A method and system for generating automatic destination calls for an elevator system, in which system is a revolving door. A passenger approaching the revolving door or in a door sector of the revolving door is identified, a destination call to the home floor of the passenger is generated and the elevator serving the passenger is announced at the revolving door.

In a destination floor elevator system a passenger gives to the elevator system one call, a so-called destination floor call, and not as in conventional elevator systems two calls such that the first call is given in the elevator lobby by designating the desired direction of travel with up/down-pushbuttons and the second call in the elevator car by designating with the car pushbuttons the destination floor, i.e. the target floor, of the passenger.
The destination floor can be given e.g. from a destination operating panel permanently installed in an elevator lobby. When a passenger keys his/her destination floor into the destination operating panel, the destination floor data, and also information about from which floor the call was given, is conveyed to the control system of the elevator system, to the so-called group control. On the basis of the given criteria the group control allocates an elevator from the elevator system for the use of the passenger and notifies the passenger of the allocated elevator, and possibly the location of it, e.g. on the display that is in the destination operating panel.
With regard to elevator systems, also known in the art is a call-giving method wherein a passenger is identified e.g. from an RFID identifier and a destination floor is determined for him/her on the basis of the identification. In this call-giving method a passenger e.g. takes an identifier in his/her possession manually to a reader device, which reads the information contained in the identifier, for example an individual ID number, and sends it to the group control of the elevator system. On the basis of the ID the group control determines the destination floor of the passenger, the so-called home floor, and allocates an elevator for the use of the passenger for traveling to the home floor in question. Also in this case the allocated elevator must be notified to the passenger if there are a number of elevators in the elevator system. Also known in the art are solutions in which the identifier is a so-called remote identifier, the identification data contained in which can be read when the identifier is e.g. in the pocket of the passenger.
To a constantly increasing extent elevator systems are connected to be a part of the access control of buildings. One prior-art solution is presented in publication EP 1924519, wherein a passenger has an identifier that is read e.g. outside the building. On the basis of the ID data contained in the identifier, it is checked, by identifying the ID, whether the person attempting to enter the building has a right of access to the building. If the access right is valid, the system opens an automatic door that is in connection with a reader device and orders an elevator to the entrance lobby floor.
Prior-art solutions have numerous problems. Identifiers to be read from a near-field distance require that a passenger takes his/her identifier in hand and brings it manually to a reader device that is in connection with a call-giving device. In peak-hour situations the call-giving device is easily congested because each passenger must use his/her identifier in the reader device. One problem with remotely-readable identifiers is that an indicator board showing all the calls and the elevators allocated to the calls must be arranged in connection with the elevator system. The information of the indicator board in this case becomes muddled, and individual passengers have difficulty finding from it the information applying to him/her. Since the indicator board is visible to everyone, personal messages intended to be visible only to a certain passenger cannot be shown on it either. Remotely-readable identifiers in connection with access control are also problematic because it is not possible to reliably know who of the identified passengers is going at any given time through an automatic door or access gate, enabling so-called "tailgating", in which a person without an access right follows a person who has an access right to a certain part of the building.

Generating destination calls for elevator system


A tubular insert is adapted to be secured into an opening in the vessel and is formed with an internally threaded section adapted to receive a closure. The closure is a subassembly which includes a core hosuing having a threaded section threadedly engaging the insert and an internal threaded section and formed with a valve seat at its lower end. A core body is threadedly disposed in the housing and a valve element engages the seat with a compression spring inbetween the body and valve element. A stop is provided on the insert and retaining means are provided on the housing so that when the core housing is unscrewed, it is loosely retained in the insert indicating to everyone that the vessel is depressurized and the metal of the vessel can be heated and melted without any fear of explosion.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a relief valve suitable for use in pressure vessels such as portable propane tanks. It is especially suited to tanks that are recyclable; that is, either recycled as scrap metal or returned for refilling.
The invention provides for the venting of the vessel and the disengagement of the relief valve subassembly so that the subassembly is loosely retained in its insert. This signals visually that the vessel is in vented condition and not dangerous to heat and melt down in metal recycling. The invention also involves such an assembly wherein the relief valve setting need not be distrurbed when the valve subassembly is disengaged to its venting condition or restored to operating condition in refilling.

Relief valve assembly for recyclable pressure vessels


A variable compression ratio apparatus includes: a piston defining a combustion chamber, a connecting rod connected to the piston; an eccentric link eccentrically connected to the piston, a swing link connected to the eccentric link so as to rotate the eccentric link, a crankpin to which the connecting rod is connected, and a crank web disposed at both sides of the crankpin and provided with a guide portion for guiding downward motions of the eccentric link and the swing link when the eccentric link and the swing link move downward. Thereby, the downward motions of the eccentric link and the swing link are stabilized.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a variable compression ratio apparatus, and more particularly to a variable compression ratio apparatus for providing improved dynamic stability of dual link type eccentric links and dual link type swing links.
2. Description of Related Art
In general, the thermal efficiency of a heat engine is increased as a compression ratio is increased. In a spark-ignition engine, the thermal efficiency thereof is increased by advancing ignition timing up to a predetermined level.
However, in the spark-ignition engine, abnormal combustion may occur when advancing the ignition timing in a state of a high compression ratio, and this may cause damage to the engine. Therefore, there is a limitation in advancing the ignition timing, thereby resulting in the deterioration in output power.
A variable compression ratio (VCR) apparatus is an apparatus which changes a compression ratio of an air-fuel mixture in accordance with an operation state of the engine.
The variable compression ratio apparatus raises the compression ratio of an air-fuel mixture when the engine is driven at a low load in order to improve fuel economy. Further, the variable compression ratio apparatus lowers the compression ratio of an air-fuel mixture when the engine is driven at a high load in order to prevent knocking and to improve output power of the engine.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,581,552 teaches a variable compression ratio apparatus in the related art. In the variable compression ratio apparatus, a connecting rod is connected to a piston defining a combustion chamber, the connecting rod is connected to a crankshaft, and an eccentric ring is coupled to a portion where the connecting rod is connected to the piston.
An eccentric swing member is connected to the eccentric ring, the eccentric swing member is connected to a slide by means of a coupling, and the slide is connected to a driving device so that the slide is moved by the driving device.
In the variable compression ratio apparatus, the slide is moved by operation of the driving device, and the motion of the slide is transferred to the eccentric swing member via the coupling so that the eccentric swing member is rotated. The rotational motion of the eccentric swing member changes a height of a top dead center of the piston via the connecting rod, thereby changing the compression ratio of the combustion chamber defined by the piston.
Such a variable compression ratio apparatus requires a rigid structure, a stable operation and a simplified structure with respect to the eccentric swing member.
The information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.


A line filter unit and a gradient magnetic field power supply placed in a shield room are contained in one cabinet to integrate them into one unit, and the integrated cabinet unit is attached on a wall of the shield room, and the cabinet unit is electrically integrated with a radio frequency shield conductor in the radio frequency shield room. Further, a signal amplifier and an electric power amplifier may be contained in the integrated cabinet unit.

