An apparatus is provided for testing both the integrity and the functionality of the electrical circuit tracings on a printed circuit board. The apparatus is a bed-of-nails test fixture. The device has a plurality of parallel test probes affixed to the bottom plate of the fixture. The plurality of test probes consists of a plurality of short probe members and a plurality of long probe members. The height of the long probe members is telescopically alterable between the height of the short probe members and the maximum height of the long probe members. The long probe members have an internal spring which tends to maintain the long probe members at their maximum height. The device also has two slide bars disposed on opposite sides of the fixtures. The slide bars have a plurality of key hole shaped apertures. Affixed within the bottom plate of the fixture is a corresponding plurality of holding pins, each having a head dimensioned to pass through the wide portion of a key hole shaped aperture but not the narrow portion. Each of the holding pins is aligned with a corresponding key hole shaped aperture.

Printed circuit boards are an increasingly common component in all types of electronic devices. Electronic circuit boards are easy and inexpensive to manufacture, install and use. By eliminating the need for a "spaghetti bowl" of hard wire connections, complex electronic equipment can be made less expensively and much more compactly.
Printed circuit boards generally comprise a board constructed from an insulating material such as a glass-fiber-reinforced epoxy resin. The board can be rigid or it can be relatively flexible. Onto the board are formed by "printing" techniques, a plurality of electrically conductive circuitry tracks. These tracks are then connected to various electrical components which are affixed to the board.
It is common practice in the industry to conduct an integrity test on each newly manufactured printed circuit board to be sure there are no broken or disconnected circuits on the board. The testing procedure entails making electrical contact between a number of predetermined locations on the printed circuitry and specially adapted electrical diagnostic equipment which measures an integrity parameter at each predetermined location and compares it to a standard value.
Contacting the various points along the electronic circuitry is typically accomplished by placing the printed circuit board on a test fixture device and bringing the circuitry into contact with a plurality of test probes, each of which is electrically connected to the diagnostic equipment. An electrical charge is applied at points along the circuitry and the resulting electrical characteristics at each of the predetermined locations are measured using the probes and compared by the diagnostic equipment with the standard values.
It is also frequently desirable to test the functionality of the completed circuit board. In a functionability test, a second, smaller number of test probes are placed into contact with the input, the output, and a selected set of predetermined locations along the printed circuitry. An electrical current is applied to the input points and the functional aspects of the circuitry are measured by a second kind of electrical diagnostic equipment.
Heretofore, it has been necessary to conduct the integrity test and the functionality test with two separate sets of test probes, generally in two separate test fixtures. It would be highly desirable, however, if these two different tasks could be accomplished on a single test fixture. This would cut both the cost of the testing equipment and the time involved in the testing procedure by at least fifty percent.


A method for estimating wear of at least one component of an internal combustion engine includes receiving sensor information and fuel commands indicative of an amount of fuel supplied to at least one combustion chamber of the internal combustion engine and determining an incremental increase in an amount of wear of at least one component of the internal combustion engine based on at least the sensor information and the fuel commands. The method also includes determining an updated amount of wear based on the incremental increase in the amount of wear, and outputting a notification indicative of the updated amount of wear.

Internal combustion engines include multiple components that experience repeated stress and wear due to the harsh environment created by the operation of the engine. For example, an engine may include various valves, seals, gaskets, bearings, or other components, that experience wear, e.g., by moving with respect to another component of the engine. In some components, such as valve elements and/or valve seat of a valve train, this wear is characterized by the gradual removal of material over time. This occurs, at least in part, due to the repeated motion of the valve elements into and out of contact with a respective valve seat. In some engines, the valve seat may be removable from a head of the internal combustion engine. During a procedure such as a top end service, the valve element and valve seat may be replaced.
Components of the internal combustion engine are generally replaced at various predetermined service intervals in order to prevent the component from becoming excessively worn. These intervals may be based on a time of operation (e.g., engine hours), number of cycles (e.g., engine revolutions), etc., of the internal combustion engine. This predetermined service interval may need to be set based on a conservative estimate of the lifetime of the respective part. For example, a lifetime for a valve or other valve train component may be set for a particular number of hours of operation that is based on a typical wear pattern.
While service intervals may be useful as rough estimates, set or unchangeable service intervals may fail to accurately correspond to the actual wear rate for the respective component(s) of the engine. For example, engines that frequently operate at relatively high power outputs, fuel rates, engines speeds, etc., may experience wear at a pace that is significantly faster than the pace on which the predetermined service interval is based. Conversely, engines that frequently operate at relatively low outputs, fuel rates, and/or speeds, may experience wear at a rate that is significantly slower than the predetermined service interval. Thus, predetermined service intervals may, in some circumstances, result in the premature replacement of costly parts for engines that wear at a relatively slow rate. Moreover, engines that have a high power density that operate at relatively high outputs may have components that experience faster wear and detrimental operation and even component failure before a predetermined service interval.
A system for component wear predication is disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0114088 (the '088 publication) to Gorden et al. The component wear prediction system described in the '088 publication patent includes a monitoring system that electronically monitors exhaust temperate, as high exhaust temperate may indicate worn or improperly seated valves. The system in the '088 publication may collect information that is applied to rules and models to predict when and if the observed components will require maintenance or overhaul. However, the system of the '088 publication may not be useful in quantifying and estimating an amount of wear experienced by one or more engine components, or for determining when an engine component is expected to have a significantly shorter or longer life than average. Additionally, as the system disclosed in the '088 publication may be established based on failures, it may be unsuitable for predicting wear in situations where failure is not imminent.
The disclosed method and system may solve one or more of the problems set forth above and/or other problems in the art. The scope of the current disclosure, however, is defined by the attached claims, and not by the ability to solve any specific problem.


A vacuum back-up system for diesel vehicles, and a primary vacuum system for high performance vehicles, which vacuum system includes a vacuum pump for creating a vacuum in an associated reserve vacuum tank connected to the vacuum booster of the vehicle. A relay is attached to the vacuum pump or to a mount bracket which mounts the vacuum pump and the reserve vacuum tank and the relay is electrically connected to a vacuum switch on the vacuum booster and to the vehicle battery and the vacuum pump to facilitate operation of the vacuum pump and maintaining a vacuum of preselected magnitude in the reserve vacuum tank and the vacuum booster.

