A magnetic device can include a tunnel bather and a hybrid magnetization layer disposed adjacent the tunnel barrier. The hybrid magnetization layer can include a first perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) layer, a second PMA layer, and an amorphous blocking layer disposed between the first and second PMA layers. The first PMA layer can include a multi-layer film in which a first layer formed of Co and a second layer formed of Pt or Pd are alternately stacked. A first dopant formed of an element different from those of the first and second layers can also be included in the first PMA layer. The second PMA layer can be disposed between the first PMA layer and the tunnel barrier, and can include at least one element selected from a group consisting of Co, Fe, and Ni.

The inventive concepts disclosed herein relate to magnetic devices, and more particularly, to a magnetic device with a magnetic layer having perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA).
Research has been actively conducted into magnetic devices which utilize the magnetic resistance characteristics of a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ). In particular, as MTJ cells of a highly-integrated magnetic random access memory (MRAM) device become finer, attention has been given to a spin transfer torque (STT)-MRAM that stores information based on STT, which is a physical phenomenon, by directly supplying current to the MTJ cells to cause magnetization reversal. It is important for a highly-integrated STT-MRAM to perform fast switching and low-current operations and to secure sufficient perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in a magnetic layer having an MTJ structure.


A transmitting device (100) transmits a first packet, comprising a second encryption vector, that is encrypted using a first encryption vector. The transmitting device transmits a second packet that is encrypted using the second encryption vector if an acknowledgement message is received within a predetermined time after transmitting the first packet; otherwise, the first packet is re-transmitted. Upon receipt of the first packet, a receiving device (102) decrypts the first packet using the first encryption vector and transmits the acknowledgement message. Upon receipt of the second packet; the receiving device attempts to decrypt a portion of the second packet using the first and second encryption vectors. If the portion of the second packet was successfully decrypted using the first encryption vector, the receiving device re-transmits the acknowledgement message for the first packet; otherwise, it transmits an acknowledgement message for the second packet.

Today, wireless local area network ("WLAN") security is located in layer two ("L2") and above. This allows the communication devices to be ASIC-based, but at the same time, L2 security allows anyone in the band to listen (eavesdrop) to the communication. While the contents/bits are garbled, anyone can listen, monitor the headers and attempt to break the payload encryption. Furthermore, the fact that the header is in the "clear" allows for traffic monitoring and analysis by an adversary, which is a significant breach in high security applications.
L2 technology is insufficient for some applications, such as Federal/homeland security, military applications, or the like. In today's world of volatile security, there is a need to create a point-to-point secure tunnel to hide the headers as well as the payload. Moreover, one must be able to update/change security on the fly to react to threats when they occur.
Thus, there exists a need for providing point-to-point encryption in a communication system.

Method for providing point-to-point encryption in a communication system


An artificial hair filament having a core/sheath structure is provided. The artificial hair filament has excellent antibacterial and antifungal effects since antibacterial and antifungal nanoparticles are included in the sheath structure of the artificial hair filament. Here, the antibacterial and antifungal effects can last for a long period of time. A contact-type drug-treating roller and an ultrasonic spraying machine can be used to provide the artificial hair filament with the antibacterial and antifungal effects. In the artificial hair filament, the sheath structure is formed so that the sheath structure occupies 5 to 20% of an entire filament diameter, thereby exhibiting desirable antibacterial and antifungal effects. Therefore, degradation of the antibacterial properties and antifungal properties with time can be prevented.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an artificial hair filament having antibacterial and antifungal properties, and a method and device for preparing the same, wherein the artificial hair filament has a sheath/core-type complex structure.
2. Discussion of Related Art
With the improved and stabilized standard of living, there is a growing population who uses artificial hair for beauty. Since artificial hair is transplanted in a user's scalp or glued to the user's scalp, it is contaminated with sweat secreted from a human body, heat, dust from external environments, and impurities, or contaminated with bacteria, and fungi. These contaminations have adverse effects on the user's hygiene and health. Therefore, the artificial hair should be prepared to have antibacterial and antifungal effects.
In recent years, a variety of antibacterial materials have been widely used to develop and produce an artificial hair filament having antibacterial and antifungal effects (Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2007-0050147).
However, the artificial hair filament prepared using an antibacterial material has a problem in that it shows considerably degraded antibacterial and antifungal effects due to its poor durability when it is washed several times. Also, some artificial hair filaments prepared as known in the art show antibacterial and antifungal effects, but some do not show antibacterial and antifungal effects. As a result, they have a problem in that their antibacterial and antifungal effects are not uniformly controlled. Therefore, there is an urgent demand to develop an artificial hair filament showing excellent and long-lasting antibacterial and antifungal effects.
Also, since most antibacterial materials include an inorganic material, the inorganic material accumulates in a spinneret during use of a spinning machine, which leads to an increase in internal pressure of the spinneret. Also, filaments may be cut when the internal pressure of the spinneret is very high.
Meanwhile, a post-processing method includes a method of providing an artificial hair filament with antibacterial and antifungal properties. As such a method, a dipping method and a spraying method have been generally performed. A double-dipping method generally includes passing an artificial hair filament through a tank carrying a drug, removing an excessive amount of the drug under a constant pressure using a device such as a roller and subjecting the artificial hair filament to a process such as heat treatment. Although such a process has an advantage in that it is possible to treat an entire surface of a filament with a drug, it has a problem in that it is difficult to increase a concentration of the drug, and also the drug attached to a surface of the fiber may be detached during removal of an excessive amount of the drug, which makes it difficult to perform uniform treatment. Meanwhile, the spraying method is a widely used method which includes spraying a drug under an air pressure to treat a surface of a fiber with the drug. Although such a method may be carried out using simple equipment, it has problems in that it is difficult to uniformly treat an entire surface of a filament with a drug since large droplets are formed when the drug is sprayed under an air pressure, and a lower portion of the filament is not treated with the drug since an upper portion of the filament is generally treated with the drug.

Artificial hair filament having antibacterial and antifungal properties, method and device for preparing the same


An electrical connector adapted for use in terminating the individual solid and/or stranded wires of a NEMA cable includes a locking connector body having a plurality of nested cam levers, each of which selectively rotates to engage a spring clamp to releasably capture a conductor within the connector body, and without the need of inserting a tool into the device.

Extension cords are widely employed to provide power to tools and equipment which are remote from electrical outlets and power sources. The extension cords are routinely placed under significant stress, and therefor the connector and plug housings have been improved over the years to include means to securely clamp the cord while minimizing the strain on the terminals. NEMA connectors and plugs generally include an internal mechanical clamp terminal that cooperates with the housing or body to hold a conductor in place. Contact pressure for the clamp terminal is generally provided by a screw threaded through a contact lug which urges the conductor against a current bar, contact tang, or other current carrying element. Examples of such devices include both the 20 and 30 amp locking plugs and connector bodies manufactured either by Marinco Industrial Group of Napa, Calif., or Hubbell Incorporated of Milford, Conn.
Improvements in electrical terminals have been made for use in high density terminal busses. Several United States patents teach the use of electrical connectors of a type that includes a bus bar with a loop-shaped clamping spring fabricated from flat spring material. The connectors typically include a contact portion in electrical contract with the bus bar and a clamping portion extending to the bus bar and curving away from the back of the clamping spring. The clamping spring further includes a curved backward spring segment contiguous with the back of the spring and with the contact portion. The clamping portion has a recess, from which the head of the bus bar extends, such that an edge of the clamping recess clamps an electrical conductor against the underside of the bus bar when the conductor is inserted between the bus bar and the edge of the clamping recess.
The springs have themselves become the focus of rapid development. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,816,867 to Davidsz et al., shows a curved wire spring clamp for use in an electrical terminal. Apertures in the clamp approximate a triangular cantilever and are centrally placed along each leg portion near a constrained curved portion of the spring to change the spring's bending characteristics and distribute the bending stress more evenly throughout the length of the spring, thus reducing the peak bending stress level as compared with an equivalent spring design without apertures.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,010,376 to Kollmann, teaches a low profile connector having a clamping spring with a low structural height. Actuation of the clamping spring for inserting the end of a conductor requires insertion of a tool (generally a screwdriver).
U.S. Pat. No. 6,283,801 to Guinda et al., shows a spring connection terminal for an electrical device which includes a conducting support part fixed to a main conducting part, and at least one clamping spring folded into the form of a loop and provided with a clamping window inside which a flange of the support part passes. It further includes a spring stop folded so as to be housed inside the spring loop and which forms a guide for guiding the wire adjacent to the flange. The device requires insertion of a screwdriver head to insert a conductor.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,595,809 to Matsumoto et al., discloses a high density electrical bus employing a connector having toggle switches that engage clamping springs. When the toggle arm is pushed inwardly, the spring clamp opens to accommodate a wire conductor; and when released, the conductor is captured. The assembly is suited for use in a linear array of terminals but not for a NEMA connector or plug.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,428,339 to Davidson et al., teaches a lockable electrical cord connector unit having a cylindrical connector housing made of electrically non-conductive material. A locking control ring telescopes over the connector housing and is mechanically connected to a structure within the connector housing that allows male electrical connector members extending from the housing to be locked into a female electrical socket. In an alternative embodiment the connector housing may have female sockets that can lock onto a male electrical terminal by using the same locking control ring structure. A second alternative embodiment provides for the connector housing to be an adaptor having male electrical terminal prongs extending from one end and having a female electrical socket formed in its other end. The locking ring allows both ends to be locked to mating electrical terminals.
The foregoing patents reflect the current state of the art of which the present inventor is aware. Reference to, and discussion of, these patents is intended to aid in discharging Applicant's acknowledged duty of candor in disclosing information that may be relevant to the examination of claims to the present invention. However, it is respectfully submitted that none of the above-indicated patents disclose, teach, suggest, show, or otherwise render obvious, either singly or when considered in combination, the invention described and claimed herein.
In fact, despite the advances in spring clamps for high density terminal busses, there remains a need to provide a locking plug and/or connector body having means for efficient (e.g., straight-in) insertion of a conductor for termination in the connector/plug body, wherein no tool is required to bias a clamping spring nor any screw engaged to provide clamping pressure on the conductor.