The present invention relates to a nuclear magnetic resonance diagnosis apparatus; and, more particularly, the invention relates to a nuclear magnetic resonance diagnosis apparatus which is suitable for diagnosing a condition of an object to be inspected by obtaining an image and/or a nuclear magnetic spectrum of the object to be inspected using a nuclear magnetic resonance phenomenon.
In a conventional nuclear magnetic resonance diagnosis apparatus, a measurement system, including a magnet generating a static magnetic field, a gradient magnetic field coil, an irradiation coil generating a radio frequency magnetic field and a receiving coil for receiving a nuclear magnetic resonant signal from an object to be inspected, is installed in an electromagnetic shield room in order to shield radio frequency noises generated inside and outside the nuclear magnetic resonance diagnosis apparatus. A gradient magnetic field power supply for driving the gradient magnetic coil, a power amplifier for the irradiation coil and a signal amplifier for amplifying the nuclear magnetic resonance signal detected by the receiving coil are contained in individual cabinets, or in an integrated cabinet, and are connected to the gradient magnetic field coil, the irradiation coil and the receiving coil in the shield room through line filter units (line noise removing means) provided on the wall surface of the shield room, respectively.
The gradient magnetic field power supply, the power amplifier and the signal amplifier are connected to line filter units through respective cables, and the ground points of the cabinets or the constituent circuits are connected to a system ground common to the shield room. A nuclear magnetic resonance diagnosis apparatus of this type is described, for example, in Catalogue No. CP-E094 xe2x80x9cAIRISxe2x80x9d of Hitachi Medical Corporation and Catalogue No. CP-E090 xe2x80x9cSTRATISxe2x80x9d of Hitachi Medical Corporation.
The shield room and the line filter unit block remove radio frequency noises existing in the surrounding area and radio frequency noises generated by the nuclear magnetic resonance diagnosis apparatus itself outside the shield room so that the noises are not received by the measurement system in the shield room.
On the other hand, in recent years, the imaging technology in the field of nuclear magnetic resonance diagnosis has become increasingly faster in measuring speed and has been enhanced in function; and, accordingly, a power supply of a switching type capable of coping with a high gradient magnetic field and a high slew rate (for instance, above 100 T/m/s) has been used as the gradient magnetic field power supply. One disadvantage of a power supply of the switching type is that it generates wide band radio frequency noises, and there are some cases in which the radio frequency noises can not be sufficiently removed only by provision of the shield room and the line filter unit described above.
Since the shielding ratio of the shield room and the line filter unit is 60 dB to 80 dB (1/1000 to 1/10000), the noise becomes A/1000 to A/10000, where A is the intensity of the generated noise of the gradient magnetic field power supply. Therefore, the effect on the NMR signal can be neglected. However, since the shielding performance of the shield room and the line filter unit is the same even if the generated noise of the gradient magnetic field power supply is increased (for example, by as much as 10 times) due to high speed measurement, the noise becomes 10A/1000 to 10A/10000. Therefore, the effect of this noise on the NMR signal can not be neglected. Further, when the attenuation ratio of the line filter is increased in a case of using EPI (echo planer imaging) or the like, which can switch the operation of the gradient magnetic field power supply at a high speed, the switching waveform tends to lose its shape, changing from a pulse shape to a wave shape, so that the required imaging function can not be attained. This is also one of the reasons why the noise can not be removed.
Particularly, since the condition for arranging the units, such as the gradient magnetic field power supply, the radio frequency power amplifier, the radio frequency signal amplifier, and so on, varies depending on the place where the nuclear magnetic resonance diagnosis apparatus is installed, there are some cases in which the noises, particularly the noise of the gradient magnetic field power supply, can not be removed depending on the installation environment.
As another method of removing the radio frequency noise from the gradient magnetic field power supply, there is a method in which a filter of a low pass type having a high attenuation ratio for the measurement band of the nuclear magnetic resonance signal is added just near the output position, in addition to the line filter unit in the shield room. However, in this case, a higher peak electric power is necessary when an inductive type of filter is employed. When a capacitance type of filter is employed, there is a problem in that a high response characteristic having a rapid rise to a pulse output current is degraded; and, accordingly, it becomes difficult to obtain a flat top waveform having a good flatness for suppressing ringing at the rising portion.
An object of the present invention is to provide a nuclear magnetic resonance diagnosis apparatus which is suitable for reducing the effect of radio frequency noises on the nuclear magnetic resonance signal.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a nuclear magnetic resonance diagnosis apparatus which is suitable for removing the effect of radio frequency noises on the nuclear magnetic resonance signal without affecting the output response characteristic and the required electric power of the gradient magnetic field power supply.
According to the present invention, a nuclear magnetic resonance diagnosis apparatus is provided which comprises: a measurement system, including a magnet for generating a static magnetic field in a space in which an object to be inspected is placed, a gradient magnetic field coil for generating a gradient magnetic field in the space, an irradiation coil for applying a radio frequency magnetic field to the object to be inspected and a receiving coil for detecting a nuclear magnetic resonance signal generated from the object to be inspected; a gradient magnetic field power supply for driving the gradient magnetic field coil; a signal processing system for reconstructing a sectional image of the object to be inspected based on the nuclear magnetic resonance signal; an electromagnetic shield room in which the measurement system is arranged; a line noise filter connected between the gradient magnetic field coil and the gradient magnetic power supply; and a first cabinet in which the gradient magnetic field power supply and the line noise filter are contained, the first cabinet being mechanically and electrically connected to the shield room.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the nuclear magnetic resonance diagnosis apparatus further comprises a radio frequency amplifier for supplying a current to the irradiation coil; a signal amplifier for amplifying the nuclear magnetic resonance signal; and a second cabinet in which the radio frequency amplifier and said signal amplifier are contained, the second cabinet being mechanically and electrically connected to the shield room.
According to an additional aspect of the present invention, a nuclear magnetic resonance diagnosis apparatus is provided which comprises: a measurement system, including a magnet for generating a static magnetic field in a space in which an object to be inspected is placed, a gradient magnetic field coil for generating a gradient magnetic field in the space, an irradiation coil for applying a radio frequency magnetic field to the object to be inspected and a receiving coil for detecting a nuclear magnetic resonance signal generated from the object to be inspected; a gradient magnetic field power supply for driving the gradient magnetic field coil; a radio frequency amplifier for supplying a current to the irradiation coil; a signal amplifier for amplifying the nuclear magnetic resonance signal; a preamplifier connected between the receiving coil and the signal amplifier; an electric power supply for the preamplifier; a signal processing system for reconstructing a sectional image of the object to be inspected based on the nuclear magnetic resonance signal; an electromagnetic shield room in which the measurement system is arranged; a line noise filter connected between the gradient magnetic field coil and the gradient magnetic field power supply; and a line noise filter connected between the preamplifier and its electric power supply; a first cabinet in which the gradient magnetic field power supply and the line noise filter for the gradient magnetic field are contained, the first cabinet being mechanically and electrically connected to the shield room; and a second cabinet in which the radio frequency amplifier, the signal amplifier, the preamplifier and the line noise filter therefor are contained, the second cabinet being mechanically and electrically connected to the shield room; the gradient magnetic field power supply and the line noise filter for the gradient magnetic field being connected to each other so as to reduce the distance therebetween, and/or the preamplifier and the electric power supply for the preamplifier being connected to each other so as to reduce the distance therebetween.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention, a nuclear magnetic resonance diagnosis apparatus is provided which comprises: a measurement system, including a magnet for generating a static magnetic field in a space in which an object to be inspected is placed, a gradient magnetic field coil for generating a gradient magnetic field in the space, an irradiation coil for applying a radio frequency magnetic field to the object to be inspected and a receiving coil for detecting a nuclear magnetic resonance signal generated from the object to be inspected; a gradient magnetic field power supply for driving the gradient magnetic field coil; a radio frequency amplifier for supplying a current to the irradiation coil; a signal amplifier for amplifying the nuclear magnetic resonance signal; a preamplifier connected between the receiving coil and the signal amplifier; an electric power supply for the preamplifier; a signal processing system for reconstructing a sectional image of the object to be inspected based on the nuclear magnetic resonance signal; an electromagnetic shield room in which the measurement system is arranged; a line noise filter for the gradient magnetic field connected between the gradient magnetic field coil and the gradient magnetic field power supply; and a line noise filter for the preamplifier connected between the preamplifier and its electric power supply; the gradient magnetic field power supply and the line noise filter for the gradient magnetic field being connected to each other so as to be prevented from being spaced apart from each other, and/or the preamplifier and the electric power supply therefor being connected to each other so as to be prevented from being spaced apart from each other.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, a nuclear magnetic resonance diagnosis apparatus comprises: a measurement system, including a magnet for generating a static magnetic field in a space in which an object to be inspected is placed, a gradient magnetic field coil for generating a gradient magnetic field in the space, an irradiation coil for applying a radio frequency magnetic field to the object to be inspected and a receiving coil for detecting a nuclear magnetic resonance signal generated from the object to be inspected; a gradient magnetic field power supply for driving the gradient magnetic field coil; a radio frequency amplifier for supplying a current to the irradiation coil; a signal amplifier for the nuclear magnetic resonance signal; a preamplifier connected between the receiving coil and the signal amplifier; an electric power supply for the preamplifier; a signal processing system for reconstructing a sectional image of the object to be inspected based on the nuclear magnetic resonance signal; an electromagnetic shield room in which the measurement system is arranged; a line noise filter connected between the gradient magnetic.field coil and the gradient magnetic field power supply; and a line noise filter connected between the preamplifier and its electric power supply; the gradient magnetic field power supply and the line noise filter for the gradient magnetic field being connected to each other so that a connection line therebetween becomes substantially zero in impedance, and/or the preamplifier and the electric power supply therefor being connected to each other so that a connection line therebetween becomes substantially zero in impedance.
According to a further additional aspect of the present invention, a nuclear magnetic resonance diagnosis apparatus is provided which comprises: a measurement system, including a magnet for generating a static magnetic field in a space in which an object to be inspected is placed, a gradient magnetic field coil for generating a gradient magnetic field in the space, an irradiation coil for applying a radio frequency magnetic field to the object to be inspected and a receiving coil for detecting a nuclear magnetic resonance signal generated from the object to be inspected; a gradient magnetic field power supply for driving the gradient magnetic field coil; a radio frequency amplifier for supplying a current to the irradiation coil; a signal processing system for reconstructing a sectional image of the object to be inspected based on the nuclear magnetic resonance signal; an electromagnetic shield room in which the measurement system is arranged; a line noise filter connected between the gradient magnetic field coil and the gradient magnetic power supply; and a system ground to which the gradient magnetic field power supply, the signal amplifier, the radio frequency amplifier and the line noise filter are connected.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, a nuclear magnetic resonance diagnosis apparatus is provided which comprises: a measurement system, including a magnet for generating a static magnetic field in a space in which an object to be inspected is placed, a gradient magnetic field coil for generating a gradient magnetic field in the space, an irradiation coil for applying a radio frequency magnetic field to the object to be inspected and a receiving coil for detecting a nuclear magnetic resonance signal generated from the object to be inspected; a gradient magnetic field power supply for driving the gradient magnetic field coil; a signal processing system for reconstructing a sectional image of the object to be inspected based on the nuclear magnetic resonance signal; an electromagnetic shield room in which the measurement system is arranged; and a line noise filter connected between the gradient magnetic field coil and the gradient magnetic power supply; the gradient magnetic field power supply and the line noise filter being connected to each other so that a noise voltage generated from the gradient magnetic field power supply and mixed in the nuclear magnetic resonance signal is substantially zero.
Other objects and features of the present invention will become more apparent from the description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.

