Adjuvant combinations comprising at least one NKT activator, such as alpha-galactosylceramide (α-Gal-Cer) or iGb3, a CD40 agonist and optionally an antigen are disclosed. The use of these immune adjuvants for treatment of various chronic diseases such as cancers is also provided.

The body's defense system against microbes as well as the body's defense against other chronic diseases such as those affecting cell proliferation is mediated by early reactions of the innate immune system and by later responses of the adaptive immune system. Innate immunity involves mechanisms that recognize structures which are for example characteristic of the microbial pathogens and that are not present on mammalian cells. Examples of such structures include bacterial liposaccharides (LPS), viral double stranded DNA, and unmethylated CpG DNA nucleotides. The effector cells of the innate immune response system comprise neutrophils, macrophages, and natural killer cells (NK cells). In addition to innate immunity, vertebrates, including mammals, have evolved immunological defense systems that are stimulated by exposure to infectious agents and that increase in magnitude and effectiveness with each successive exposure to a particular antigen. Due to its capacity to adapt to a specific infection or antigenic insult, this immune defense mechanism has been described as adaptive immunity. There are two types of adaptive immune responses, called humoral immunity, involving antibodies produced by B lymphocytes, and cell-mediated immunity, mediated by T lymphocytes.
Two types of major T lymphocytes have been described, CD8+ cytotoxic lymphocytes (CTLs) and CD4 helper cells (Th cells). CD8+ T cells are effector cells that, via the T cell receptor (TCR), recognize foreign antigens presented by class I MHC molecules on, for instance, virally or bacterially infected cells. Upon recognition of foreign antigens, CD8+ cells undergo an activation, maturation and proliferation process. This differentiation process results in CTL clones which have the capacity of destroying the target cells displaying foreign antigens. T helper cells on the other hand are involved in both humoral and cell-mediated forms of effector immune responses. With respect to the humoral, or antibody immune response, antibodies are produced by B lymphocytes through interactions with Th cells. Specifically, extracellular antigens, such as circulating microbes, are taken up by specialized antigen-presenting cells (APCs), processed, and presented in association with class II major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules to CD4+ Th cells. These Th cells in turn activate B lymphocytes, resulting in antibody production. The cell-mediated, or cellular, immune response, in contrast, functions to neutralize microbes which inhabit intracellular locations, such as after successful infection of a target cell. Foreign antigens, such as for example, microbial antigens, are synthesized within infected cells and resented on the surfaces of such cells in association with Class I MHC molecules. Presentation of such epitopes leads to the above-described stimulation of CD8+ CTLs, a process which in turn is also stimulated by CD4+ Th cells. Th cells are composed of at least two distinct subpopulations, termed Th1 and Th2 cells. The Th1 and Th2 subtypes represent polarized populations of Th cells which differentiate from common precursors after exposure to antigen.
Each T helper cell subtype secretes cytokines that promote distinct immunological effects that are opposed to one another and that cross-regulate each other's expansion and function. Th1 cells secrete high amounts of cytokines such as interferon (IFN) gamma, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin-2 (IL-2), and IL-12, and low amounts of IL-4. Th1 associated cytokines promote CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocyte T lymphocyte (CTL) activity and are most frequently associated with cell-mediated immune responses against intracellular pathogens. In contrast, Th2 cells secrete high amounts of cytokines such as IL-4, IL-13, and IL-10, but low IFN-gamma, and promote antibody responses. Th2 responses are particularly relevant for humoral responses, such as protection from anthrax and for the elimination of helminthic infections.
Whether a resulting immune response is Th1 or Th2-driven largely depends on the pathogen involved and on factors in the cellular environment, such as cytokines. Failure to activate a T helper response, or the correct T helper subset, can result not only in the inability to mount a sufficient response to combat a particular pathogen, but also in the generation of poor immunity against reinfection. Many infectious agents are intracellular pathogens in which cell-mediated responses, as exemplified by Th1 immunity, would be expected to play an important role in protection and/or therapy. Moreover, for many of these infections it has been shown that the induction of inappropriate Th2 responses negatively affects disease outcome. Examples include M. tuberculosis, S. mansoni, and also counterproductive Th2-like dominated immune responses. Lepromatous leprosy also appears to feature a prevalent, but inappropriate, Th2-like response. HIV infection represents another example. There, it has been suggested that a drop in the ratio of Th1-like cells to other Th cell populations can play a critical role in the progression toward disease symptoms.
As a protective measure against infectious agents, vaccination protocols for protection from some microbes have been developed. Vaccination protocols against infectious pathogens are often hampered by poor vaccine immunogenicity, an inappropriate type of response (antibody versus cell-mediated immunity), a lack of ability to elicit long-term immunological memory, and/or failure to generate immunity against different serotypes of a given pathogen. Current vaccination strategies target the elicitation of antibodies specific for a given serotype and for many common pathogens, for example, viral serotypes or pathogens. Efforts must be made on a recurring basis to monitor which serotypes are prevalent around the world. An example of this is the annual monitoring of emerging influenza A serotypes that are anticipated to be the major infectious strains.
To support vaccination protocols, adjuvants that would support the generation of immune responses against specific infectious diseases further have been developed. For example, aluminum salts have been used as a relatively safe and effective vaccine adjuvants to enhance antibody responses to certain pathogens. One of the disadvantages of such adjuvants is that they are relatively ineffective at stimulating a cell-mediated immune response and produce an immune response that is largely Th2 biased.
It is now widely recognized that the generation of protective immunity depends not only on exposure to antigen, but also the context in which the antigen is encountered. Numerous examples exist in which introduction of a novel antigen into a host in a non-inflammatory context generates immunological tolerance rather than long-term immunity whereas exposure to antigen in the presence of an inflammatory agent (adjuvant) induces immunity. (Mondino et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., USA 93:2245 (1996); Pulendran et al., J. Exp. Med. 188:2075 (1998); Jenkins et al., Immunity 1:443 (1994); and Kearney et al., Immunity 1:327 (1994)).
A naturally occurring molecule known to regulate adaptive immunity is CD40. CD40 is a member of the TNF receptor superfamily and is essential for a spectrum of cell-mediated immune responses and required for the development of T cell dependent humoral immunity (Aruffo et al., Cell 72:291 (1993); Farrington et al., Proc Natl Acad. Sci., USA 91:1099 (1994); Renshaw et al., J Exp Med 180:1889 (1994)). In its natural role, CD40-ligand expressed on CD4+ T cells interacts with CD40 expressed on DCs or B cells, promoting increased activation of the APC and, concomitantly, further activation of the T cell (Liu et al Semin Immunol 9:235 (1994); Bishop et al., Cytokine Growth Factor Rev 14:297 (2003)). For DCs, CD40 ligation classically leads to a response similar to stimulation through TLRs such as activation marker upregulation and inflammatory cytokine production (Quezada et al. Annu Rev Immunol 22:307 (2004); O'Sullivan B and Thomas R Crit. Rev Immunol 22:83 (2003)). Its importance in CD8 responses was demonstrated by studies showing that stimulation of APCs through CD40 rescued CD4-dependent CD8+ T cell responses in the absence of CD4 cells (Lefrancois et al., J. Immunol. 164:725 (2000); Bennett et al., Nature 393:478 (1998); Ridge et al., Nature 393:474 (1998); Schoenberger et al., Nature 393:474 (1998). This finding sparked much speculation that CD40 agonists alone could potentially rescue failing CD8+ T cell responses in some disease settings.
Other studies, however, have demonstrated that CD40 stimulation alone insufficiently promotes long-term immunity. In some model systems, anti-CD40 treatment alone insufficiently promoted long-term immunity. In some model systems, anti-CD40 treatment alone can result in ineffective inflammatory cytokine production, the deletion of antigen-specific T cells (Mauri et al. Nat Med 6:673 (2001); Kedl et al. Proc Natl Acad. Sci., USA 98:10811 (2001)) and termination of B cell responses (Erickson et al., J Clin Invest 109:613 (2002)). Also, soluble trimerized CD40 ligand has been used n the clinic as an agonist for the CD40 pathway and what little has been reported is consistent with the conclusion that stimulation of CD40 alone fails to reconstitute all necessary signals for long term CD8+ T cell immunity (Vonderheide et al., J Clin Oncol 19:3280 (2001)).
Various agonistic antibodies have been reported by different groups. For example, one mAb CD40.4 (5c3) (PharMingen, San Diego Calif.) has been reported to increase the activation between CD40 and CD40L by approximately 30-40%. (Schlossman et al., Leukocyte Typing, 1995, 1:547-556). Also, Seattle Genetics in U.S. Pat. No. 6,843,989 allege to provide methods of treating cancer in humans using an agonistic anti-human CD40 antibody. Their antibody is purported to deliver a stimulatory signal, which enhances the interaction of CD40 and CD40L by at least 45% and enhances CD40L-mediated stimulation and possess in vivo neoplastic activity. They obtain this antibody from S2C6, an agonistic anti-human CD40 antibody previously shown to deliver strong growth-promoting signals to B lymphocytes. (Paulie et al., 1989, J. Immunol. 142:590-595).
Because of the activity of CD40 in innate and adaptive immune responses, various CD40 agonists have been explored for usage as vaccine adjuvants and in therapies in wherein enhanced cellular immunity is desired. Recently, it was demonstrated that immunization with antigen in combination with some TLR agonists and anti-CD40 treatment (combined TLR/CD40 agonist immunization) induces potent CD8+ T cell expansion, elicting a response 10-20 fold higher than immunization with either agonist alone (Ahonen et al., J Exp Med 199:775 (2004)). This was the first demonstration that potent CD8+ T cell responses can be generated in the absence of infection with a viral or microbial agent. Antigen specific CD8+ T cells elicited by combined TLR/CD40 agonist immunization demonstrate lytic function, gamma interferon production, and enhanced secondary responses to antigenic challenge. Synergistic activity with anti-CD40 in the induction of CD8+ T cell expansion has been shown with agonists of TLR1/6, 2/6, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 9. This suggests that combined TLR/CD40 agonist immunization can reconstitute all of the signals required to elicit profound acquired cell-mediated immunity.
It is known that NKT cells are immunoregulatory T-lymphocytes that express a T cell receptor which is restricted by the non-polymorphic CD1d antigen presenting molecule. NKT cells recognize the CD1d-presented glycolipid, alpha-galactosylceramide (α-Gal-Cer). Upon recognition of α-Gal-Cer, NKT cells become activated and produce cytokines including IL-4, IL-10, IL-13 and IFN-γ, and as such, they can either upregulate or downregulate immune responses by promoting the secretion of immune regulatory cytokines. Mice which are devoid of NKT cells are more susceptible to bacterial infections and resistance to some tumors, demonstrating an important role for NKT cells in host defense. It has also been shown that activation of NKT cells by the administration of α-Gal-Cer, as a monotherapy, to mice can enhance the immunity to tumors with limited success (Matsuyoshi, H., S. Hirata, Y. Yoshitake, Y. Motomura, D. Fukuma, A. Kurisaki, T. Nakatsura, Y. Nishimura, and S. Senju. 2005. Therapeutic effect of alpha-galactosylceramide-loaded dendritic cells genetically engineered to express SLC/CCL21 along with tumor antigen against peritoneally disseminated tumor cells. Cancer Sci. 96:889-896; Crowe, N. Y., J. M. Coquet, S. P. Berzins, K. Kyparissoudis, R. Keating, D. G. Pellicci, Y. Hayakawa, D. I. Godfrey, and M. J. Smyth. 2005. Differential antitumor immunity mediated by NKT cell subsets in vivo. J. Exp. Med. 202:1279-1288; Smyth, M. J., N. Y. Crowe, Y. Hayakawa, K. Takeda, H. Yagita, and D. I. Godfrey. 2002. NKT cells—conductors of tumor immunity? Curr. Opin. Immunol. 14:165-171).
To increase the effectiveness of an adaptive immune response, such as in a vaccination protocol or during a microbial infection, it is therefore important to develop novel, more effective, vaccine adjuvants. The present invention satisfies this need and provides other advantages as well. Previously, the present inventors have reported novel synergistic adjuvants comprising the combination of a toll like receptor (TLR) agonist and a CD40 agonist. These agonists in combination elicit a synergistic effect on cellular immunity. These synergistic adjuvants and the prophylactic and therapeutic applications thereof are disclosed in US published patent application US20040141950 published on Jul. 22, 2004, and which patent application is incorporated by reference in its entirety herein. This invention relates to the discovery of another synergistic adjuvant combination and the use thereof as a therapeutic or prophylactic immune potentiating combination.