A recording system records sector information on a recording medium, such as a hard disc drive, using a write gate signal. Timing of the write gate signal enables writing a servo data patterns over the servo wedge fields of the disc and, if the hard disc drive contains prior recorded data, writing null data over selected sector segments of the hard disc.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to data recording in a communications system, and, more particularly, to writing information from a channel to a recording medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional recording systems of the prior art encode data and write the encoded data to a recording medium, such as a magnetic hard drive or an optical recording disc. The encoded data is written to the disc (or other recording medium) as servo sector information by a write head. A servo sector is a prerecorded reference track on the dedicated servo surface of a disc drive. Most magnetic disc drives have many disc surfaces, with each surface having a corresponding magnetic head mounted on an actuator (e.g., a Head Stack Assembly or HSA). All data track positions are compared to their corresponding servo track to determine off-track/on-track position. The cylindrical surface formed by identical track numbers on vertically stacked discs is termed a "cylinder". At any location under the write head, all tracks under all heads form a cylinder. The cylinder number is one of the three address components required to find a specific address, where the other two address components are head number and sector number. In a wedge-based servo sector system, a certain part of each cylinder contains servo-positioning data (a servo data pattern). Gap spacing (termed a servo "wedge" field or "servo data segment") between each sector contains a servo data pattern to maintain position on that cylinder.
During fabrication in a factory and before shipment of a hard drive, a servo track writer records the servo data patterns on the recording surface. Writing of a servo pattern is accomplished by the servo track writer during "servo bank write mode" or SBWM. Bank writing writes to multiple surfaces since most drives have many disc surfaces. The total servo track writing time increases dramatically with each new generation of recording drives as capacity increases. Thus, if a servo track writer were to write only one head at a time, the disc drive throughput of the fabrication factory would decrease as the number of tracks and TPI (tracks per inch) increase.
Consequently, it is preferable to enable writing servo data patterns by as many write heads as possible. However, writing is accomplished through a write channel preamplifier (preamp) that is enabled by a signal from a write gate. Increasing the number of heads written at the same time increases the power dissipation of the preamp. Preamps of the prior art may be required to support writing of up to eight channels (i.e., eight heads) at the same time. Increasing the number of heads written at the same time also increases the bandwidth of a read channel amplifier employed to read data from the recording medium during the servo track writing verification process. These competing requirements result in a major challenge to efficiently manage SBWM operation.
Preamps of the prior art generally guarantee writing in SBWM of up to two channels at the same time without relatively high power dissipation. With such a prior art preamp, drive vendors designing 4–8 channel drives cannot write, for example, to all 4–8 heads within one pass of servo bank writing. Typically, servo bank writing is accomplished by writing to the drive in staggered mode. In staggered mode for a 8-head drive, the write head writes track N first on heads 0&1, then on heads 2&3, and then on heads 4&5. After track N is written on all six heads, the write head steps to the next track (N+1) and repeats the process. One drawback to staggered bank write mode is reduced factory throughput since the time required to finish writing 4 or 6 or 8 head drives is doubled or tripled or quadrupled, respectively.
Alternatively, servo data patterns are written with a write gate (WG) opening only during the servo data segment, or servo wedge field, of the disc. "WG opening" refers to the period when the write head is enabled (e.g., by an enabling signal to a logic gate) to allow servo data patterns to be recorded onto the recording medium by the write head. WG opening only during the servo wedge field might dramatically reduce the WG duty cycles required to write an entire disc surface, however, it does not erase an old servo or other data pattern if the disc media was previously recorded on. If an old data pattern is not erased, a servo controller may have difficulty locking onto a newly recorded servo data pattern when the disc drive is in self-test mode. FIG. 1 shows SBWM WG Timing and Duty Cycles for staggered bank mode writing. FIG. 2 shows SBWM WG Timing and Duty Cycles for WG opening for writing only during the servo wedge field.
In FIG. 1, the WG is open within one revolution of disc rotation. In this mode, the WG duty cycle is the timing per RPM divided by the sum of i) the timing of one RPM and ii) the head stepping time. For a 7200 RPM drive application: T1 is the timing of one RPM=60/7200 (=8.33333 ms); T2 is the timing for head stepping (normally around 4 to 5 ms); and the WG duty cycle "WG_Duty_Cycle—0" is approximately T1/(T1+T2)*100%=62.4% to 67.5%.
In FIG. 2, the WG is open only on every servo wedge field. Normally, the time to cover the servo wedge field is about 10% of the time to cover between wedges (i.e., wedge-to-wedge timing), for example, assuming a 7200 RPM drive application. For the example of a 7200 RPM drive, T1=8.333 ms. If N is the number of servo wedges per track, then the wedge-to-wedge timing is approximately T/N. Assuming N=300, then wedge-to-wedge timing (T3) is approximately 27.776 μs and the servo wedge field time (T4) is about 10% of 27.776 μs (i.e., T4≈2.776 μs). Then, within one track, the effective write gate duty cycle (WO Duty Cycle—1′) is T4/T3*100%=10%, and the total WG duty cycle (WG_Duty_Cycle—1) is approximately WG_Duty_Cycle—0*WG_Duty_Cycle—1′=6.24–6.75%


An engine device is provided with an urea mixing pipe which injects urea water into exhaust gas of an engine, and an exhaust gas purification case which removes nitrogen oxide in the exhaust gas of the engine, and is structured such that an exhaust gas inlet pipe of the exhaust gas purification case is connected to an outlet of the urea mixing pipe via a flange body. Exhaust gas outlet side end portions of an outer pipe and an inner pipe of the urea mixing pipe having a double-pipe structure are connected to exhaust gas inlet side end portions of an outer pipe and an inner pipe of the exhaust gas inlet pipe having a double-pipe structure. Fitting small-diameter portions are formed in an end portion of the inner pipe of the urea mixing pipe, and the fitting small-diameter portions are inward insert to an inner portion of the inner pipe of the exhaust gas inlet pipe.

In a working vehicle such as the tractor or a wheel loader, an opening and closing supporting point shaft is arranged in a rear portion of a hood for covering an engine, and the hood is turned around the opening and closing supporting point shaft, in order to streamline a maintenance work of the engine which is arranged in a front portion of the travel machine body. Further, there has been conventionally known a technique of purifying exhaust gas discharged from a diesel engine by arranging a case (hereinafter, refer to as DPF case) which is inward provided with a diesel particulate filter, and a case (hereinafter, refer to as SCR case) which is inward provided with an urea selective reduction type catalyst, as an exhaust gas purification device (an exhaust gas post-treatment device) in an exhaust passage of the diesel engine, and introducing the exhaust gas to the DPF case and the SCR case (refer, for example, to Patent Documents 1 to 3).


A method, apparatus and computer program product are provided to facilitate the association of a selected portion of an audio soundtrack with one or more video clips. In the context of a method, a visual representation of an audio soundtrack is caused to be displayed. The audio soundtrack is to be associated with one or more video clips to facilitate concurrent playback of at least a portion of the audio soundtrack and one or more video clips. The method also receives user input with respect to the audio soundtrack and, in response to the user input, adjusts a starting point of the audio soundtrack relative to the one or more video clips. The starting point may be adjusted by defining the starting point of the audio soundtrack based on the user input and also in a manner so as to coincide with a predefined feature of the audio soundtrack.

Video clips are routinely captured and saved for subsequent viewing, sharing or the like. For example, video clips may be captured of special occasions, such as birthdays or other gatherings, of entertainment activities, such as sporting events, concerts or the like, for personal enjoyment or for any of a wide variety of other reasons.
In order to enrich the user experience associated with viewing of the video clips, music or other types of audio soundtracks may be associated with the video clips. Thus, when a video clip is selected for playback, the video may be displayed and the audio soundtrack that has been associated with the video may be concurrently output. Audio soundtracks may be associated with video clips in various manners. For example, the user may select any of various songs to be played while viewing a respective video clip. In this regard, applications are available to suggest songs that a user may consider associating with a video clip in an effort to reduce the effort expended by the user.
However, the simple association of a song with a video clip may not always produce the desired user experience in that the songs that are available to be associated with video clips may not, in their entirety, be consistent with the theme of the video clip. Moreover, applications intended to permit users to select a particular portion of an audio soundtrack to be associated with a video clip in an effort to provide more granular control have generally resulted in the selected portion of the audio soundtrack better matching the theme of the video clip, but have typically required the user to have more substantial audio editing experience or expertise in order to properly select a desired portion of the audio soundtrack and to successfully associate the selected portion with the video clip, thereby potentially limiting the utilization of such applications.

