Treatment of prostate cancer by regional and prolonged release of one or more nucleotide-based RNAi agents is provided.

Prostate Cancer
Prostate cancer is cancer that starts in the prostate gland. It is the third most common cause of death from cancer in men of all ages and is the most common cause of death from cancer in men over age 75. Prostate cancer is rarely found in men younger than 40. Systemic chemotherapy is often ineffective in the treatment of prostate-confined cancer. In-vivo results from regional delivery of chemotherapy in prostate cancer (1) show potential higher efficiency in tumor arrest but still have major issues to be solved. Chemotherapy treatment requires large drug amounts, having toxicity comparable to the recommended dose of 60 to 80 mg/m2 for intravenous administration. One general cause of anticancer drug resistance is the limited ability of drugs to penetrate tumor tissue and to reach all of the tumor cells in a potentially lethal concentration (2). Extravasation and interstitial transport (via diffusion and convection) are diminished in the intratumoral space by high interstitial pressure, hypovascularity, high tumor cell density and/or a large stroma fraction; these problems are more serious in larger, bulky tumors. Chemotherapy drugs are more effective against proliferating vs. quiescent cells; thus, slowly proliferating cells at greater distances from tumor blood vessels are likely to be resistant to therapy. Chemotherapeutic drugs also are typically inefficient against tumor stem cells.
Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is a protein produced by cells of the prostate gland, whose level is reported as nanograms of PSA per milliliter (ng/mL) in the blood. While a PSA level below 4.0 ng/mL was previously considered normal, one large study showed the presence of prostate cancer in 15.2 percent of men with a PSA level of ≦4.0 ng/mL (2), 15% percent of whom (approximately 2.3 percent overall) had high-grade cancers. In another study, only 25-35 percent of men with PSA level between 4.1-9.9 ng/mL and who underwent a prostate biopsy had prostate cancer. Thus, there is no specific normal or abnormal PSA level, particularly since factors such as inflammation (e.g., prostatitis) and variation between laboratories can cause a PSA level fluctuations. In general, however, higher PSA levels correlate with higher probabilities of cancer.
The Gleason grading system is widely used in prostate cancer. It is determined by summing a primary (representing the majority of tumor) and secondary (assigned to the minority of the tumor) Gleason grade, each a number between 1 and 5. The sum of the two patterns is the Gleason score, which has prognostic significance. Patients with a Gleason score of ≦4 do well clinically, while patients with a score of 8-9 do poorly. A Gleason score of 6 typically is followed by "watchful waiting".
RNA Interference
Non-coding RNAi molecules regulate genes post-transcriptionally and can lead to gene silencing. Endogenous dsRNA initiates RNAi by activating the ribonuclease protein Dicer, which binds and cleaves double-stranded RNAs (dsRNAs) to produce double-stranded fragments of 20-25 base pairs with a 2-nucleotide overhang at the 3′ end, known as siRNAs. These interfering RNAs (siRNAs) are integrated into an active RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC), while being separated into single "sense" and "antisense" strands. Within the RISC, the antisense strand then base-pairs to its target mRNA and induces cleavage of the mRNA, thereby preventing it from being used as a translation template. Synthetic siRNA can vary widely in their design, including the specific sequence along the mRNA, accessibility to Dicer and RISC, the length of each strand, optional symmetrical, asymmetrical, blunt, and loop structures, and chemical modifications of many types.
The delivery of RNAi to target tissue is a major challenge. Systemic injection of siRNA into the vascular system needs to overcome renal filtration and phagocytosis and degradation in the bloodstream, and needs to achieve targeting to the diseased site, transport across the vascular endothelial barrier, diffusion through the extracellular matrix, uptake into the cell, escape from the endosome, and unpackaging and releasing the siRNA to the cell RNAi machinery. Systemic delivery today is limited to a small number of target tissues, in particular to the liver.
Even direct injection of naked siRNA to topical targets (for example the eye, skin, mucus membranes, and localized tumors) and intranasal/intratracheal instillation of aerosolized siRNA into the lung is subject to rapid dose decline by diffusion and degradation and increased pressure (in some cases of injection). Repeated injections at a frequency of about one per week are often required.
Alshamsan et al. (STAT3 Silencing in Dendritic Cells by siRNA Polyplexes Encapsulated in PLGA Nanoparticles for the Modulation of Anticancer Immune Response, Molecular Pharmaceutics 7(5): 1643-1654, 2010) reported nanoparticles containing siRNA complexed with polyethylenimine (PEI). However, these devices exhibit fast drug release, typically on the order of one week, and are ineffective to carry high drug loads to a wide tissue area, for a sufficient treatment period.
US Patent Publication No. US2008/0124370 (Marx) describes reagents, methods and systems to treat inflammation and pain in a subject using small interfering RNA (siRNA) molecules targeted to either TNF-alpha, IL1, IL6 and other pro-inflammatory cytokines.
US Patent Publication No. US 2011/0195123 (Shemi) describes an implantable medical device eluting drug locally and for a prolonged period, treatment methods, and implantation methods. The device comprises a polymeric substrate and a drug, for example gene silencing drugs based on RNA interference (RNAi), including siRNA, shRNA, or antisense RNA/DNA, ribozyme and nucleoside analogs.
Thus, a continuing need exists for RNAi compositions to effectively treat prostate cancer.

Methods and compositions for treating prostate cancer


A field-effect semiconductor device of this invention includes a first insulating film formed on a semiconductor substrate, a source region of a second conductivity type and a drain region of the second conductivity type, which are arranged on the insulating film and are formed on both the sides of a semiconductor active layer of a first conductivity type, a second insulating film for covering the top and side surfaces of the semiconductor active layer, the source region, and the drain region, a gate electrode arranged on the second insulating film corresponding to the semiconductor active layer, a non-oxidizable third insulating film arranged on the second insulating film for covering the side surfaces of the semiconductor active layer and the source and drain regions, and the other regions, a fourth insulating film arranged on the non-oxidizable third insulating film, a fifth insulating film for covering a portion of the third insulating film located on the side surfaces of the source and drain regions, the fourth insulating film, the semiconductor active layer, the second insulating film arranged on the top surfaces of the source and drain regions, and a gate electrode arranged on the second insulating film, and a source electrode and a drain electrode arranged on the fifth insulating film and connected to the source region and the drain region, respectively, through contact holes formed in the fifth insulating film and the second insulating film.

The present invention relates to a field-effect semiconductor device and, more particularly, to a field-effect semiconductor device formed on an insulating layer and a method of manufacturing the same.
FIG. 3 shows an example of a conventional field-effect semiconductor device. Referring to FIG. 3, reference numeral 1 denotes a monocrystalline silicon substrate; and 2, an insulating layer formed on this semiconductor substrate. This insulating layer 2 is an insulating film such as a silicon oxide film for electrically insulating an active layer 3 formed on the insulating layer 2 and having a first conductivity type, e.g., a p type from the monocrystalline semiconductor substrate 1. Reference numeral 4 denotes a gate insulating film such as a silicon oxide film; 5, a source region of a second conductivity type, e.g., an n type; and 6, a drain region of the second conductivity type, i.e., the n type. The source region 5, the active layer 3, and the drain region 6 are arranged adjacent to each other in the order named on the insulating film 2. Reference numeral 7 denotes a gate electrode arranged on the gate insulating film 4 corresponding to the active layer 3; 8a, 8b, and 8c, insulating films to electrically insulate interconnecting layers; 9, a source electrode; and 10, a drain electrode.
In a semiconductor device of this type, the impurity concentration of the active layer 3 is designed such that the thickness of a depletion layer which may expand from the gate electrode side is larger than a thickness t.sub.0 of the active layer 3, and consequently the entire region of the active layer is depleted when the semiconductor device is in operation. The reasons for this arrangement are: (1) the mobility deterioration of carriers at inverted surface immediately below the gate insulating film 4 can be suppressed by reducing the effective electric field strength in the active layer, and thereby the drain current can be increased, and (2) the drain current can increase with an increase in carriers at inverted surface in the active layer, corresponding to a reduction in a charge amount in the depletion layer formed. In addition, in a semiconductor device having the above arrangement, since the active layer 3 is depleted by a gate-induced electric field, it is possible to suppress an incursion of a drain electric field from a drain junction into the active layer 3, and in this manner the short channel effect in a threshold voltage can be suppressed. Accordingly, a semiconductor device of this type is expected to realize both a high-density integration of a semiconductor device obtained by down scaling in dimensions and a high-speed operation and therefore has attracted attention as a promising device in recent years.
FIGS. 4A to 4E show a practical example of a method of manufacturing the semiconductor device shown in FIG. 3.
First, as shown in FIG. 4A, a silicon oxide film 2 is buried in, e.g., a monocrystalline silicon semiconductor 1, and a first silicon semiconductor layer 11 is formed on the silicon oxide film 2, thereby preparing a silicon semiconductor structure. This semiconductor structure is formed by implanting oxygen ions into, e.g., a monocrystalline semiconductor.
Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 4B, the first semiconductor layer 11 on the major surface side of the semiconductor structure is formed into predetermined dimensions by, e.g., an anisotropic plasma etching technique, thus forming a silicon semiconductor layer 11.sub.1.
As shown in FIG. 4C, a predetermined impurity is doped into the silicon semiconductor region 11.sub.1 by, e.g., an ion-implantation technique to form an active layer 3 of a first conductivity type (p type). Thereafter, a silicon oxide film 4 as a gate insulating film, for example, is formed on the active layer 3, and subsequently a doped silicon layer 12, for example, as a gate electrode is deposited.
As shown in FIG. 4D, the gate electrode silicon layer 12 is formed into predetermined dimensions by, e.g., the anisotropic plasma etching technique to form a gate electrode 7. Thereafter, a source region 5 of a second conductivity type (n type) and a drain region 6 of the same conductivity type are formed by, e.g., the ion-implantation technique. An insulating film 8, such as a silicon oxide film, is deposited on the major surface side of the semiconductor substrate, contact holes 8A and 8B are formed on the source region 5 and the drain region 6, and a metal layer as an electrode interconnection is deposited. Thereafter, this metal layer is processed to form a source electrode 9 and a drain electrode 10.
Note that FIG. 4E shows a section obtained by cutting the gate of the semiconductor device shown in FIG. 4D in a direction perpendicular to the drawing surface, in which reference numeral 13 denotes an interconnection for connecting the gate electrode 7 to another device.
FIG. 5 shows the results obtained by measuring the relationship between the threshold voltage and the gate length in a semiconductor device of this type actually manufactured by the method as described above. That is, FIG. 5 shows the relationship between the change in threshold voltage and the gate length on the basis of the threshold voltage of a semiconductor device with a gate length of 0.7 .mu.m. Referring to FIG. 5, t.sub.0 indicates the thickness of the silicon active layer 3 of the semiconductor device used in the measurement, and t.sub.1 (shown in FIG. 4E) indicates the thickness of the silicon oxide film 2 arranged below the active layer 3. Note that in FIG. 5, a curve I represents the result obtained when t.sub.0 =50 (nm) and t.sub.1 =500 (nm), and a curve II represents the result obtained when t.sub.0 =50 (nm) and t.sub.1 =200 (nm). FIG. 5 reveals that when the thickness t.sub.1 of the silicon oxide film 2 is small, the change in threshold voltage is also small if the gate channel length is shortened, and in this manner the short channel effect is suppressed. Therefore, in order to realize down scaling of a semiconductor device of this type, it is essential to decease the thickness of the silicon oxide film 2.
When the thickness t.sub.1 of the silicon oxide film decreases, however, (1) a parasitic capacitance at the drain region 6 of the semiconductor device increases. In addition, (2) in the conventional manufacturing method as described above, a thickness t.sub.2 of the insulating film located below the electrode interconnection shown in FIG. 4D decreases. This decrease in thickness results in a large increase in parasitic capacitance at interconnections for connecting semiconductor devices upon integration of the devices, and this makes it difficult to realize a high-speed operation of the semiconductor device. Note that it is clear from computations that the increase in parasitic capacitance described in item (1) above actually has no influence on realization of a high-speed operation if the thickness t.sub.1 of the silicon oxide film 2 is 10 times or more the thickness of the silicon oxide film 4 as a gate insulating film.
On the other hand, since the interconnection length in an LSI circuit reaches about 1 cm, the increase in parasitic capacitance below the interconnection has a large influence on the operating speed of the circuit. In addition, as shown in FIG. 4E, in order to form the interconnection 13 for connecting the gate electrode 7 to another device, the gate electrode must be excessively extracted onto the insulating film 2. When the thickness t.sub.1 of the insulating film 2 decreases, the parasitic capacitance of this portion becomes too large to be neglected and adversely affects the operating speed of the device.
A field-effect semiconductor device of this type, therefore, has not been put into practical use yet because it has the problems as described above as well as several good characteristics.