Methods of promoting immunity to an infectious agent by administering CD40 agonists and alpha-galactosyl ceramide


A host operating in a managed environment intercepts a call from a managed caller to a particular callee and determines whether the call is permissible according to the host's prior configuration of a plurality of callees. The particular callee, which provides access to a resource that the host can be protecting, can have been previously configured by the host to always allow the call to be made, to never allow the call to be made, or to allow the call to be made based upon the degree to which the host trusts the managed caller.

An application program interface (API) for a network platform can be used by developers to build Web applications and services. One such API is the .NET™ platform created by Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash., USA. The .NET™ platform is a software platform for Web services and Web applications implemented in a distributed computing environment. The .NET™ platform allows integration of a wide range of services that can be tailored to the needs of the user. As used herein, the phrase application program interface or API includes traditional interfaces that employ method or function calls, as well as remote calls (e.g., a proxy, stub relationship) and SOAP/XML invocations. The .NET™ platform uses a framework that includes a Common Language Runtime (CLR) and base class libraries. Additional information regarding the basics of the .NET™ Framework can be found in a number of introductory texts, such as Pratt, Introducing Microsoft .NET, Third Edition, Microsoft Press, 2003.
The CLR is the heart of the Microsoft .NET™ Framework and provides the execution environment for all .NET™ code. Thus, code that is built to make use of the CLR, and that runs within the CLR, is referred to as "managed code." In one instance, managed code is code that is destined to run on a virtual computing platform. The virtual computing platform is a platform that 'just in time' compiles the code at runtime into the machine platform's assembly/machine code.
The CLR provides various functions and services required for program execution, including just-in-time (JIT) compilation, allocating and managing memory, enforcing type safety, exception handling, thread management and security. The CLR is loaded upon the first invocation of a .NET™ routine. Because managed code compiles to native code prior to execution, significant performance increases can be realized in some scenarios. Managed code uses Code Access Security (CAS) to prevent assemblies from performing certain operations.
When writing managed code, the deployment unit is called an assembly which is a collection of one or more files that are versioned and deployed as a unit. An assembly is the primary building block of a .NET™ Framework application. All managed types and resources are contained within an assembly and are marked either as accessible only within the assembly or as accessible from code in other assemblies.
An assembly can be packaged as a data link library (DLL) or executable (EXE) file. While an executable file can run on its own, a data link library file must be hosted in an existing application. One type of assembly can be in a shared managed library, where shared libraries are typically one specific DLL. Each such assembly in a shared managed library has one or more methods that can be called by other assemblies. For example, an assembly can call to a method in a managed shared library, where the method is for a service that is accessible on the Internet.
Within any host, or program that is hosting other managed code, access rights for calls between an assembly and a method in a library's assembly should be defined and limited via rules to prevent code from doing something that is wrong within an environment. For instance, certain code can use synchronization in a way that can cause deadlocks or an inconsistent state leading to decreased reliability and throughput. It would therefore be advantageous to provide a rule that prevents this code from synchronization to thereby avoid the consequence of decreased reliability and throughput. Another situation where a rule is desirable is in the prevention of a call from an assembly to a method that might destabilize the hosting environment. In this case, the calling assembly could be one that is provided by a developer entity that is likely to be noncompliant with sophisticated requirements of the managed environment. As such, the calling assembly might be managed code that, when executed, might render the managed code environment unreliable, or might destabilize a computing device running the hosting environment. Still another situation where a rule, or hosting rule, is desirable is to prevent an assembly from calling for access rights to a resource that is inappropriate for an application that is being hosted. For example, when a Database Management System (DBMS) is being hosted in a virtual machine environment on a server, it would be inappropriate in a server environment to permit a call from an assembly for a user interface resource.
A managed environment can typically be accommodated by different kinds of hosts, each of which may have different hosting requirements to minimize threats to robustness and reliability. It would be an advantage in the art to provide a way for a host to selectively disallow certain classes of resource access to hosted code, where the hosting requirements would not necessarily be based upon a security feature. While different kinds of hosts can have different types of hosting requirements, it would be problematic to provide a separate method to perform the same function for each different kind of host and/or for each different type of hosting requirement. Accordingly, it would be an advance in the art to provide techniques for a host to prevent a call to a certain method from a certain caller to perform a certain function that could destabilize the hosting environment, while allowing the call to the same method from a different and/or more highly trusted caller, where the techniques could use the same method for different types of call prevention and for different types of hosts.