Field of the Invention
This invention relates to braking systems for diesel and high performance vehicles and more particularly, to a vacuum back-up system for vacuum boosters in diesel vehicles and a primary vacuum system for high performance vehicles, such as racing cars. The vacuum system is designed to maintain a vacuum of preselected magnitude in the conventional vacuum booster of a diesel vehicle and as a primary vacuum system in the high performance vehicles, under circumstances where the primary vehicle vacuum pump or vacuum system fails in a diesel vehicle and vacuum is lost or reduced in the vacuum booster of either a diesel or a high performance vehicle. Accordingly, the back-up braking system of this invention monitors and prevents undesirable loss of vacuum in the conventional vacuum booster of a vehicle and thus preserves the integrity of the vehicle brake system under circumstances where the vehicle vacuum pump or engine vacuum system which normally creates a vacuum in the vacuum booster, fails to operate properly or generate a satisfactory brake-operating vacuum. In a high performance vehicle, the system provides vacuum for a vacuum-operated brake system.
One of the problems which exists in the braking systems of diesel vehicles and particularly diesel trucks, is that of failure of the braking system under circumstances where the primary vehicle vacuum pump or vacuum system malfunctions, thereby causing vacuum failure in the vacuum booster of the vehicle. Such failure can have serious consequences in operating the vehicle, since the vacuum-operated brakes might fade or fail under such circumstances. In a conventional diesel vehicle braking system the vacuum booster is mounted under the hood, on the firewall of the vehicle and is fitted with a check valve to avoid loss of vacuum. Further included is a vacuum booster line that connects to a vehicle vacuum pump for maintaining a vacuum of selected magnitude in the vacuum booster when the vehicle is operated. Occasionally, malfunction of this primary vehicle vacuum pump or other element in the vacuum system causes loss of vacuum in the vacuum booster and corresponding fading or failure of the vehicle brake system. In high performance vehicles such as racing cars, a problem exists in maintaining adequate vacuum from the engine to the brake booster in vacuum-operated brake systems.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a new and improved vacuum back-up system for diesel vehicles and a primary vacuum system for high performance vehicles, which system is designed to maintain a vacuum in the vacuum booster of a vehicle by means of an auxiliary vacuum pump and reserve vacuum tank combination.
Another object of this invention is to provide a vacuum back-up system for diesel vehicles and diesel trucks in particular, which vacuum back-up system is characterized by an auxiliary vacuum pump connected to a reserve vacuum tank for inducing and maintaining a vacuum in the reserve vacuum tank, which reserve vacuum tank is, in turn, connected to the conventional vehicle vacuum booster by means of a check valve to facilitate maintenance of a suitable operating vacuum in the vacuum booster under circumstances where the primary vehicle pump fails to maintain the operating vacuum in the vacuum booster.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a vacuum system for vehicles, including high performance vehicles, which system is characterized by a vacuum pump and a reserve vacuum tank mounted on a common bracket for disposition beneath the hood of the vehicle. The reserve vacuum tank is connected to the vacuum booster of the vehicle by means of a check valve and vacuum line and to the vacuum pump by means of a second vacuum line, such that operation of the vacuum pump by means of a relay and vacuum switch mounted on the vacuum booster maintains a vacuum in the reserve vacuum tank and the same vacuum in the vacuum booster, under circumstances where the primary vehicle vacuum pump or engine vacuum system fails to maintain an acceptable brake-operating vacuum in the vacuum booster.
A still further object of this invention is to provide a vacuum backup system for vehicles and diesel trucks and high performance vehicles in particular, which system includes a reserve vacuum tank connected by means of a vacuum line to a reserve vacuum pump, which reserve vacuum tank is, in turn, connected by means of a check valve and vacuum line to the vacuum booster of the vehicle. A relay is electrically connected to the vehicle battery, the vacuum pump and to a vacuum switch that monitors the vacuum in the vacuum booster. The vacuum switch thus serves to initiate operation of the reserve vacuum pump under circumstances where the vacuum in the vacuum booster falls below an acceptable brake-operating level.

Vacuum system for diesels and high performance vehicles


A wellbore fluid comprises an aqueous carrier liquid, hydrophobic particulate material suspended therein and a gas to wet the surface of the particles and bind them together as agglomerates. The hydrophobic particulate material has a specified maximum volume median particle size d50 of not more than 200 micron, and/or a minimum surface area of at least 30 m2 per liter. Agglomerates of the particles contain gas and so have a bulk density lower than the density of the particles. This reduces the rate of settling. The fluid is particularly envisaged as a slickwater fracturing fluid in which the suspended particles are proppant. The small particle size and/or substantial surface area increases the amount of gas which can be retained within agglomerates and so enhances the buoyancy of the agglomerates. The end result is that a greater proportion of a hydraulic fracture is propped open.