Method and apparatus for associating an audio soundtrack with one or more video clips


Organic luminescent materials containing cycloalkyl ancillary ligands is disclosed, which can be used as emitters in the emissive layer of an organic electroluminescent device. The organic luminescent materials is metal complexes which comprise a new series of cycloalkyl containing acetylacetone type ancillary ligands. These novel ligands can effectively improve the lifetime of the device, change the sublimation characteristics and improve device performance. Also disclosed are an electroluminescent device and a formulation.

An organic electronic device is preferably selected from the group consisting of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), organic field-effect transistors (O-FETs), organic light-emitting transistors (OLETs), organic photovoltaic devices (OPVs), dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), organic optical detectors, organic photoreceptors, organic field-quench devices (OFQDs), light-emitting electrochemical cells (LECs), organic laser diodes and organic plasmon emitting devices.
In 1987, Tang and Van Slyke of Eastman Kodak reported a bilayer organic electroluminescent device, which comprises an arylamine hole transporting layer and a tris-8-hydroxyquinolato-aluminum layer as the electron and emitting layer (Applied Physics Letters, 1987, 51 (12): 913-915). Once a bias is applied to the device, green light was emitted from the device. This invention laid the foundation for the development of modern organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). State-of-the-art OLEDs may comprise multiple layers such as charge injection and transporting layers, charge and exciton blocking layers, and one or multiple emissive layers between the cathode and anode. Since OLED is a self-emitting solid state device, it offers tremendous potential for display and lighting applications. In addition, the inherent properties of organic materials, such as their flexibility, may make them well suited for particular applications such as fabrication on flexible substrates.
OLED can be categorized as three different types according to its emitting mechanism. The OLED invented by Tang and van Slyke is a fluorescent OLED. It only utilizes singlet emission. The triplets generated in the device are wasted through nonradiative decay channels. Therefore, the internal quantum efficiency (IQE) of a fluorescent OLED is only 25%. This limitation hindered the commercialization of OLED. In 1997, Forrest and Thompson reported phosphorescent OLED, which uses triplet emission from heave metal containing complexes as the emitter. As a result, both singlet and triplets can be harvested, achieving 100% IQE. The discovery and development of phosphorescent OLED contributed directly to the commercialization of active-matrix OLED (AMOLED) due to its high efficiency. Recently, Adachi achieved high efficiency through thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) of organic compounds. These emitters have small singlet-triplet gap that makes the transition from triplet back to singlet possible. In the TADF device, the triplet excitons can go through reverse intersystem crossing to generate singlet excitons, resulting in high IQE.
OLEDs can also be classified as small molecule and polymer OLEDs according to the forms of the materials used. Small molecule refers to any organic or organometallic material that is not a polymer. The molecular weight of a small molecule can be large as long as it has well defined structure. Dendrimers with well-defined structures are considered as small molecules. Polymer OLEDs include conjugated polymers and non-conjugated polymers with pendant emitting groups. Small molecule OLED can become a polymer OLED if post polymerization occurred during the fabrication process.
There are various methods for OLED fabrication. Small molecule OLEDs are generally fabricated by vacuum thermal evaporation. Polymer OLEDs are fabricated by solution process, such as spin-coating, ink-jet printing, and nozzle printing. Small molecule OLEDs can also be fabricated by solution process if the materials can be dissolved or dispersed in solvents.
The emitting color of an OLED can be achieved by emitter structural design. An OLED may comprise one emitting layer or a plurality of emitting layers to achieve desired spectrum. In the case of green, yellow, and red OLEDs, phosphorescent emitters have successfully reached commercialization. Blue phosphorescent emitters still suffer from non-saturated blue color, short device lifetime, and high operating voltage. Commercial full-color OLED displays normally adopt a hybrid strategy, using fluorescent blue and phosphorescent yellow, or red and green. At present, efficiency roll-off of phosphorescent OLEDs at high brightness remains a problem. In addition, it is desirable to have more saturated emitting color, higher efficiency, and longer device lifetime.
Ancillary ligands in phosphorescent material can be used to fine tune the emission wavelength, improve the sublimation properties, and improve the efficiency of the material. Existing ancillary ligands such as acetylacetone type ligands, particularly acetylacetone type ligands containing branched-chain alkyl groups, have achieved some effect in controlling properties as described above, but their properties need to be further improved to meet the increasing performance requirements. The present invention provides a new cycloalkyl containing acetylacetone type ancillary ligand.

BEIJING SUMMER SPROUT TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


A method for the treatment of thrombocythemia in a subject comprising administering a therapeutically effective amount of compounds having the formulas (I) through (III) or equilibrating forms thereof.

Thrombocythemia is a chronic disorder associated with increased or abnormal production of blood platelets. Since platelets are involved in blood clotting, their abnormal production can result in the inappropriate formation of blood clots or in bleeding, with the consequence that patients' risk of gastrointestinal bleeding, heart attack and stroke is increased.
Anagrelide is a quinazoline derivative phosphodiesterase inhibitor used for the treatment of essential thrombocythemia and various other myeloproliferative disorders. Anagrelide was approved and launched in 1997 for the treatment of essential thrombocythemia in the US and Canada. In December 1998, the US FDA approved an expanded label for anagrelide—specifically, for the treatment of patients with thrombocythemia secondary to myeloproliferative disorders, including polycythemia vera (PV) and chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML).
A compound encompassed by the present invention is 3-hydroxyanagrelide. This is a metabolite of anagrelide (see, for example, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/762,566 published as U.S. Pub. No. 20040209907).
Various metabolites of anagrelide have been studied in the literature: Erusalimsky et al. (2002) Is the platelet lowering activity of anagrelide mediated by its major metabolite 2-amino-5,6-dichloro-3,4-dihydroquinazoline (RL603)? Exp Hematol. 30:625-7; Lane et al. (2001) Anagrelide metabolite induces thrombocytopenia in mice by inhibiting megakaryocyte maturation without inducing platelet aggregation. Exp Hematol. 29:1417-241; and Gaver et al. (1981) Disposition of anagrelide, an inhibitor of platelet aggregation. Clin Pharmacol Ther. 29:381-6.
It is among the objects of the present invention to provide compounds related to anagrelide that may be used for treating thrombocythemia.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Quinazoline derivatives and their use in the treatment of thrombocythemia