Method of making field-effect semiconductor device on SOT

Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corporation


In the invention, use is made of at least one metal organosilicate polymer, in the form of particles, having one of the following formulae I and II:R4Si4Al2O8(OH)x,  Formula I:R8Si8M6O16(OH)y,  Formula II:for the protection from oxidation and/or electromagnetic radiation of a compound sensitive to oxidation and/or to electromagnetic radiation. The invention finds application in particular in the field of the protection from oxidation and photoaging of various materials.

The invention relates to the use of a metal organosilicate polymer for the protection, from oxidation and/or electromagnetic radiation, of compounds sensitive to oxidation and/or to electromagnetic radiation.
It also relates to a fluorescent composition and to a marking composition comprising such a fluorescent composition and also to a composition for protecting from electromagnetic radiation.
Numerous compounds have properties which deteriorate by oxidation or by exposure to electromagnetic radiation, in particular during exposure to UV radiation.
This is thus the case with compounds of the family of the benzotriazoles and in particular 2-(2′-hydroxy-5′-methylphenyl)benzotriazole.
Indeed, this compound is an excellent protector from UV radiation because, under irradiation by UV radiation, the hydrogen bond conferring its aromaticity on it is broken and thus the compound absorbs UV photons. As, furthermore, the hydrogen bond is reformed over time, it is a compound absorbing UV photons which is regenerated.
However, this compound is very sensitive to oxidation and is decomposed and thus loses its properties of protecting from UV radiation.
Other compounds sensitive to oxidation and/or to electromagnetic radiation are fluorophoric compounds.
Fluorophoric compounds are used in particular for the marking of paper and textiles, either for combating counterfeiting or for the purposes of authentification or for simply identifying the date of manufacture of the paper or fabric, or also for identifying the manufacturer.
Paper, in particular for a notarial deed, and also textiles have a very long lifetime, of greater than fifteen years.
This is why the resistance to oxidation and to photoaging of the markers used is important.
Rare earths which are inorganic fluorophoric compounds have been used for this purpose of marking.
However, rare earths are easily identified by a simple analysis, which means that marking obtained with rare earths can be easily reproduced.
Organic fluorophoric compounds for their part are not easily identifiable by a simple analysis.
These organic fluorophoric compounds are also used for the biological labeling of biological reactions.
However, these compounds are sensitive to oxidation by oxygen, ozone and NOx, in particular.
They have thus been used in the presence of antioxidants, the aim of which is to scavenge the oxygen in all its forms.
However, the effectiveness of the antioxidant ceases when all the oxygen-scavenging molecules have been consumed by the oxygen molecules present.
Furthermore, and this is a disadvantage in particular for paper and textiles, organic fluorophoric compounds have another disadvantage: they are very sensitive to electromagnetic radiation, such as UV radiation, visible radiation and near infrared radiation.
Currently, in order to protect them, use is made of organic or inorganic additives which will screen out electromagnetic radiation but which will also limit the phenomenon of fluorescence.
However, finally, it is also known that the phenomena of oxidation or of photooxidation and aging by exposure to electromagnetic radiation are superimposed on one another and/or act synergistically to decompose the organic fluorophoric compounds, whether in solution or on various supports.
Furthermore, a family of compounds referred to indiscriminately as metal organosilicate, metal phyllosilicate clay, metal organosilicate polymer or polysilsesquioxane salt is known.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,132,165 B2 describes the manufacture of compounds of this type from amine surfactants or from structuring agents. These compounds are described as being mesoporous compounds based on lamellar silica having a high thermal and hydrothermal stability.
These compounds are also described by L. Ukrainczyk et al. in "Template Synthesis and Characterization of Layered Al- and Mg-Silsesquioxanes", J. Phys. Chem. B, 1997, 101, 531-539.
A method for the preparation of these compounds is described in this document: the silsesquioxane compounds were prepared by precipitation at ambient temperature by addition of an aqueous base to an alcoholic solution comprising a mixture of AlCl3 or of MgCl2 and of a trialkoxysilane with an n-dodecyl, n-octyl, n-pentyl, 3-methacryloyloxypropyl, isobutyl or phenyl functionality.
These compounds are described as being able to be used as absorbents, environmental barriers, polymer fillers, catalytic supports or chemical sensors.
Nicola T. Whilton et al., in "Hybrid lamellar nanocomposites based on organically functionalized magnesium phyllosilicate clays with interlayer reactivity", J. Mater. Chem., 1998, 8(8), 1927-1932, also describe the preparation of such compounds by addition of organotrialkoxysilane to a solution of MgCl2.6H2O in ethanol and precipitation by a sodium hydroxide solution.
However, no application is described or suggested in this document for these compounds.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,342,876 also describes a process for producing such compounds, which are described as being spherical and porous silica granules which have an excellent ability to disperse in resins and thus make it possible to obtain films having an excellent transparency, which are resistant to flaking and which can be used as odor scavengers and as agent for controlling exudation.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Use of a metal organosilicate polymer for the protection of compounds sensitive to oxidation and/or to electromagnetic radiation


A starter includes a motor, a pinion, a pinion carrier carrying the pinion, a ring member provided on the pinion carrier, a shifting member, and a lubricant blocking member. The ring member is rotatable relative to the pinion carrier and restricted in axial movement toward the pinion. The shifting member has a ring portion that is arranged on the pinion carrier with the ring member interposed between the ring portion and the pinion. The ring portion has an axial end face that has a recess for receiving lubricant and is covered by the ring member. The shifting member is configured to shift, by pushing the ring member with the ring portion, the pinion in the axial direction, thereby bringing the pinion into mesh with a ring gear of an engine. The lubricant blocking member blocks the lubricant from being scattered due to rotation of the pinion carrier with the pinion.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to starters having a pinion and a shift lever that shifts the pinion into mesh with a ring gear of an engine.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent First Publication No. 2007-85317 discloses an engine starter that includes a low-cost shift lever, which is made of resin, and has an improved structure for effectively suppressing wear and thermal deformation of the shift lever.
More specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, the starter includes an output shaft 100, a pinion 140 provided on the output shaft 100, the resin-made shift lever that has a lever ring 110 provided on the output shaft 100, a pair of ring washers 120 and 130 that are provided on the output shaft 100 respectively on the front and rear sides of the lever ring 110, and a lever washer 150 interposed on  the output shaft 100 between the front-side ring washer 120 and the lever ring 110. The lever ring 110 has formed, on its axial end face abutting the lever washer 150, a groove 111 that is filled with lubricant (e.g., grease).
Since there is no one-way clutch provided between the pinion 140 and the output shaft 100, in an overrun state where torque generated by the engine is transmitted from the ring gear to the pinion 140, the output shaft 100 will be rotated at a very high speed which is equal to the product of the engine speed and the gear ratio between the ring gear and the pinion 140. However, since the lever washer 150 lags the front-side ring washer 120 in rotational speed, that is, it rotates slower than the ring washer 120 because it is not fixedly coupled to the ring washer 120, the difference in rotational speed between the lever washer 150 and the lever ring 110 will be small. Further, by virtue of the lubricating function of the grease, the friction between the lever washer 150 and the lever ring 110 can be considerably decreased. As a result, both wear and thermal deformation of the lever ring 110 (i.e., the shift lever) due to friction can be effectively suppressed.
However, at the same time, since the axial end face of the lever ring 110, where the groove 111 is formed, is made flat, a large amount of grease will be scattered due to rotation of the lever washer 150. More specifically, in the overrun state, the lever washer 150 is dragged by the front-side ring washer 120 to rotate, thus causing the grease having flowed out of the groove 111 and adhered to the surface of the lever washer 150 to be scattered  radially outward due to centrifugal force. Consequently, the grease filled in the groove 111 can be prematurely exhausted, thus making it difficult to suppress wear and thermal deformation of the lever ring 110 over a long time period.

