which is three-phase driven for total pixel readout by the three-layer electrode structure.
The CCD solid-state image pickup device 11, however, has the following disadvantage: namely, a variation in line width occurs between the transfer electrode 8A formed by the first layer and each of the transfer electrodes 8B and 8D formed by the second layer and also a misalignment occurs between the transfer electrode 8A formed by the first layer and each of the transfer electrodes 8B and 8D formed by the second layer, so that variations occur among lengths L1, L2, L3 and L4 of the two-phase transfer regions each of which is composed of the adjacent transfer electrodes for two-phases and is taken as a factor determining the accumulated charge capacity, to thereby reduce the actual charge amount.

Solid-state image pickup device and fabrication method thereof


A MEMS micromirror includes a mirror surface driving structure which is positioned on a substrate and includes two L-shaped structures in head-to-tail arrangement. Each L-shaped structure includes a second torsion beam, an L-shaped transverse plate and a second comb-shaped structure. The first driving electrode is provided on the substrate at a position under a head end of the L-shaped transverse plate, the head end of the L-shaped transverse plate is rotatable with support of the second torsion beam, and a tail end of the L-shaped transverse plate is connected with the second comb-shaped structure. The micromirror surface layer is disposed above the mirror surface driving structure, the first torsion beam is fixed by the substrate and supports two sides of the micromirror surface layer, and two sides, corresponding to the second comb-shaped structures, of the micromirror surface layer are provided with first comb-shaped structures, respectively.

A Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) is an independent intelligent system having micro- or nano-scale inner structures and mainly composed of a sensor, an actuator and a micro-energy source. The micro-electro-mechanical system involves various disciplines and engineering technologies such as physics, semiconductors, optics, electronic engineering, chemistry, material engineering, mechanical engineering, medicine, information engineering and bioengineering, and opens up a wide range of applications in the fields such as intelligent systems, consumer electronics, wearable devices, intelligent home, and synthetic biology and microfluidics in systems biotechnology.
The commonly used MEMS micromirror is one of MEMS products. At present, most MEMS micromirrors adopt thermal driving, electromagnetic driving or electrostatic driving, among which the electrostatic driving usually uses comb or plate electrodes.
However, in electrostatic driving, the motion space between electrodes is large, and as the motion space increases, the driving voltage also increases, resulting in increase in power consumption of the device.
Therefore, how to reduce the driving voltage and increase the torsion angle of the MEMS micromirrors is an urgent technical problem to be solved.

MEMS micromirror and MEMS optical switch

INSTITUTE OF GEOLOGY AND GEOPHYSICS CHINESE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES (IGGCAS)


Provided are a method of producing a substrate having a patterned organosilane layer and a method of using the substrate having the patterned organosilane layer. The method of producing the substrate having the patterned organosilane layer, includes: coating organosilane on a substrate to obtain an organosilane layer; coating a photoresist material on the organosilane layer; exposing the photoresist material to light through a mask to obtain a patterned surface on the photoresist material; developing an exposed or unexposed region of the photoresist material using a developer; and wet etching a portion of the organosilane layer in the region from which the photoresist material has been removed, using a HF-containing solution as an etchant.

This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2004-0039983, filed on Jun. 2, 2004, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of producing a substrate having a patterned organosilane layer and a method of using the substrate having the patterned organosilane layer.
2. Description of the Related Art
A method of patterning a thin organosilane layer comprising a self-assembled monolayer is known. In general, an organosilane layer is patterned using photolithography. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,688,642 describes a method of producing a substrate having a patterned organosilane layer. In the method, a substrate having a hydroxyl group is coated with organosilane, exposed to UV light (193 nm) using a lithographic mask and etched the exposed portion. The etching of the organosilane layer is performed by dry etching. That is, the organosilane layer is selectively exposed to the UV light for a long time and the exposed layer is selectively removed. However, such a dry etching requires considerable time and can be applied only to an organosilane compound which is reactive to UV light having a specific wavelength.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,474,796 describes a method of producing an array plate using photolithography. First, a photoresist is coated on a substrate and exposed to light and developed to form a patterned region composed of a first exposed surface and a surface coated with the photoresist. Then, the first exposed surface is reacted with fluoroalkylsilane to form a stable hydrophobic fluoroalkylsiloxane matrix on the first exposed surface. Next, the photoresist layer is removed to form a second exposed surface. Then, the second exposed surface is reacted with a hydroxy or aminoakylsilane group so as to convert the second exposed surface to a hydrophilic binding region. Thus, the substrate has the hydrophilic binding region composed of the hydroxy or aminoakylsilane group and the hydrophobic non-binding region composed of fluoroalkylsiloxane. In this method, the pattern is formed by selectively removing the photoresist and directly etching the organosilane layer.
In the conventional methods described above, the thin organosilane layer comprising the self assembled monolayer is directly patterned using the dry etching or, without directly forming a pattern on the organosilane layer, the photoresist is selectively removed to form a pattern and then, selectively reacted with the organosilane layer to obtain a pattern. Thus, a method in which a thin organosilane layer is directly patterned using a wet etching has not been reported. The present inventors conducted research on a method of wet etching a thin organosilane layer which can be performed in a quicker and simpler manner and in larger scale compared to the dry etching method and discovered that an organosilane layer may be etched using a HF-containing solution.

Method of producing substrate having patterned organosilane layer and method of using the substrate having the patterned organosilane layer