The invention relates to a class of novel Brønsted acidic ionic liquids each having a lactam cation, and to a method for preparing the same through simple neutralization reaction of a lactam, which is available in large scale from industry, with a Brønsted inorganic or organic acid under room temperature. The properties of the lactam Brønsted acidic ionic liquids are as follows: they are water- and moisture-stable; they are more environmentally benign and lower cost than that of dialkylimidazolium salts; they have stronger Brønsted acidity and can be used as acidic catalysts and media instead of inorganic corrosive acids, such as concentrated sulfuric acid and hydrofluoric acid, in many acid-catalyzed reactions; and they can also be used as green media for extraction and separation.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a class of novel Brønsted acidic ionic liquids each having a N-protonated lactam cation and to a method for preparing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) are molten salts with a melting point at or below 100° C., which are generally composed of an asymmetric organic cation, and an inorganic or organic anion. (P. Wasserscheid, T. Welton, Ionic liquids in Synthesis, Wiley-VCH, 2003). In comparison with solid materials, RTILs are liquid; in comparison with conventional liquid materials, RTILs are completely composed of ions. Therefore, RTILs always exhibit specific physicochemical properties and functions that conventional solid or liquid materials are not possessed of. RTILs possess many characteristics, such as nonvolatile or 'zero' vapour pressure, for which RTILs are regarded as green solvents; low melting point (can be lower than about 90° C.); wide liquid range (can be wider than 200° C. or above) and strong electrostatic field, which is a typical characteristics distinguished from molecular media and materials; wide electrochemical window (can be wider than 5V), which means that RTILs show no electrochemical reactions within such wide voltage range, i.e. degradation; good ionic conductivity (up to 2.5×10−2 S/cm) and thermal conductivity; high heat capacity and heat storage density (6.4 times higher than that of heat storage oil used at present, the heat storage density of the heat storage oil is 9.4 MJ/m3); high thermal stability (decomposition temperature can be up to 400° C.); selective dissolubility, which made RTILs be called "liquid zeolite", and designability. These specific characteristics make RTILs could be "solid liquid" accompanied with characteristics of liquids and solids simultaneously. Theoretically, there are more than several million billion ionic liquids which could be prepared. The combinations of the ionic liquids diversity and their varied functions and characteristics make it possible to synthesize a great deal of functional media and materials having different properties and applications.
In 1948, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,446,331, 4,446,349, and 4,446,350 disclosed ethylpyridinium halide-aluminium trichloride room temperature ionic liquids which could be used in plating. This can be regarded as the first generation of ionic liquids. However, these RTILs are moisture and air sensitive and are liable to decompose when mixed with water. In 1990s, more stable RTILs each composed of a dialkylimidazolium cation and a anion of BF4− or PF6− were successfully prepared, which emblematized the naissance of the second generation of ionic liquids (Wilkes J S et al, Air and Water Stable 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium Based Ionic Liquids. J. Chem. Soc., Chem. Commun., 1992, 965–967). Due to suitable chemical structure and ideal physicochemical properties of dialkylimidazolium cation, these ionic liquids based on imidazolium have been studied extensively for many years up to the present.
The types and functions of ionic liquids based on imidazolium have been further enriched since 2000 by introducing functional group to the side chain of cations, and a series of task-specific ionic liquids have been prepared, which have endowed these ionic liquids with special properties, functions and applications (A. Wierzbicki, et al, Proceedings of the Symposium on Advances in Solvent Selection and Substitution for Extraction, Atlanta, Ga., Mar. 5–9, 2000). For example, dialkylimidazolium ionic liquids containing an amino group at the end of side chain can trap carbon dioxide at room temperature and release it under high temperature, which could be applied for selective separation of carbon dioxide from gases mixture (Eleanor D. Bates et al, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2002, 124, 927); dialkylimidazolium ionic liquids each having an urea or thiourea group can coordinate Cd2+ and Hg2+ selectively to achieve extraction and separation from the solutions (Ann E. Visser et al, Environ. Sci. Technol., 2002, 36, 2523–2529); dialkylimidazolium ionic liquids each having a strong Brønsted acidic group such as —SO3H have been used as catalyst and/or reaction medium in olefin oligomerization (Yanlong Gu et al, Catalysis Communications, 2004, 4, 597), etherification (Amanda C. Cole et al, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2002, 124, 5962), esterification (Amanda C. Cole et al, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2002, 124, 5962; Yanlong Gu et al, Journal of Molecular Catalysis A: Chemical, 2004, 212, 71; Jianzhou Gui et al, Catalysis Communications 2004, 5, 473), pinacol rearrangement (Amanda C. Cole, et al, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2002, 124, 5962), Friedel-Crafts alkylation (Kun Qiao et al, Chemistry Letters, 2004, 33, 472) and Arene nitration (Kun Qiao, et al, Chemistry Letters, 2004, 33, 808). Recently, N-protonated Brønsted acidic ionic liquids based on methylimidazolium were also reported in a number of patents and literatures and could be used as novel liquid acidic catalysts in many acid-catalyzed reactions for replacing conventional inorganic acids, such as sulfuric acid, hydrofluoric acid etc. (Hai-Hong Wu, et al, Tetrahedron Letters, 2004, 45, 4963; Hua-Ping Zhu et al, Green Chemistry, 2003, 5, 38). These ionic liquids can be regarded as the third generation of ionic liquids.
Although dialkylimidazolium cation is quite suitable for constructing ionic liquids, a methylimidazole as a precursor thereof is expensive and available only in small scale because they have not been produced in large scale yet. Furthermore, the environmental compatibility of this kind of ionic liquids has been questioned because the toxicity of dialkylmethylimidazole cation is not so weak. So, the development of a new kind of cheaper and environmentally benign chemical feedstock with specific physicochemical properties as a precursor of cation of RTILs is of great scientific investigation value and practical significance.
Lactam and its derivates are amine derivatives that could be quaternized to act as a new kind of cation of RTILs. There is a carbonyl group in lactam molecules, and this may result in specific physicochemical properties and functions if they are incorporated as a cation into a RTIL. In comparison with conventional pyridines or alkylimidazoles, lactams and derivates thereof may intrinsically lower toxicity, and some lactams such as caprolactam have been produced currently in terms of megatons per year in chemical industry and is costed reasonably lower.
In 2002, it is reported that N-vinyl-N-alkylbutyrolactam ionic liquids through two-step reactions was prepared (D. Demberelnyamba et al, Chem. Commun., 2002, 1538). But these ionic liquids are generally neutral. So far, Brønsted acidic ionic liquids having N-protonated lactam cations have not been reported yet.

Brønsted acidic room temperature ionic liquids each having a

Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics Chinese Academy of Sciences


The invention relates to an electrochemical cell which has an electrode, a membrane disposed in contact with one side of the electrode and a mass flow field disposed on the other side of the electrode for directing fluid to and away from the electrode. The mass flow field comprises glassy carbon. The cell of the present invention is particularly useful in converting anhydrous hydrogen halide, in particular, hydrogen fluoride, directly to essentially dry halogen gas, such as anhydrous hydrogen fluoride to fluorine gas.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrochemical cell having a mass flow field made of vitreous, or glassy carbon. This electrochemical cell is particularly useful in converting anhydrous hydrogen fluoride to dry fluorine gas, although it may also be used in converting other anhydrous halogen halides, in particular, hydrogen chloride, hydrogen bromide and hydrogen iodide, to a dry halogen gas, such as chlorine, bromine, or iodine.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is not possible to make fluorine from aqueous solutions due to thermodynamic considerations. The production of oxygen from water occurs at lower potentials than the production of fluorine. Thus, water reacts to form oxygen prior to the formation of fluorine gas. To produce fluorine, electrolysis in a non-aqueous solution is performed. Pure liquid hydrogen fluoride (HF), as anhydrous HF, does not have any water, and hence, the reaction to produce oxygen is avoided. However, anhydrous HF has very little ability to conduct ions, as evidenced by its very low electrical conductivity. Hence, to increase the conductivity of a charge-carrying solution, potassium fluoride (KF) is added to the melt. Therefore, existing electrochemical cells to make fluorine have a melt (non-aqueous) solution of HF and KF. The KF is present to add conductivity to the solution and prevents the use of excess voltage in an electrochemical cell.
Existing electrochemical cells for fluorine evolution use a carbon anode, from which the fluorine evolves. Hydrogen is evolved from a cathode made of either an alloy of nickel and copper, sold under the trademark MONEL.RTM. by International Nickel Co., Inc., or stainless steel. To avoid detonations from the combination of fluorine and hydrogen in the cell, they are separated from each other by a metal shroud which dips down into the melt and hence provides separation the hydrogen and fluorine as they are produced. The cells are initially charged with a HF-KF mixture, then HF is added to the melt to provide for the hydrogen and fluorine that are removed during production. The current density of the reaction in such cells generally ranges between 70-200 mA/cm.sup.2. Such cells are generally operated at 60.degree.-110.degree. C.
The fluorine produced by such cells is often used in converting uranium tetrafluoride to uranium hexafluoride. Uranium hexafluoride is used in the gas diffusion process for making nuclear material. However, the price for fluorine can be quite high. Moreover, both hydrogen fluoride and fluorine are extremely corrosive to both the commonly used materials of construction in fluoride production processes, as well as to human skin. Any leakage, even that by slow permeation of such materials of construction, poses severe maintenance cost and personnel safety concerns.
Vitreous, or glassy carbon, has been used for a current collector in a secondary battery. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,048,394 to Ludwig, a secondary battery has a current collector comprising a graphite body having a coating of vitreous carbon. The anode and the cathode are molten reactants. U.S. Pat. No. 4,497,882 to Mikkor discloses a sheet of graphite foil that is coated with an amorphous pyrolytic or glassy carbon to fill any openings in and/or through the graphite foil. A thin layer of aluminum metal is coated onto the graphite foil. The aluminum metal coated side of the graphite foil is bonded to an aluminum surface of an electronically conductive material. However, neither of these patents discloses a mass flow field formed of vitreous or glassy carbon and, in particular, in a cell for making fluorine.
Thus, there exists a need for a less costly fluorine production process which utilizes materials which are able to withstand an attack from corrosive hydrogen fluoride and fluorine.

Electrochemical cell having a mass flow field made of glassy carbon


A data determination device includes a plurality of determination units that determine, based on respective different criteria, whether each of plural pieces of data included in a sequence of read data of a barcode represents either a first value or a second value, the plural pieces of data being output from a read unit in response to an instruction for reading the barcode, and a selection unit that selects, from a plurality of determination results obtained by each determination unit for the plural pieces of data, a plurality of determination results obtained by one determination unit based on a selection condition preset in accordance with a standard of the barcode, and outputs the selected plurality of determination results to a source of the instruction for reading.