Engine starter having shift lever with lubricant-blocking wall


A monitor includes a main body and a base member supporting the main body. The monitor also includes at least one coupling part protruding from the base member toward the main body, and an elastic supporting member provided at the main body to elastically support the coupling part. Therefore, a monitor in which a base member is easily combined to and removed from a main body has an improved combining structure.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a monitor, and more particularly, to a monitor improved in a combining structure of a main body and a base member thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 9 is an exploded rear perspective view of a conventional monitor. As shown in FIG. 9, the monitor includes a main body 110 to display a picture thereon, and a base member 120 to support the main body 110.
Opposite sides of the base member 120 are provided with a pair of coupling parts 140, each having a plurality of through holes 140a thereon. Thus, the main body 110 is combined to the base member 120 by a plurality of screws 130 through the through holes 140a provided on the coupling parts 140. In the conventional monitor, the plurality of screws are used to combine the main body 110 with the base member 120, thereby increasing assembling time and lowering productivity.
Further, the monitor is generally packed so that the main body 110 is combined to the base member 120. Therefore, a volume of the package becomes bulky, thereby increasing a cost of storing and carrying the package.
Also, when a user desires to change the monitor from a table-type monitor (e.g., in which the monitor stands on a table via the base member 120) into a wall-type monitor (e.g., in which only the main body 110 hangs on a wall), the screws 130 must be removed one by one, which is inconvenient to the user.

Monitor having an improved combining structure of a main body and a base member thereof


A sheet feeder, provided at a printing machine, has continuously conveying transport tapes to which transport rollers are engaged. The transport tapes and the transport rollers convey overlappingly fed sheets to a front guide, wherein the last transport rollers, provided upstream of the front guide, are adjustable with respect to the sheet format being processed. There are also additional driving rollers which may be pivoted into contact with the transport tapes in order to process minimum size sheet formats.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to a sheet feeder for feeding sheets of material, such as paper, to an apparatus which typically handles a number of consecutive sheets of the material at a regular interval of time. Such an apparatus could be, for example any type of printing machine, or printing press. In general, the material stock is provided in the form of a stack of sheets of the material, placed in the vicinity of the sheet feeder, wherein the sheet feeder, adjacent the material stack, can have a tape roller with corresponding timing rollers. For conveying the sheets from the tape rollers to a positioning guide, the sheet feeder can have a number of continuously conveying transport tapes to which transport rollers can be assigned. The transport tapes and the corresponding transport rollers convey overlappingly fed sheets to a front guide, wherein the last transport rollers in the sheet feed direction, provided upstream of the front guide, can be adjustable with respect to the sheet format, or sheet size, of the sheets being processed.
2. Background Information
With modern sheet-fed printing machines, different sheet formats have to be printed, with the sheet formats differing from one another in size by about 50 percent and more. In order to be able to produce a high-quality print at high transport speeds it is of great importance that the sheets taken from the feed stack be precisely conveyed towards the front guides. However, with known printing machines this exact transport cannot always be guaranteed without additional manual input, in particular, when sheet formats having a very small size are being processed.

Sheet feeder for a sheet-fed printing press and method of feeding sheets therewith


A system and method for reducing manufacturing costs of patterned constructible utensils and improving their constructability. One constructible utensil includes a set of scores (e.g., a quad of scores including an outer pair and an inner pair, a single such pair, or other number of scores) that are shaped to converge when moving from a bowl-region towards the handle portion. The scores do not intersect but stop and produce various alterations in the converging score pattern. These alterations in the converging pattern help with propagation of a bowl-forming fold responsive to a constructing manipulation of the handle portion (e.g., folding, bending, and other operation on the handle portion and one or more scores on the handle portion).

The present invention relates generally to manufacturing constructible utensils, and more specifically, but not exclusively, to improving score patterns for improved operation and reduction of manufacturing costs.
The subject matter discussed in the background section should not be assumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in the background section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the background section or associated with the subject matter of the background section should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in the background section merely represents different approaches, which in and of themselves may also be inventions.
In the field of constructible utensils, it is known to provide some type of positive score to a special paper blank to aid in constructing (e.g., bending, folding, and the like) the paper blank into the desired configuration. The manner of creating the paper blank and application of the scoring greater influences the usability and commercial viability of the product.
When implemented as a commodity product for disposable tasting of foodstuff, the price is a primary consideration (along with satisfaction of other goals of meeting various standards for waste (e.g., compostability) and consumer's other use and environmental concerns).
The annual market size of disposable utensils is in the billions of units, and any reduction in cost is significantly magnified by that volume. There is always a trade-off in cost reduction to maintain usability. For consumers, usability includes mouth feel and whether the constructed utensil is able to operate for the intended purpose. For example, certain types of foodstuff are better suited to one type of constructed utensil than another. Even when the class of constructed utensil is correct, the appropriateness of the constructed utensil is further gauged as to whether it may be predictably constructed into the desired utensil.
For constructible utensils that include manufactured score lines that influence the shaping of the utensil as it is constructed, having a score pattern that improves predictable shaping greatly aids in consumer acceptance.
What is needed is a system and method for reducing manufacturing costs of patterned constructible utensils and improving constructability.


A scaleable hash table for shared memory multi-processor (SMP) that supports very high rates of concurrent operations (e.g., insert, delete, and lookup), while simultaneously reducing cache misses. The SMP system has a memory subsystem and a processor subsystem interconnected via a bus structure. The hash table is stored in the memory subsystem to facilitate access to data items. The hash table is segmented into multiple buckets, with each bucket containing a reference to a linked list of bucket nodes that hold references to data items with keys that hash to a common value. Individual bucket nodes contain multiple signature-pointer pairs that reference corresponding data items. Each signature-pointer pair has a hash signature computed from a key of the data item and a pointer to the data item. The first bucket node in the linked list for each of the buckets is stored in the hash table. To enable multithread access, while serializing operation of the table, the SMP system utilizes two levels of locks: a table lock and multiple bucket locks. The table lock allows access by a single processing thread to the table while blocking access for other processing threads. The table lock is held just long enough for the thread to acquire the bucket lock of a particular bucket node. Once the table lock is released, another thread can access the hash table and any one of the other buckets.