Placing particulate material at a location below ground is a very significant part of a hydraulic fracturing operation. Hydraulic fracturing is a well established technique for reservoir stimulation. Fluid is pumped under pressure into a subterranean formation, forcing portions of the formation apart and creating a thin cavity between them. When pumping is discontinued the natural pressure in the subterranean formation tends to force the fracture to close. To prevent the fracture from closing completely it is normal to mix a solid particulate material (termed a proppant) with the fracturing fluid at the surface and use the fluid to carry the proppant into the fracture. When the fracture is allowed to close, it closes onto the proppant and a flow path to the wellbore between the proppant particles remains open. The proppant is then under considerable pressure from the formation rock pressing on it.
It is normal practice to employ solid proppant of controlled particle size distribution in order that the proppant pack has adequate fluid conductivity, i.e. is adequately porous, and to mitigate the flowback of fine particles. Post-fracture proppant flowback to the wellbore is generally regarded as a problem and an occurrence to be avoided. Although many materials have been used as proppants, for the fracturing of oil reservoirs it is commonplace to use so-called 20/40 sand which has a particle size distribution such that 90% by weight passes a 20 US mesh (840 micron) sieve but is retained by a 40 mesh (400 micron) sieve. Finer materials have been used and American Petroleum Institute Recommended Practices (API RP) standards 56 and/or 60 recognize proppant sizes down to a size range of 70/140 US mesh (sieve openings of 210 and 105 micron). Materials which are smaller than 70/140 US mesh have been regarded as too small to use as proppants.
When the proppant is mixed with the fracturing fluid at the surface and pumped into the wellbore it is subjected to very high shear. The proppant-laden fluid then flows down the wellbore under conditions of lower shear. Subsequently it turns and flows out of the wellbore and into the fracture in the formation. Entry to the fracture may be associated with an increase in shear, in particular if the wellbore is cased and the fluid passes through perforations in the wellbore casing to enter the fracture. Once the fluid enters the fracture, and as the fracture propagates and extends into the reservoir, the fluid is subjected to much less shear. Suspended solid begins to settle out. Subsequently pumping is discontinued, allowing the fracture to close onto the proppant packed in the fracture.
In order that the fluid can convey particulate material in suspension, and place it across the fracture face, it is conventional to include a viscosity-enhancing thickening agent in the fluid. Typically the fluid is then formulated so as to achieve a viscosity of at least 100 centipoise at 100 sec−1 at the temperature of the reservoir. Guar is widely used for this purpose. Guar derivatives and viscoelastic surfactants may also be used. However, for some fracturing operations, especially where the rock has low permeability so that leak off into the rock is not a significant issue, it is preferred to pump a fluid, often called "slickwater", which is water or salt solution containing a small percentage of friction reducing polymer. The fluid then has low viscosity. This considerably reduces the energy required in pumping but keeping particulate material in suspension becomes much more difficult and a higher pump flow rate is commonly used.
As recognized in Society of Petroleum Engineers Papers SPE98005, SPE102956 and SPE1125068 conventional proppant particles suspended in slickwater pumped into a large fracture will settle out more quickly than is desired and form a so-called "bank" or "dune" close to the wellbore. Because of this premature settling, proppant may not be carried along the fracture to prop the full length of the fracture and proppant may not be placed over the full vertical height of the fracture. When pumping is stopped and the fracture is allowed to close, parts of the fracture further from the wellbore may not contain enough proppant to keep them sufficiently open to achieve the flow which would be desirable. As a result the propped and effective fracture size may be less than the size created during fracturing.
One approach to improving the transport of particulate proppant has been to use a material of lower specific gravity in place of the conventional material which is sand or other relatively heavy mineral (sand has a specific gravity of approximately 2.65). SPE84308 describes a lightweight proppant having a specific gravity of only 1.75 which is a porous ceramic material coated with resin so that pores of the ceramic material remain air-filled. This paper also describes an even lighter proppant of specific gravity 1.25 which is based on ground walnut hulls. This is stated to be a "resin impregnated and coated chemically modified walnut hull".
These lightweight proppants are more easily suspended and transported by slickwater and their use is further discussed in SPE90838 and SPE98005, the latter paper demonstrating that settling out is reduced compared to sand, although not entirely avoided. There have been a number of other disclosures of proppants lighter than sand. Examples are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,493,875 and 7,491,444 and in US patent applications 2005/096,207, 2006/016,598 and 2008/277,115.
A recognized issue with lightweight proppants is that they may not be as strong as sand and are at risk of becoming partially crushed when a hydraulic fracture is allowed to close on the proppant placed within it. An approach to the suspension of particulate proppant which seeks to avoid this issue is disclosed in US2007/015,669, also in WO2009/009,886 and in "Lightening the Load" New Technology Magazine, January/February 2010 pages 43 and 44. According to the teachings of these documents, a conventional proppant such as sand is treated to render its surface hydrophobic and is added to the slurry of proppant and water. Bubbles adsorb to the hydrophobic solid particles so that the adsorbed gas gives the particles a lower effective density. The literature describing this approach advocates it on grounds that the conventional sand is both cheaper and stronger than lightweight proppant.