MRI DIAGNOSIS APPARATUS WITH AN INTERGRATED CABINET THAT IS MECHANICALLY AND ELECTRICALLY CONNECTED TO THE ELECTRICALLY CONDUCTIVE SHIELD OF THE SHIELD ROOM IN WHICH THE MR MEASUREMENT SYSTEM IS ARRANGED


A system and method to install a software application on a host computer system using a file repository located on another host computer system. The method includes installing, on a first host computer system, a virtual machine image including a file repository including one or more pre-requisites for installing a software application. The method further includes configuring a second host computer system with an identifier of the file repository. The method also includes installing the software application on a virtual machine associated with the second host computer system using the file repository.

Software applications, such as external service software applications, may be employed in a virtualization environment to provide functionality to consumers in the virtualization environment, and/or to offload services which might otherwise be handled in a fashion internal to the virtualization environment. Installing and updating a software application may require installing one or more pre-requisite software packages.


The present invention is directed to methods for performing negative selection assays leading to the identification of cytostatic or cytotoxic agents that cause a lethal phenotype. The invention is useful also for evaluation of conditional cytotoxicity and cell-specific cytotoxicity.

Cancer and other diseases involving abnormal or undesired cellular proliferation present a major challenge to the pharmaceutical industry. Desirable therapeutic compounds frequently act on cellular targets to inhibit cellular growth and/or kill unwanted cells. In order to identify such therapeutic compounds efficiently, it is often desirable to identify the cellular targets that are involved in such growth inhibition or cell death. Yet such cellular targets are difficult to identify, because cells exhibiting the desired phenotype disappear from a cell population, and consequently the targets (and the corresponding causative agents) are lost.
In general terms, experiments that identify agents that inhibit cellular growth and/or kill cells are termed xe2x80x9cnegative selectionsxe2x80x9dxe2x80x94i.e., selections for compounds that exert a cytotoxic or cytostatic effect on a cellular population. Such negative selections are needed for pharmaceutical research relating to a number of areas, including cancer, viral infection and the like. The art to date has not provided efficient, generally applicable methods for conducting negative selections in mammalian cellsxe2x80x94i.e., for directly identifying the causative agents and subsequently recovering the targets that interact with such agents to result in growth inhibition or in cell death.
The lack of efficient negative selection protocols is of particular concern in the field of cancer research. Drug discovery for cancer requires identification of therapeutic agents that interact with endogenous cellular targets so as to provide a cytotoxic effect on the diseased or abnormal cell. Preferably, such agents also will act with specificity for the target cell typexe2x80x94i.e., selectively killing unwanted cells, while sparing healthy, normal cells. One method for identifying such valuable therapeutic agents is to first identify an endogenous cellular target involved in that cytotoxic effect, and then use that target as the basis of a screen to identify small molecule modulators that interact with the target. Alternatively, therapeutic agents may be either proteinaceous compounds that interact with an endogenous cellular target or nucleic acids that prevent either the production or function of that target. In such cases, it is desirable to directly recover the agent that caused the desired cellular inhibition or death.
In the case of cell death, the modulated target may in some instances be involved in an apoptotic pathway, and in other instances, may be involved in necrosis. In general terms, apoptosis is the process of normal, programmed cell death in an organism, while necrosis is a less specific, regulated response that lacks many biochemical features associated with apoptosis. Many clinical manifestations of cancer are believed to represent a malfunction in this normal apoptotic processxe2x80x94i.e., a failure of normal cell death, leading to uncontrolled proliferation of transformed cancer cells in the body. Thus, the pharmaceutical industry particularly desires to identify agents that will selectively promote the apoptotic process, thereby encouraging death of the unwanted cancerous cells.
Much of the current research for new chemotherapeutic agents focuses largely on identifying new compounds that interact with, or modulate the effect of, proteins that are already known to play a key role in a given disease pathway. One such example is recent work on the role of thymidine kinase in cancer, and the resulting discovery of 5-Fluorouracil and folate analogues. Such techniques, however, are inherently limited by the scope of pre-existing knowledge of such key proteins. To maximize the development of new chemotherapeutic agents for, e.g., cancer, it is preferable to be able to broadly and generally screen for cytotoxic compounds without being so limited to a small pre-existing pool of targets.
Several general methods relate to the identification of dead or dying cells, but lack the ability to directly identify substances that caused the cell death (and, therefore, do not lead to the direct identification of the cellular target that modulates its cytotoxic effect); for example, a variety of staining methods identify necrotic and/or apoptotic cells. Such methods include antibody staining techniques and dye staining techniques such as, e.g., propidium iodide staining. Other assays employ laborious replica plating techniques, whereby duplicate colonies are established and one such colony is exposed to putative cytotoxic agents. When cellular death is observed in the one colony (via its death, or absence from a replica plate), its corresponding duplicate is then subjected to further analysis. However, such replica plating techniques are time-consuming and not suited to high-throughput screening procedures. Moreover, at best the replica plating technique is an approximation, as the actual endogenous cellular materials that are involved in the cell death are lost with the duplicate colony that disappears from the replica plate.
Thus, a need exists for a negative selection technique that is direct (i.e., it is the dead or dying cells themselves that provide the causative agents and corresponding endogenous targets relating to their death). Moreover, a need exists for a negative selection technique that provides rapid, efficient evaluationsxe2x80x94i.e., a technique that is suitable for high-throughput screening. The present invention meets these needs.
The present invention provides methods for performing negative selections. In some embodiments, the negative selections are performed by introducing a genetic library into a population of target cells, collecting a subpopulation of cells that disattach from a culturing surface, and then recovering the genetic material from that subpopulation. In other embodiments, the invention provides methods for obtaining cytotoxic agents that establish a lethal phenotype, wherein a genetic library is introduced into a population of target cells, a subpopulation of cells displaying a lethal phenotype is collected, and genetic material is then recovered from that subpopulation. In variations of these embodiments, cell-specific cytotoxic agents are identified by employing a counterscreening step wherein the genetic material from the subpopulation displaying disattachment and/or the lethal phenotype is introduced into a second, different population of cells, and a second sublibrary of genetic material is obtained from a second subpopulation that does not display disattachment and/or the lethal phenotype.
A variety of particular embodiments exist for each of these basic embodiments. In some particular embodiments, the lethal phenotype of the methodology may be apoptosis, necrosis, or growth arrest. In embodiments in which the lethal phenotype is apoptosis, the property of disattachment from a culturing substrate may be used as a surrogate for apoptosis, thereby providing a technique for enriching the apoptotic cell population. In other particular embodiments, the genetic material may be partially sequenced, or the method steps may be reiterated in a second population of the same cells. The target cells may be mammalian cells, or more particularly primary cells, especially primary cells derived from epithelial or endothelial cells, stem cells, mesenchymal cells, fibroblasts, neuronal cells or hematopoeitic cells. The mammalian cells may also be cancer cells, or more particularly cancer cells that are metastatic or derived from solid tumors. The cancer cells may particularly be derived from breast, colon, lung, melanoma or prostate tissue. In other particular embodiments, the mammalian cells are genetically altered, and more particularly may be immortalized or transformed.
In embodiments that utilize the property of disattachment of target cells from a culturing surface, particular embodiments will feature a low background of spontaneously disattaching cells, which may more particularly be no more than about 10%, or alternatively no more that about 2%. Target cells having such low backgrounds include SW620 and HT29 colon cancer cells, T47D breast cancer cells, and HuVEC cells. In particular embodiments, the disadhering cells are collected over a period of at last about 12 hours. In still other particular embodiments of the basic embodiments, the genetic library is large or even very large(xcx9c105 encoded putative cytotoxic agents).
The invention also encompasses the identification of small organic molecules that induce a lethal phenotype. In some embodiments, organic molecules that displace a proteinaceous cytotoxic agent from an endogenous protein are obtained. In other embodiments, organic molecules having a structure-activity relationship with that proteinaceous cytotoxic agent are identified.
The invention also lends itself to embodiments that screen for conditional cytotoxicity, wherein a genetic library is introduced into a population of target cells, exposing those target cells to a subtoxic threshold dose of a secondary reagent, collecting a subpopulation of cells displaying a lethal phenotype, and recovering genetic material from that subpopulation. Again, in particular embodiments the lethal phenotype may be apoptosis, necrosis or growth arrest. In other particular embodiments, the secondary reagent may be UV, X-ray or neutron radiation, or may be a chemotherapeutic agent, more particularly methotrexate, cisplatin, 5-fluorouracil, colchicines, vinblastine, vincristine, doxyrubicin or taxol. Particular embodiments include cancer cells, more particularly solid tumors, as target cells, counterscreening with a second cytotoxic substance, preconditioning the target cells prior to exposure with, e.g., growth factors, cytokines, chemokines, or activation of oncogenes.
The invention also encompasses compositions of matter, more particularly six representative amino acid sequences, that are obtained by applying the inventive negative selection methods to HT29 colon cancer cells.