This invention relates to memory systems and hash tables used in the memory systems. More particularly, this invention relates to shared-memory multiprocessor systems that utilize hash tables to facilitate data access.
Hashing is an efficient and popular technique for fast lookup of items based on a key value. Most research on hash tables has focused on programs with a single thread of control. However, many modern applications are multithreaded and run on multiprocessor systems. Server applications such as web servers, database servers, and directory servers are typical examples. Server applications often make use of one or more software caches to speed up access to frequently used items. The number of items in a cache may very greatly, both over time and among installations.
Hashing is often used to provide fast lookup of items in a cache. In this context, the hash table becomes a shared, global data structure that should grow and shrink automatically with the number of items and that must be able to handle a high rate of concurrent operations (insert, lookup, and delete), all without wasting memory.
The inventors have developed a hashing scheme designed to meet these requirements.
Some programmers still believe that hash tables have to be of fixed size. That is, the table size has to be determined in advance and stays fixed thereafter. In the late 1970s, several researchers proposed schemes that allowed hash files to grow and shrink gradually in concert with the number of records in the file. Two methodsxe2x80x94linear hashing and spiral storagexe2x80x94were subsequently adapted for main-memory hash tables. The system developed by the inventors uses hashing techniques that are based on linear hashing. Accordingly, spiral storage is not addressed in this disclosure.
A higher load on a hash table increases the cost of all basic operations: insertion, retrieval, and deletion. If performance is to remain acceptable when the number of records increases, additional storage must somehow be allocated to the table. The traditional solution is to create a new, larger hash table and rehash all the records into the new table. Typically, the new hash table is twice the size of the old one.
In contrast to the traditional solution, linear hashing allows a smooth growth in the table size. The table grows gradually, one bucket at a time, rather than doubling in size. When a new bucket is added to the address space, a limited local reorganization is performed. Linear hashing was developed by W. Litwin for external files (see, Linear Hashing: A new tool for file and table addressing, Proceedings of the 6th Conference on Very Large Databases (VLDB ""81), 1981, pgs. 212-223) and adapted to in-memory hash tables by P.-xc3x85. Larson (see, Dynamic Hash Tables, Communications of the ACM, Vol. 31, No 4, 1988, pgs. 446-457).
To briefly describe linear hashing, consider a hash table consisting of N buckets with addresses 0, 1 . . . Nxe2x88x921. Linear hashing increases the address space gradually by splitting the buckets in a fixed order: first bucket 0, then bucket 1, and so on, up to and including bucket Nxe2x88x921. When a bucket is split, about half of its records are moved to a new bucket at the end of the table.
FIG. 1 illustrates the splitting process in linear hashing for an example table 20 with five buckets (N=5). A pointer p keeps track of the next bucket to be split. FIG. 1 shows the table 20 at four different growth stages: A, B, C, and D.
At stage A, the first bucket 0 is split, with part of its records being transferred to new bucket 5. At stage B, the second bucket 1 is split and some of the records are moved to new bucket 6. Stage C shows splitting the fifth and last of the original bucketsxe2x80x94bucket 4 (i.e., Nxe2x88x921)xe2x80x94and migrating some of the records to new bucket 9.
When all N buckets have been split and the table size has doubled to 2N, the pointer p is reset to zero and the splitting process starts over again, as shown in stage D. This time, the pointer travels from 0 to 2Nxe2x88x921, doubling the table size to 4N. This expansion process can continue as long as is required.
FIG. 2 illustrates how each bucket is split. In this example, bucket 0 of the exemplary five-bucket hash table 20 is split. The hash table is illustrated both before and after expansion to a sixth bucket.
An entry in the hash table 20 contains a single pointer 24, which is the head of a linked list 26 connecting all records that hashed to that address. When the table is of size five (i.e., five buckets), all records are hashed by the function h0(K)=K mod 5. Once the table size has doubled to ten (i.e., ten buckets), all records will be addressed by the function h1(K)=K mod 10. However, as illustrated in FIG. 1, linear hashing allows the table to expand one bucket at a time rather than doubling the table size immediately.
For this example, consider keys that hash to bucket 0. Under the hashing function h0(K)=K mod 5, the last digit of the key must be either 0 or 5. The linked list 26 shows records that end in either 0 or 5. Under the hashing function h1(K)=K mod 10, keys with the last digit equal to 0 still hash to bucket 0, while those with the last digit equal to 5 hash to bucket 5. None of the keys hashing to buckets 1, 2, 3, or 4 under function h0 can possibly hash to bucket 5 under function h1.
To expand the table, a new bucket (with address 5) is allocated at the end of the table and the pointer p is incremented by one. The process scans through the records of bucket 0 and relocates to the new bucket 5 all records that hash to 5 under h1(K)=K mod 10. In this example, records xe2x80x9c345xe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9c605xe2x80x9d are transferred from bucket 0 to new bucket 5. The records in buckets 1-4 remain unaffected.
As the table size changes, record addresses for various records affected by the expansion (or contraction) also change. The current address of a record can, however, be computed quickly. Given a key K, a value for h0(K) is computed. If h0(K) is less than the current value of p, the corresponding bucket has already been split; otherwise, the corresponding bucket has not been split. If the bucket has been split, the correct address of the record is given by h1(K). When all original buckets 0-4 have been split and the table size has increased to ten, all records are addressed by h1(K), which becomes the new h0(K) for N=10.
The address computation can be implemented in several ways, but the following solution appears to be the simplest. Let g be a normal hashing function producing addresses in some interval [0, M], where M is sufficiently large, say, M greater than 220. To compute the address of a record, the following sequence of hashing functions is employed:
hi(K)=g(K)mod(Nxc3x972i), i=0, 1, . . .
where N is the minimum size of the hash table. (It is noted that if N is a power of two, the modulo operation reduces to extracting the last bits of g(K).) The hashing function g(K) can be implemented in several ways. Functions of the type g(K)=(cK) mod M, where c is a constant and M is a large prime have experimentally been found to perform well. Different hashing functions are easily obtained by choosing different values for c and M.
The current state of the hash table is tracked by two variables:
L=number of times the table size has doubled (from its minimum size, N); and
p=pointer to the next bucket to be split, p less than Nxc3x972L.
Given a key K, the current address of the corresponding record can be computed as follows:
addr=hL(K)xe2x80x83xe2x80x831.
if(addr less than p) then addr=hL+1(K)xe2x80x83xe2x80x832.
Contracting the table by one bucket is exactly the inverse of expanding it by one bucket. First, the state variables are updated and then all records of the last bucket are moved to the bucket referenced by pointer p, and the last bucket is freed.
The discussion thus far has focused on how to expand or contract the hash table, but not when to do so. One way to determine when a hash table should undergo a size change is to bound the xe2x80x9coverall load factorxe2x80x9d of the table and to change table size when the overall load factor crosses over the bounds. The xe2x80x9coverall load factorxe2x80x9d is defined as the number of records in the table divided by the (current) number of buckets; i.e., the average chain length. A lower bound and an upper, bound are established for the overall load factor and table is expanded (contracted) whenever the overall load factor goes above (below) the upper (lower) bound. To support this decision mechanism, the hash table must track the current number of records in the table, in addition to the state variables L and p.
As noted above, many modern applications are multithreaded and run on shared-memory multiprocessor (SMP) systems. There are many challenges in constructing a scaleable hashing mechanism that accommodates the needs of this type of applications. Among the main challenges are reducing lock contention so that many threads can access the same hash table concurrently and reducing cache misses to improve overall access speed and performance.
Lock Contention
In multithreaded applications, many threads need access to the same hash tablet concurrently. Problems arise in that concurrently accessing threads can disrupt one another. One thread may cause the hash table to change or scale in size, while another thread is in the process of using the table for its own purpose.
One conventional approach to avoiding this problem is by using a single, global lock that protects all access to the table. When a thread gains access to the table, lit locks the table so that no other thread can use the table until the first thread is finished. The single lock serializes all operations on the table so that they cannot possibly interfere with each other.
For multithreaded applications with many concurrent threads, serialized operation on the hash table easily becomes a bottleneck resulting in poor scalability. This bottleneck restricts or even negatively impacts an application""s ability to scale. That is, adding more processors may not only fail to increase throughput but may sometimes even decrease throughput.
The inventors have developed a scaleable hash table that permits many operations on the hash table to proceed concurrently, resulting in excellent scalability.
Cache Miss Problems
All modern CPUs rely on multilevel processor caches to bridge the latency gap between memory and processors. The cost of a complete cache miss is substantial in the cycles wasted while the processor is stalled waiting for data to arrive from memory. Today, it is already as high as 100 cycles on some processors and it is expected to get worse.
Accordingly, there is a need to improve performance by reducing the number of cache misses. The inventors have devised a hash table that utilizes a cache-friendly data structure and hashing algorithm to reduce cache misses and page faults.
This invention concerns a scaleable hash table that supports very high rates of concurrent operations on the hash table (e.g., insert, delete, and lookup), while simultaneously reducing cache misses. The hash table is designed to meet the requirements of multithreaded applications running on shared-memory multiprocessors (SMP), but may be used by any application.
According to one implementation, the hash table is used by an application running on a shared-memory multiprocessor system with a memory subsystem and a processor subsystem interconnected via a bus structure. The processor subsystem has multiple microprocessors that are coupled to share the data resources on the memory subsystem. Each microprocessor has a central processing unit and cache memory (e.g., multilevel L1 and L2 caches).
The memory subsystem is a hierarchical memory system having a nonvolatile main memory (e.g., nonvolatile RAM) and persistent stable storage (e.g., disks, tape, RAID, etc.). A hash table is stored in the main memory to facilitate access to data items kept in the main memory or stable storage. The hash table consists of multiple buckets, where each bucket comprises a linked list of bucket nodes that hold references to data items whose keys hash to a common value or address. A suitable hashing function can be selected to provide an approximately even distribution of data items across the buckets.
Individual bucket nodes contain multiple signature-pointer pairs that reference corresponding data items. Each signature-pointer pair has a hash signature computed from a key of the data item and a pointer to the data item. The number of signature-pointer pairs in one bucket node is selected so that they fill one or more cache lines exactly when stored in the processors cache. In one implementation, each bucket holds seven signature-pointer pairs, which can be loaded conveniently into two 32-byte cache lines. In another implementation, three signature-pointer pairs were found to be effective.
When using two cache lines, the pairs are laid out in an arrangement that places the signatures in the first cache line and the pointers in the second cache line. The first cache line also holds a (spin) lock and the second cache line also stores a pointer to the next bucket node on the list.
The hash table is configured to store the first bucket node in the linked list for each of the buckets. Thus, the multiple signature-pointer pairs for the bucket are kept in the hash table, rather than just a pointer to the first node. This helps reduce potential cache misses.
To enable high rates of concurrency, while serializing access to sections of the table, the hash table utilizes two levels of locks: a higher level table lock and multiple lower level bucket locks. The table lock is held just long enough for a thread to set the bucket lock of a particular bucket. Once the table lock is released, another thread can access the hash table and any one of the non-locked buckets. In this manner, multiple threads can be conducting concurrent operations on the hash table (e.g., insert, delete, and lookup).
In another implementation, the hash table is further partitioned into multiple separate subtables, where each subtable is itself a linear hash table as described above. In this implementation, multiple subtable locks are used to govern access to the subtables, with underlying bucket locks governing access to individual buckets.

Scaleable hash table for shared-memory multiprocessor system


The present invention encompasses an electronic device operated in a communication system (for example 1XEV-DO, 1XEV-DV, CDMA, etc). The electronic device receiving a signal from a base station, the signal containing signaling information and data packets. The electronic device processing portion of the signal during the current frame and simultaneously storing the received signal prior to de-spreading, for further processing during the following frame. The electronic device further processing previously stored signal, during current frame.