Delivery of particulate material below ground


Compositions and methods are disclosed for sanitizing aqueous media, which combine a chlorine-source composition and a glycoluril-source composition. The compositions are added together or separately, continuously or periodically, and by any of a variety of methods. The glycoluril compound stabilizes the chlorine and prolongs its useful life as a microbicidal agent.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of disinfectant systems for swimming pool and spa water, cooling tower water, and other aqueous media. More particularly, the invention relates to systems utilizing chlorine as a disinfectant, and to compositions and methods for stabilizing and increasing the useful life of the chlorine in such systems.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The steady increase in the number of swimming pools in use each year has given rise to the need for a more effective, safe, and convenient chemical sanitation. Chlorine in various forms in the most widely used chemical for this purpose, since it is both economical and also highly effective in bacteria and algae control. However, its efficiency and effectiveness vary, and depend upon the method used to introduce the element into the pool water and the type of chlorine compound used. Gaseous chlorine, hypochlorites, and chlorinated organics are all used for swimming pool sanitation and exhibit different types of chlorine residuals and various degrees of bactericidal activity, algicidal activity, and chemical consumption. In addition, such external variables as pool usage and climatic conditions have significant effects upon the efficiency of the sanitizing action.
Various approaches have been proposed in the prior art for stabilizing the chlorine in disinfecting systems. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,988,471, issued to Robert J. Fuchs et al. on Jun. 13, 1961, there is described a method for stabilizing chlorine in aqueous solutions against decomposition by exposure to ultraviolet light or by contact with iron and copper. The method involves adding to the aqueous solution cyanuric acid, ammelide or a salt thereof. The loss of active chlorine is reported to be substantially reduced when the weight concentration of the cyanuric acid is greater than the weight concentration of the available chlorine. The use of cyanuric acid to substantially reduce the loss of active chlorine in aqueous systems exposed to sunlight, for example in swimming pools, has received wide commercial acceptance. See also, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,187,293, issued to Nelson on Feb. 5, 1980.
Although satisfactory results are achieved with the use of cyanuric acid, serious problems exist. One problem is the relatively short half life of active chlorine when exposed to sunlight. At 50 ppm cyanuric acid, the chlorine half-life is only seven hours. On a normal sunny day the majority of the chlorine sanitizer is depleted rapidly.
A second problem that exists is the build up of cyanuric acid in the aqueous system. It is recommended that atypically high concentration of cyanuric acid be reduced to below 100 ppm by partial drainage of the pool water and refilling with fresh water. In fact, in commercial pool operations some health officials will close a pool if the cyanuric acid exceeds 70 ppm. Kirk-othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, 3rd Ed. Vol. 24, p. 430.
In contrast to the present invention, halogenated glycolurils have been proposed in the prior art as the source of disinfecting chlorine. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,165,521, issued to Slezak et al. on Jan. 12, 1965, a method for sanitizing aqueous water systems is disclosed in which haloglycolurils are used as the source of free chlorine to function as a swimming pool sanitizer. The amount of compound used is that which provides satisfactory disinfecting levels of residual chlorine, i.e. about 0.4 to 0.8 ppm. The use of haloglycolurils as the sanitizing agent in swimming pools is also disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,165,521, issued to Lezak. The use of polyhaloglycolurils for controlling algae in water is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,252,901, issued to Zettler. The use of chlorinated glycolurils in the treatment of sewage is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,445,383, issued to Horvath et al.
The preparation of glycoluril is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,731,472, issued to Reibnitz. U.S. Pat. No. 3,071,591, issued to Paterson, discloses a method for the preparation of N-halogenated glycolurils containing both bromine and chlorine for use as disinfecting agents.
Various other sanitizing approaches have involved the use of certain substituted glycolurils. The use of substituted glycolurils in combination with trichlorocyanuric acid and sodium stearate in sanitizing sticks is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,342,674, issued to Kowalski. The use of chlorinated glycolurils in combination with a metallic hypochlorite in treating sewage is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,629,408, issued to Horvath. U.S. Pat. No. 3,187,004, issued to Slezak, discloses the synthesis of alkyl and aryl substituted glycolurils and their use in sanitizing swimming pools. This patent discloses the use of N-halogenated glycolurils with alkaline metal salts.
While these various approaches to sanitizing swimming pool water and the like have been proposed in the prior art, there has remained a substantial need for improved compositions and methods providing sustained disinfection of aqueous media. Though many in the past have pursued chlorine-based systems, the useful life of chlorine in such systems has remained undesirably short. Viable commercial approaches have not been forthcoming, and theoretical approaches have been abandoned. The present invention satisfies the need for a stable, effective chlorine-based disinfectant system.

Compositions and methods for controlling the growth of microbials in aqueous media


An output circuit includes an output block and a predrive block for driving the output block based on an input signal. The predrive block has a clamp unit connected between the gate terminal of a first output transistor and the gate terminal of a second output transistor to limit the potential of the gate terminal of the first output transistor to a value of not more than a first potential and limit the potential of the gate terminal of the second output transistor to a value of not less than a second potential.

The present invention relates to an output circuit and, more particularly, to an output circuit for outputting a signal with a high-voltage amplitude.
As an example of an output circuit for an output signal with a high-voltage amplitude, there has been known one which uses a level shift circuit as shown below (see, e.g., Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-223575).
FIG. 5 shows a structure of the conventional output circuit. As shown in FIG. 5, the conventional output circuit comprises an inverter 121 connected between a low-voltage source terminal TVDD and a ground terminal TVSS and driven by an input signal. The conventional output circuit also comprises a latch circuit 123 including an inverter 124 connected between a high-voltage source terminal THVDD and a low-voltage logic terminal THVSS to have an input connected to the output of the inverter 121 via a capacitor 120, and an inverter 125 connected to the output of the latch circuit 123. The output of the inverter 121 and the output of the inverter 125 are each connected to an output circuit 122 connected between the high-voltage source terminal THVDD and the ground terminal TVSS.
The output circuit 122 is composed of a first output transistor MO101 as an N-type MOS (Metal Oxide Semiconductor) transistor and a second output transistor MO102 as a P-type MOS transistor which are connected in this order between the ground terminal TVSS and the high-voltage source terminal THVDD. The connection point between the first output transistor MO101 and the second output transistor MO102 is connected to an output terminal TOUT. The first output transistor MO101 has a gate connected to the output of the inverter 121, while the second output transistor MO102 has a gate connected to the output of the inverter 125.
The potential of the ground terminal TVSS is a ground potential VSS. The potential of the low-voltage source terminal TVDD is VDD. The potential of the high-voltage logic terminal THVDD is HVDD. The potential of the low-voltage logic terminal THVSS is HVSS. The voltage between the low-voltage source terminal TVDD and the ground terminal TVSS and the voltage between the high-voltage source terminal THVDD and the low-voltage logic terminal THVSS are each not more than the gate-source breakdown voltage of each of the transistors composing the circuit. The voltage between the high-voltage source terminal THVDD and the ground terminal TVSS is not less than the gate-source breakdown voltage of each of the transistors.
When an input signal to the input terminal TIN changes to a H level (level VDD), the output of the inverter 121 changes to the L level (level VSS) to turn OFF the first output transistor MO101. The output of the inverter 121 is inputted to the inverter 124 via the capacitor 120. As a result, the input of the inverter 124 changes to the level HVSS and the output of the latch circuit 123 changes to the level HVDD. The change of the output of the latch circuit 123 to the level HVDD brings the output of the inverter 125 to the level HVSS to turn ON the second output transistor MO102. Consequently, the potential of the output terminal TOUT changes to the level HVDD.
On the other hand, when the potential of the input terminal TIN changes to the L level, the output of the inverter 121 changes to the H level to turn ON the first output transistor MO101. The output of the inverter 121 is inputted to the inverter 124 via the capacitor 120. As a result, the input of the inverter 124 changes to the level HVDD and the output of the latch circuit 123 changes to the level HVSS. The change of the output of the latch circuit 123 to the level HVSS brings the output of the inverter 125 to the level HVDD to turn OFF the second output transistor MO102. Consequently, the potential of the output terminal TOUT changes to the level HVSS.
Thus, through the signal transmission by the capacitor 120, it is possible to output a signal with a high-voltage amplitude greater than the amplitude of the gate-source breakdown voltage of each of the transistors composing the circuit.
However, the conventional output circuit described above requires a high-breakdown-voltage capacitor as a capacitor for signal transmission. A process for forming the high-breakdown-voltage capacitor is largely different from a process for forming normal MOS transistors. Consequently, there is the problem of a complicated fabrication process. In addition, to drive an output-stage transistor which has a large gate capacitance, a large drive current becomes necessary so that the capacitor for signal transmission is required to have not only a voltage resistance but also a current capacitance of a given order. This causes the problem that an area occupied by the capacitor for signal transmission increases to prevent a reduction in the size of the output circuit.