There are known library devices in which a plurality of medium cartridges (recording media) such as magnetic tape cartridges and optical disk cartridges are stored. In a library device, medium cartridges are stored in units of cells in a plurality of storage cells arranged inside a housing.
The library device picks up, transports, and places (inserts) medium cartridges between housing cells and drive modules by using transfer robots based on movement instructions from a host, thereby recording and reproducing media placed into the drive modules.
A barcode label on which a barcode containing medium management information is marked is affixed to the cartridge back of a medium cartridge and is read by a barcode reader mounted on a transfer robot. The barcode reader includes a light emitting diode (LED) lighting unit in which LEDs are arranged in a line layout, and a charge coupled device (CCD) linear sensor. In a state where the transfer robot faces the cartridge back (barcode label), the library device turns on the LED lighting unit, performs scanning by using the CCD linear sensor, and decodes a scanning result. Thus, the library device may read a barcode (acquire medium management information).
In the library device, upon startup of the device or according to an instruction from a host, an inventory process is performed in which, for a stored medium cartridge, medium management information and positional information are managed (registered) in association with each other.
In the inventory process, the library device continuously reads barcode labels of multiple medium cartridges stored therein and notifies the host of what positions in the device the medium cartridges are stored. For example, after the library device moves and positions the transfer robot at the top or bottom cell position in a column to be processed (a vertical line of the storage cell), the library device moves the transfer robot downward or upward at a regular speed while causing the barcode reader to perform scanning operations. Thus, the library device continuously reads the barcode labels of the medium cartridges.
Regarding a method for reading barcodes, various techniques are known (refer to, for example, International Publication Pamphlet No. WO 2005/004142, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 08-044809, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 05-089278, and Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2002-032711).
However, various factors in an environment where a barcode reader reads a barcode cause read errors or incorrect recognition, and, as a result, the barcode is sometimes not correctly read. In such a case, although retry processing in which a read operation is performed again may be carried out, movement of the transfer robot is a mechanical operation and therefore the response time to the host may be delayed by the retry processing.
In particular, in a large-scale library device, medium cartridges stored therein sometimes reach several hundreds. The larger the number of medium cartridges stored is, the longer the time used for the inventory process is. Therefore, when, in the inventory process, barcodes are not correctly read and retry processing occurs frequently, notification to the host is substantially delayed. Thus, it takes a large amount of time to make the library device available again.

Data determination device, library device, and data determination method


A two-stage amplifier that includes a first stage and a second stage and a first component and a second component coupled in series between the first and second stages. The first component is selected to provide AC decoupling of the first and second stages and the second component is selected to provide for the stability of the amplifier while avoiding excessive power dissipation and/or negative impact on overall gain.

Two-stage amplifiers may be employed in a variety of electronic applications including electronic circuits in which it is desirable to consume a relatively small amount of electrical power. One type of two-stage amplifier includes a common-source stage and a common-drain stage. An amplifier that includes a common-source stage and a common-drain stage may be referred to as a common-source/common-drain (CS/CD) amplifier.
A two-stage amplifier may include an isolation resistor that provides signal decoupling between its two stages. An isolation resistor may provide isolation of AC signals in the two stages while enabling the passage of DC current between the two stages, thereby enabling power savings. For example, an isolation resistor may be used to decouple the common-source stage from the common-drain stage of a CS/CD amplifier.
Unfortunately, an isolation resistor placed between the stages of a two-stage amplifier may cause an undesirably high level of power loss. For example, the DC current flow between the stages of a two-stage amplifier may cause power dissipation in an isolation resistor. Moreover, an isolation resistor placed between the stages of a two-stage amplifier may reduce the overall gain of the two-stage amplifier.

Two-stage amplifier with series L-R coupling network

Avago Technologies Wireless IP (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.


Process for the preparation of a 1,5-benzothiazepine derivative, or a salt thereof, of formula 1 ##STR1## where R1 represents H, an alkyl group or an alkoxy group and R.sub.2 represents H or a halogen, in which process a propanoic acid derivative of formula 2 ##STR2## where R.sub.1 and R.sub.2 are as defined above and R.sub.3 represents H or an alkyl group is subjected to an intramolecular cyclisation reaction in a non-halogenated solvent in the presence of a carboxylic acid. Preferably, R.sub.2 is H and R.sub.1 is OCH.sub.3. Trichloroacetic acid is preferably used as .alpha.-chlorinated acid. The benzothiazepine obtained on cyclisation can be subjected to an alkylation reaction and/or an acylation reaction to obtain known pharmaceutical products, in particular diltiazem.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a process for the preparation of a 1,5-benzothiazepine derivative, or a salt thereof, of formula 1 ##STR3## where R.sub.1 represents H, an alkyl group or an alkoxy group and R.sub.2 represents H or a halogen, in which process a propanoic acid derivative of formula 2 ##STR4## where R.sub.1 and R.sub.2 are as defined above and R.sub.3 represents H or an alkyl group, is subjected to an intramolecular cyclisation reaction in a non-halogenated solvent in the presence of a carboxylic acid.
2. Description of Related Art
A process of the same kind is known from Chem. Pharm. Bull. 19, 2028-2037 (1970), in which inter alia acetic acid is mentioned as catalyst in the cyclisation of such propanoic acid derivatives.
A drawback of the known process is that the yield is very low, even at relatively long reaction times.

Process for the preparation of a benzothiazepine


A chemically amplified resist composition using an alternating copolymer of α-trifluoroacrylic acid with norbornene as a base polymer lends itself to ArF laser lithographic micropatterning and is improved in transparency, plasma etching resistance, and line edge roughness.

In the drive for higher integration and operating speeds in LSI devices, the pattern rule is made drastically finer. The rapid advance toward finer pattern rules is grounded on the development of a projection lens with an increased NA, a resist material with improved performance, and exposure light of a shorter wavelength. To the demand for a resist material with a higher resolution and sensitivity, chemically amplified positive working resist materials that utilize as a catalyst the acid generated upon light exposure are effective as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,491,628 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,310,619 (JP-B 2-27660 and JP-A 63-27829). They now become predominant resist materials especially adapted for deep UV lithography. Also, the change-over from i-line (365 nm) to shorter wavelength KrF excimer laser (248 nm) brought about a significant innovation. Resist materials adapted for KrF excimer lasers enjoyed early use on the 0.30 micron process, proceeded through the 0.25 micron, 0.18 micron and 0.13 micron rules, and currently entered the mass production phase on the 0.09 micron rule. Engineers have started investigation on the 0.065 micron rule, with the trend toward a finer pattern rule being accelerated.
An ArF excimer laser (193 nm) is expected to enable miniaturization of the design rule to 0.13 μm or less. Conventional novolac resins and polyvinylphenol resins cannot be used as the base resin for ArF excimer laser resists because they have very strong absorption in proximity to 193 nm. To ensure transparency and dry etching resistance, some engineers investigated acrylic and alicyclic (typically cycloolefin) resins as disclosed in JP-A 9-73173, JP-A 10-10739, JP-A 9-230595 and WO 97/33198.
For the ArF resists, substantial line edge roughness is also considered problematic. It is described in Proc. SPIE, Vol. 3999, p. 264 (2000), for example, that image contrast is in inverse proportion to line edge roughness. The higher the light contrast, the less becomes the line edge roughness. For example, increased NA of lens, application of modified illumination or phase shift mask, or wavelength reduction allows the light contrast to be increased and the line edge roughness to be reduced. The wavelength reduction from KrF to ArF excimer laser is expected to reduce line edge roughness. In fact, however, it was reported that ArF resists have greater line edge roughness than KrF resists. This is attributable to the difference in performance between ArF and KrF resists, and remains to be one of outstanding problems for ArF resists. Another problem is that ArF resists have weak etching resistance as compared with KrF resists. In particular, a problem that roughness is developed on the surface after etching and transferred to the substrate as striations is pointed out in Proc. SPIE, Vol. 3678, p. 1209 (1999) and Proc. SPIE, Vol. 5039, p. 665 (2003). It is also reported in Proc. SPIE, Vol. 5039, p. 672 (2003) that a resist using an alternating copolymer as the base forms a pattern with minimal edge roughness after development. The alternating copolymer in which the arrangement of recurring units is controlled to the molecular level is characterized by its ability to minimize edge roughness.

Polymer, resist composition, and patterning process

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A method and arrangement is provided for estimating an initial value for an internal battery temperature of a vehicle using a four zone process that determines which of a predetermined set of time zones correlates with a measured period of time for an engine of the vehicle being in an engine-off condition. Once the time zone is determined, an initial estimated value of the internal temperature of the battery is determined as a function of a set of parameters correlated with the determined time zone. The set of time zones include a holding time zone, a model based estimation time zone which is greater in time than the holding time zone, a first self-adjustment zone which is greater in time than the model based estimation time zone, and a second self-adjustment time zone which is greater in time than the first self-adjustment time zone.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to arrangements for estimating the internal temperature of a vehicle battery.
2. Background Art
Generally, the internal temperature of a battery in a motor vehicle is an important variable to be input for engine charging control. The internal temperature is required to determine an accurate set point for an electronic voltage regulator (EVR) in the battery charging system. A proper set point prevents the battery from being overcharged (and overheating) at temperatures higher than a predetermined threshold and undercharged at temperatures lower than a predetermined threshold.
Generally, known vehicle batteries do not, during normal vehicle operation, incorporate internal temperature sensors due to high cost and difficulty in assuring the sensor is replaced when the battery is replaced in service. One solution is to measure internal battery temperature using a sensor mounted to the outside of the battery casing. The drawback of this method is that temperatures measured using the external sensor do not accurately reflect the battery internal temperature, e.g., the error may be as high as 30° C.
To overcome the accuracy problems in measuring the battery internal temperature with an external sensor, calibration algorithms have been used to compensate for deficiencies. To make the calibration effective, however, the calibration algorithms themselves tend to be complicated because of the interactive thermal dynamic process in the battery and the engine block environment, and without accurate calibration, such measurement algorithms may not prove sufficiently adequate.
Still further, irrespective of whether an internal or external battery temperature sensor is used, it is difficult to achieve both high cost effectiveness and acceptable measurement performance in mass vehicle production.

Arrangement for determining an initial internal battery temperature


A system and a method for remotely sensing global motion of an ensemble of dynamically moving scattering sites. The system comprising a scattering medium under inspection, an optical transceiver and a detector in a double-pass geometry.