A communication system is formed, at a minimum, of a base station and a mobile station, which are interconnected by way of a communication channel. Information to be communicated by the base station (also referred to as cell site) to the mobile station is transmitted via the communication channel to the mobile station. A wide variety of different types of communication systems have been developed and are regularly utilized to effectuate communication of information between base stations and mobile stations.
A wireless communication system, is an example of a communication system, which has been made possible due to advancements in communication technologies. Various standards have been promulgated relating to various types of wireless communication systems, and various types of wireless, as well as other, communication systems have been constructed, corresponding to such standards. The IS-95 and IS-2000 interim standards, promulgated by the EIA/TIA, are exemplary of standards which pertain to a wireless communication system, utilizing code division multiple access (CDMA) communication techniques.
Enhanced 3rd Generation CDMA systems are currently being developed to address high speed Internet packet data services. Examples of such systems, which are the result of an evolution of IS-95 and IS2000, are 1XEV-DO (TIA/EIA/IS-856) and 1XEV-DV standards. These systems utilize both CDMA and some type of time division multiplexing communication techniques.
In an effort to port the Internet to the wireless communication system, 1XEV-DO and 1XEV-DV systems use a fat data pipe concept, which is shared among a number of users (mobile stations). The fat pipe, called the shared supplemental channel, is de-multiplexed into several code channels according to the usual CDMA access techniques. In the current proposal for 1XEV-DV, for example, the pipe is actually transmitted on 14 or 15 Walsh codes of length 16.
In high data rate systems, it is assumed that low mobility prevails and the use of soft handoff is not needed. Also, use of soft handoff would reduce the data rate capacity of the system. Therefore, a fast cell site selection is performed in the network, aided by measurements made at the mobile station. However, the mobile station can only assist the BS by sending information on the reverse link. Because of impairments on the reverse link, the BS may actually select a less then preferred cell site. instead of the preferred target cell site
In the high data rate, the shared supplemental channel is shared among a number of mobile stations in accordance with CDMA and TDMA communication techniques. The base station has an admission control algorithm such that the base station decides 1) when to transmit data packets to a particular mobile station; 2) the modulation type and coding rate; 3) the Walsh codes (among the 14 or 15 available) that will be assigned; and 4) the cell site that will transmit the data packets.
The BS simultaneously transmits the data packet, intended for the mobile station, on the supplemental channel and a signaling frame on the dedicated channel. This signaling frame provides the mobile station information such as 1) whether a data packet was sent to that MS; 2) the modulation type and coding rate used; 3) the Walsh codes; and 4) which cell site is transmitting on shared supplemental channel. Upon reception of a signaling frame, the mobile station decodes the dedicated channel and determines if there was a data packet for it on the shared supplemental channel. Thus, the mobile station is expected to buffer the received shared supplemental channel information in order to be able, after the fact, demodulate and decode the share supplemental channel. Generally, the dedicated channel and all the supplemental channels are de-spread to retrieve necessary information and all the expanded information is stored is a buffer. Generally, the buffer size required depends on the number of fingers needed, the number of Walsh channels, the sampling rate, etc. Since the mobile station must de-spread all the Walsh channels to determine if a data packet is transmitted for that MS, a large buffer size is needed, even if only one Walsh channel may apply.
Therefore, it would be useful if method and apparatus was provided to manage the buffering and processing of signals that would require less storage space and processing time.

Method and apparatus for processing a signal received in a high data rate communication system


A method of preparing the methyl ester of .alpha.-eleostearic acid comprises the following steps:. providing a reaction mixture comprising tung oil, methanol, water and a saponification agent; PA1 maintaining the temperature of said reaction mixture at a temperature of not more than about 60.degree. C. for a time sufficient to effect saponification of said tung oil; PA1 acidifying the saponification reaction mixture while cooling to prevent excess temperature rise to form an aqueous phase and a non-aqueous phase comprising .alpha.-eleostearic acid; PA1 separating said aqueous and non aqueous phases; PA1 admixing said separated non-aqueous phase and methanol to form an esterification reactor mixture; PA1 heating said esterification reaction mixture in the presence of an acidic esterification catalyst to form an aqueous phase and a non-aqueous phase comprising the methyl ester of .alpha.-eleostearic acid; and PA1 separating said aqueous and non aqueous phases of said esterification reaction mixture to provide a non-aqueous product phase comprising the methyl ester of .alpha.-eleostearic acid.

The methyl ester of .alpha.-eleostearic acid (methyl Z, E, E-9, 11, 13-octadecatrieneoate) has been identified as an effective anti feedant for deterring boll weevils from destroying growing cotton. While various methods have been suggested for producing the acid and its ester, these methods are generally of the laboratory variety and expensive to conduct in large scale. In one method for the production of .alpha.-eleostearic acid, which is reported in J. Chem. Soc. (1957) pp. 1632-1646 at 1641, tung oil is saponified and then acidified. The acidified material is washed twice with hot distilled water. After one hour at 0.degree. C., the solid is filtered off and recrystallized four times with ethanol and twice from pentane. The yield of acid is only about 36% based on the weight of the tung oil. In another method. which is described in Jacobson, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 140,911 filed Apr. 16, 1980, tung oil is mixed with ethanol and potassium hydroxide and refluxed for four hours under nitrogen atmosphere. After cooling in an ice bath, a 10% aqueous sulfuric acid solution is added in an amount sufficient to render the system acidic, with the .alpha.-eleostearic acid being present in an oily layer on top of an aqueous layer. Ether, in an amount approximately equal to the volume of the oily layer, is added to the system and the vessel is shaken to dissolve the oily acid in the ether. The ether layer which settles out is then separated and dried with sodium sulfate. The ether is evaporated and the acid residue is taken up in acetone and crystallized out by cooling to about 20.degree. C. The crystals are .alpha.-eleostearic acid, melting point 48.degree. C., and the yield from 134 grams of tung oil is 75 grams of acid. The acid is then esterified with methanol to produce the methyl ester.
While both of the foregoing processes produce good quality product in substantial quantity, it is envisaged that the successful application of the material as a boll weevil anti-feedant for cotton crops will require the much more efficient production of the product than is possible with either of the reported processes.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a new method of producing the methyl ester of .alpha.-eleostearic acid. It is a further object to provide such a process which is simple and inexpensive to operate in large scale. It is a further object to provide such a process in which the product is obtained in high yield.

Method of preparing the methyl ester of .alpha.-eleostearic acid


In an effort to greatly decrease the insertion losses inherent in larger sized Mxc3x97N optical switches, the present invention deals with minimizing the variation in the optical path lengths of optical beams passing through the switch. To accomplish this goal, the present invention relates to a segmented optical switch comprising four segments, two segments having input ports and two segments having output ports. The segments having output ports are separated from each other, and positioned on adjacent sides of the segments with input ports. Accordingly, the very short optical paths as well as the very long optical paths in the switch are eliminated, thereby minimizing the variation in the optical path lengths. Preferably, the switch is comprised of four identical segments, making manufacturing and supply costs less.

The present invention relates to an optical switch, and in particular to a segmented Mxc3x97N optical switch.
In the fiber optics industry Mxc3x97N optical switches are used to selectively optically couple one of a plurality of input optical fibers with one of a plurality of output optical fibers. U.S. Pat. No. 4,580,873, issued Apr. 8, 1986 to Frank Levinson, discloses a basic Mxc3x97N optical switch having an array of input lenses along one side and an array of output lenses along another side.
As the demand for the transmission of greater amounts of information grows, so does the number of optical fibers, and so does the size of the switches, which are required to direct the beams of light carrying the information. However, there are definite physical limits within which the design of a switch must adhere. Basic economics dictate that the switch should be as small as possible to minimize material costs, but there are several other interrelated factors that play a role in the design of a switch. These factors include lens characteristics, mirror size, and optical path length. A Gaussian beam launched through an appropriate lens initially converges and subsequently diverges. The minimum beam diameter is called the waste, the position and size of which are based on the parameters of the lens and the beam. The position of the waist is important since the beam diameter increases thereafter, and it is the diameter of the beam that dictates the size of the mirrors and the maximum optical path length to ensure good optical coupling. When all of the lenses have the same focal length, insertion loss is minimized by making the distance from the collimating lens to the reflecting mirror the same as the distance from the reflecting mirror to the focusing lens, and by focussing the beam waist on the reflecting mirror. Obviously, this is impossible for every combination of input and output lens. Accordingly, to minimize the variation in insertion loss, it is important to minimize the variation in the optical path lengths and to position the beam waist at the average optical path length. However, in the conventional matrix switch, the optical path length from the first input port to the first output port is short, while the optical path length from the last input port to the last output port is much longer. Therefore, when conventional switches are used with a large number of input/output ports the variation in optical path lengths is very large, resulting in a large variation in insertion loss.
A previous attempt to equalize all of the path lengths is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,841,917, issued Nov. 24, 1998 to Jungerman, Roger L. et al. Unfortunately, the arrangement disclosed in the Jungerman et al patent is quite bulky and cumbersome, particularly as the number of input/output ports increases.
An object of the present invention is to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art by providing an optical switch with a minimum insertion loss variation by minimizing the variation in optical path lengths.
Accordingly, the present invention relates to a segmented optical switch comprising:
a first segment including P input ports for launching beams of light into the switch;
a second segment, adjacent the first segment, including X output ports for receiving beams of light from the switch;
a third segment, adjacent the second segment, including Q input ports for launching beams of light into the switch; and
a fourth segment, adjacent the first and third segments, including Y output ports for receiving beams of light from the switch;
wherein the first segment also includes Pxc3x97Y reflecting means for redirecting the beams of light from the P input ports to the Y output ports;
wherein the second segment also includes Pxc3x97X reflecting means for redirecting the beams of light from the P input ports to the X output ports;
wherein the third segment also includes Qxc3x97X reflecting means for redirecting the beams of light from the Q input ports to the X output ports; and
wherein the fourth segment also includes Qxc3x97Y reflecting means for redirecting the beams of light from the Q input ports to the Y output ports.