Protocol multiplexer is configured to receive multiple communication links, each link operating with one of a plurality of communication protocols. Protocol handler converts the received data and frames the data according to the communication protocol in use for a particular communication link. Port multiplexer separates the received frames into data frames and control frames. The data frames being multiplexed onto a single data bus and the control frames being multiplexed onto a single control bus to increase performance of the protocol multiplexer.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to multiplexing protocol handlers to allow access to a shared memory bus, and more particularly, to multiplexing multiple protocol handlers operating in accordance with multiple communication protocols for access to a shared memory bus.
2. Description of Related Art
Today's computing systems have seen several decades of evolution. Evolution has transformed one-of-a-kind, custom built machines into common, everyday appliances found in most homes today. Central processing units (CPU), which were the size of refrigerators, requiring many kilowatts (kW) of power and associated cooling, have been reduced to printed circuit board (PCB) implementations, which have proliferated the computing industry. The relatively few peripherals operated in combination with the early CPUs, including tape readers, teletypes, line printers, etc., were tightly coupled to the early CPUs, thus yielding highly customized computing solutions.
The integrated circuit (IC) is largely, if not wholly, responsible for the drastic reduction in the size and power requirements of the early computing solutions. In addition, the IC is largely responsible for the exponential increase in the computational capabilities of the modern day desktop computer. Through the development of the IC, not only has the CPU been reduced to printed circuit board implementations, but so have peripherals such as Random Access Memory (RAM), high resolution graphics, full motion video drivers and high bandwidth networking cards, to name only a few. Each of the peripheral applications implemented on PCB's share a common communication architecture with the CPU called the computer bus.
The computer bus allows communication between the CPU, or processor, and its peripherals. The computer bus is generally separated into several functional groups such as address, data and control. The address group of the computer bus identifies the specific peripheral attached to the computer bus as well as a particular component contained within the peripheral, such as a register or memory location. The data group of the computer bus defines the information transferred to or received from the peripheral. The control group of the computer bus defines the method or protocol used to effect data or control transfers on the computer bus.
Contemporary computer buses operate in a synchronous fashion, such that all transactions on the computer bus occur synchronously with a rising or falling edge of a master bus clock. The master bus clock, however, is typically slower than the speed of the processor attached to the bus, thereby creating a performance bottleneck at the computer bus level. Subsequently, computer bus speeds have increased in order to reduce the performance bottleneck. However, increasing computer bus speeds requires reduced computer bus lengths in order to control propagation delay. Performance of the computer bus is also limited by the number of peripheral devices attached to the computer bus. The number of peripheral devices attached to the contemporary computer bus increases the effective capacitance of the computer bus, adversely effecting computer bus transfer rates.
One of the earlier computer buses, Industry Standard Architecture (ISA), established itself as an evolutionary enhancement of the time, being well matched to processor performance and peripheral requirements of the early personal computers (PCs). The ISA computer bus, however, soon fell victim to the increasing performance demands of graphical computing. The Video Electronics Standards Association Local (VL) bus provided a subsequent attempt to overcome the limitations of the ISA computer bus architecture. The VL bus strategy is to attach, for example, a video controller, as well as other high bandwidth peripheral devices, directly to the processor's local bus, equating the bus speed of the peripheral device attached to the VL bus to that of the processor's bus speed. The VL bus was successful in increasing the bus speeds of the peripheral devices. However, the VL bus exhibited its own shortcomings, such as a severe limitation on the number of VL bus peripheral devices allowed to operate on the VL bus. In addition, VL bus peripheral devices were necessarily processor dependent.
The Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus has been developed to provide coherence and standardization, improving upon the ISA and VL bus limitations. The PCI bus specification first appeared in 1992, with subsequent revisions published in 1993, 1995 and 1999. The PCI bus specification provides several features, which potentially allows PCI implementations to accommodate computer architectures for many years to come. PCI bus transfer rates, for example, allow for hundreds of megabytes (MB) of data to be transferred per second. Any peripheral device attached to the PCI bus can become a bus master, i.e., responsible for initiating transactions on the PCI bus, thus reducing overhead workload for the processor. The PCI bus is processor independent, such that peripheral devices attached to the PCI bus need only comply with the PCI bus specification to be operable, regardless of the specific processor being used. PCI implementations allow peripheral devices that are newly introduced to the computing architecture to be automatically configured. This automatic configuration process is more commonly referred to as plug and play. The PCI bus, however, along with its ISA and VL bus predecessors, limits the number of peripheral devices that can share a particular PCI bus segment. In order to accommodate multiple PCI peripheral devices and even to accommodate a mixture, for example, of PCI and ISA bus compatible peripheral devices, PCI bridging is used.
PCI bridging allows for expansion of the PCI bus, such that multiple PCI peripheral devices can operate on the PCI bus. These are separated into their own PCI bus segments and then bridged to allow access to the PCI bus. Several types of bridges exist, for example, such as the PCI-to-PCI, Host-to-PCI and PCI-to-legacy bus bridges. The PCI-to-PCI bridge allows multiple PCI bus segments to be interconnected, such that each segment allows a fixed number of PCI peripheral devices to be connected to the PCI bus.
The advent of the PCI bus has allowed a multitude of computing peripherals to be integrated with a single host server or a multitude of host servers. Storage devices, for example, are becoming an increasingly prevalent peripheral as electronic storage needs are increasing to maintain pace with today's computing society.
Storage Area Networks (SAN) are networks that connect the storage devices or systems to their hosting servers. SANs are differentiated from previous interconnection schemes in that the SANs allow centralized management of one large storage area, while facilitating connectivity between the host servers and the storage devices. Historically in SAN environments, physical interfaces to storage devices consisted of parallel Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI) channels supporting a small number of SCSI devices. More recent developments of SANs, however, have begun to use new technologies to connect greater numbers of host servers and storage devices.
Enterprise System Connection (ESCON®), for example, was a first attempt at creating a SAN environment that allowed growth in the numbers of host servers and storage devices existing within the SAN by integrating the use of fibre optic technology. The ESCON® model, however, generally limits the interconnection to only ESCON® compliant hosts and ESCON® compliant devices. Fibre Connectivity (FICON), which is based on the industry standard Fibre Channel architecture, is one of the newest fibre optic channel standards being employed today.
Although ESCON® is a relatively mature technology, large numbers of communication subsystems, printers, tape drives, storage subsystems, etc. continue to be produced which support the ESCON® protocol. With the large numbers of ESCON® peripherals available to interface with the PCI based host systems, along with the emerging FICON technology, as well as the large number of SCSI legacy peripherals, an interconnect device is needed that would have the capability to mix and/or match the various protocol handlers on a single card. The interconnect device should also have multiplexing capability to facilitate management of multiple control and data streams into a single control path and a single data path.
Prior art PCB solutions have either utilized large, non-PC compliant PCBs that require unique power and packaging costs, or have chosen to package only one or two protocol handlers on a PCI compliant PCB, which limits the data handling capacity of the PCI compliant PCB.
It can be seen, therefore, that there is a need for a method and apparatus that provides bus access to a plurality of protocol handlers, while multiplexing and arbitrating the bus access as required.
Furthermore, there is a need to place the protocol handlers and protocol multiplexers on a single circuit to significantly reduce the space required for such functions.
It can further be seen that there is a need for a method and apparatus allowing a mixture of protocol handlers on a single circuit, so that interconnect access can be gained by ESCON®, FICON, SCSI, etc. based interface protocols without requiring the need to bridge each protocol used.

Method and apparatus for multiplexing multiple protocol handlers on a shared memory bus

International Business Machines Corporation


A wire guide (16), for a drive assembly (56) of a wire feeding assembly (16), of a welding system (10), has an elongate body with an outer surface, a length, and first (296A) and second (296B) ends. An elongate bore (255) extends along the length of, and through, the elongate body. An aperture (265) extends through the elongate body, generally transverse to, and intersecting, the elongate bore (255). In preferred embodiments, at least one generally arcuate depression (260, 262) extends into the outer surface of the elongate body, communicating with the aperture (265) which extends through the elongate body, in a direction transverse to the elongate bore (255).

The present invention relates generally to welding systems, and more particularly, to apparatus for feeding welding wire in welding systems.
An important part of welding systems is the mechanism that feeds an electrode wire, a filler-material wire, or other weld wire to the work piece. Weld wires range in size and in material composition. Typically, weld wires range in size from approximately 0.023 inch in diameter to approximately 0.052 inch in diameter and can be as large as approximately 0.250 inch in diameter, and include material compositions of steel, stainless steel, aluminum, and/or other materials.
As used herein, the phrase "wire feeder assembly" includes a spool of weld wire, a drive assembly, any gun liner, and any other support or control apparatus along the path of travel of the wire between the spool and the contact tip of the gun, including the electronic controls.
Wire feeder assemblies generically comprehend electrode wire feeders used in e.g. Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) in which the electrode wire is fed as part of the welding circuit and melts to become part of the weld deposit/pool. Wire feeder assemblies also include cold wire feeders used in e.g. Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW) and laser welding in which the filler-material wire is fed into, and melts from the heat of, the weld pool and thus becomes part of the weld pool.
In addition, wire feeder assemblies and/or components thereof can be used to drive materials other than weld wire, such materials typically having generally physically similar characteristics and/or properties to those of weld wire.
The drive assembly typically includes an electric motor which drives a rotationally-driven drive roll, which cooperates with a corresponding pressure roll. Both the rotationally-driven drive roll and the pressure roll, e.g. a pressure drive roll, cooperate in driving the weld wire. The rotationally-driven drive roll and the pressure drive roll have outer circumferential surfaces, at least one of the drive roll and pressure drive roll having a groove formed therein sized and configured to accept a weld wire having a particular diameter, between the cooperating drive rolls.
The pressure drive roll applies lateral pressure against the weld wire and correspondingly against the rotationally-driven drive roll. When the electric motor is energized, it rotationally drives the rotationally-driven drive roll which, in cooperation with the pressure drive roll, advances the weld wire through the liner and contact tip in the welding gun, and into the weld pool.
The drive assembly can jam if the weld wire strays from the desired feed path which extends through the e.g. nip which is defined between the upper and lower drive rolls. Wire jams can be caused when the weld wire collapses as the compressive columnar strength of the weld wire is exceeded, whereupon the weld wire becomes bunched up, tangled, wrapped around drive rolls, or other components in the drive assembly, or otherwise travels along a non-desired path or deviates from the desired path. In any case, such deviant wire travel is sometimes referred to as e.g. "bird's nesting."
"Bird's nesting" normally occurs in an area in which the weld wire is unsupported, and typically happens when the weld wire drag, or resistance to movement through the liner, combines with the weld wire driving force applied by the drive rolls to overcome the columnar strength of the wire. When the columnar strength is exceeded, the weld wire ceases movement through the conduit, and piles up in the area of collapse, or travels along a non-desired path until the electric motor driving the drive rolls ceases its drive action.
"Bird's nesting" consumes operator/user time, requiring such operator/user to open the drive assembly and to untangle and/or otherwise clear the wire jam, and re-feed the weld wire along the wire drive path.
It is not desirable to have an operator/user opening the drive assembly more often than necessary, as many welding operations are performed in rather harsh environments and dirt and/or other debris frequently found in such welding environments can eventually become lodged in e.g. the liner of the weld gun, which further compromises the travel of the weld wire to the workpiece.
When a wire jamb occurs, the weld wire does not advance through the liner and contact tip of the welding gun. Thus the weld wire which extends beyond the contact tip is consumed without a new portion of the weld wire advancing to replace the consumed portion. This phenomenon is commonly referred to as "burn-back" and can result in the weld wire melting into, and thus becoming welded to, the contact tip of the gun. In the event where the weld wire becomes welded to the contact tip, the operator/user typically must install a new contact tip before proceeding with any more welding operations.
As weld wire is advanced along either a desired path e.g. out a welding gun or along a non-desired path such as "bird's nesting," the weld wire can be energized by a welding power source. Accordingly, if the deviant weld wire comes into electrical contact with e.g. the electric motor of the drive assembly, the integrity of the electric motor can be compromised. Also, since such advancing weld wire is electrically "live," a weld wire which advances along a non-desired path, for example outwardly of the drive assembly, can pose safety hazards for the operator and/or any persons near such activity.
Some weld wires are generally more susceptible to "bird's nesting" than other weld wires. As one example, aluminum weld wires are more susceptible to traveling along a non-desired path than are steel weld wires because aluminum has a relatively lower columnar strength and a relatively more easily deformable cross section, and/or relatively more malleable.
Numerous approaches of dealing with "bird's nesting" problems in wire feeders have been attempted, including use of TEFLON, and relatively shorter liners in weld guns, and use of weld wire spool guns which are weld guns that house and drive a spool of weld wire in the gun itself rather than having the weld wire spool mounted in combination with a control box. However, it is sometimes desirable to use a weld gun which has a relatively long liner to enable an operator/user to weld at a point relatively distant from the weld wire feeder apparatus. In addition, weld wire spool guns are bulky in comparison to typical weld guns and accordingly can be relatively cumbersome to operate. Further, an operator/user may desire to weld with a spool of weld wire which is larger than that which can be housed in a weld wire spool gun, e.g. it may be desirable to use a 12 inch spool of weld wire instead of a 4 inch spool.
It is desirable, therefore, to improve weld wire feeder assemblies to provide more support for a weld wire in areas of the feeder assemblies in which a weld wire is typically unsupported. In addition, it is desirable to improve weld wire feeder assemblies to provide a relatively more consistent, and relatively more desirably distributed, pressure to a weld wire.
Another problem with typical weld wire feeder assemblies is that service and repair of the drive assembly can be difficult, especially in the field. As one example, weld wire feeder assemblies having two drive mechanisms typically require at least some different components for e.g. left and right drive assemblies, which require storage of corresponding piece-parts for each of the left and right drive assemblies.
As another example of needed improvements, changing drive rolls in some drive assemblies requires tools. Certain known "tool-less" drive assembly designs require a dexterous manipulation of one or more components of the drive assembly.
Therefore, it is also desirable to provide weld wire feeder assemblies which are easily serviced and/or repaired and which have drive assembly components which are common to both left and right drive assemblies, and methods and apparatus which facilitates easy removal and/or changing of drive rolls, other components, or consumable components, without using tools.
It is also desirable to provide drive assemblies which require a cover to be closed over the internal components before operation of the drive assembly, which increases the probability of achieving a relatively clean operational environment within the drive assembly.
It is also desirable to provide re-designed drive assemblies which impede the development of "bird's nesting," and which facilitate the travel of the weld wire along the desired path.