Methods for identifying agents that cause a lethal phenotype, and agents thereof


Apparatus and method for inserting a hose coupling into a hose, the coupling and the hose having inner surfaces defining an inner diameter. A shaft has a first and a second end. A gripping member is associated with the shaft and is movable between a relaxed condition wherein the gripping member has a diameter less than the inner diameters of the hose the coupling and an expanded condition wherein the diameter of the gripping member is increased so that the gripping member grippingly contacts the inner surface of the hose to secure the shaft in the hose in a way that the second end of the shaft extends from the hose. A pusher member is associated with the shaft, and is engageable with the coupling and is movable along the shaft towards the gripping member to insert the coupling into the hose.

Various hose fittings and hose couplings are press-fitted, pushed, pressed, swagged, or otherwise connected with a hose in a variety of industrial, residential, and commercial settings and applications. Such fittings and couplings are generally made of metals or resilient plastics and are implemented to allow the hose to be fluidly coupled with another hose, a conduit, or a vessel.
In some cases, a hose coupling with an external diameter slightly larger than the internal diameter of the hose may be press-fitted or pushed into an end of the hose. The hose coupling may include a variety of surface features on its external surface configured to securely retain the hose coupling in the hose. Such features may include directional teeth, grooves, or striations.
One way to insert a hose coupling into a hose is to manually hammer the hose coupling into the hose. To enable easier insertion of hose couplings into hoses, a variety of tools and devices have been developed. Some existing devices are bulky and cumbersome and are difficult to move and operate in the field. Other existing devices rely on electrical or hydraulic power sources to operate and are expensive to manufacture and failure-prone.
Further, existing coupling inserting devices generally grasp the external surface of the hose with a variety of clamps, vices, pliers, or grasping members which are generally configured to grip, grasp, or compress the external surface of the hose. One problem that ma be encountered with the use of such devices in that damage may occur to the external surface of the hose, which in turn may cause leaks and ruptures of the hose during its use. Also, applying pressure to the external surface of the hose via existing devices may partially or completely collapse the hose and may restrict the internal diameter of the hose so that insertion of a hose coupling into the hose is impeded.

Method for inserting a hose coupling into a hose


According to one method for processing a message containing TLV elements, the method includes receiving an ingress message containing a plurality of TLV elements. The method also includes determining, using at least one message related attribute, whether the ingress message is to be processed using a stateless decode algorithm. The method further includes in response to determining that the ingress message is to be processed using the stateless decode algorithm, processing the ingress message using the stateless decode algorithm. The method also includes determining, using the stateless decode algorithm, whether the ingress message includes at least one TLV element indicating that the ingress message is to be further processed using a stateful decode algorithm. The method further includes indicating that the ingress message is to be further processed using the stateful decode algorithm, processing the ingress message using the stateful decode algorithm.

Type-length-value (TLV) elements, also known as attribute-value pair or information elements (IEs), are data constructs usable for providing information (e.g., attributes) in protocol packets or other messages. For example, a TLV element may include an identifier indicating a type or kind of information contained therein, a length of the information contained therein, and the value or information contained therein. Various communications protocols and/or data representation schemes (e.g., extensible markup language (XML)) may use TLV elements for exchanging and/or storing information. For example, Diameter and remote authentication dial in user service (RADIUS) are authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) protocols and use TLV elements to provide information in various messages.
Some message processing nodes may be configured to process (e.g., encode, decode, and/or other actions) messages containing TLV elements. For example, a Diameter signaling router may be configured to decode an ingress message containing TLV elements, modify the TLV elements, add TLV elements, remove TLV elements, encode an egress message containing the modified TLV elements and/or the additional TLV elements, and send the egress message to a destination. Accordingly, the performance of a message processing node may be dependent on the performance of decode and/or encode operations used for messages containing TLV elements. Existing solutions often use a decode strategy that store significant amounts of metadata (e.g., TLV element attribute data, TLV element locations, TLV element order, etc.) about messages in one or more data structures. As such, these solutions are generally resource inefficient (e.g., requiring more memory and/or processing resources), especially in scenarios where some or most of the messages are to be discarded.

Methods, systems, and computer readable media for processing messages using stateful and stateless decode strategies


The present invention relates to techniques for ensuring that an image receiving sheet, which has only one major surface thereof coated with an image receiving coating, is properly oriented prior to an image being printed thereon. The image receiving sheet has a concave or convex irregularity (e.g., a notch, arc, etc.) formed in at least one nominally straight edge of the sheet. In a first embodiment, a mechanical or optical sensing means detects whether or not the image receiving sheet is stacked correctly in a loading tray by sensing whether or not the edge irregularities are properly positioned. In a second embodiment, an edge and a notch sensing means detect whether or not the image receiving sheet is oriented properly while being fed into the printer. An improperly loaded image receiving sheet is either not fed into the printer, or transits the printer without causing the printer to attempt to print the image thereon. A visual and/or audible alarm can be activated upon the detection of an improperly loaded image receiving sheet to apprise a printer operator of the improperly loaded sheet.

In printers an image receiving sheet is used having one or both major opposing surfaces thereof which are treated or coated so as to optimally receive and reproduce a color image. These coatings on the one or both major surfaces are formed in layers using a relatively complex and expensive coating process. Because of such complex and expensive coating process, it is very advantageous to coat only one side of the image receiving sheet in order to reduce the cost of the image receiving sheets. Such cost saving is also achieved where the image receiving sheet is transparent.
In, for example, a thermal printer that can generate an image on only one side of a dye receiving sheet, it is important to properly orient the dye receiving sheet in a printing area of the printer when the dye receiving sheet has only one major surface that is coated to receive the dyes. More particularly, the one surface coated dye receiving sheet leads to problems if such dye receiving sheet is placed in the thermal printer with the non-coated side disposed to receive the dyes. Failure to properly orient the dye receiving sheet results in the color image not being reproduced. This reduces the efficiency of the printing operation.
One solution to this problem was implemented on the Kodak Model XL7700 thermal dye printer. In this printer, a series of notches is made off center on one edge of the dye receiving sheets, and labels are used (e.g., on the printer or the package of sheets) to guide a person to correctly orient the sheets while loading these sheets into the printer. This technique still allows for misprinting if the person loading the printer does not follow the labeled instructions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,536,772 (M. Isogai), issued on Aug. 20, 1985, discloses a thermal printer which uses a notch in a dye donor sheet. The purpose of such notch is to indicate the color of the dye present within a dyesheet holder frame. More particularly, these frames are selectively fed from a holder of the frames, and the notch verifies that such frames are sequenced correctly but does not prevent misorientation of the dye donor sheets.
It is desirable to provide a technique which ensures that such image (dye) receiving sheets, which have only one side thereof with a coating formed thereon, are properly oriented when being placed in the printing area of a printer.

Image receiving sheet inversion sensing techniques


Systems and methods for providing efficient modeling and measurement of critical dimensions and/or overlay registrations of wafers are disclosed. Efficiency is improved in both spectral dimension and temporal dimension. In the spectral dimension, efficiency can be improved by allowing different numerical aperture (NA) models to be used for different wavelengths in electromagnetic calculations, effectively providing a balance between computation speed and accuracy. In the temporal dimension, different NA models may be used at different iterations/stages in the process, effectively improving the computation speed without sacrificing the quality of the final result.

Thin polished plates such as silicon wafers and the like are a very important part of modern technology. A wafer, for instance, may refer to a thin slice of semiconductor material used in the fabrication of integrated circuits and other devices.
Wafers are subject to inspections, and semiconductor metrology tools can be used to measure certain structural and material characteristics of the wafers at various stages during the fabrication process. These measurements may be used to facilitate process/quality controls and to improve the efficiencies of the fabrication process. It is noted, however, that some of the existing methods for measuring structural and material characteristics of the wafers are inefficient.