An internal combustion engine tapered push rod assembly construction is disclosed, as well as a novel method of partially making the assembly elongated body section component from tubular push rod feedstock by removing excess exterior feedstock to form the body section exterior taper rather than by known conventional radial compression of feedstock exterior material that otherwise results in an unwanted feedstock reduced internal diameter, and an unwanted increased body section wall thickness configuration.

None.
This invention relates generally to internal combustion engines, and particularly pertains to a method of making internal combustion engine tapered push rods and to the improved internal combustion engine tapered push rods resulting from the practice of the method aspect of the invention.
In the United States most high-performance internal combustion engines having a capability of providing maximum continuous high torque output power at very high revolution per minute operating speeds, e.g. 7,300 to 7,500 revolutions per minute, utilize solid valve push rod components having a uniform external diameter. Any unnecessary weight included in individual valve push rod components or in the engine intake and exhaust valve trains undesirably detracts form engine operating responsiveness at such high revolution per minute operating speeds.
I have discovered an internal combustion engine push rod assembly construction that may be used to eliminate unnecessary weight from engine valve trains and accordingly improve engine responsiveness at relatively high operating speeds.
Other objects of the present invention will become apparent from consideration of the following detailed descriptions, drawings, and claims.
From a manufacturing procedure standpoint the present invention primarily involves the novel step of machining or otherwise removing excess metal from tapering exterior regions of engine push rod tubular feedstock to thereby form a push rod assembly tapered body section rather than radially compressing the otherwise excess feedstock metal into a reduced-diameter body section of increased wall thickness as taught by the prior art.
From a product configuration standpoint, the internal combustion engine push rod assembly of the present invention is comprised of a uniformly tapered and elongated body section having longitudinally varying wall thickness, a conventional rod length adjustment device secured to the body section at its end with greater wall thickness, a push rod foot section joined to the free end of the length adjustment device, and a secured-in-place rod end bearing member at each free end of the assembly. The invention assembly is additionally distinguished by the inclusion of an internal, continuous uniform-diameter, lubricant passageway extending throughout the length of the internal combustion engine push rod assembly.

Internal combustion engine tapered push rod assemblies


Methods and apparatus for processing and displaying caption information associated with a video program are provided. The caption information is extracted from a video signal and different captions are rendered in sequence for different segments of the video program. A plurality of the different captions is blended in a form for simultaneous display superimposed on video images during one of the different segments of the video program. The different captions may be the latest caption corresponding to the current segment of video and a previous caption corresponding to a previous video segment. These different captions can be displayed such that they overlie each other and such that their opacity is different. In this manner, a viewer is able to have a prolonged period of time to read captions and can readily distinguish the current caption from the previous caption.

Closed captions and/or subtitles are captions, typically in text form, that are contained in a video signal such as a video signal of a television program, movie, media file, or other audiovisual program. For example, text corresponding to dialogue, sound effects, and the like of an audiovisual program are transmitted with the video and audio information from a broadcaster or like content provider. Recovery of closed captions and subtitles for display along with the video typically requires a decoder or like device that enables the captions to be displayed in proper sequence on the display screen with the video of the program such that the captions or subtitles are temporarily superimposed on the video. The apparatus in which the decoder or like device is implemented, for instance, may include a set-top box, a television, a computer (desktop, laptop, tablet, pad, etc.), a video recorder or player, a hand held cellular telephone, or like electronic media player or device associated with a display.
There are various industry standards and specifications with respect to transmitting and rendering caption and subtitle information for being superimposed on a video. The standards and specifications typically specify how the subtitle/caption information is parsed, synchronized with the video, and positioned on the display screen.
By way of example, the EIA-608 standard is a standard for the delivery of closed captions developed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) with assistance from the Electronic Industries Association (EIA) Television Data Systems Subcommittee and is based on the Line 21 system utilizing the DVS-157 standard for carriage format in digital cable systems. The DVS-157 standard is a standard established for the cable industry by the Digital Video Subcommittee (DVS) of the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers ("SCTE").
The more recently developed EIA-708 standard utilizes the carriage format specified in the Advanced Television System Committee's (ATSC) A/53 standard for digital video. The EIA-708 standard provides advanced closed caption features for digital television signals at the closed captioning origination device. The EIA-708 features include, but are not limited to, the ability to change certain closed caption features, such as the location of the closed caption display and the size and color of the closed caption text. With respect to standards for subtitles, DVB Subtitle rendering is specified in ETSI 300 743 and ARIB Subtitle rendering is specified in ARIB STD-B24. Similar specifications are provided for various other video formats including DVD and DivX formats.
A problem often experienced by a viewer of a video having subtitles or closed captions is that the subtitles/captions are not always provided in a manner that is convenient to the viewer with respect to readability of the subtitles/captions. For instance, the amount of subtitle/caption text displayed on a screen in a given amount of time varies greatly due to the variation in amount and rate of dialogue in the video and the pace and tempo of the dialogue in any particular scene or segment of the video. Subtitles and captions are displayed only for a limited amount of time before being removed and replaced with the next subtitle/caption in sequence. This is true regardless of the amount and/or rate of dialogue in a given segment of the video and may limit the viewer's ability to fully read each subtitle or closed caption, particularly when the dialogue of a particular segment of the video is intensive. By way of example, a first video segment may contain several long sentences of text in which the caption momentarily flashes on the screen and may be followed by another video segment that may contain very little dialogue, such as a single word. In this case, a viewer may be unable to read the entire caption with respect to the first video segment while having spare time in the following video segment.

Method and apparatus for processing and displaying multiple captions superimposed on video images


A three-dimension or stereo television viewing system is disclosed which multiplexes alternate left-right image presentations from two television cameras which are separated horizontally and aimed so that their optical axes intersect. One field of the standard interlace frame is selected from the left-hand camera and multiplexed but the alternate field from the right-hand camera with the multiplexed video frame being displayed on the standard television monitor. An electrically controlled viewer is provided for each user which employs electro-optic shutter lenses which are caused to switched in synchronisims with the alternating television fields. Direct connection between the viewers and the rest of the system is eliminated by the provision of a photoemitting and photodetection system in which coded pulses from the photoemitters are utilized by the photo detectors to operate the lenses of the stereo viewers in synchronism with the TV fields. Provision is made for the condition when no photo signal is received such that the lenses are in the open or transparent state.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention pertains generally to the field of stereoscopic television and, more particularly to a stereoscopic television viewing system in which alternate left and right images are presented to the corresponding left and right eyes of a viewing person in a synchronous using manner optical signals.
2. Description of the Prior Art
While the field of stereoscopic television is a relatively new branch of the electro-optical arts, many schemes and systems have been devised in order that the viewer may be presented with what he conceives to be a three-dimensional or stereo television image. These various systems are characterized by several methods of image separation and recombination including electromechanical shutter devices and devices having electro-optic shutters which are directly connected by wire to the remainder of this stereoscopic television system.
One such device is illustrated and described in a patent to Roese U.S. Pat. No. 3,903,358, issued Sept. 2, 1975, which illustrates and describes a stereoscopic television system which employs a single camera and a beam splitting system to present alternate left and right image inputs to a television monitor. A stereoscopic viewing system is used which includes glasses having left and right PLZT electro-optic light valve lenses the opening and closing of which is controlled in synchronization with the left and right image presentation by the monitor. The left and right presentation of images is made using the interlace pattern of the two scanning fields of the standard TV frame. While this system has proved to be highly successful, the necessity for directly connecting the stereo viewer glasses with the viewer distribution circuit greatly encumbers the activity of the viewing person and also makes it quite difficult for a plurality of viewers to simultaneously view this same stereoscopic television presentation as additional sets of connecting wires must be provided.
Another synchronized stereoscopic television system is illustrated and described in a patent to Hope U.S. Pat. No. 3,621,127 issued Nov. 16, 1971. That system utilizes a high frequency carrier transmitter and receiving system to transmit and receive timed signals which are then utilized to operate a shuttering spectacle such that the left and right eye elements are opened and closed alternately in response to the high frequency signals. While this system eliminates the necessity of direct connection between the spectacles and the control and synchronizing system of the stereoscopic television viewing system there may be unwanted interference from or with other high frequency signals. In addition, the system is nondirectional so that the spectacles operate whether or not the wearer's attention is directed toward the screen.

Photo controlled stereoscopic television system


Embolic protection devices useful for filtering emboli during interventional cardiac, vascular, or other procedures are described. The device can include first and second expandable mesh filters having open and closed ends. The first filter is attached to a catheter at its closed end. The second filter is attached to a steerable guide wire at its closed end. The second filter includes a cinching wire circumferentially attached to the filter. The filters are deployed in separate vessels, such as the brachiocephalic artery and the left common carotid artery. A procedure is performed, and the filters trap any emboli travelling through the path of the filters. At the end of the procedure, the second filter is closed using the cinching wire, and retracted into the first filter. Both the first and second filters are collapsed into a sheath and removed from the body with along with any emboli trapped in the filters.

The present disclosure is related to protecting against embolism, and more particularly to devices, systems, and methods for the filtration and removal of debris within blood vessels.
Arterial embolism is a sudden interruption of blood flow to an organ or body part due to an embolus, e.g., debris or a clot. During a surgical intervention, such as a cardiac intervention, a vascular intervention, or a coronary intervention, tissue, plaque, and/or other masses may be dislodged due to the intervention, resulting in an embolus. These emboli are capable of traveling far from their origins, migrating to other sites of the vasculature and resulting in potentially life threatening complications. For example, an embolus may travel through the carotid artery and inhibit the flow of blood to the brain, which may result in the death of brain cells, i.e., cause a stroke. A blockage of the carotid arteries is the most common cause of a stroke.