The attempt to determine the net global motion of components in an ensemble of dynamically moving scattering sites has proved to be complex, given that many ensembles of scattering sites possess two modes of motion: a global velocity component and a differential velocity component. It is the presence of the random motion that adds noise to the system and inhibits the optimum performance of the sensor. By suppressing this noise in an optical manner, less of the system's dynamic range need be sacrificed. Therefore, optimal use of the dynamic range of the detection apparatus and/or post-processing can be realized, thus the sensor performance is highly optimized.
In general, major concerns of such remote sensors include overall system efficiency, maintaining optical interrogation probe beams on the scattering sites under dynamic conditions, minimizing undesirable scattering, which can either corrupt the measurement or reveal the probing operation to an undesirable third part, and avoiding optical damage of the medium undergoing interrogation due to system inefficiency.
Currently, the prior art that exists in remote sensors involves complex adaptive optical compensation systems and light detection and ranging (lidar) approaches. These approaches require intensive post processing which makes them unattractive in many applications.
A conventional laser-ultrasonic non-destructive inspection system is taught Pepper et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,585,921 which issued on Dec. 17, 1996.
There are two system bandwidth parameters that characterize the performance of a sensing system: the detection bandwidth, also known as the coherent bandwidth, defined as the maximum global motion, or Doppler shift, that can be detected by the system, and the noise reduction bandwidth, also known as the incoherent bandwidth, defined as the maximum differential Doppler shift that can be suppressed by the system.

Optical remote sensor with differential Doppler motion compensation


A wireless transceiver includes a transmit path configured to generate a radio frequency (RF) transmit signal for transmission via an antenna. A receive path is configured to receive an RF receive signal via the antenna. A circulator-based quadrature duplexer includes an in-phase circulator and a quadrature-phase circulator configured to couple the transmit signal from the transmit path to the antenna while generating a residual transmit signal on the receive path, and to couple the receive signal from the antenna to the receive path. The circulator-based quadrature duplexer promotes cancellation of the residual transmit signal on the receive path.

1. Technical Field
This disclosure relates generally to wireless communication systems and to wireless communication devices that operate therewith.
2. Description of Related Art
In many wireless communication systems, wireless communications occur in a full duplex manner (e.g., transmit and receive on the same frequency) or a near full duplex manner (e.g., transmit and receive on different, but very close, frequencies). In addition, many of the systems utilize multiple frequency bands to support the wireless communications. As such, a wireless communication device operating in a full, or near full, duplex mode may use multiple frequency bands within a system.
A wireless communication device operating in full, or near full, duplex mode may have the transmitted signal leak (i.e., TX bleed-through) into the receive circuitry of the device via the circuitry within the wireless communication device, which adversely effects processing received signals. One solution to reduce TX bleed-through is to use very narrow band TX filters and duplexers. While this does reduce TX bleed-through, it does so at the cost of multiple TX filters and duplexers (e.g., one set per frequency of use). Further, the power amplifiers in the transmit circuitry of the wireless communication device should be narrow band and linear.
In addition, a wireless communication device operating in full, or near full, duplex mode may have the transmitted signal reflected into the receive circuitry via conditions outside of the wireless communication device, which also adversely effects processing received signals. For example, in a multiple antenna device (e.g., MIMO), cross coupling between the antennas occurs, which reflects the transmitted signal into the receive circuitry. Similar solutions for reducing the TX bleed-through can be used to reduce the adverse effects of TX reflection.

Wireless transceiver with circulator-based quadrature duplexer and methods for use therewith


Embodiments of the present invention relate to hydraulic tools which may be used to set a liner top packer and/or may be used to resist the lifting forces of cementing pack-offs. One embodiment of a tool string for use in wellbore operations comprises a hydraulic anchor assembly adapted to prevent axial movement of the tool string and a hydraulic packer actuator assembly adapted to set a packer.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to methods and apparatus for completing a well. Particularly, embodiments of the present invention relate to hydraulic tools which may be used to set a liner top packer and/or may be used to resist the lifting forces of cementing pack-offs.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the drilling of oil and gas wells, a wellbore is formed using a drill bit that is urged downwardly at a lower end of a drill string. After drilling a predetermined depth, the drill string and bit are removed and the wellbore is lined with a string of casing. An annular area is thus formed between the string of casing and the formation. A cementing operation is then conducted in order to fill the annular area with cement. The combination of cement and casing strengthens the wellbore and facilitates the isolation of certain areas of the formation behind the casing for the production of hydrocarbons.
It is common to employ more than one string of casing in a wellbore. In this respect, a first string of casing is set in the wellbore when the well is drilled to a first designated depth. The first string of casing is hung from the surface, and then cement is circulated into the annulus behind the casing. The well is then drilled to a second designated depth, and a second string of casing, or liner, is run into the well. The second string is set at a depth such that the upper portion of the second string of casing overlaps with the lower portion of the upper string of casing. The second "liner" string is then fixed or "hung" off of the upper surface casing. Afterwards, the liner is also cemented. This process is typically repeated with additional liner strings until the well has been drilled to total depth. In this manner, wells are typically formed with two or more strings of casing of an ever-decreasing diameter.
The process of hanging a liner off of a string of surface casing or other upper casing string involves the use of a liner hanger. The liner hanger is typically run into the wellbore above the liner string itself. The liner hanger is actuated once the liner is positioned at the appropriate depth within the wellbore. The liner hanger is typically set through actuation of slips which ride outwardly on cones in order to frictionally engage the surrounding string of casing. The liner hanger operates to suspend the liner from the casing string. However, it does not provide a fluid seal between the liner and the casing. Accordingly, it is desirable in many wellbore completions to also provide a packer.
During the wellbore completion process, the packer is typically run into the wellbore above the liner hanger. A threaded connection typically connects the bottom of the packer to the top of the liner hanger. Known packers employ a mechanical or hydraulic force in order to expand a packing element outwardly from the body of the packer into the annular region defined between the packer and the surrounding casing string. In addition, a cone is driven behind a tapered slip to force the slip into the surrounding casing wall and to prevent packer movement. Numerous arrangements have been derived in order to accomplish these results.
A problem associated with conventional mechanically actuated packer systems is the potential that the mechanical force applied to the packer may insufficiently set the packer resulting in a liner overlap without the desired pressure integrity. For example, in deviated or horizontal wellbores, the friction between the landing string and the wellbore limits the amount of mechanical force that can be applied to set the packer. Thus, this limited mechanical force may be insufficient to set or fully set the packer.
Hydraulically actuated packers can be set with the more consistent force of hydraulic pressure. A problem associated with conventional hydraulically actuated packers is that the landing string and running tools oftentimes must remain tied onto the liner for the packer to be actuated. Staying tied onto the liner during cementing operations increases the risk of having cement around the landing string and running tools without being able to release from the liner.
Another problem associated with conventional hydraulically actuated packers is that the packers may prematurely set. For example, some conventional hydraulically actuated packers are actuated by applying a hydraulic pressure to shear the shearable device to release the packer actuating sleeve/polished bore receptacle, or other actuator device. Thus, if a hydraulic pressure is increased over the force required to overcome the shearable device, the packer can prematurely set.
Another problem encountered when installing liners is that during the cementing of liners the hydraulic pressure of the cement acts on the cementing pack-off and urges the cementing pack-off upward. Sufficient downward force must be applied to the running tool assembly to resist the cementing pack-off from being lifted out of sealing engagement with the liner or the cementing pack-off must be mechanically locked to the liner to resist movement. In deviated or horizontal wellbores, the amount of force that can be applied to resist this lifting force may be limited by the friction between the landing string and the wellbore. A problem with mechanically locked cementing pack-offs is that the cementing pack-off may become stuck and may be difficult to be released from the liner.
Therefore, there is a need for an improved device and method for setting liner top packers. In addition, there is a need for an improved device for resisting the lifting forces of cementing pack-offs.

Hydraulic tools for setting liner top packers and method for cementing liners


Provided are a composition including Stellera chamaejasme extract for treating wound, a method of treating wound of a subject, a cosmetic composition for wound improving, skin wrinkle improving, or skin anti-aging, and a method of cosmeticizing for wound improving, skin wrinkle improving, or skin anti-aging.

The skin acts as a shield to protect a body from the outside. When a wound is formed in skin, the wounded part is filled with blood by natural healing action of a living body. As the number of granules of platelet is reduced, and the activation of Hageman factor starts, wound healing proceeds. Coagulation of blood is a temporary defensive action that protects exposed wounded tissues and provides a basis for cells to move during the wound healing.
Wound treatment and/or healing occurs in three major stages. The first stage is an inflammatory phase characterized by inflammation in the wounded part. Inflammation may be generally short-lived, when no serious infection occurs. The second stage is a proliferative phase, which is characterized by epithelialization, angiogenesis, granulation tissue formation, and collagen deposition. Angiogenesis accompanied with new capillary formation is to deliver nutrients and maintain granulation tissue formation. Without the formation of new capillaries into the wound, essential nutrients may not reach the wound, forming a wound that is not chronically healed. The surface of the injured wound is covered by a layer of keratinocytes, resulting in a new epidermis and a re-epithelialization in which an epithelium layer is reconstructed. Once re-epithelialization is complete, a series of processes are performed in which the wounded area is reduced through an increase in and reorganization of connective tissues. The final stage of wound healing is a maturational phase in which fibroblasts differentiate into collagen. During the maturational phase, a clot of cells and capillaries of convalescent tissues gradually disappear, and scars may be formed if the cells and capillaries of these tissues are hyperplastic or not normally degraded.
Since it is important not only to treat wounds quickly during wound healing, but also to treat them without side effects or scars, efforts to find such materials have been continued.