Output circuit for outputting a signal with a high-voltage amplitude


A method for garbage collecting for non-volatile memories are disclosed. The method includes steps: a) providing a SSD, connected to a host, containing a plurality of TLC blocks and SLC blocks; b) reading 3M TLC pages in a TLC block having data; c) moving valid data in the TLC blocks to at least one clean TLC block; d) sending a host program command of 1 page to the host; e) repeating step b) to step d) until valid data in 8 TLC blocks are moved; f) reading 1 SLC page in a SLC block having data; g) moving valid data in the SLC block to the at least one clean TLC block; h) sending a host program command of α page to the host; and i) repeating step f) to step h) until valid data in the SLC block having data are moved.

For a conventional SSD which is composed of huge amounts of non-volatile memory cells, garbage collection for the non-used non-volatile memory cells is important for the SSD and can improve operation of the SSD. Take a Triple-Level Cell (TLC) SSD for example. The TLC SSD may be composed of several dies. There are several planes in a die. A plane contains thousands of blocks and a block has hundreds of pages. A page may store 4 KB to 8 KB of data and is a basic unit a host can access. The host usually accesses the SSD via a Logical Block Address (LBA). When the operating system of the host sends a command to write a page of data into a specific LBA, it is actually programmed to a corresponding physical page. Due to the mechanism of the SSD, if a data needs to be updated or stored to the same LBA, the new one will not be programed to the same physical page. Instead, an unused or erased page will take the job to program. Data in the original physical page is invalid and waiting for erase for further use. A current mapping between the LBA and the valid physical page is crucial. If the there is something wrong with the mapping, data stored would be lost.
An SSD controller is handling accessing data in the physical page in response to requests to access LBA from the host. If the SSD is new, write speed is fast since there are lots of unused physical pages. After a period of time in use, the write speed becomes slower since there are some blocks needed to be erased to provide unprogrammed physical pages for write commands. Before erasing the used blocks, a problem comes. How to deal with the valid data in the blocks? A practical way to settle this problem is to collect the useful data and move them to a reserved block before erasing. This is also called Garbage Collection (GC). Erased blocks can be further chosen to be reserved blocks. This is often done with wear leveling which ensures no block is over used to reduce its life. However, with the used capacity of the SSD approaching its maximum, GC might be difficult. There are no more physical blocks left for GC and data need to be move very often considering wear leveling. Write speed meets bottleneck. Luckily, SSD manufacturers often have over provisioning (OP) for this situation. OP is extra physical storage capacity which is not seen by the host via LBA but can be used by the SSD controller. Usually, one of 16 cells may be an OP cell.
On the other hand, a mainstream of SSD is using Triple Level Cells (TLC). Comparing with Single Level Cells (SLC), TLC has a prominent benefit of low cost while it has lower access speed and fewer number of times of erase. In order to speed up the access speed of a TLC SSD, there might be a certain amount of SLCs mixed among the TLCs. This feature may be good to enhance performance of the TLC SSD. However, it makes GC complicated for the nature of TLC and SLC, as well as the application of OP. Therefore, an innovative GC method desired, especially a GC method which is workable when worst situation that the SSD is almost full with valid data.

Method for gabage collecting for non-volatile memory


An anchoring device includes a hollow cylinder, a biasing unit, a shaft, a cam mechanism and a driven drum. The hollow cylinder has top and bottom ends, a cylindrical wall interconnecting the top and bottom ends, and a plurality of hook arms pivoted to the cylindrical wall. Each of the hook arms has a lower hook end which is extendible outward at the bottom end of the hollow cylinder to an operative position. The biasing unit retracts inward the lower hook ends. The shaft extends coaxially through the top end of the hollow cylinder and is movable axially relative to the hollow cylinder between a topmost position and a bottommost position. The cam mechanism is connected to the shaft. The driven drum is journalled on the shaft and has a lower end adjacent to the hook arms, and a plurality of circumferentially spaced and radially projecting push members formed on the lower end of the driven drum to push the hook arms outward against the biasing unit. The driven drum is rotatable with step-like movement by the cam mechanism upon axial movement of the shaft so as to index the push members relative to the hook arms.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an anchoring device, more particularly to an anchoring device for use with a hoisting machine.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, slings are used widely for attaching a load to a hoisting machine. For instance, four slings are required for attaching a hoist hook of a hoisting machine to a modular form assembly which is formed of four interconnecting form panels and which has a rectangular configuration. One end of each of the slings is connected to the hoist hook, while the other end of each of the slings is manually connected to and disconnected from an anchoring hook which is fixed on a respective one of the corners of the top of the modular form assembly during loading and unloading operations. Connection and disconnection of the slings and the anchoring hooks on the modular form assembly is very time-consuming and laborious.

Anchoring device for use with a hoisting machine

Nan-Shing Tsun, Kui-Jen Hsiang, Tainan Hsien


An HVAC case configured to heat airflow for a vehicle HVAC system. The HVAC case has a defrost outlet, a primary demist outlet, a secondary demist outlet, and an airflow control door. The airflow control door is configured to control airflow through each one of the defrost outlet, the primary demist outlet, and the secondary demist outlet.