Adaptive numerical aperture control method and system


An apparatus for drilling lock wire holes in lock wire nuts includes a variable speed drill press mounted on a work bench and having a vertically movable drill quill supporting a rotating drill spindle on one end of which is mounted a drill chuck for holding and driving a drill bit for drilling a hole in the lock wire nuts. An N/C microprocessor is coupled to the drill press for controlling the vertical motion of the drill quill in a peck drill cycle. A nut holder, including a collet chuck having three jaw inserts is mounted in a chuck indexer for positioning the chuck in any of three 120.degree. angularly spaced positions about a central longitudinal axis through the chuck. A drill guide in each of said jaw inserts guides the drill bit at an angle against said faces of said nuts to drill lock wire holes through the nut lobes. The chuck indexer is mounted on an X-Y positioner, in turn mounted on the work bench, for positioning the drill guide in the jaw inserts to be drilled through precisely in alignment with the drill in the drill press. The jaw inserts are indexed one by one in the chuck in line with the drill bit and the N/C microprocessor controls the drill press to execute the peck drill cycle through the drill guide to drill a lock wire hole through the desired lobes of the lock wire nut.

Lock wire hex nuts are conventional hex nuts having holes drilled through one or more outer hex lobes in the hex nut to receive a lock wire which can be secured to a adjacent fixed structure to prevent the nuts from loosening and rotating in service. The drilling of a lock wire hole in a hex nut in the past has been an awkward and time consuming task, often resulting in broken drill or a scraped part because of the inherent difficulties in the task. The lock wire hole in the hex nut lobe is drilled at a thirty degree angle to the face of the nut and this sharp angle often results in drilling problems because the angle of the nut face tends to devert the line of action of the drill, often resulting in broken drills and possible a damaged part.
Drill jigs and commercially produced machines for aiding in the drilling for the lock wire holes have somewhat improved the process, but difficulties are still encountered. The angle of the nut face still tends to divert the line of action of the drill resulting in either a broken drill or an imperfect hole through the lock wire nut lobe, and the drill bit tends to become quickly clogged with drill chips since the diameter of the lock wire hole is usually on the order of 1/16th of an inch. The set up time to install the lock wire nut in the drilling jig has proven to be excessive and is such a tedious and slow operation that operators despise the job and try to avoid it. Thus, the art has long sought in vain and apparatus for drilling lock wire holes in lock wire nuts that is fast and easy, requires little set up time, does not result in excessive breakage of drill bits and operates the drilling cycle automatically to free the operator for deburring the nuts through the drilling cycle of the next nut.


The present invention relates to a hot melt adhesive composition, comprising based on the total weight of the hot melt adhesive composition: (a) more than 25 weight percent of at least one block copolymer, (b) from about 27 to about 45 weight percent of at least one plasticizer, (c) from about 18 to less than about 55 weight percent of a combination of at least two different resins; and (d) optionally up to 10% weight percent of at least one wax. The hot melt adhesive composition of the invention can be used for bonding bundles of plastic containers such as bottles into packs.

Hot melt adhesive compositions are well known in the art. Such hot melt adhesives are typically solid at room temperature and are applied to a substrate when molten, and then placed in contact with a second substrate. The adhesive cools and hardens to form a bond between the substrates. Hot melt adhesives are typically composed of at least two components: (a) a polymer; and (b) a resin. Optionally, various amounts of wax and plasticizer may further be employed. The polymer provides the formulation with its strength and adhesive characteristics. Typically, a thermoplastic polymer is used. The thermoplastic polymer may be selected from homopolymers, copolymers (e.g. interpolymers) or block copolymers. The resin allows the thermoplastic polymer to be more adhesive by improving wetting during the application. Resins are added to give tack to the adhesive and also to lower viscosity. Tack is required in most adhesive formulations to allow for proper joining of articles prior to the hot melt adhesive solidifying. One function of the wax component is to lower the viscosity of the hot melt adhesive. Low viscosity helps to lower application temperatures, provide cleaner processing, and also good wet out of the substrates. Furthermore, a low viscosity allows for liquefaction of the hot melt adhesive. In addition, due to the presence of the wax component, the hot melt adhesive crystallizes quickly which helps the material to harden or set quickly. Thus, the wax component also controls the open time and set speed of the system. The plasticizer also helps to lower viscosity and can additionally be used to impart permanent tack properties to the hot melt adhesive.
It is known in the art to use hot melt adhesives for bonding containers into packs. For example, WO 2013/004340 and WO 2013/004337 describe methods for producing packs of containers by bonding the containers to each other using an adhesive such as a hot melt adhesive. By directly bonding containers such as bottles using an adhesive, waste resulting from shrink wrap with LDPE films on the bottle packs can be avoided. This also saves considerable amounts of energy since, for example, shrink wrapping involves six-packs being moved through a heating tunnel which uses large amounts of energy. Furthermore, a smaller packing line footprint and increased packing line speeds are possible. Also, the optical appearance of six-packs is improved, since undesirable creases in the shrink wrap are avoided. This improvement in appearance is highly desirable, because beverage filling companies are concerned about the appearance of their packaged product. Generally, any secondary packaging of container packs, such as carton or cardboard cases, sheaths, plastic rings, etc. can be avoided.
However, when using an adhesive such as a hot melt adhesive for directly bonding containers to each other, it is necessary to provide on the one hand a reliable bond between the containers. On the other hand, it is also required to ensure easy separation of the containers so that an individual container can be separated from the pack. Generally, a reliable bond can be provided by using a higher adhesive force, i.e. a stronger bond. By contrast, easy separation can be ensured by applying a lower adhesive force. Thus, providing simultaneously for a reliable bond and for easy separation represent conflicting goals.
Containers can be made from a variety of materials. Therefore, a hot melt adhesive composition used for bonding containers should be specifically selected to reliably bond a given material.
Various plastics are used to make containers that could benefit from adhesive bundling. Possible plastics include e.g. polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene napthalate (PEN), other polyesters, polyethylene (e.g. high density polyethylene (HDPE)), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS) and polycarbonate. The inventors also envision that the hot melt adhesives of this invention could be useful for bundling containers based partially or entirely on bio-based and/or bio-degradable polymers such as e.g. poly lactic acid (PLA).
The adhesives of this invention are particularly useful for bonding PET. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is a thermoplastic polymer having excellent moisture barrier properties. Therefore, PET is widely used for making containers for e.g. liquids such as beverage, or food. In addition, PET can easily be recycled.
Thus, there is a need in the art for hot melt adhesives for reliably bonding plastic containers to each other into packs, while at the same time being easily separable from each other. It is further desirable that such hot melt adhesives are removable (i.e. can be stripped cleanly from the container, leaving no adhesive residue behind) after use, e.g. during recycling