Methods and systems for occupancy prediction using historical occupancy patterns are described. In an embodiment, an occupancy probability is computed by comparing a recent occupancy pattern to historic occupancy patterns. Sensor data for a room, or other space, is used to generate a table of past occupancy which comprises these historic occupancy patterns. The comparison which is performed identifies a number of similar historic occupancy patterns and data from these similar historic occupancy patterns is combined to generate an occupancy probability for a time in the future. In an example, time may be divided into discrete slots and binary values may be used to indicate occupancy or non-occupancy in each slot. An occupancy probability for a defined future time slot then comprises a combination of the binary values for corresponding time slots from each of the identified similar occupancy patterns.

The efficiency of home heating solutions could be improved if it was possible to accurately predict when the home, or a part of the home, was going to be occupied. Existing home heating systems are typically programmable, allowing a user to specify two periods of the day when the heating is on (e.g. morning and evening). Irrespective of whether the home is occupied or not, the home will still be heated to the set point temperature set on a thermostat. Intelligent thermostats are available, so that the set point temperature can be varied at different times of day; however, these are often not programmed by users and again they do not address whether the home is occupied or not. A solution which has previously been proposed uses a person's location to predict the minimum time in which they could arrive home: if a person is an X minute drive time from their home, the person could be home in X minutes.
The embodiments described below are not limited to implementations which solve any or all of the disadvantages of known occupancy prediction methods or to home heating applications.

Occupancy prediction using historical occupancy patterns


Embodiments discussed herein refer to LiDAR systems and methods that monitor for fault conditions that could potentially result in unsafe operation of a laser. The systems and methods can monitor for faulty conditions involving a transmitter system and movement of mirrors in a scanning system. When a fault condition is monitored, a shutdown command is sent to the transmitter system to cease laser transmission. The timing by which the laser should cease transmission is critical in preventing unsafe laser exposure, and embodiments discussed herein enable fault detection and laser shutoff to comply with laser safety standards.

Systems exist that enable vehicles to be driven semi-autonomously or fully autonomously. Such systems may use one or more range finding, mapping, or object detection systems to provide sensory input to assist in semi-autonomous or fully autonomous vehicle control. LiDAR systems, for example, can provide the sensory input required by a semi-autonomous or fully autonomous vehicle. LiDAR systems can use a laser that projects beams of light. As LiDAR system become more ubiquitous, safe operation of the laser is desired.


A method, apparatus, article of manufacture, and system, the method including, in some embodiments, determining an impedance of a power distribution network of a load for a range of frequencies, and adjusting a functionality of the load based on a relationship between the impedance of the power distribution network for the range of frequencies and the functionality of the load.

The reliability and stability of a device, system, platform, or operating environment may depend on the device, system, platform, or operating environment functioning within design specifications. Due to a number of factors, attempts may be made to operate a device, system, platform, or operating environment outside of the design specifications. In some instances, an out of specification condition may result from component and system degradations that may typically occur over time. In some instances however the out of specification condition may be the result of, for example, manufacturing variations.
Operationally, an out of specification operating condition may result in a decrease in device and system reliability and stability.

Method, system, and apparatus for dynamic clock adjustment


A method for treating capillary walls exposable to protein solutes is provided that promotes reversible interactions between the protein solutes and the wall. Thus a small bore capillary tube, useful for reproducible protein electrophoretic separations, includes an interfacial phase comprising agarose that is bonded to the bore. Pretreatment of the capillary walls with silylation reagents forms an intermediate layer that provides a determinable cathodic electroosmotic flow magnitude that remains constant even if the buffer pH fluctuates between 4-7. The modified capillaries can be used repeatedly and they exhibit selectivity in protein separations.

Capillary zone electrophoresis ("CZE") in small capillaries (less than or equal to 75 .mu.) was first demonstrated by Jorgenson and Lukacs, and has proven useful as an efficient method for the separation of small solutes. J. Chromatog., 218 (1981), page 209; Anal. Chem., 53 (1981), page 1298. The mass transport of charged species past a single point of detection relies upon an electroosmosis effect generally described as the flow of a liquid in contact with a solid surface under the influence of a tangentially applied electric field. Attractive factors for electrophoretic separations by capillary zone electrophoresis are the small sample sizes, little or no sample pretreatment, and the potential for quantification and recovery of biologically active samples. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,675,300, inventors Zare et al., issued Jun. 23, 1987, describes theories and equipment for electrokinetic separation processes employing a laser-excited fluorescence detector. The system described by Zare et al. includes fused silica capillary with a 75 .mu. inside diameter.
High performance capillary electrophoresis ("HPCE") afforded the potential of extraordinary high efficiency separations of macromolecules. Unfortunately, the high efficiency first anticipated was based on the assumption that there would be no macromolecular/column interaction term in the unpacked (open tubular) column technique. It has been suggested by theoretical studies, which have been supported by experimental evaluation, Swedberg et al., (1989) in Techniques in Protein Chemistry (Hugli, ed.) Academic Press, San Diego, that this interaction (k') can be very small, and have a significant impact on the expected efficiency of macromolecular separations by HPCE.
Though the expectation of 1 to 2 million theoretical plates is unrealistic for HPCE, this does not diminish the impact HPCE may have on the automated separation of macromolecules. Recent publications from biosciences users highlight the advantages of HPCE for solving a specific separation problem which other traditional techniques were not able to solve. Holzman et al., J. Biol. Chem., 266 (1991), pp. 2474-2479; Tran et al., J. Chem., 524 (1991), pp. 459-471; and Lal et al., Arch. Oral. Biol., (1992), pp. 7-13. The major obstacle on the effectiveness of the technique is the reproducibility of the column technology.
Jorgenson et al. had noted that separation of model proteins, such as cytochrome, lysozyme, and ribonuclease A, in untreated fused silica capillaries with a phosphate buffer at pH 7 was accompanied by strong tailing, and suggested this might be caused by Coulombic interaction of the positively charged proteins and the negatively charged capillary wall. Jorgenson et al., Science, 222 (1983), page 266.
Lauer et al., Anal. Chem., 58 (1986), page 166, has reported that the Coulombic repulsion between some idealized proteins and the capillary wall of silica capillaries can overcome adsorption tendencies of these proteins with the capillary wall. They demonstrated separations of model proteins (ranging in molecular weight from 13,000 to 77,000) by varying the solution pH relative to the isoelectric point (pI) of the proteins to change their net charge. However, disadvantages of this approach are that (1) silica begins to dissolve above pH 7, which shortens column life and degrades performance, (2) only proteins with pI's less than the buffer pH can be analyzed, which drastically reduces the range of useful analysis, and (3) interactions which are not Coulombic may still occur even with proteins bearing a net negative charge due to the complexity of protein composition and structure.
Another approach to the problem of biopolymer or protein interactions has been to increase ionic strength. It has been demonstrated that this concept works in principle, but heating is also increased as ionic strength is increased. This heating tends to degrade the efficiency of separation. Increasing salt also decreases the mobility differences among proteins of similar charge and size thus further reducing separation efficiency.
Yet another approach to the problem of undesirable protein interactions with the capillary wall has been to coat the electrophoresis tube with a monomolecular layer of non-crosslinked polymer. Thus, U.S. Pat. No. 4,680,201, inventor Hjerten, issued Jul. 14, 1987, describes a method for preparing a thin-wall, narrow-bore capillary tube for electrophoretic separations by use of a bifunctional compound in which one group reacts specifically with the glass wall and the other with a monomer taking part in a polymerization process. This procedure results in a polymer coating, such as polyacrylamide coating, and is suggested for use in coating other polymers, such as poly(vinyl alcohol) and poly(vinylpyrrolidone). However, this method of capillary tube treatment tends to destroy the electroosmotic flow, and efficiencies are still rather low. These rather low efficiencies suggest that undesirable protein-wall interactions are still occurring.
More recently, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,931,328, issued Jun. 5, 1990, inventor Swedberg disclosed a method for preparing capillary tubes capable of exhibiting reduced protein interactions and controllable electroosmotic flow during electrophoresis. The capillary tube includes an interfacial layer that is covalently bonded to the inner wall of the capillary tube. The interfacial layer has a hydratable amphoteric phase that has a determinable isoelectric point and permits electroosmotic flow control by selection of solution pH. Employing this technique, Maa et al. demonstrated changes in protein selectivity on two deactivated capillaries due to the minimal protein-wall interactions. J. High Resol. Chromatog., 14 (1991), pp. 65-67.
Another recent method of reducing interactions of protein solutes with capillary bore surfaces was disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,006,313, inventor Swedberg, issued Apr. 9, 1991, in which the bore wall of a capillary tube is coated with a reduced interaction phase that includes a plurality of halogen atoms.