This section provides background information related to the present disclosure, which is not necessarily prior art.
Conventional heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems include a case that defines defrost and demist outlets. Different HVAC modes (e.g., defrost, foot, face, etc.) call for different levels of airflow through the defrost and demist outlets. To control defrost and demist airflow, conventional HVAC cases include a complex series of airflow control doors and door linkages. While current HVAC cases are suitable for their intended use, they are subject to improvement. The present disclosure provides for an improved HVAC case including the advantages set forth herein, as well as numerous additional advantages as one skilled in the art will recognize.


The present disclosure is directed to stress-responsive compositions comprising (1) at least one (co)polymer comprising at least one mechanophore comprising at least one thiocarbonylthio functional group or derivative thereof and (2) at least one compound comprising at least one functional group capable of reacting with a free radical, The present disclosure is also directed to articles, coatings, and 3D printing binders comprising such stress-responsive compositions, as well as to processes of imparting the abilities of forming and maintaining protective barriers and mechanical self-healing to such articles, coatings, and 3D printing binders by incorporating such stress-responsive compositions therein.

Most synthetic polymers fail in response to sustained or increased levels of stress and have no inherent mechanisms to recover, leading to material fatigue and failure and reduced product efficacy and/or compromised user safety. In contrast, many biological systems display a wide range of remarkable responses to mechanical stimuli, including wound healing and bone strengthening. In these examples from nature, repair and/or strengthening mechanisms are initiated by force. These natural force-responsive systems respond constructively on a molecular level to mechanical stimuli by adjusting their properties to meet the demands of a changing environment.
One approach for designing such a stress-responsive material incorporates "mechanophores," or mechanically-sensitive groups, into polymer chains. To date, several cyclic molecules, including spiropyran, β-lactam, 1,2-dioxetane, dicyano-substituted cyclobutane, bicyclo[4.2.0]octane, dibromocyclopropane, 1,2-disubstituted benzocyclobutene, and gem-difluorocyclopropane, have been successfully incorporated into polymer chains and identified as mechanophores, which actively and selectively respond to a traditionally degradative stimulus.
The activation of the mechanophore in materials may be exploited to provide additional responsive functionality. This response can be broad in scope and include a change in color to provide a visual warning of material failure, luminescence to enable the detailed study of material failure, and strengthening to mitigate material failure. In this latter example, mechanical activation of dibromocyclopropane by application of physical force resulted in a nucleophilic displacement crosslinking reaction to form a polybutadiene gel, triggering self-strengthening of the system. However, this gel formation and concomitant self-strengthening did not occur until 16 hours after the force was applied.
Thus, there exists a continuing need for improved polymeric systems capable of self-strengthening and self-healing in response to externally applied stresses.

Stress-responsive compositions and uses thereof


An airbag cushion which forms a linear arrangement of a plurality of compartements having a rectangular cross sectional shape with opposed longitudinal and lateral surfaces is provided. Each of the compartments is formed by the joinder of at least first and second panel members to form an interior chamber adapted to be filled with an inflation fluid upon deployment of the airbag cushion and a planar partition wall separating the interior chambers of adjacent compartments. The joinder of the at least first and second panel members for each of the compartments is effected from the outside of the compartment interior chambers. A method of fabricating an airbag cushion in the form of a linear arrangement of a plurality of compartments having a rectangular cross sectional shape with opposed longitudinal and lateral surfaces is also provided. The method includes the step of joining together for each compartment at least respective first and second panel members forming an interior chamber adapted to be filled with an inflation fluid upon deployment of the airbag cushion and a planar partition wall separating the interior chambers of adjacent compartments. In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, each such joining is effected from the outside of the respective compartment interior chamber.

The present invention relates generally to inflatable restraint systems and, more particularly, to airbag cushions used in such systems.
It is well known to protect a vehicle occupant using a cushion or bag, e.g., an "airbag cushion," that is inflated or expanded with gas when the vehicle encounters sudden deceleration, such as in the event of a collision. In such systems, the airbag cushion is normally housed in an uninflated and folded condition to minimize space requirements. Upon actuation of the system, the cushion begins to be inflated, in a matter of no more than a few milliseconds, with gas produced or supplied by a device commonly referred to as "an inflator."
Such cushions typically take the form of one or more pieces of fabric sewn to define an interior chamber which receives the inflation gas. It is common that the interior chamber of the cushion be vented to permit controlled deflation of the cushion such as when it is compressed by contact with an occupant's body, and thereby serve to lessen the force of impact. While a simple fabric enclosure may be operable for an airbag cushion, forming an airbag cushion to include several compartments such as by the inclusion of internal partitions to essentially divide the cushion volume into several smaller cushion volumes can be done for various reasons including, for example, controlling inflation of the cushion such as by controlling the pressure differential between compartments during the inflation of the cushion or upon during engagement with the cushion by the occupant; controlling the shape of the cushion, such as during and upon deployment; and controlling deflation of the cushion.
The increased or greater use of compartmentalized airbag cushions has, however, been generally limited due to factors such as the normally greater costs and amounts of time associated with the construction and making of such airbag cushions.
As will be appreciated, the fabrication of compartmentalized airbag cushions typically requires additional stitching to form or create such cushion compartments. Further, such stitching is typically cumbersome and difficult to accomplish. For example, fabrication of a compartmentalized cushion often may require either or both that one or more of the airbag cushion panels or partially sewn airbag cushion compartments be inverted at one or more selected stages in the sewing process. In addition, the partial stitching of a cushion and inversion thereof to continue or complete stitching may not be possible with certain particular cushion designs. Alternatively or in addition, the fabrication of a compartmentalized cushion may typically involve the need to place a portion of a sewing machine or the like piece of fabrication equipment or a projection therefrom into the compartment being formed in order to complete the fabrication, e.g., sewing, associated therewith. It will further be appreciated that such stitching and fabrication steps generally additionally necessitate one or more various manual operations. At best, previous compartmentalized airbag cushion designs have typically required a great deal of folding, bending and other manual manipulations if internal compartments are to be to stitched formed therein. As a result, lower cost and typically more consistent automated manufacture of such airbag cushions may be effectively precluded. Further, such labor-intensive manual assembly can result in such a compartmentalized airbag cushion being cost prohibitive.