Composition for wound treatment containing extract of

KOREA INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY


The present invention is a modular inserted connector detecting structure, which comprises a connector (such as USB connector) having an insulation body and multiple signal terminals, wherein two sides of the insulation body may have a first and a second detection modules joined therewith, or one surface of the insulation body is provided with a detection module thereon. Thereby, in assembly, the first and second detection modules may be used to join the two sides of the insulation body directly, or a scarfing seat of the detection module may be used to join on the insulation body, in order to achieve the effects of easy structure, convenient assembly, robust joining and facility to produce and manufacture.

Field of the Invention
The invention is a modular inserted connector detecting structure, particularly a detecting structure used for an USB connector.
Descriptions of the Related Art
Generally, a conventional USB connector is usually provided with a detection terminal to detect an inserted USB plug connector in order to initiate signal transmission, turn on power supply or achieve other detection functions.
There are conventional related patent technologies, such as U.S.A. patents U.S. Pat. No. 7,607,926 B2, U.S. Pat. No. 7,727,026 B2 and U.S. Pat. No. 8,690,608 B2. However, the detection terminal of those patents is combined integrally with the insulation body of the connector directly (either in plugging or integral covering manner). Since the volume of the detection terminal is small and there are already multiple signal terminals and related mechanism designs arranged on the insulation body of the connector, as the detection terminal is combined with the insulation body in a conventional manner, there would be shortages in that the structure of the insulation body would get complex easily, the assembly of the detection terminal is more complicated, and the manufacturing for the mold of the insulation body is not facility, and so forth.
In view of above, the inventor of the present invention has made efforts to develop a modular inserted connector detecting structure in order to improve various shortages of conventional technologies as stated above.

Modular inserted connector detecting structure


A method for performing a hydroforming operation on a hollow workpiece includes the initial step of filling the interior of the workpiece with a hydroforming fluid. The pressure exerted by the hydroforming fluid against the interior of the workpiece is below the yield strength of the workpiece so as to not change the shape of the workpiece. Then, first and second die sections of the hydroforming apparatus are closed about the workpiece. The movement of the two die sections causes some mechanical deformation of the workpiece, but the presence of the hydroforming fluid within the workpiece prevents the amount of this mechanical deformation of the hollow workpiece from being undesirably large. Thereafter, the pressure exerted by the hydroforming fluid against the interior of the workpiece is increased to above the yield strength of the workpiece. As a result, the workpiece is deformed into engagement with the first and second die sections of the hydroforming die.

This invention relates in general to methods for hydroforming hollow or closed channel workpieces to achieve desired shapes. In particular, this invention relates to an improved method for performing a hydroforming operation that resists the tendency of the workpiece to be deformed inwardly upon itself when the closed channel workpiece is initially being enclosed by a pair of opposed hydroforming dies of a hydroforming apparatus.
Hydroforming is a well known metal working operation that uses pressurized fluid to deform a closed channel workpiece, such as a tubular member, outwardly into conformance with a die cavity having a desired shape. A typical hydroforming apparatus includes a frame having two or more hydroforming die sections that are supported thereon for relative movement between opened and closed positions. The die sections have cooperating recesses formed therein that together define a die cavity having a shape that corresponds to a desired final shape for the workpiece. When moved to the opened position, the die sections are spaced apart from one another to allow a workpiece to be inserted within or removed from the die cavity. When moved to the closed position, the die sections are disposed adjacent to one another so as to enclose the workpiece within the die cavity. Thereafter, the workpiece is filled with a fluid, typically a relatively incompressible liquid, such as water. The pressure of the fluid within the workpiece is increased to such a magnitude that the workpiece is expanded outwardly into conformance with the die cavity. As a result, the workpiece is deformed or expanded into the desired final shape.
Although the die cavity is usually somewhat larger than the workpiece to be hydroformed, the movement of the two die sections from the opened position to the closed position may, in some instances, cause some mechanical deformation of the hollow workpiece. A relatively small amount of this mechanical deformation is usually acceptable. However, in some instances, the amount of this mechanical deformation of the hollow workpiece is relatively large. Such relatively large deformation of the hollow workpiece can be undesirable because it may result in undesirable work hardening of the workpiece and inhibit the free flow of the material of the workpiece during the subsequent performance of the hydroforming operation. Thus, it would be desirable to provide an improved method for performing a hydroforming operation that resists the tendency of the workpiece to be deformed inwardly upon itself when the closed channel workpiece is initially being enclosed by a pair of opposed hydroforming dies of a hydroforming apparatus.

Method for performing a hydroforming operation


A banknote pay-in/pay-out device and a banknote processing machine having a simpler pay-in/pay-out port section mechanism than hitherto. During paying in, out of banknotes inserted into a pay-in/pay-out port section, a pay-in reject banknote that has been determined to be unsuitable for paying in is conveyed to a sorting conveyance path, and temporarily retained in the sorting conveyance path. So doing enables, for example, the pay-in reject banknote to be temporarily retained in the sorting conveyance path until, for example, pay-in counting processing has been completed, with the pay-in reject banknote being replaced in the pay-in/pay-out port section to be returned to a user after the pay-in counting processing has been completed, without providing a partitioning plate to the pay-in/pay-out port section as hitherto.

Related automated teller machines are installed with banknote pay-in/pay-out devices that perform processing related to pay-in and pay-out of banknotes. A banknote pay-in/pay-out device is configured with, for example, a pay-in/pay-out port section that accepts and dispenses banknotes for a customer, a classification section that classifies the denomination and authenticity of an inserted banknote, a temporary holding section that temporarily holds inserted banknotes, and banknote storage boxes that store banknotes by denomination, as well as a conveyance path that links these sections together.
Such banknote pay-in/pay-out devices count inserted banknotes inserted by a user into the pay-in/pay-out port section when paying in. In such processing the banknote pay-in/pay-out device classifies the inserted notes, one note at a time, using the classification section. The banknote pay-in/pay-out device then stores and counts banknotes determined by the classification result to be normal banknotes in the temporary holding section, and banknotes (referred to as pay-in reject banknotes) determined to be banknotes that are unsuitable for paying in, are replaced in the pay-in/pay-out port section to be returned to the user.
Then, when the user has approved the pay-in amount, the banknote pay-in/pay-out device uses the classification section to re-determine the banknotes (normal banknotes) stored in the temporary holding section, before housing the banknotes by denomination in the respective banknote storage boxes.
In related banknote pay-in/pay-out devices, a slidable partitioning plate is provided in a banknote storage space of the pay-in/pay-out port section as a mechanism for returning pay-in reject banknotes from the pay-in/pay-out port section to the user. In related banknote pay-in/pay-out devices, the partitioning plate partitions the banknote storage space into a pay-in space and a pay-out space.
When returning pay-in reject banknotes to the user, the banknote pay-in/pay-out device slides the partitioning plate so as to enlarge the pay-out space, and the pay-in reject banknotes are replaced in the pay-out space to be returned to the user (see for example Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2002-260061).

Banknote pay-in/pay-out device and banknote processing machine


A fixing mechanism for fixing a slidable display module relative to a host module is disclosed. The fixing mechanism includes a track portion, a sliding portion, at least one positioning structure and at least one engaging structure. The track portion is disposed on the host module. The sliding portion is connected to the display module and slidably installed inside the track portion, so that the display module is slidably installed on the host module. The at least one positioning structure is disposed on the track portion. The at least one engaging structure is disposed on the sliding portion. The at least one engaging structure engages with the at least one positioning structure when the sliding portion slides to an engaging position relative to the track portion, so as to fix the display module on the host module.

1. Field of the Described Embodiments
The present disclosure relates to a fixing mechanism and a portable electronic device therewith, and more particularly, to a fixing mechanism for fixing a slidable display module relative to a host module and a portable electronic device therewith.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A conventional tablet computer utilizes a touch panel to perform touch control instruction. Since operation of the touch panel does not meet user's needs, a portable computer device combining a notebook computer host with keyboard and the touch panel arises for solving above drawbacks. Conventionally, a host module cooperatively with a hinge mechanism pivoted to the host module are utilized for supporting the touch panel, and a track is utilized for sliding the touch panel relative to the host module. However, it often occurs that the touch panel incapable of smoothly sliding relative to the host module. For example, over contact between the sliding structure and a side wall of the track causes increase of friction, resulting in jammed situation. As a result, it reduces convenience in operation.

Fixing mechanism for fixing a slidable display module relative to a host module and portable electronic device therewith


The invention concerns a combustion engine comprising a cylinder and a piston which is displaceably guided in the cylinder, the piston having a piston head facing a combustion chamber and being coupled to a crankshaft via a connecting rod, wherein a second piston which is displaceably guided in the cylinder is provided opposite to the piston, the second piston also having a piston head, wherein the combustion chamber is disposed between the two piston heads, and the second piston is coupled to a crankshaft via a connecting rod.

The invention concerns an internal-combustion engine with a cylinder and a piston which is displaceably guided in the cylinder, the piston having a piston head facing a combustion chamber and coupled to a crankshaft via a connecting rod.
Engines of this type have been known for more than a hundred years and are used as stationary drives as well as for vehicles. The cylinder in these combustion engines is closed on one side with a cylinder head and, on the other side, a piston is moveably guided in the cylinder to transfer the driving force to a crankshaft via a connecting rod as the combustion gases expand. Combustion engines operating according to this principle may function in two cycles or four cycles, such as Otto and diesel engines. The efficiency of these engines is, however, very low.
It is the underlying purpose of the invention to provide a combustion engine having higher efficiency.


Window reaming and coring apparatus has a reamer connected in the middle of the tool by mechanical joints which permit the reamer to be displaced substantially parallel to the rest, of the tool body. The apparatus is lowered adjacent a pre-determined zone of interest and mills a parallel window along the edge of an existing wellbore into which the reamer is displaced. Once the reamer is fully displaced laterally into the window, the reamer and coring head can be rotated parallel to the wellbore, in the zone of interest for obtaining and retrieving a crescent-shaped core which has a significant cross section and length, enabling improved analysis of the wellbore lithography.