Hot melt adhesive composition for bonding packs of plastic containers


A valve assembly is provided for permitting the introduction of a surgical instrument into a patient""s body while providing a substantial seal about the instrument. The valve assembly includes a sealing gasket assembly providing a fluid tight seal before instrument insertion, and is configured and dimensioned for accommodating an instrument and providing a substantial fluid tight seal after insertion of an instrument. The valve assembly may further include a deformable sealing member having a substantially central aperture for accommodating the instrument. The sealing member provides a substantial seal about the instrument when the instrument is passed therethrough impeding the egress of fluids and gasses through the valve assembly.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to valve systems of the type adapted to allow the introduction of a surgical instrument into a patient""s body. In particular, the invention is applicable to a cannula assembly wherein a cannula housing includes the valve assembly and the cannula is intended for insertion into a patient""s body to sealingly accommodate an instrument inserted through the cannula and valve.
2. Background of the Prior Art
In laparoscopic procedures surgery is performed in the interior of the abdomen through a small incision; in endoscopic procedures surgery is performed in any hollow viscus of the body through narrow tubes or cannula inserted through a small entrance incision in the skin. Laparoscopic and endoscopic procedures generally require that any instrumentation inserted into the body be sealed, i.e. provisions must be made to ensure that gases do not enter or exit the body through the incision as, for example, in surgical procedures in which the surgical region is insufflated. Moreover, laparoscopic and endoscopic procedures often require the surgeon to act on organs, tissues, and vessels far removed from the incision, thereby requiring that any instruments used in such procedures be relatively long and narrow.
For such procedures, the introduction of a tube into certain anatomical cavities such as the abdominal cavity is usually accomplished by use of a trocar assembly comprised of a cannula assembly and an obturator. The cannula assembly includes a cannula tube attached to a valve assembly which is adapted to maintain a seal across the opening of the cannula assembly. Since the cannula tube is in direct communication with the internal portion of the valve assembly, insertion of the cannula tube into an opening in the patient""s body so as to reach the inner abdominal cavity must maintain a relatively gas-tight interface between the abdominal cavity and the outside atmosphere.
Since surgical procedures in the abdominal cavity of the body require insufflating gases to raise the cavity wall away from vital organs, the procedure is usually initiated by use of a Verres needle through which a gas such as CO2 is introduced into the body cavity. Thereafter, the pointed obturator of the trocar assembly is inserted into the cannula assembly and used to puncture the abdominal cavity wall. The gas provides a slight pressure which raises the inner wall surface away from the vital organs thereby avoiding unnecessary contact with the organs by the instruments inserted into the cannula. Following removal of the obturator, laparoscopic or endoscopic surgical instruments may then be inserted through the cannula assembly to perform surgery within the abdominal cavity.
In view of the need to prevent leakage of the insufflation gas from the cavity, the cannula is typically provided with a valve assembly which permits introduction of surgical instruments to provide selective communication between the inner atmosphere of the cavity with the outside atmosphere. In this regard, there have been a number of attempts in the prior art to provide such a seal as part of the cannula assembly.
One form of cannula valve assembly includes a flapper valve which is pivotally mounted within the cannula assembly and is automatically opened by the obturator or other object when it is inserted into the proximal end of the cannula. Conventional flapper valves may also be manually opened by pivoting a lever on the exterior of the housing. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,943,280 to Lander. Trumpet valves are also known.
Other conventional cannula valve devices for accommodating surgical instruments include a single or plurality of flexible sealing members as shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,655,752 to Honkanen et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,909,798 to Fleischhacker, U.S. Pat. No. 4,673,393 to Suzuki et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,610,665 to Matsumoto et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 4,869,717 to Adair.
Further, typical hemostasis valve devices are shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,041,095 to Littrell, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,000,745 to Guest et al., While attempts have been made to provide a valve assembly which maintains the integrity of the seal between the body cavity and the atmosphere outside the patient""s body. Seal systems provided to date have failed to address the full range of surgeons"" needs, especially when instruments varying in diameter are used. Specifically, sealing elements currently used may be damaged when an instrument, such as a pointed obturator is passed therethrough. Moreover, present seal systems have not provided adequate sealing about an instrument before and after an instrument is passed therethrough. Also, existing seal systems have failed to provide adequate sealing of a cannula, or a trocar assembly having a cannula which accommodates instruments of varying diameters. It is a further disadvantage of existing seal systems that adequate sealing is not provided in conjunction with a structure for holding a cannula in a desirable position in an incision with respect to a patient""s body.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a valve assembly which addresses these shortcomings in the art by maintaining a substantially fluid tight seal between an internal portion of a patient""s body and the outside atmosphere during insertion and manipulation of a surgical instrument into the patient""s body. Such an assembly may further provide stabilization or lateral limitation of motion of an instrument passed therethrough. Also, the valve assembly may inhibit fluids from exiting with the instrument while being withdrawn, and the valve assembly may inhibit contact with sealing structure. It is further desirable to provide a valve assembly for use with a cannula or trocar assembly which provides substantial fluid and gas tight sealing before and after an instrument is passed therethrough. It would also be desirable to provide a cannula which maintains a predetermined position of a cannula or trocar assembly in an incision.
The present invention provides a valve assembly which may be incorporated into a cannula assembly or utilized in combination with any type of tubular member for providing access into the body of a patient while permitting introduction of instruments through the valve assembly into the body. The valve assembly includes a sealing gasket which provides a desirable seal about an instrument inserted through the valve assembly. The valve assembly may further provide stabilization of the cannula or limit lateral motion of the cannula when an instrument is passed therethrough.
Also, the valve assembly may include more than one sealing element providing improved sealing qualities under varied conditions. At all times, the surgeon maintains control over the interface between the atmospheres within and without the patient""s body. Moreover, the present invention makes it possible to introduce instruments of varying sizes into the body and insures the maintenance of a gas seal despite instrument manipulation therethrough.
A valve assembly is provided for permitting the introduction of a surgical instrument into a patient""s body through a tube such as a cannula. The valve assembly includes at least one sealing gasket constructed of a flexible material and having a passageway. The passageway is substantially closed prior to insertion of an instrument through the valve assembly forming a substantial gas tight seal. When an instrument is inserted through the passageway of the valve assembly the flexible material defining the passageway resiliently engages an outer surface of the instrument in a substantially gas tight manner.
The sealing gasket may include sealing structure having first and second overlapping elements. The sealing gasket can be removably positioned on a frame or in a housing assembly such that the first and second overlapping elements are tensioned.
The valve assembly may further include sealing structure comprising a third element having a substantially central aperture. The third element may have a tapered portion and be constructed at least partially of a flexible material. The third element accommodates an instrument passed through its central aperture providing substantial sealing about the instrument passed therethrough. A retainer structure inhibits contact by the instrument with adjacent sealing structure such as, the first and second elements of the gasket assembly or the third element. The retainer structure includes at least one movable portion and a substantially central aperture for accommodating the instrument.
The valve assembly may further provide a sealing structure comprising a fourth element for substantially removing fluids from the surface of an instrument passed therethrough. The fourth element may include a substantially central aperture defined by a deformable material such that the central aperture is capable of accommodating the instrument.


Apparatus for heating and pouring metal and metal alloys. A metal melting and pouring apparatus suitable for graining the molten material is described. A graphite crucible having at least one exit orifice in its lower, tapered portion, a graphite barrier plate or disk having a plurality of orifices located within the crucible on the tapered portion thereof, and an element for heating the apparatus to temperatures sufficient to melt the metal, have been found to produce a steady stream of consistent droplet-size molten metal, while maintaining a choosen level of liquid metal in the crucible to prevent less dense impurity materials from passing through the exit orifice(s) of the crucible, and to improve the efficiency of melting additional metal subsequently introduced into the crucible.

The present invention relates generally to crucibles for melting and pouring metals and, more particularly, to a crucible for delivering molten metal in a steady stream without clogging the exit orifice thereof.
In order to facilitate measurement, handling, pouring, and rapid and uniform melting, metal that is to be melted for molding purposes such as for jewelry, dental crowns, sheeting, etc., is generally formed into uniform grains or granules.
In the process of graining, or generating small particles of a metal from the liquid metal, the metal is commonly melted in a crucible having an exit orifice located in the bottom portion thereof. Solid metal is introduced into the crucible through its open upper portion, and melted by heating the crucible. To obtain uniform grain size of the particles exiting the crucible orifice, the temperature of the metal and the pressure head of the liquid above the orifice must both be substantially maintained at chosen values. Crucibles currently used for this purpose simply have holes in the lower portion thereof which essentially permit liquid flow as soon as liquid metal is formed in the crucible above the orifices.
One manner in which uniform grain size may be achieved is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,986,941 for "Shotting Apparatus and Process," which issued on Jan. 22, 1991 to Loren E. Hendrix and Alan B. Mistrater. The inventors disclose a shotting apparatus which comprises a chamber for containing a molten material and a plate with a plurality of orifices through which the molten material can pass to form droplets. A head of molten metal is achieved by regulating the flow of molten material to the chamber through an entrance in its upper portion. It appears that the apparatus is heated by the molten metal introduced thereto.
Additionally, since the solid metal added to a crucible is often impure, the impurities generally having lower density than the metal itself, it is necessary to prevent materials in the proximity of the surface of the molten metal from exiting through the orifice, both to reduce the tendency of the orifice from becoming clogged, and to prevent the formation of grains which are substantially different in composition from the desired metal. It is assumed that Hendrix et al., supra, have solved this problem with some sort of metal purification before the liquid metal is introduced into the apparatus.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for generating uniform droplets of molten metal for graining purposes.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for generating uniform droplets of molten metal which have uniform composition for graining purposes.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for efficiently melting and pouring metals.
Additional objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Apparatus for melting and pouring metal and metal alloys


Apparatus for the production and proper calibration of improved flexible hoses made by a soft thermoplastic material reinforced with a continuous spiral of rigid thermoplastic material. During their production the hoses do not rotate but are produced linearly and in their internal surface no longitudinal grooves are engraved. The melted coaxial materials are discharged through a rotating mechanism to a calibration unit which rotates with it and bears peripherally special inclined rollers on which is transmitted, via an epicyclic gearing system, a controlled rotation opposite to the above direction. On this calibration unit the plastic hose is formed successively, advancing linearly forward.