St. Jude Medical, Cardiology Division, Inc.


A connecting device connects a tailpipe to an exhaust pipe of an internal combustion engine for a vehicle. The tailpipe includes a smaller diameter section and a larger diameter section, and the free end of the exhaust pipe is received by the larger diameter section of the tailpipe. An annular space separates the larger diameter section of the tailpipe and the free end of the exhaust pipe. Screw threads are formed on the free end of the exhaust pipe. A connecting spring is configured as a conical helical spring, the larger diameter end of which is fixed to the tailpipe. The other end of the spring has coils configured as screw threads which screwed onto the screw threads which are formed on the free end of the exhaust pipe. The spring is relatively soft in a direction parallel to an axis of the tailpipe, and is relatively stiff in a direction transverse to an axis of the tailpipe. The spring absorbs vibrations of the engine and centers the pipes with respect to each other.

The invention relates to a connection between an exhaust pipe and a tailpipe of an internal combustion engine of a vehicle, in particular an agricultural or utility vehicle.
The exhaust gases of an elastically mounted internal combustion engine of a vehicle, such as an agricultural tractor, are conducted through an exhaust manifold to a muffler and then through an exhaust pipe and a tailpipe into the open air. In such an arrangement, the tailpipe frequently slides over the exhaust pipe so that it can easily be disconnected, as is revealed, for example, by German Patentschrift DE 3023758, published 12 Mar. 1981. The internal combustion engine is mounted elastically in the vehicle and, when operating, transmits strong vibrations to the exhaust pipe and the tailpipe. These vibrations make it difficult to apply long tailpipes, which, in addition, are burdened by high weight and hence require additional support. It would be desirable to provide a low cost connection between an exhaust pipe and a tailpipe which can withstand exposure to vibrations and which does not require additional support.

Device for connecting a tailpipe to an exhaust pipe


Device, system, and method of resource allocation in a wireless network. Embodiments include optimal space-frequency architectures for very high peak rates in wireless systems. For example, an apparatus for wireless communication in a power-limited, very wideband system includes a wireless communication device having a media access controller (MAC) and a physical layer (PHY) that are adapted for a multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) communication scheme; a plurality of antennas, operationally coupled to said device, to send and receive wireless communication signals according to the MIMO-OFDMA communication scheme; and a resource allocator, to allocate transmission resources of the device into desired MIMO channels optimized according to at least one of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), bandwidth, number of users, and signal-to-noise-plus-interference ratio (SINR).

Some wireless communication systems allow users of mobile devices to participate in voice conversations and video conferences, to send and receive data and media files, to send and receive Short Message Service (SMS) messages, or the like. Some users may require broadband communications, for example, in order to rapidly send and receive large files or in order to experience high-quality video playback.
The per-user communication demand for broadband data is increasing due to a combination of factors including, for example, growing size of raw data content (e.g., proliferation of video traffic), more data being generated due to faster computation capabilities, and increased connectivity that encourages sharing data with more users.
To support the growing communication demand for ever-higher data rates requires ever-wider portions of Radio Frequency spectrum per user. However, spectrum is a precious resource, and is often strictly regulated or difficult to find. Therefore it is important to provide spectrally efficient techniques that can maximize the data rates and number of users per unit of spectrum.


A plug includes a compartment defined therein, an end face through which first and second blades extend and having an opening defined therein in communication with the compartment, a fuse casing mounted in the compartment for receiving a fuse therein and having an access through which the fuse is passable, a first wire, a second wire in electrical connection with the second blade, a first conductive piece mounted to the fuse casing and in electrical connection with the fuse and the first blade, a second conductive piece mounted to the fuse casing and in electrical connection with the fuse and the first wire, and a lid removably mounted to the end face to cover the opening.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved plug of the type having a fuse therein and, more particularly, to a plug having an improved arrangement for accommodating a fuse.
2. Description of the Related Art
A typical plug with a fuse therein is shown in FIG. 5 of the drawings and includes a housing 40 having a compartment 41 which is accessible via a lateral side thereof. A first conductive piece 42a is mounted to an end portion of a lateral wall which defines the compartment and electrically connected to a first blade 43a, while a second conductive piece 42b is mounted to the other end portion of the lateral wall and electrically connected to a wire 46a. A second blade 43b is electrically connected to a second wire 46b. A fuse 45 is received in the compartment 41 in which a first conductive end 45a thereof is electrically connected to the first conductive piece 42a and a second conductive end 45b thereof is electrically connected to the second conductive piece 42b. A lid 44 is removably mounted to the housing 40 to cover the fuse 45.
A disadvantage of the above-mentioned structure is that the lid 44 is pressed by the user when the user wants to put the plug into a socket (not shown) and thus tends to be damaged easily. In addition, a gap is defined between the lid 44 and the housing 40 such that water may enter the compartment 41 and thus may endanger the user. A further disadvantage of the above-mentioned structure is that the fuse 45 is received in the compartment 41 without any fastening member to assure reliable electrical connection to the conductive pieces 42a and 42b, resulting in an unstable voltage such that the fuse tends to be damaged easily. Furthermore, a volume of the compartment 41 may be enlarged after a term of use or due to thermal expansion as the housing is generally made of plastic material, which also causes unreliable electrically connection of the fuse to the conductive pieces, thereby aggravating the unstable voltage problem. Another disadvantage of the above-mentioned structure is that the lid tends to be lost and the user has to replace the whole plug as the lid is not sold independently. If the user ignores this, electricity leakage easily occurs and possibly causes injury to children and/or babies.
Therefore, there has been a long and unfulfilled need for an plug to mitigate and/or obviate the above problems.

Plug with improved arrangement for accommodating a fuse

No. 1 Alley 50, Lane 305, Sec. 3, Chung-Shan Road


Disclosed are substituted phthalazin-1 (2H)-ones of the formula (IA), preparation processes and medical uses thereof, particularly related to the compositions containing the same and the uses thereof, more particularly related to their pharmaceutical use as inhibitors of PARP.

PARP is short for "poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase". Cancer cells use the enzyme PARP to repair DNA damage, including the damage inflicted by chemotherapy drugs. Researchers are examining whether drugs that inhibit the enzyme PARP will diminish this self-repair mechanism and make cancer cells more sensitive to the treatment and promotion of cancer cell death.
PARP inhibitors are a group of pharmacological inhibitors of the enzyme Poly ADP ribose polymerase (PARP), which is important for facilitating DNA repair, controlling RNA transcription, mediating cell death and regulating immune response. Therefore, the PARP inhibitors are developed for multiple indications; the most important indication is cancer. Several types of cancer are more dependent on PARP than regular cells, making PARP an attractive target for chemotherapeutic cancer therapy.
There is considerable interest in the development of PARP inhibitors as chemo sensitizers for use in cancer therapy and to limit cellular damage after ischemia or endotoxic stress. Cytotoxic drugs, generally, or radiation can induce activation of PARP, and it has been demonstrated that inhibitors of PARP can potentiate the DNA damaging and cytotoxic effects of chemotherapy and irradiation (see Kock, et al, 45, J. Med. Chem. 4961, 2002). PARP mediated DNA repair in response to DNA damaging agents represents a mechanism for drug resistance in tumors, and the inhibition of this enzyme has been shown to enhance the activity of ionizing radiation and several cytotoxic antitumor agents, including temozolomide and topotecan. Suto et al, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,177,075, disclosed several isoquino lines used for enhancing the lethal effects of ionizing radiation or chemotherapeutic agents on tumor cells. Weltin et al, "Effect of 6(5H)-Phenanthridinone, an Inhibitor of Poly (ADP-ribose) Polymerase, on Cultured Tumor Cells", Oncol. Res., 6:9, 399-403 (1994) disclosed that the inhibition of PARP activity reduced proliferation of tumor cells, and produced a marked synergistic effect when tumor cells are co-treated with an alkylating drug. PARP is thus a potentially important therapeutic target for enhancing DNA-damaging cancer therapies.
PARP inhibitors can also inhibit the growth of cells having defects in the homologous recombination (HR) pathway of double-stranded DNA repair, see, for example, Bryant et al, "Specific killing of BRCA2-deficient tumors with inhibitors of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase," Nature 434, 913 (2005); Farmer et al, "Targeting the DNA repair defect in BRCA mutant cells as a therapeutic strategy," Nature 434, 917 (2005). This effect operates without the presence of chemosensitizers. Known states associated with HR defects include BRCA-1 defects, BRCA-2 defects, and Fanconi anemia-associated cancers (McCabe et al., "Deficiency in the Repair of DNA Damage by Homologous Recombination and Sensitivity to Poly (ADP-Ribose) Polymerase Inhibition," Cancer Res. 66. 8109, 2006). Proteins identified as associated with Fanconi anemia include FANCA, FANCB, FANCC, FANCD2, FANCE, FANCF, FANCG, FANCL, and FANCM. Id. For reviews, see Zaremba et al., "PARP Inhibitor Development for Systemic Cancer Targeting," Anti-Cancer Agents in Medicinal Chemistry 7, 515 (2007), and Lewis et al., "Clinical poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitors for the treatment of cancer," Curr. Opin. Investigational Drugs 8, 1061 (2007).
Large numbers of known PARP inhibitors have been described in Banasik et al., "Specific Inhibitors of Poly (ADP-Ribose) Synthetase and Mono (ADP-Ribose)-Transferase", J. Biol. Chem., 267:3, 1569-75 (1992), and in Banasik et al., "Inhibitors and Activators of ADP-Ribosylation Reactions", Molec. Cell. Biochem., 138, 185-97 (1994).
In addition to the above, PARP inhibitors have been disclosed and described in the following international patent applications: WO09/04356, WO04/80976, WO 00/42040; WO00/39070; WO00/39104; WO99/11623; WO99/11628; WO99/11622; WO 99/59975; WO99/11644; WO99/11945; WO99/11649; and WO99/59973. PARP-inhibitors that potentiate the lethality of cytotoxic agents by chemosensitizing tumor cells to the cytotoxic effects of chemotherapeutic agents has been reported in, inter alia, US2002/0028815; US2003/0134843; US2004/0067949; White A W, et al., 14 Bioorg. and Med. Chem. Letts. 2433 (2004); Canon Koch S S, et al., 45 J. Med. Chem. 4961 (2002); Skalitsky D J, et al, 46 J. Med. Chem. 210 (2003); Farmer H, et al, 434 Nature 917 (14 Apr. 2005); Plummer E R, et al., 11(9) Clin. Cancer Res. 3 402 (2005); Tikhe J G, et al., 47 J. Med. Chem. 5467 (2004); Griffin R. J., et al, WO98/33802; and Helleday T, et al, WO2005/012305.
In addition to cancer therapy, PARP inhibitors are considered as a potential drug for acute, life-threatening diseases, such as stroke and myocardial infarction, diabetes, inflammation, as well as a long-term drug for neurodegenerative diseases (Graziani G, Szabó C (July 2005). "Clinical perspectives of PARP inhibitors". Pharmacol. Res. 52 (1): 109-18).