Capillary tube with reversible protein interaction and method


A novel process for producing iodotrifluoromethane is provided which comprises reacting trifluoromethane with iodine in the presence of oxygen by use of a catalyst containing a salt of a metal supported by a carbonaceous carrier. In this process, the catalyst life is lengthened greatly, the by-product is decreased, and the unreacted iodine can be recovered efficiently as high-purity iodine to be recycled without purification.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for producing iodotrifluoromethane. More specifically, the present invention relates to a process for producing iodotrifluoromethane by reacting trifluoromethane with iodine in the presence of oxygen by use of a catalyst comprising a metal salt supported on a carbonaceous carrier.
2. Description of the Related Art
Iodotrifluoromethane is not only promising as a fire extinguisher substituting for Halon 1301 and Halon 1211, but also highly useful as a fluorine-containing intermediate compound for introducing a trifluoromethyl group in production of surfactants, agricultural chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and the like. Halon 1301, Halon 1211, and the like conventional fire extinguishers destroy the ozone layer, or cause global temperature rise by a greenhouse effect. Use of such extinguishers are being prohibited by environmental protection laws. On the other hand, the iodotrifluoromethane, which has a significantly shorter life in the air, causes negligibly the ozone layer destruction and the global temperature elevation. Therefore, the iodotrifluoromethane is promising for use as the fire extinguisher.
Several processes are known for production of iodotrifluoromethane. For example, J. Chem. Soc. 1951 p.584, and J. Org. Chem. 1967 p.833 disclose processes of reacting an alkali metal trifluoroacetate or silver trifluoroacetate with iodine; and J. Org. Chem. 1958 p.2016, and JP-A-2-262529 disclose processes of reacting a trifluoroacetyl halide with potassium iodide or lithium iodide.
Any of the above known methods employs expensive trifluoroacetic acid or its derivative as the source material. Moreover, use of alkali trifluoroacetate as the source material requires complete elimination of water including water of crystallization from the reaction system, and yet the yield is as low as about 70%. The expensive silver trifluoroacetate, although it gives a higher yield, is not necessarily advantageous to an industrial process.
JP-A-52-68110 discloses a process for producing iodotrifluoromethane in which trifluoromethane is reacted with iodine in the presence of a catalyst comprising an alkali metal salt or an alkaline earth metal salt supported by active carbon or active alumina. This process was replicated carefully by the inventors of the present invention. Consequently, it was found that, in the disclosed process, carbon deposition occurs, lowering significantly the catalyst activity in one or two days of the reaction, and the recovered iodine contains significant amount of a paste-like impurity estimated to be a high polymer. This recovered iodine cannot readily be purified, and complicated equipment is required for purification of the recovered iodine for recycling. Therefore, this process is not applicable to an industrial production.
As described above, the disclosed processes of production of iodotrifluoromethane from trifluoroacetic acid or its derivative are disadvantageous in that the source material is expensive, and use of more expensive silver salt of the trifluoroacetic acid is required for improving the yield. The conventional process of production of iodotrifluoromethane from trifluoromethane is also disadvantageous in that the catalyst life is short owing to carbon deposition, and the process requires a complicated equipment for eliminating a large amount of paste-like impurity from the recovered iodine for recycling it.
Therefore, a novel process for producing iodotrifluoromethane is demanded to overcome the disadvantages.
Under such circumstances, the inventors of the present invention made comprehensive studies on the process for producing iodotrifluoromethane by reaction of trifluoromethane with iodine. As the results, it was found that the reaction of trifluoromethane with iodine can be conducted with a long catalyst life in the presence of a catalyst comprising a metal salt supported on a carbonaceous carrier with coexistence of oxygen, and that the iodine which has not been converted to iodotrifluoromethane and by-product iodopentafluoroethane is recovered in a high purity without a paste-like impurity at a high recovery ratio and can be recycled without purification. The present invention is accomplished on the basis of the above findings.

Process for producing iodotrifluoromethane


What is described are macrocyclic compounds formed by reaction of a cyclic compound, which contains an amine, with an epoxide. The macrocyclic compound has the following structure:

Delivery of therapeutic compounds to a subject is limited by the ability of these compounds to reach and enter targeted organs, tissues, and cells. Delivery of many therapeutic molecules has been found to be facilitated by lipid based delivery vehicles. Lipid-based systems generally involve liposomes or lipid particles. Lipid systems can consist of an aqueous interior surrounded by a lipid bilayer. Lipid particles and lipid bilayers consist of a hydrophobic region and a region that interfaces with water. The hydrophobic region generally consists of alkyl chains of the lipids. The polar region generally consists of charged or polar head groups of the lipids. Lipids form these structures spontaneously because of their amphiphilic character.
Liposomes or lipid particles transport therapeutic molecules in their interior, either in aqueous or hydrophobic regions, and/or on their surface. Liposomes or lipid particles may stabilize a therapeutic molecule both before and after administration to subject organisms. Liposomes may also facilitate delivery to the target tissue or organ, either systemically, e.g., in the circulation, or locally, e.g., when administered topically. Liposomes or lipid particles may also facilitate entry of a therapeutic molecule into the cytoplasm of target cells. The mechanism underlying these phenomena are incompletely understood.
Polynucleotides are an important class of therapeutic molecules. These are generally either DNA or RNA, but include a variety of modified forms, including single- and double-stranded regions. Delivery of polynucleotides, particularly double stranded RNA, is enhanced by lipid systems, either in the form of liposomes or lipid particles. Lipid particles and liposomes are capable of complexing with polynucleotides. The interaction between lipids and polynucleotides can be based on a charge complex. That is, each nucleotide of a polynucleotide carries a negative charge of a phosphate group. If the lipid is positively charged, it may complex with a charge group of a polynucleotide. Similarly, polynucleotides may complex with the polar region of a lipid bilayer. Liposomes and lipid particles may encapsulate polynucleotides or complex with them on their polar or charged surface.
Even though such lipid-polynucleotide particles have shown such great promise, little is known about how lipids and liposomes facilitate delivery of polynucleotides. While certain liposomal compositions have been found to be favorable for transport of polynucleotides to target cells, results are unpredictable, and may vary according to the process of producing the lipid particles or liposomes, and between one preparation and another made by the same process. The efficiency of delivery by a liposomal preparation varies substantially between organs. Efficient delivery in cultures of cells in vitro cannot predict whether the same preparations will enhance delivery when administered to an organism in vivo.
Cationic lipids of the lipid particles and liposomes have been found to be critical for their ability to enhance delivery of therapeutic molecules in general, and polynucleotides in particular. The bases for the critical role of cationic lipids in these systems is incompletely understood and structure function relationships are unknown; their enhancing affect may stem from one or more factors, including the ability of cationic lipids to complex with polynucleotides, their effect on the lipid bilayer structure, their ability to fuse with plasma membranes of the target cell, and/or their ability to facilitate entry of the polynucleotide into the cytoplasm of the cell. This uncertainty creates further unpredictability in this field of research.
The number of naturally occurring cationic lipids is limited. Further, the cost of natural lipids can be substantial, particularly when linked to a large-scale manufacturing process under regulatory conditions. This is because natural lipids are generally extracted and are heterogeneous, and are not synthesized. Homogeneous preparations of single natural lipids are now available commercially, albeit in limited numbers and limited to research use. However, design of novel cationic lipids has shown promise of improving delivery of lipid-based vehicles. There exists a continuing need to identify classes of cationic lipids that enhance lipid-based delivery systems, particularly ones that allow formulations with therapeutic molecules to be readily and reproducibly manufactured.