For many years, two principal methods were common for the production of flexible hoses made by soft thermoplastic material reinforced with a continuous spiral made by a rigid thermoplastic material. The materials which are used for these hoses are mainly the combination of soft (plasticized) and rigid PVC. The calibration of the soft PVC at the specified dimension by the usual methods is very difficult because this material behaves as a viscous glue at the processing temperatures. On the other hand this property of the plasticized PVC, which under the normal environment conditions behaves generally as a rubber, makes it incomparable for the creation of flexible hoses reinforced with a strengthening spiral from hard thermoplastic or metallic spiral, which is embodied in its mass consisting of the wall of the hose. This type of hose keeps their cylindrical form and presents a satisfactory resistance to the external and internal loads. Because of their flexibility they are very useful and almost non-replaceable for many applications such as the transport of water, petrol, beer, milk and many liquids, for the supply or absorption of air, absorption of industrial gases, powders etc., and further for transportation of gravel, dry seeds etc., protection and additional external isolation of electric cables any many other special applications.
According to the first method of production, which was invented by Arist. Petzetakis, see Greek patent No 22347/13th of Oct., 1961, a simultaneous coextrusion of the two materials, soft and rigid PVC is made, with the soft material surrounding the rigid material. Through a special head, the produced composite "cord" is wound around a special calibration unit, which gives the produced hose the desired diameter. As this "cord", which is composed by the two melted plastic materials, comes in contact with the wall of the already formed plastic hose, it sticks on it, forming an endless spiral. As indicated above, the adhesive soft material surrounds the corresponding rigid portion, so actually, the soft material is the one that comes in continuous contact with the corresponding soft material of the last spiral of the already formed hose and, by continuous welding, forms the hose. In this way the advantageous weldability of the soft PVC and other soft plastic material is completely exploited. However, because of the above required property, the melted soft PVC also sticks easily on the material of the necessary calibration unit, thereby not permitting the creation of a hose with satisfactory quality. To avoid this problem, a special calibration unit is used in connection with this method wherein the produced hose while it is pulled away with the help of a haul-off machine, laying post the production line.
By this method the hose is produced linearly (does not rotate during production), the required area is small and there is no limitation to the produced length. However, the hoses produced by this method have a serious disadvantage relating to the quality of their internal surface. Anybody can easily observe the deep longitudinal grooves, known as tape marks, on their entire internal surface, which sometimes wound even the reinforcing rigid plastic spiral.
These internal grooves constitute lines of inferior strength, when subjected to internal or external loads. Also, they reduce the impact strength of these hoses especially at low temperatures. Furthermore, these grooves attract the inhabitance and the development of parasites, bacteria and various microbes, which restricts their usage for foodstuff applications.
According to the second production method, which was developed by the japanese SHIRO-KANAO, patent No SHO 35-7629, the two plastic materials, soft and rigid, are also coextruded with the soft material surrounding the rigid one. The produced composite "cord" is led tangentially to a special calibration unit, which consists of a series of peripheral rollers, which are held as a cantilever on an immobile basement. These rollers are disposed at an inclination to the central axis of the calibration unit and can be rotated with the desired speed via motor and a gearbox.
This roller rotation is transmitted to the tangentially fed melted plastic "cord" which is thus pushed towards the exit of the calibration unit. The contact of the soft sticky plastic with the rotating rollers is instantaneous, as they are rolling under it, and its adherence to them is avoided. At the same time, the external surface of the melted soft plastic comes in contact with the corresponding, still in melted stage, lateral surface of the already formed hose, which is still on the calibration unit, sticks to it and forms the new spiral of the produced flexible hose.
As it is easily perceptible, hose produced by this method rotates during its production around its axis, which at the same time is the central axis of the calibration unit. This rotation is transmitted from the rotating peripheral roller to its internal surface as it comes successively in contact to each one of them and the produced hose cools down, shrinks and is tightened on them.
With this method, a successful production of flexible plastic hoses is also achieved. Internally, the produced hoses have a smooth surface and they do not have the detrimental longitudinal grooves of the preceding method. However the disadvantage of this method is the obligation to continuously rotate the flexible plastic hose during its production. This problem becomes more apparent a the hose diameter is smaller. The continuous trouble-free rotation of, for example, three hundred feet of a flexible plastic hose, specially while this rotary motion is exerted to its one and which is still hot, is not a stable process. Any slight disturbance would cause problems at the hose generation area. Furthermore the total floor length required for such a production line is big and relative to the needed length of the hoses. The required marking on the hose's surface is not possible to be done at the same time as the hose is produced due to its rotation. Neither is its simultaneous winding in coils possible. These procedures have to be executed in a second stage, which affects the production cost accordingly.
Less used is a variation of the second method of production. According to this method, ACHENBACH, the produced coaxial plastic "cord" is initially cooled-down and then is fed tangentially to a relatively short rotating conical calibration unit. There, the lateral sides of the "cord" and the already formed hose are heated intensively to melt, with the aim of hot air and, immediately after they are fused together with the additional help of local compression.
This method, like the preceding one, has the disadvantage of the obligatory hose rotation during its production. Beyond this, the hoses produced by this method hoses contain internal stresses in their wall, due to the cold winding of the plastic "cord". These stresses negatively affect the hose's properties.

Apparatus for the production of reinforced flexible hoses


A method for fabricating an electrode assembly for solid polymer electrolyte fuel cells comprising a cation exchange membrane as the electrolyte and electrode catalyst layers, which utilizes specific perfuluorosulfonic acid copolymers for the cation exchange membrane and a binder used for preparing the electrode catalyst layers or bonding the cation exchange membrane and the electrode catalyst layers and provides electrode assemblies for the fuel cells being capable of providing fuel cells having a high cell voltage with high efficiency.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method for fabricating a gas diffusion electrode assembly for fuel cells. More specifically, it relates to a method for fabricating a gas diffusion electrode assembly for proton exchange membrane fuel cells comprising gas-diffusible electrodes and a cation exchange membrane through which protons migrate.
2. Prior Art
Fuel cells of solid polymer electrolyte type utilizing cation exchange membranes as electrolyte have been developed as the forth generation type of fuel cell following the ones of phosphoric acid type, molten carbonate type and solid electrolyte type. Various developments as to the fuel cells of this type are being conducted because they can show higher electromotive force per unit area and hence they can be made smaller as compared with the precedent fuel cells.
Fuel cells of this type are usually called "Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells" (PEMFC's) and have a structure shown in the appended FIG. 1. Generally, perfluorosulfonic acid type cation exchange membranes are considered suitable for the solid polymer electrolyte, which is the most important component of PEMFC, because of their durability, chemical resistivity, oxidation resistance, thermal stability and so on. However, it is still important to select an appropriate combination of the proeperties of cation exchange membrane and electrode catalyst layers to be bonded to the membrane so that well-balanced cell characteristics can be obtained.
Hitherto, as the cation exchange membrane for PEMFC's, mainly used are commercially available perfluorosulfonic acid type of cation exchange membranes such as NAFION membranes available from E. I. DuPont Nemours and Co., U.S.A. such as NAFION 117, which has protons on ion-exchange groups (H-form) and has an ion-exchange capacity of 0.909 meq/g of dry resin and a membrane thickness of about 178 .mu.m. However, when these commercially available membranes are used in PEMFC's, thicknesses of these membranes are generally too large to obtain acceptably low electric resistivity of the membrane and, as a result, cell voltage is low. In particular, when air is fed to the anodes of PEMFC's, high cell voltage cannot be obtained by these membranes and hence this drawback of these membranes is a serious problem in practical applications of PEMFC's.
On the other hand, because PEMFC's have electrode catalyst layers on the cation exchange membrane as shown in FIG. 1, it is important that both the electrode catalyst layers and properties of the cation exchange membrane are sufficiently integrated so that both components, i.e., the cells, can show sufficient characteristics. Therefore, the method for bonding the cation exchange membrane and the electrode catalyst layers is also important.
Conventional methods for bonding a cation exchange membrane and an electrode catalyst layer or forming an electrode catalyst layer on a cation exchange membrane include a method comprising uniformly applying a preliminarily provided mixture containing electrode catalyst loaded on fine carbon particles and a polytetrafluoroethylene dispersion as a binder on aluminum foils, drying the mixture to form electrode catalyst layers and bonding the resulted electrode catalyst layers on both surfaces of cation exchange membranes of H-form (having protons (H.sup.+) as the cations of the ion exchange groups) by hot pressing; and a method comprising directly applying said mixture on the cation exchange membrane, drying the mixture and subjecting the membrane having the dried layer to hot pressing. However, in these conventional methods, it is rather difficult to establish the conditions of the hot pressing, because the softening temperature of the polytetrafluoroethylene is quite higher than that of H-form perfluorosulfonic acid membrane and because it is necessary to vary the hot pressing temperature depending on the mixing ratio of the fine carbon particles and the polytetrafluoroethylene emulsion. Furthermore, the electrode catalyst layers formed by these method are likely to become thick, and hence the obtained PEMFC's are likely to be expensive because noble metal such as platinum is usually used for the catalyst.
It is also possible, when H-form cation exchange membranes such as the above-mentioned NAFION 117 are used, to form electrode catalyst layers on the cation exchange membranes by preparing a mixture of a solution of H-form of perfluorosulfonic acid copolymer similar to that of the cation exchange membranes and catalyst loaded on fine carbon particles, uniformly applying the mixture on either or both surfaces of the cation exchange membrane, drying the mixture and subjecting the dried layers to hot pressing together with the membrane in a manner similar to the method described above. However, because the softening temperature of the H-form cation exchange membrane is rather low, it is necessary to carry out the hot pressing at a quite low temperature, for example, at a temperature lower than about 140.degree. C. The hot pressing at such a low temperature leads to insufficient bonding of the electrode catalyst layers and the cation exchange membranes.
Therefore, there is still a need for an improved method for bonding the cation exchange membrane, electrode catalyst layers and carbon cloth or paper in the fabrication of PEMFC's in view of characteristics and cost of the cells, efficiency of the method and the like.