Substituted phthalazin-1(2H)-ones, preparation processes and medical uses thereof


A stringed instrument with an on-board tuner which detects vibrations of the strings and determines and displays the identity of the string which is being played and the deviation of the string's pitch relative to an in-tune reference pitch. The tuner display is situated such that it is not readily visible to casual observers, such as an audience, yet is oriented such that the musician can easily view the tuner display from a normal playing position. In the case of an electric stringed instrument, the display is inlaid in the top surface of the neck of the instrument near the instrument's body. In the case of an acoustic stringed instrument, the tuner is mounted inside the body of the instrument and is visible through the sound hole. The instrument is provided with a strap assembly which attaches to a balanced pivot point on the instrument and provides a single connection which serves as both an electrical connection to the amplifier and a mechanical connection to the strap assembly. The strap assembly enables the musician to remove and attach different instruments without removing the strap assembly. The instrument body is contoured to follow the shape of the musician's body, thereby minimizing the torque experienced by the musician through the strap assembly. The lower portion of the instrument body is tapered to substantially eliminate the lower horn portion, allowing the musician to play the instrument in the same position regardless of whether the musician is sitting or standing.

A commonly known problem related to stringed instruments is their natural tendency not to stay in tune. Temperature fluctuations are one major cause of this problem. As the ambient temperature increases, the pitch of instrument strings tends to become sharp, and conversely, as the temperature decreases, the pitch of instrument strings tends to become flat. As a result, musicians are required to re-tune their stringed instruments frequently. This problem is particularly acute for performing musicians, because the ambient temperature tends to increase rapidly during performances due to stage lighting. With conventional tuners, the performing musician's opportunities to tune an instrument during a performance are severely limited, since the attendant tuning process is cumbersome. For instance, with electric stringed instruments, the musician must divert attention away from the instrument and the audience in order to focus on a remotely located tuner which is connected to the instrument via an output cable. In the case of an acoustic stringed instrument, an additional difficulty exists; external noise contends with the sound from the string being tuned and interferes with the tuner properly discerning the string's pitch. As a result, it is generally practical for a performing musician to tune only before a performance or during breaks between sets, often resulting in unacceptably poor tuning during performance.
Attempts have been made in the art to provide stringed instruments with on-board or built-in tuners. However, no existing tuner has satisfactorily provided a convenient system that minimizes the time and effort required by a performing musician to tune a stringed instrument during the course of a performance.
International Application No. PCT/US89/02923 (Weise) discloses an integrated guitar tuning system, wherein a tuning circuit is built into a guitar, and a display comprising a pair of light emitting diodes (LEDs) is mounted on the surface of the guitar body. One LED is illuminated to indicate that the string being tuned is sharp, and the other LED is illuminated to indicate the string being tuned is flat. However, the display does not indicate which string is being tuned and does not indicate the degree to which the string is out of tune. In addition, the display is oriented outward from the front face of the guitar body such that the LEDs are visible to anyone viewing the front of the guitar, such as an audience.
International Application No. PCT/GB87/00302 (George) is directed to a tuning aid located on the front face of a guitar body, which includes: a dedicated pickup for sensing the pitch of the strings; and a row of LEDs situated beneath the strings. Each LED corresponds to a string and is illuminated when the corresponding string is played and in tune. Four additional LEDs are used to indicate whether the played string is in tune. One LED is illuminated when the pitch of the string is flat; a second LED is illuminated when the pitch of the string is sharp; and the final two LEDs are illuminated when the pitch of the string is in tune. The display is readily visible to one viewing the front of the guitar, such as the audience. However, the display is not conveniently located so as to be easily viewed by the musician while holding the guitar in a normal playing position. In addition, the sharp and flat LEDs do not indicate the extent to which the pitch of a string deviates from the in-tune reference pitch.
US Pat. No. 4,899,636 (Chiba) relates to a tuning apparatus which mounts on an external surface of an instrument via a suction cup and determines pitch by sensing vibrations via a piezoelectric element. The apparatus relies on vibrations being transmitted through the body of the instrument, and therefore is not suitable for stringed instruments such as electric guitars. The external mounting necessarily results in the tuning apparatus protruding from the instrument, which may be aesthetically or functionally undesirable to the musician. The display of the apparatus is an analog meter which requires a relatively large display area. Further, in order to properly attach to the instrument, the suction cup requires a substantially plane surface area, which limits the selection of desirable mounting locations.
Another problem encountered by performing musicians is the difficulty of switching from one instrument to another instrument during a performance. With an instrument having a conventional support strap and amplifier cord, the musician must first unplug the amplifier cord, and then remove both the instrument and strap by lifting the strap over the musician's head. Next, the second instrument, together with its strap, must be placed over the musician's shoulder, and the amplifier cord must be reattached. This procedure is awkward and time consuming and can only be accomplished when there is a significant amount of time between selections and rarely during performance.
In addition, stringed instruments with conventional straps tend to impart significant torque forces to the neck and shoulders of the musician, which, over time, can result in chronic pain or discomfort. This torque is caused by the inherent imbalance in the distribution of the weight of the guitar on the musician's shoulders. This problem is especially troublesome with instruments having a larger-than-conventional number of strings. For example, a six string bass guitar requires a larger and heavier headstock than a conventional four string bass guitar in order to accommodate the additional strings. In order to counter balance the additional weight of the headstock, the weight of the body of the guitar must be increased by approximately three times the additional weight of the headstock. This additional weight increases the torque forces experienced by the musician. In addition, ease of mass-production dictates that most stringed instruments have planar slab bodies. However, when the conventional instrument is held in a normal playing position, the slab body shape causes a significant amount of the instrument's mass to extend out from the musician's body, thereby contributing to the torque experienced by the musician through the strap assembly.
Finally, conventional stringed instruments, such as guitars, are shaped such that musicians are forced to hold the guitar in a different playing position while sitting than while standing. The lower portion of a conventional guitar includes a lower horn. When a musician is sitting, this lower horn rests against the musician's leg, thereby preventing the musician from orienting the guitar at certain angles. If the musician tends to practice while sitting and perform while standing, this limitation on the guitar's angular orientation leads to inconsistent playing conditions which may have an adverse affect on the quality of the musician's performance.


The invention relates to an internal combustion engine having an adjustable variable compression ratio, a crankshaft having a crankshaft center line and at least one counterweight, which has an extent with a maximum distance from the crankshaft center line, at least one connecting rod, an adjusting mechanism for adjusting the adjustable variable compression ratio, a switchover element for switching the adjusting mechanism, wherein the switchover element is arranged on the connecting rod, and an actuating element for switching over the switchover element from a first position, which corresponds to a first compression ratio, into a second position.

The invention relates to an internal combustion engine having an adjustable variable compression ratio, a crankshaft having a crankshaft center line and at least one counterweight, which has an extent with a maximum distance from the crankshaft center line, at least one connecting rod, an adjusting mechanism for adjusting the adjustable variable compression ratio, a switchover element or a control valve for switching the adjusting mechanism, wherein the switchover element is arranged on the connecting rod, and an actuating element for switching over the switchover element from a first position, which corresponds to a first compression ratio, into a second position.
An internal combustion engine of this kind is known from WO-A-2014/019684 and WO-A-2014/019683. In the case of the internal combustion engine according to WO-A-2014/019684, a switchover element for switching the adjusting mechanism is arranged on the bottom end of the connecting rod. An actuating element for switching over the switchover element, which actuating element does not move with the crankshaft or the connecting rod, is furthermore arranged in the region of the bottom dead center position of the connecting rod and to the side of the connecting rod. In internal combustion engines having relatively large counterweights on the crankshaft for mass balancing, such a design is found to be too complex in view of the limited installation space. Moreover, such a design does not offer sufficient installation space, and hence allows too few variants for possible arrangements of the switchover element relative to the actuating element, to modify or optimize the geometrical shape of the actuating element, designed in the manner of a cam disk, along the trajectory described by the switchover element during a revolution of the connecting rod, e.g. to optimize it as regards a reduced impact when the switchover element strikes the actuating element.
Further internal combustion engines having a variable compression ratio are known from DE-A-10 2011 108 790, DE-A-10 2012 014 917 and U.S. Pat. No. 2,989,954.

Positioning the switching element for a mechanically switched VCR connecting rod