Abstract: When substituents R and R′ that are hydrophobic substituents, the macrocyclic compound functions as a lipid and is compatible with lipid systems, including liposomes and lipid particles. When present in certain lipid systems, the macrocyclic compound enhances the ability of the lipid system to facilitate delivery of therapeutic molecules to target cells in a mammalian subject.


The present invention relates to novel bacteria and the uses thereof. The invention particularly relates to bacteria having a metabolic pathway ratio between pentose phosphate and glycolysis greater than 0.5, and their uses in the chemical, pharmaceutical and agro-chemical industries, e.g., for producing compounds of industrial interest.

Glucose is the major source of energy in cells. Bacteria typically use two metabolic pathways to catabolize glucose: the glycolysis and, to a lesser extent, the pentose phosphate pathway. Glycolysis converts glucose into pyruvate, and the free energy released is used to form ATP (adenosine triphosphate) and NADH (reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide). The pentose phosphate pathway utilizes glucose to generate various substrates, and produces NADPH (reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate) and pentoses. More specifically, the pentose phosphate pathway generates NADPH from NADP, in conjunction with the reduction of glucose-6-phosphate into ribulose-5-phosphate.
Although bacteria utilize mainly glycolysis to catabolize glucose, NADPH, which is produced during the pentose phosphate pathway, has a key role in biological reactions that lead to industrially useful compounds. Indeed, cells use NADPH as reducing equivalents for many biosynthetic and oxidation-reduction reactions involved in the protection against the toxicity of reactive oxygen species (ROS), allowing the regeneration of reduced glutathione. NADPH is also used in several important anabolic pathways, such as amino acid synthesis (e.g., arginine, proline, isoleucine, methionine, lysine), vitamin synthesis (e.g., pantothenate, phylloquinone, tocopherol), polyol synthesis (e.g., xylitol), isoprenoid synthesis, and fatty acid synthesis (including polyunsaturated fatty acids), as well as in the synthesis of other high added-value substances. In addition, NADPH is the source of reducing equivalents for cytochrome P450 hydroxylation of aromatic compounds, steroids, alcohols and drugs.
Because of the involvement of NADPH in the capacity of cells to conduct important enzymatic reactions, recombinant approaches have been proposed in the art to provide microorganisms with increased cellular NADPH.
For instance, attempts have been made to limit the activity of enzymes involved in the oxidation of NADPH, and/or to increase the activity of enzymes involved in the reduction of NADP. For example, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/577,084 relates to strains of microorganisms having one or more of their NADPH-oxidizing activities limited by a deletion of at least one gene coding for a quinine oxidoreductase or a soluble transhydrogenase.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,830,716 relates to a recombinant Escherichia coli expressing a nicotinamide dinucleotide transhydrogenase. In this bacterium, increased NADPH levels are produced from NADH.
Such approaches allow the production of modified microorganisms having an increased NADPH/NADP ratio. However, modifying the cell metabolism by deregulating specific genes is not entirely satisfactory. Indeed, the metabolic flux in such cells is not stable and cannot be controlled. Furthermore, the metabolic flux may not be adapted easily because the activity of such recombinant cofactor regeneration systems is strictly controlled by and dependent on the robustness of the bacteria physiology. In addition, the production of such recombinantly engineered organisms is costly and time-consuming, with repercussions on the production of the compounds of interest.
The over-expression of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase to increase NADPH production has also been considered. However, over-expression of the corresponding coding gene is lethal for the cells.
There is therefore always a need for microorganisms suitable for producing industrially useful compounds. There is also a need for a source of reductive or anti-oxidant activity. There is also a need for improved methods for generating reduced compounds or anti-oxidant compositions.


A drive assembly for axially adjusting at least one roll of the upper and lower pairs of first intermediate rolls of a cluster mill of the 20-high (1-2-3-4) type. The drive comprises a first horizontally oriented rack connected to one of the first intermediate rolls by a link and universal joint assembly. As least one idler gear, with its axis horizontally oriented, is meshed with the first rack. A second rack horizontally oriented is affixed to the piston of a horizontally oriented hydraulic cylinder. The second rack and the hydraulic cylinder are in parallel spaced relationship to the first rack. The second rack is meshed with the at least one idler gear so that axial movement of the piston and second rack in the hydraulic cylinder will result in axial movement of the first rack via the at least one idler gear to axially shift the at least one roll. Such a drive can have its first rack attached to a pair of rolls by a universal joint assembly and a link for each roll so that the drive can simultaneously axially shift both rolls. Four such drives can each be used to axially shift the four first intermediate rolls independently. In any of the embodiments the second rack may have a piston at both of its ends in its hydraulic cylinder so that the effective piston areas are the same in both directions of movement.

This invention relates to 20-high cluster mills of 1-2-3-4 construction used for the cold rolling of metal strip. Mills of this general type are taught in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,169,711; 2,187,250; 2,479,974; 2,776,586; and 4,289,013.
Existing methods of axial adjustment of the four first intermediate rolls operate by moving these rolls axially as pairs. One drive is used to adjust the upper two rolls together and a second drive is used to adjust the lower two rolls together. The upper two rolls have tapers at the operator side and the lower two rolls have tapers at the drive side, all four rolls being cylindrical in form, except for the taper at one side. For rolling, the start of the taper (i.e. intersection between tapered portion and cylindrical portion) is set close to the edge of the strip for best results. (i.e. to achieve the best strip flatness). As the width of the incoming strip changes from coil to coil, the tapered roll positions can be adjusted to suit, thus avoiding the necessity to change these rolls every time the strip width changes.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,131,252, it was taught that improved strip profile control could be achieved by providing different profiles on all four first intermediate rolls and adjusting them axially individually, using four separate drives. Because of the restricted space in the area where these rolls are located, due to the fact that these rolls and their adjustment mechanisms are surrounded on all four sides by the six second intermediate rolls and the four drive spindles driving the four outer second intermediate rolls (known as the drive rolls), it is very difficult to fit four drives into the available space.
The present invention discloses a method for overcoming this difficulty, achieving four independent drives in the available space, with a rugged and easily maintainable construction.

Drive system for axial adjustment of the first intermediate rolls of a 20-high rolling mill


A sheathed-element glow plug for disposition in the combustion chamber of air-compressing internal combustion engines is proposed which in a known manner contains a resistor element (17) in its sheathed-element (13), where this resistor element (17) is composed of two serially connected resistor spirals (20, 21). While the resistor spiral (20) on the combustion chamber side is a heater spiral with a resistance behavior which is essentially the same at all operating temperatures, the wirespiral shaped resistance spiral (21) on the side remote from the combustion chamber which acts as a regulating element, has a high temperature resistance coefficient. This resistance spiral (21) consists of a cobalt-iron alloy, which is not subject to material breakdown under the temperature stresses occurring in an internal combustion engine; the cobalt-iron alloy has been selected in such a way that it maintains a cubic face-centered material structure during all operational stages of the sheathed-element glow plug (10) from 0.degree.-1200.degree. C.; the iron content of this cobalt-iron alloy lies between 6 and 18 weight percent, preferably at 2 to 14 weight percent. The resistor element (17) formed as a wire spiral is embedded in a known manner in an insulating material (18), which is electrically insulating and conducts heat well.

The basic structure and the function of such a sheathed-element glow plug is recited in DE-PS 28 02 625 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,556,781. The sheathed-element of this sheathed-element glow plug contains a resistor element embedded in an insulating material, which is composed of two series-connected resistor spirals. The resistor spiral on the combustion chamber side of this resistor element is used as a heating element and has a resistance which essentially is independent of temperature, while the resistor spiral on the side removed from the combustion chamber has a high positive temperature resistance coefficient and acts as a regulating element; in this case the latter is made of nickel.
A glow plug is known from DE-PS 38 25 012 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,093,555 HAUSCH and Schieck assigned BERU RUPRECHT et al., which in principle has the same structure and the same function as the sheathed-element glow plug of the above mentioned DE-PS 28 02 625, but uses a cobalt-iron alloy or a nickel-iron alloy for the regulating element, where the content of iron is 20 to 25 weight percent. These two above mentioned alloys have a cubic body centered structure at room temperature, while they change into a cubic face centered structure when heated to a range between room temperature and 1000.degree. C. It has been shown that these last mentioned sheathed-element glow plugs only have a relatively short service life because of the breakdown of the material of the regulating element, lead to unwanted interruptions in operation and additionally entail expenses for correcting the trouble. The invention
In contrast thereto, the sheathed-element glow of the invention with the a cobalt-iron alloy resistor coil, whose iron content falls in a range between 6 and 18 weight-percent, present invention has the advantage that there is no breakdown of the regulating element of the resistor element after a relatively short length of operation and that service interruptions and expenses as a result thereof are avoided. This alloy maintains a cubic face-centered structure throughout a temperature range from not more than 0.degree. C. to at least 1000.degree. C.
Advantageous further developments of the sheathed-element glow plug are described below; it is particularly advantageous if the regulating element of the resistor element consists of a cobalt-iron alloy, the iron content of which is 12 to 14 weight percent.
Preferably, the regulating element is located in a section of the sheathed-element not radially surrounded by the metal housing.