One embodiment disclosed herein is an apparatus for performing a thermodynamic cycle comprising: a sample that exhibits temporary magnetic remanence; and a magnetisation apparatus for magnetising the sample, wherein the magnetisation apparatus is operable, during a first part of the thermodynamic cycle, to produce a cyclically-varying magnetising field comprising a wavetrain of a single or plurality of consecutive cycles, and to remove the magnetising field from the sample during a second part of the thermodynamic cycle, wherein demagnetisation of the sample during the second part of the thermodynamic cycle causes the generation of an independent magnetic flux.

It has previously been proposed to use a sample having temporary magnetic remenance to perform a thermodynamic cycle in which a varying magnetic field is used to produce a magnetic flux in the sample during a first part of the cycle, with the field being removed during a second part of the cycle, leading to collapse of the magnetic domains in the sample and the creation of an independent magnetic flux. It has been proposed to use this principle to convert heat energy into electricity, and also for refrigeration.
An example of a system of this type is described in International Publication No. WO 00/64038 entitled "Thermodynamic Cycles and Method for Generating Electricity" and filed Apr. 19, 2000. The contents of WO 00/64038 are hereby incorporated by reference. In the document, an example of the field excitation apparatus is given as being produced by a rotating permanent magnet to produce a largely sinusoidally-varying field. High-permeability materials are placed in proximity to the sample to ensure that the rise and fall of the magnetic flux in the sample are very sharp compared to the overall cycle time, so that over each pulse the flux variation in the sample resembles a "top hat" function, rather than a sinusoidal wave.
Also, in use of the apparatus described in WO 00/64038, energy is recovered from the sample once per cycle of the excitation field. In a first step of the cycle, the sample is magnetised, with very little corresponding temperature rise, as the sample is far from the ferromagnetic phase transition point of the sample. The sample is then demagenetised by the removal of the field from the sample, after which the temperature of the sample falls as thermal energy within the sample is expended in working to re-randomise the domains in the sample against the field arising from the remnant magnetism of the sample. After a short time, heat from the surroundings warms the sample, and the magnetic domains within the sample become randomly oriented, and this leads to the generation of an independent magnetic flux as the magnetic field arising from the alignment of the magnetic domains collapses. This independent magnetic flux delivers power to the field generation apparatus.


A first router in a first AS, the first router comprises: a processor configured to: obtain information about a broadcast link connecting the first router to a second router in a second AS, and generate a link state message comprising the information; and a transmitter coupled to the processor and configured to transmit the link state message to a third router, wherein the third router is in the first AS and is adjacent to the first router. A method comprises: receiving a first link state message from a first router; receiving a second link state message from a second router; receiving a third link state message from a third router; determining which of the first router, the second router, and the third router are ASBRs connected to a broadcast link based on information in the first link state message, the second link state message, and the third link state message.

Routing protocols specify how routers communicate with each other to distribute information that enables them to determine routes among themselves. Routing protocols include distance-vector routing protocols and link state routing protocols. In distance-vector routing protocols, each router shares its routing table with its neighboring routers. In link state protocols, each router shares its connectivity information with its neighboring routers.
IS-IS and OSPF are both link state routing protocols that implement a Dijkstra algorithm to determine routes. However, IS-IS and OSPF have a few differences. For instance, IS-IS distributes link state information through LSPs, and an IS-IS router originates one or more LSPs that describe links attached to the IS-IS router. OSPF distributes link state information through LSAs, and an OSPF router originates one LSA that describes links connected to the OSPF router. In addition, IS-IS distributes TE information in TLVs added to existing LSPs, while OSPF distributes TE information in new TE LSAs.

Routing protocol broadcast link extensions


In an approach, a processor trains a model, via a reinforcement learning process, to produce a first action function for relating states of a natural language based response environment to actions applicable to the natural language based response environment. A processor retrains the model, via the reinforcement learning process, to produce a second action function, including iterations of: applying the first action function to a current state representation of the natural language based response environment to obtain a ground-truth action representation, emphasizing a word of the current state representation based on relevancy to the ground-truth action representation to obtain a modified state representation, applying a model to the modified state representation to obtain an untrained action representation, and submitting the untrained action representation to a natural language based response environment to obtain a subsequent state representation, where the subsequent state representation becomes the current state representation for a subsequent iteration.

The present invention relates generally to the field of text-based response environment action selection, and more particularly to retraining a model for text-based response environment action selection using modified state representation.
Text-based response environments, such as games, voice assistants, etc., are becoming more popular. These environments operate purely on natural language for both input and output. This is both a limitation in state space, because each state is only partially observable, and an action space that may be seemingly unlimited.
While text-based games were popular years ago, voice assistants are actively being used and developed to interact with users through speech alone.

Text-based response environment action selection

International Business Machines Corporation


An integrated collection and vaporization cell apparatus has a collector and vaporizer cell for collecting airborne particles from sample gas on a collector strip in the cell and a power source connected to the strip for rapidly heating the strip and converting the particles to vapors for analysis without need of removing the strip from the cell. A sample gas director connected to the cell directs sample gas and particles to the collector strip. Particles are collected on the strip by impaction. Rapid heating of the strip vaporizes the particles. A carrier gas flowed into the cell through the director and directly into the cell through a port directs the vapors from the cell to an analyzer port. A measurer connected to the analyzer port measures the amount of vapors and elemental constituents obtained from vaporization of the particles. A humidifier is provided to increase particle collection efficiency. A pre-impactor and denuder are provided to remove large particles and compounds from the sample gas before analysis. A vented housing around the pre-impactor, denuder, humidifier and cell maintains sample gas temperature near ambient temperature. The sample conduit is free of valves.