It is known to cut windows in a sidewall of a main wellbore to drill offset or lateral wellbores from the main wellbore and for creating a pocket or window from which a core sample may be obtained.
The best-known and most widely used method for redirecting a drill bit off-center of a wellbore is by first setting a wedge-type device, known as a whipstock, by means of retaining it to the walls of the wellbore using slips and friction. A drill bit is then lowered and pushed to the side of the wellbore at the angle of the whipstock to start a sidetrack hole. Typically, windows cut using a whipstock may be rough and may present some difficulties when tying back the offset wellbore to the main wellbore's casing or liner. Typically, reaming a window using a whipstock requires multiple trips into the wellbore. Further, the full width and depth of the window can only be achieved at the bottom end of the whipstock.
During drilling of wellbores, conventional core samples are often taken to obtain information relative to the formations. Typically, coring occurs at the bottom of the wellbore during the process of deepening the hole. Typically, the process requires that the drill string be tripped out and a coring tool be run in for obtaining the core sample, after which the coring tool is removed and the drill string is run in to further deepen the borehole to total depth. The need for multiple trips into and out of the wellbore makes conventional coring time consuming and relatively expensive. Further, as the location for obtaining core samples is selected before drilling through a zone of interest, the formation cannot be assessed using well logging techniques and the like and therefore the core samples often have little or no value in assessing the wellbore.
Further, conventional wireline coring tools and technologies have imposed limitations regarding the retrieval of a useful length of continuous core, or can retrieve only very small samples of rock by means of trepan drilling or impacting perpendicularly into the wellbore wall.
Sidetrack coring tools form independent offset boreholes by projecting below a reaming collar or deflection tool. The coring tube may become trapped in the offset borehole and may not be retrievable therefrom. Further, other problems occur as a result of penetration of zonal interfaces without means for sealing the offset borehole and formation of short boreholes formed along a curved trajectory which compromise the ability to harvest a long, continuous, undisrupted core sample therefrom.
One form of coring assembly, set forth by Applicant in U.S. Pat. No. 5,103,921, suffers from some of the disadvantages of the prior art systems. A deflection crank at a lower end of a reaming and coring tube, contained within a reaming collar, and a universal ball joint at a top end of the reaming tube permit displacement of a lower end of the reaming tube for reaming a window into the main wellbore wall, after which the reaming tube projects below the reaming collar for cutting an angled offset borehole from which a core sample is obtained.
An improved, cost effective and reliable window reaming and coring apparatus, which is capable of cutting and retrieving long cores having a sizeable cross-section and which are substantially continuous and representative of the lithography of the main wellbore, is required. Further, the apparatus should be readily tripped in and out of the wellbore without risk of the apparatus becoming stuck during reaming or coring. Preferably, cutting of the core samples should occur after the wellbore has been drilled and logged to ensure that the samples taken represent zones of interest along the wellbore.

Window reaming and coring apparatus and method of use


A noise reduction and smart ticketing application for social media-based communication systems may identify social media-based communications from users who are attempting to engage with a brand or entity on a social media platform as actionable, and distinguish other communications as noise. The noise reduction and smart ticketing system may use machine learning to determine which social media communications are actionable for a given company or other organization, and generates tickets for actionable communications. Actionable communications may include, but are not limited to, technical support issues, inquiries about a product release date, grievances, incidents, suggestions to improve service, critiques of company policies, etc. Non-actionable communications (i.e., “noise”) may include, but are not limited to, suggestions to other users, promotions, coupons, offers, marketing campaigns, affiliate marketing, statements that a user is attending an event, etc.

Social media communication systems, such a Twitter®, Facebook®, Instagram®, LinkedIn®, Google+®, Google Play® Store, YouTube®, blogs, forums, and the like, are increasingly used by various organizations, such as companies, governmental entities, nonprofit organizations, individuals with a social media following, etc., to connect with their customers or other interested individuals (e.g., individuals interested in a product, following a celebrity, etc.). For instance, users may send relatively short messages to organizations offering comments, requesting assistance, etc. that are monitored by company personnel. This provides interested individuals with an alternative mechanism to communicate with organizations, as opposed to using email, submitting a web form, chat, seeking in-application support, or calling a customer service representative at a call center via telephone.
However, such social media communication systems receive a uniquely high level of "noise" in their communications. As defined herein, "noise" refers to communications where individuals have no intent of engaging with the entity, brand, or individual. For some organizations, such communications can make up 90-95% of the inbound communications that they receive through social media. This hinders the organization's ability to respond quickly to genuine issues its consumers or other interested individuals are experiencing. Accordingly, an improved system and method for reductions of noise received in communications from various social media communication systems may be beneficial.

Noise reduction and smart ticketing for social media-based communication systems


A novel keyboard interface and input method are described. The interface is driven by a dynamic, general-purpose typing and data-entry software application, with a reduced number of keys to minimize screen real-estate requirements, especially for mobile devices. At any given time, the interface presents base characters with built-in key points on or around the base characters that can be selected and/or swiped to generate characters. The key points are strategically placed based on the intuitiveness of such placements, reducing the curve for learning how to use the interface. Its advantage over other methods of input such as handwriting, voice and gesture recognition is that it is less prone to error and privacy issues. The interface occupies a dramatically smaller area of the screen compared to traditional on-screen keyboards and can provide alternate placement as well as transparency to reveal text or images underneath. It can be implemented in most mobile and other computing platforms with reduced resource requirements.

Keyboards have been an integral part of computing since the beginning of the technological revolution. Mechanical character-input devices made to replace handwriting started being used as far back as times of typewriters. As new technologies emerged, input devices and methods were adopted in various ways, such as keyboards, mice, styli, speech recognition, and touchscreens. Since then, we have seen the introduction of several auxiliary functions (e,g., "Ctrl" button, "Alt" button, mouse wheel) for keyboards and mice to enhance their functionality. However, very little change has gone through the basic concept and architecture of the keyboards.
For most human-machine interactions today, the QWERTY keyboard layout, whether physical or on screen, remains the most widely used and default standard for reasons of relative speed, convenience, and error-free data entry. The standard QWERTY layout for the English keyboard was first optimized based on the finger positioning, convenience, and statistical frequency of character and word utilization in common writing. Other layouts such as Dvorak and Colemak were developed based on their own analyses. Other languages also have keyboard layouts based on their own assessment of the placement of character keys.
With ever-evolving electronic devices, the design of conventional keyboards started becoming less convenient, especially after the widespread development and use of smartphones, smart TVs, tablets, and related mobile applications. Several other methods (e.g., handwriting recognition, gesture recognition, voice recognition, software keyboard with touch screens) have been introduced as alternate forms of human interaction with ever-modernizing electronic devices.
Most current alternatives to physical keyboards have their drawbacks, limitations and other compromises. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,754,864 to Paul discloses a touchscreen keyboard and a method that generates a geometric shape for each finger of a user (ten total), the positioning corresponding to the characters on a conventional two-handed keyboard, each shape including characters at predefined locations around the perimeter of the shapes. The keyboard operation module detects a sliding movement of a finger from inside the shape and toward the perimeter of the shape, and then displays the particular character in a text-entry area. The main drawback of this prior art is that it requires and occupies too much screen space. With several keys operating at once, the keyboard requires significant horizontal space on the screen. Further, with several keys spread across the screen of a touchscreen device, it may be difficult for a user to type as if it were a physical keyboard. Its practical use may be limited only to larger devices such as tablets. The present invention eliminates these drawbacks.
Handwriting recognition, gesture recognition, and voice recognition are highly computation intensive, slow, and prone to error. Voice recognition is especially vulnerable to privacy issues because attempted input through speech may be heard by others—multiple times depending on the accuracy of the recognition program. An on-screen QWERTY keyboard on touchscreen devices would be less error-prone, but the layout takes up a very large portion—often half or all depending on the orientation of the device—of the relatively small displays of mobile devices. Moreover, the standard QWERTY layout may not fit within certain devices, such as a smartwatch or a remote controller for a smart TV. Therefore, a way to input characters with minimal sacrifice of screen real estate is desirable.

Method and system of data entry on a virtual interface


A MOS transistor employing a titanium-carbon-nitride (TiCN) gate electrode is provided. The MOS transistor has a gate insulating film, a gate electrode, and a source/drain region on a semiconductor substrate. The gate electrode is formed of a single TiCN film or a double film having a TiCN film and a low-resistant metal film formed thereon. The TiCN gate electrode exhibits a low resistance of about 80-100 .mu..OMEGA.-cm and can control variations in Fermi energy level.