Method for fabricating gas diffusion electrode assembly for fuel cells


A computer-implemented method for storing information that identifies the state of health of a computing system at the time a backup of the computing system is created may comprise: 1) identifying a backup of the computing system, 2) performing an evaluation of the computing system's health, and then 3) storing health information that identifies the state of health of the computing system when the backup was created as metadata to the backup. Similarly, a method for determining whether to restore a backup of a computing system based on health information may comprise: 1) identifying a backup of the computing system, 2) identifying health information stored as metadata to the backup that identifies the state of health of the computing system when the backup was created, and 3) determining, based on the health information, whether to restore the backup. Corresponding systems and computer-readable media are also disclosed.

Conventional methods for backing up data typically involve creating a backup or snapshot of one or more volumes of a computing system on a predetermined schedule, upon the occurrence of a specified event (such as installation of an operating-system service pack), or when requested by a user. For example, a conventional backup software program may automatically back up a volume of a computing system prior to installing an operating-system patch in order to ensure that a pre-patch restore point exists. This may allow a user to restore the computing system to an earlier state to fix any performance or stability issues caused by the operating-system patch.
Unfortunately, given the rate of change on modern-day computing systems, a user may be unable to remember or determine an event responsible for stability or performance problems experienced by the user. Because conventional backup and restore systems typically only allow users to identify and restore backups of a volume by date or by the event that triggered creation of the backup, a user may be forced to repeatedly restore different backups of a volume in an attempt to identify a stable version of a volume.

Systems and methods for storing health information with computing-system backups


A mark sheet reading apparatus is disclosed which can correct the coordinates of a binary signal read from a mark sheet when the mark sheet is in skew with an angle. A mark sheet having a plurality of marking areas arranged in a matrix of rows and columns thereon additionally has a reference row mark in the form of a continuous straight line provided in parallel to a row of the matrix and extending over a length covering the overall length of the row. The mark sheet reading apparatus comprises a reference row mark detection section for discriminating a successive condition of dots from among data read by an image sensor to detect the reference row mark of the mark sheet, a skew detection section for detecting an inclination rate of the reference row mark thus detected, and a skew correction section for correcting coordinates of binary data read by the image sensor in accordance with the inclination rate of the thus detected reference row mark.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a mark sheet reading apparatus, and more particularly to a mark sheet reading apparatus for reading marks from a mark sheet on which marking areas, which are binary digitized by marking or painting out them or leaving them blank, are provided in rows and columns of a matrix together with timing marks provided for the individual columns or rows. More specifically, the present invention relates to improvements in means of a mark sheet reading apparatus for correcting coordinates of read data when a mark sheet is read or transported in skew.
2. Description of the Related Art
In conventional mark sheet reading apparatus of the type mentioned, the skew of a mark sheet is usually corrected by physically correcting the position of the mark sheet itself by means of a transporting mechanism section.
However, such physical skew correction means is disadvantageous in that, since the transport mechanism section is complicated in structure, the entire mark sheet reading apparatus is increased in size and in cost.
Meanwhile, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Application No. Helsei 3-15970 discloses a different skew correction means which corrects skew by image processing of data obtained by reading a mark sheet. The processing method is schematically illustrated in FIG. 9. Referring to FIG. 9, where the transporting direction of a mark sheet 50 is represented as the x-axis direction and a direction perpendicular to the x-axis direction is represented as the y-axis direction, an image sensor 51 of the line type on which optic elements are arranged in a row is disposed in parallel to the x-axis. A plurality of marking areas in the form of printed rectangular frames are disposed in rows and columns of a matrix on the mark sheet 50 and selectively marked or painted up into marked marking areas 52 while the other marking areas remain unmarked or blank marking areas 53. Further, a series of timing marks 54 each in the form of a marked or painted up printed rectangular frames are provided along a side edge of the mark sheet 50 in register with and indicative of the individual rows of the marking areas in the matrix. In addition, a pair of left and right skew detection marks 55 and 56 each in the form of a marked or painted up printed rectangular frame are provided in a spaced relationship by a fixed distance W from each other at locations forward of the first row of the matrix of the marking areas on the mark sheet 50. The skew detection marks 55 and 56 are positioned on a straight line parallel to the rows of the marking areas of the matrix.
It is assumed now that the mark sheet 50 is positioned in skew with a certain angle .alpha. with respect to the image sensor 51 in FIG. 9. In this instance, the image sensor 51 first reads binary data represented as marks or blanks in all of the marking areas on the mark sheet 50. Then, the two skew detection marks 55 and 56 are detected from the picture element data obtained from the image sensor 51, and the difference in position between the skew detection marks 55 and 56 in the y-axis direction is discriminated. The difference thus discriminated is converted into a number of rows to obtain a skew row number T, and the trigonometric ratio T/W between the skew row number T and the distance W between the two skew detection marks 55 and 56 is calculated and is determined as the skew inclination .alpha. of the mark sheet 50. Then, upon correction of the coordinates of each of the marked marking areas 52 and the blank marking areas 53, a row preceding the row to which the marked marking area 52 or blank marking area 53 in question belongs is referred to. The reference row here is determined in the following manner.
In particular, where the skew row number is represented by T, when the mark sheet 50 is in skew with a right portion thereof displaced upwardly and picture element data of a certain row are read by the image sensor 51, a row preceding by the distance of T/W.times.n rows to the certain row is referred to for a picture element at the distance n rightwardly from the left end one of the picture elements, that is, for a marked marking area 52 or a blank marking area 53 corresponding to the picture element. On the other hand, when the mark sheet 50 is in skew with a left portion thereof displaced upwardly and picture element data of a certain row are read by the image sensor 51, a row preceding by the distance of T/W.times.n rows to the certain row is referred to for a picture element at the distance n leftwardly from the right end one of the picture elements. Here, where the distance to the reference in terms of a number of rows is represented by s, the conventional skew correction means described above presupposes that the trigonometric ratio s/n between s and n is equal to the trigonometric ratio T/W between T and W calculated from the two skew detection marks 55 and 56 which are provided in a spaced relationship from each other.
However, while the distance W between the two skew detection marks 55 and 56 is determined in advance and fixed, the skew row number T is calculated from a difference in the y-axis direction between the positions of the two skew detection marks 55 and 56 detected from within the read data of the image sensor 51. Accordingly, the trigonometric ratio T/W between the distance W and the skew row number T does not accurately indicate the actual inclination of the mark sheet 50. Further, since the relationship s/n=T/W stands only when the inclination .alpha. of the skew of the mark sheet 50 is comparatively small but does not stand when the inclination .alpha. is comparatively great, where the inclination of the skew of the mark sheet 50 is great, the coordinates of the marked marking areas 52 and the blank marking areas 53 are detected in error, and consequently, the skew of the mark sheet 50 cannot be corrected accurately.


In one example, a processor may receive network traffic from a demultiplexer via a first network interface card and place portions of the network traffic into a plurality of hash buckets. The processor may further process a first portion of the portions of the network traffic in at least a first hash bucket of the plurality of hash buckets and forward a second portion of the portions of the network traffic in at least a second hash bucket of the plurality of hash buckets to a switch via a second network interface card. In one example, the switch distributes the second portion of the network traffic to one of a plurality of overflow probes. In one example, the plurality of overflow probes comprises a network function virtualization infrastructure for processing the second portion of the network traffic.

Upgrading a telecommunication network to a software defined network (SDN) architecture implies replacing or augmenting existing network elements that may be integrated to perform a single function with new network elements. The replacement technology may comprise a substrate of networking capability, often called network function virtualization infrastructure (NFVI) that is capable of being directed with software and SDN protocols to perform a broad variety of network functions and services. Different locations in the telecommunication network may be provisioned with appropriate amounts of network substrate, and to the extent possible, routers, switches, edge caches, middle-boxes, and the like may be instantiated from the common resource pool.

Distribution of network traffic to software defined network based probes