Glow plug with constant-structure cobalt-iron PTC resistor


A rear sub frame comprising a pair of side members, a front cross member, and a rear cross member. The front cross member is configured in substantially a V shape in a front view such that the front cross member slants continuously from both end portions thereof toward a central portion, in a vehicle width direction, thereof which is located below a rear differential, and that a center position, in the vehicle width direction, of a bottom portion of the front cross member which corresponds to an apex portion of the V shape is offset from a center of a vehicle body in the vehicle width direction toward a specified side which matches an offset-arrangement side of a ring gear arranged in the rear differential.

The present invention relates to a rear sub frame of an automotive vehicle, and in particular relates to the rear sub frame of the automotive vehicle, which is attached to a kick-up portion and rear frames of a vehicle body at a rear portion of the vehicle body where a rear differential is provided.
An assembly of an automotive vehicle, in which links and arms of a rear suspension are attached to a rear sub frame and then this rear sub frame is attached to a kick-up portion and rear frames of a vehicle body, is known.
Herein, the rear sub frame which comprises a pair of side members extending in a vehicle longitudinal direction at both sides, in a vehicle width direction, of the vehicle body and cross members extending in the vehicle width direction and interconnecting the pair of side members is known, for example. The rear sub frame of the automotive vehicle having rear wheels as driving wheels, in which a front cross member of the cross members is configured in substantially a V shape in a front view and a bottom portion of the front cross member which corresponds to an apex portion of the V shape is located below a rear differential of the vehicle, is also known (see US Patent Application Publication No. 2009/0212548 A1, for example).
The rear sub frame has been required to have a high rigidity for improving the responsiveness of the suspension and the like during the vehicle traveling and also to provide an appropriate NVH (noise-vibration-harshness) performance. It is preferable that the side members and the cross members of the rear sub frame be configured in as a more straight shape as possible in order to improve the NVH performance properly. Further, it is necessary that the side members and the cross members do not interfere with an exhaust pipe or the like arranged below a rear portion of the vehicle body. However, the cross member of the conventional rear sub frame disclosed in the above-described patent document includes a bending portion for avoiding any interference with the exhaust pipe or the like. In this case, since complicated vibration modes are caused by the shape of the bending portion of the cross member, it may be difficult to improve the NVH performance properly. Further, it is necessary to reinforce the cross members and the side members in order to suppress such vibration modes which has a bad influence on the NVH performance, so that the weight of the rear sub frame may become heavier improperly.


A method of making a positive temperature coefficient of resistance (PTCR) device, and the PTCR device itself, where there is provided a ferroelectric semiconductor having a Curie point and a bulk resistance. A layer of electrically conducting material is provided upon the ferroelectric semiconductor. The layer is heated at a process temperature greater than the Curie point of the ferroelectric semiconductor for a period of time, and cooled to ambient temperature. The process temperature and time period are selected to be sufficent to provide an ambient layer resistance greater than the bulk resistance of the ferroelectric semiconductor. The layer may be heated in an oxidizing atmosphere or in a reducing atmosphere, which also affects the layer resistance. The ferroelectric semiconductor may be in the form of an oxide ceramic or liquid crystals, and may include barium titanate. The layer may be selected from the group consisting of metal, metal alloys, metal oxides, polymers, and composites thereof.

Positive temperature coefficient of resistance (PTCR) devices can be used for temperature sensing, heat sensing, current sensing, liquid level sensing, generating heat, regulating the temperature for other devices; and voltage clamping and current suppression to provide circuit protection for other devices.
Most PTCR devices are based on the grain boundary PTCR effect. If the bulk materials are ceramics such as barium titanate based ferroelectric semiconductor material, the devices are fabricated by standard solid state reaction methods, with the powders cold-pressed and sintered at high temperatures. Usually, the ceramic devices have additives such as Sr, Zr, Ca, Pb to control the Curie point; Y, Sb to impart the semiconducting properties; with Fe, Cu, and Mn, to enhance the bulk PTCR effect.
The disadvantage of a PTCR device based on the grain boundary PTCR effect is that the device is bulky and difficult to integrate with other electronic devices into a monolithic form.
It is desirable to provide a new method for making a device wherein the PTCR effect is at electrode level, and which can be easily integrated into other electronic devices for various applications.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,895,812, "Method of Making Ohmic Contact to Ferroelectric Semiconductors", teaches a method for making ohmic contacts to ferroelectric semiconductors. The patent teaches that an electrode material, which can be any electronically conductive material as long as it is thermal-chemically and thermal-mechanically stable with the semiconducting substrate material, is layered on the substrate. The layer is heated to a temperature higher than the Curie point. Upon cooling, the resulting electrode is ohmic to the ferroelectric semiconductor, as the electrode resistance is lower than the bulk resistance. No mention or suggestion is made of a PTCR effect.

Method of making semiconducting ferroelectric PTCR devices


The present invention relates to a machine tool, in particular to a lathe, comprising a machine frame 1, a first work spindle 21 which is arranged on a spindle carrier face of the machine frame 1 and is to receive a first workpiece W1, a second work spindle 22 which faces the first work spindle 21, is arranged on a spindle carrier face of the machine frame 1 and is to receive a second workpiece W2, the axis of the second work spindle 22 being aligned parallel, in particular coaxially to the axis of the first work spindle 21, and comprising two movable tool carrier slides 51 and 52, on which a respective tool-carrying tool carrier 61 and 62 is arranged. According to the invention, provided between the work spindles 21 and 22 is a tool carrier 62 which can be moved transversely to the spindle axes, is configured as a tool turret and the turret axis of which is aligned transversely to the spindle axes.

Generic machine tools comprise a machine frame on which at least two mutually facing, rotatably mounted work spindles having parallel or coaxial spindle axes are provided, it being possible for workpieces to be respectively received on the work spindles in order to be machined on the machine tool. To prepare the tools for machining, at least two tool carriers are provided which are arranged on movable tool slides, in particular on compound slides positioned on the machine frame and which can be moved relative to the work spindles by one or more linear axes (for example they can be moved in the X, Y and/or Z direction). Generic machine tools of this type are known, for example, from DD 279 429 A1 and also from EP 0 999 002 A1.
Generic machine tools of this type generally need to be prepared such that it is possible to efficiently machine the workpieces with as many tools as possible which can be used as far as possible at the same time, with the greatest possible flexibility in respect of the control of the relative movements between the tools and the tools received in the work spindles, at the same time with a compact and economical construction of the machine tool and with a machining space which affords the machinist or operator of the machine tool with the best possible visibility.
The object of the invention is therefore to improve a machine tool of the generic type such that it is possible to efficiently machine the workpieces with as many tools as possible which can be used as far as possible at the same time, with the greatest possible flexibility in respect of the control of the relative movements between the tools and the tools received in the work spindles, at the same time with a compact and economical construction of the machine tool and with a machining space which affords the machinist or operator of the machine tool with the best possible visibility.


A lasso toy comprises a generally elongate rope and a handle having an axial bore dimensioned to slidingly receive the rope. A swivel is provided on a first end of the rope and cooperates with the handle to permit rotational movement of the handle about the rope while limiting axial movement of the rope relative to the handle. The second end of the rope is detachably secured preferably by hook and loop fasteners to an intermediate portion of the rope and thereby create a noose. The fasteners permit the noose to release under moderate tension of the rope if the lasso is used unsafely.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a lasso toy and, more particularly, to a lasso toy which is designed to be safely and easily used by children of all ages.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The lasso has proved to be a valuable tool particularly as used by horsemen to catch horses or cattle. It generally comprises a long rope tied at one end in a noose. Typically, the noose is tied with a slip knot such that the noose can readily be expanded or contracted. When used to catch animals the noose is usually twirled in the air in an expanded condition and thrown over the head of the animal. Upon tensioning of the rope, the noose tightens about the neck of the animal and the animal can be safely restrained.
Not only is the lasso a valuable tool, but persons who are skilled in its use are often able to perform various tricks with a lasso. As a result, trick lasso performances can be seen at rodeos and other western shows to the delight of both the young and old. Children of all ages find using the lasso to be an entertaining pastime. However, lasso tricks typically require considerable manual dexterity which young children may not have. Further, the lasso noose requires some skill to tie and must be properly proportioned in its circumference to achieve the desired loop configuration when twirled in the air.
It is, therefore, desirable to provide a lasso toy which is easily formed with a noose. It is further desirable to provide such a toy which can be easily manipulated by young children to simulate the twirling loop configuration of a real lasso. Still further, it is desirable to provide a lasso toy which is safe for young children to use because it avoids the possibility that the noose can be tightened to the point of being capable of causing bodily injury.