The present invention relates to a metal-oxide semiconductor (MOS) transistor and a manufacturing method thereof, and more particularly, to a MOS transistor adopting a titanium-carbon-nitride (TiCN) gate electrode, and to a manufacturing method thereof.
A MOS transistor comprises a semiconductor substrate, source/drain regions formed by ion-implanting an impurity into the substrate, a channel region between the source/drain regions, and a gate formed over the channel region by intervening a gate insulating film. Here, the impurity type for the source/drain regions is opposite that for the substrate. Generally, the gate electrode of the MOS transistor is formed of N type impurity-doped polysilicon, which exhibits stable processing characteristics and high sheet resistance.
Meanwhile, in a PMOS transistor, which operates as a buried channel device, it is difficult to reduce threshold voltage without increasing short channel effects. As a way to overcome this problem, research efforts have concentrated on manufacturing a gate electrode from a metal material having a lower resistivity than polysilicon. Titanium nitride (TiN) has been especially suggested as a suitable gate electrode material.
Since a TiN gate electrode possesses a resistivity as low as 50 .mu..OMEGA.-cm or below, the RC delay time can be reduced. Another advantage is that the TiN gate electrode enables both an N-channel MOS transistor and a P-channel MOS transistor to operate as surface channel devices, since titanium nitride has the midgap energy level (E.sub.f) of silicon. Hence, degradation of the transistor characteristics caused by short-channel effects can be prevented and process simplicity can be achieved.
In practice, however, the actually attained Fermi energy level of a fabricated TiN gate electrode deviates somewhat from the midgap energy level of silicon, according to the structure and chemical composition of the TiN film. This phenomenon will be described in connection with FIGS. 1 and 2.
FIG. 1 compares the capacitance-versus-voltage characteristics of the conventional MOS transistors employing a polysilicon gate electrode (plot a) and a TiN gate electrode (plot b). Here, it can be seen that the difference between the work functions of the TiN gate electrode and the polysilicon gate electrode is 0.6-0.7 eV. This indicates that the Fermi energy level of a TiN gate electrode shifts from the midgap energy level of silicon to the valance band.
FIGS. 2 and 3 are graphs showing the variation of threshold voltages depending on the gate length of conventional PMOS and NMOS transistors having a TiN gate electrodes, respectively. As the Fermi energy level of the TiN gate electrode shifts from the midgap energy level of silicon to the valance band thereof, its built-in potential increases, leading to an increase in the threshold voltage of the NMOS transistor and a decrease in that of the PMOS transistor.
As described above, the Fermi energy level of the TiN gate electrode deviates from the midgap energy level of silicon. This deviation creates a short channel, thereby deteriorating the characteristics of a transistor.

Mos transistor adopting titanium-carbon-nitride gate electrode and manufacturing method thereof


A method for a computer system includes receiving and storing a first model of an animation asset in a first version location of the animation asset, providing a link between a named version of the animation asset to the first version location of the animation asset, wherein a name of the named version is specified by a first user, thereafter receiving and storing a second model of the animation asset in a second version location of the animation asset, providing the first model of the animation asset from the first version location of the animation asset in response to a specification of the named version of the animation asset by a second user, and providing the second model of the animation asset from the second version location of the animation asset in response to a specification of the animation asset by the second user.

The present invention relates to asset management systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to methods and apparatus for locking and unlocking multiple instances of animation assets by version or by label during rendering.
Throughout the years, movie makers have often tried to tell stories involving make-believe creatures, far away places, and fantastic things. To do so, they have often relied on animation techniques to bring the make-believe to "life." Two of the major paths in animation have traditionally included, drawing-based animation techniques and stop motion animation techniques.
Drawing-based animation techniques were refined in the twentieth century, by movie makers such as Walt Disney and used in movies such as "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (1937) and "Fantasia" (1940). This animation technique typically required artists to hand-draw (or paint) animated images onto a transparent media or cels. After painting, each cel would then be captured or recorded onto film as one or more frames in a movie.
Stop motion-based animation techniques typically required the construction of miniature sets, props, and characters. The filmmakers would construct the sets, add props, and position the miniature characters in a pose. After the animator was happy with how everything was arranged, one or more frames of film would be taken of that specific arrangement. Stop motion animation techniques were developed by movie makers such as Willis O'Brien for movies such as "King Kong" (1933). Subsequently, these techniques were refined by animators such as Ray Harryhausen for movies including "Mighty Joe Young" (1948) and Clash Of The Titans (1981).
With the wide-spread availability of computers in the later part of the twentieth century, animators began to rely upon computers to assist in the animation process. This included using computers to facilitate drawing-based animation, for example, by painting images, by generating in-between images ("tweening"), and the like. This also included using computers to augment stop motion animation techniques. For example, physical models could be represented by virtual models in computer memory, and manipulated.
One of the pioneering companies in the computer-generated animation (CG animation) industry was Pixar. Pixar is more widely known as Pixar Animation Studios, the creators of animated features such as "Toy Story" (1995) and "Toy Story 2" (1999), "A Bugs Life" (1998), "Monsters, Inc." (2001), "Finding Nemo" (2003), "The Incredibles" (2004), and others. In addition to creating animated features, Pixar developed computing platforms specially designed for CG animation, and CG animation software now known as RenderMan®. RenderMan® was particularly well received in the animation industry and recognized with two Academy Awards®. RenderMan® renders images based upon conceptual "software assets" including geometric scene descriptors including references to object models.
Typically, scenes to be rendered are specified (assembled) by one or more users (e.g. animators, lighters, etc.). These scenes include descriptions of the objects, camera angles, lighting sources, and the like. The scene data file (also known as a scene descriptor file) that describes the entire scene is typically very large, on the order of gigabytes. Because the sizes of typical scene descriptor files are typically large, Pixar developed an internal technique for segmenting a scene descriptor file from one large file into a series of smaller files. As described in the co-pending application described above, Pixar developed and used the concept of "hook set" files and references to "hook files" to describe a scene. Accordingly, a typical scene is actually composed of a number of separate data files. Generally, logical assets, such as a scene, a shot (a group of scenes), an object, and the like are themselves composed of any number of separate assets.
The inventors of the present invention have recognized that when rendering a lengthy animated feature, such as a feature film, tens or hundreds of related frames need to be rendered. This process typically takes a substantial period of time, even when parallelized. However, during the time which one frame takes to render, it is possible for different users to install new versions of one or more assets (e.g. objects to be rendered) referenced in the frame. Because frames are not necessarily rendered chronologically, a change to an object, such as a new version of an object, may result in a visual discontinuity, or a "pop" if the new object looks different from the old one in the various scenes. Alternatively, the inclusion of a new version of an object may cause the rendering engine to terminate early with an error.
The inventors of the present invention have recognized that it is not typically feasible to prevent users from modifying a logical asset (e.g. a sequence, a shot, an object) throughout the rendering process. This is because, scenes or shots of animation are finalized at different times, and it would be very inefficient to begin rendering scenes or shots only when all of the scenes or shots have been finished. Accordingly, the inventors have recognized that methods for providing support for multiple simultaneous version of animation assets.
The inventors of the present invention have also recognized that after a shot or sequence has been rendered and that render approved, it is very common for images to need to be re-worked after being approved to make them ready for "film-out." However, versions of the assets that were used often no longer exist because they were replaced with "improved" versions of the assets, for example. Accordingly, it is extremely difficult to re-render or replicate previously rendered images. Further, in practice, the Inventors have recognized that logical animation assets (e.g. characters, props, sets, and the like) are used in many different scenes and shots in a feature, and the logical assets are often changed to meet the needs of the specific shots. Accordingly, a "latest" versions of a logical asset may not be the version that is desired. Therefore, the inventors have recognized that methods for identifying and managing different versions of objects that are used for specific scenes or shots are required.
Some techniques that the inventors have considered to address the above problems have included enforcing a strictly linear production pipeline for animation assets. Drawbacks to this technique include that the increased time and cost to develop assets because only one version of an object can exist at a time. Another drawback is that the added delays may force changes to the storyline. In contrast, the inventors believe a parallel development effort would provide for more of an iterative development where some productions pipelines are unaffected by stalls in other production pipelines.
Another technique considered includes making and storing local copies of logical assets before rendering the scene. Drawbacks to this technique include that when there are a large number of assets, and a large number of scenes, storing copies of assets for each scene in local directories requires an wasteful amount of memory. Additionally copies are often poorly tracked and not stored in a centralized location for easy access. Yet another drawback is that such a technique would be very slow and expensive when applied to thousands of CPUs in a large render farm because of the amount of data that would be stored and passed back and forth. Yet another disadvantage is that this technique does not address the replicability problem described above.
Another technique the inventors have considered included preventing users from installing new versions of objects during the rendering process. Disadvantages to this technique include that would cause an expensive and large bottleneck in the production pipeline. For example, because rendering of certain shots or scenes may last for hours and days, this technique would lock out other users from installing versions of objects for their shots or scenes. Other users would have to wait until small windows of opportunity between renderings to install new versions of objects. Yet another drawback includes that it is inefficient to have users who are attempting to install new versions of objects be made aware of all the other users of the same object and their rendering schedules. Still another disadvantage is that this technique does not address the replicability problem described above.
A technique the inventors considered to address the issue of replicability is through the use of timestamps and traditional version control of assets. However, disadvantages to these techniques includes that different rendering processes can be performed at the same time through the use of local copies of the asset during the development process. Because, no versioning control is provided until an asset is checked-in, replicating of scenes before check-in is not supported. Additionally, when such assets are checked-in, different versions of an object from different users may have the same timestamp or have an out-of-order version number (e.g. version 1.2 includes changes in version 1.3, but version 1.3 lacks changes made in version 1.2.) As such, no version control data exists between the different users. Other drawbacks includes that traditional version control techniques do not support the animation production process because of different assumptions about build stability and uniformity, branching and branching support, mechanisms for deployment, and the like. Yet another drawback to this approach includes that, rolling back of changes to objects is slow, and computationally expensive (i.e. burdens the CPU).
Still another technique considered by the inventors has been through the use of variants. Drawbacks to this technique includes that variants of models as versions of models pollutes the semantics of version control. The inventors consider true variants or branches as an asset based-on another asset, but with a different pipeline purpose or pipeline approach. In contrast, a version is an instance of an asset which is part of a linear progression typically used for development of a variant. Accordingly, this approach also had disadvantages.
Accordingly what is desired is an improved method and apparatus for asset management, without the drawbacks described above.

Manual component asset change isolation methods and apparatus