The atmosphere contains many particles, some of which are derived from anthropogenic sources. Those particles are comprised of various chemical and elemental constituents, including sulfates, nitrates, organic compounds and soot. Data on the chemical composition of airborne particles is needed to understand their origins and sources, and to evaluate the relationships between specific chemical constituents and potential environmental consequences.
With current technology, measurement of the concentration of chemical and elemental constituents of airborne particles involves several steps. First, a sample must be collected by pulling air through a filter or other particle collection device. At the end of the sampling period the particle filter or collection substrate must be removed from the sampler and transported to the laboratory. Finally, the substrate is analyzed for specific chemical species or elements using ion chromatography, X-ray fluorescence or other methods. That approach is the most widely used today. However, it is costly, and often results are not known until months after the sample was collected.
In contrast to particle monitoring, automated instruments are used routinely to measure concentration of specific gaseous pollutants. For ozone, nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide automated monitors have made it possible to obtain real-time ambient concentration data at reasonable cost. They also provide immediate indications of pollutant levels. A need exists for equivalent, automated monitoring methods for the chemical and elemental constituents of airborne particles.
There are several automated monitors for particle mass available commercially. Those include beta-gauging methods (Macias and Husar, 1976; Dreiheller, Trost and Wendt, 1988; Wedding and Weigand, 1993), quartz crystal microbalance (Olin and Sem, 1971) and tapered element oscillating microbalance (Patashnick and Rupprecht, 1991). Although those instruments are used for monitoring, none provide data on the chemical or elemental composition of the airborne particles.
The older literature contains several references to automated particle monitors for particle sulfate (Coburn and Husar, 1978; Tanner, 1980; Huntzicker, 1986 and Allen, 1988). Those instruments use a flame photometric detector, and are not as stable as is desired for routine monitoring at typical ambient concentrations. To date, their use has been limited to research studies.
More recently, an automated instrument for measuring inorganic species in gases and particles has been reported by Simon and Dasgupta (1995). That instrument collects particles by steam injection and subsequent condensation, and then injects the condensate directly into an on-line ion chromatograph. That instrument is more complicated than the present invention, requiring handling of steam, liquid flows and continued operation of an ion chromatograph. Although the analytical capabilities of that instrument may be useful for research studies it does not seem likely that it will be suitable for routine monitoring applications.
The literature also describes an in-situ analyzer for carbonaceous aerosol (Turpin, Cary and Huntzicker, 1990). That instrument collects particles by filtration, then slowly heats the collected sample and quantitates the evolved carbon dioxide. With that instrument a second, backup filter is used to correct for adsorption of gaseous hydrocarbons onto the filter media. For reasons of cost and complexity, the use of that instrument has been limited.
Aerosol black carbon, operationally defined as optically absorbing particles, is measured by continuously monitoring the darkness of a filter deposit (Hansen, Rosen and Novakov, 1982, 1984). That approach is used in a commercial instrument called the Aethalometer.TM. (Magee Scientific, Berkeley, Calif.). The Aethalometer.TM. has been used for air monitoring studies, and provides high time resolution at low concentrations. However, the approach relies on a physical measurement unique to soot-like carbon. That approach cannot be extended to the monitoring of other particle species or elements.
An ambient carbon particulate monitor has been developed by Rupprecht and Patashnick Co. of Albany, N.Y. The monitor is an automated instrument design to measure the concentration of the carbonaceous fraction of airborne particles. It collects particles over a one hour time period, heats the collected sample and quantitates the evolved carbon dioxide using a non-dispersive infrared detector. A limitation is that the instrument collects particles using a conventional impactor which does not efficiently capture particles below 0.15 .mu.m in diameter. Soot-carbon particles found in the atmosphere are often below that size, and will not be captured. Additionally, that impactor has no provision for collection of solid particles. Because solid particles tend to rebound on the impactor, it is likely that those particles are not efficiently collected by that method. For those two reasons, that instrument may miss a significant portion of the particle carbon mass.
There is therefore a need for automated monitoring instruments for near real-time determination of the concentration of all the major chemical and elemental constituents of airborne particles.

Integrated collection and vaporization particle chemistry monitoring


Steering control apparatuses and methods for a vehicle are provided. A steering control apparatus can include a steering shaft drivingly linked to a pair of front wheels of a vehicle. A movable steering handle can also be provided and disposed about the steering shaft, with the steering handle being capable of selectively turning the pair of front wheels to direct the movement of the vehicle. A first and second brake clutch mechanism for engaging and disengaging first and second drive wheels, respectively, can be provided. First and second brake clutch control levers can selectively control the first and second brake clutch mechanism, respectively, to engage and disengage the first and second drive wheels. The steering handle can include a coupling base. The coupling base can engage the steering shaft to permit decoupling of the steering handle from the steering shaft allowing the steering shaft and the linked pair of front wheels to turn free of the steering handle while the steering handle is still disposed about the steering shaft.

Many types of vehicles, and particularly utility vehicles such as lawn mowers, tractors and the like, are steered to the left and right through the operation of independently controlled drive wheels. For instance, to turn such a vehicle to the left, the left drive wheel can be slowed relative to the right drive wheel such that the greater percentage of torque produced by the vehicle's motor is transmitted to the right drive wheel. Such vehicles can be controlled through left and right control levers. Further, many of these types of vehicles are steered by a steering handle such as a steering wheel which operates a front set of wheels through a steering column.
These different types of steering provide different benefits. For example, steering through an independent drive of rear wheels using control levers allows ZTR capabilities to make the vehicle more agile and responsive. On the other hand, using a steering handle is more comfortable for the driver of the vehicle due to its familiarity.
Vehicles have been designed in the past that provide both types of steering. However, the steering handle often stays engaged creating a safety hazard for the driver of the vehicle. Others have been designed to disengage the steering column of the vehicle when the control levers are used to steer the vehicle. However, the design of such a vehicle is complicated and the steering column can be hard to work on. Failure of the disengaging mechanism can require significant disassembly of the vehicle.
It would therefore be advantageous to provide apparatuses and methods for steering a vehicle using a steering wheel controlled transmission system, and also to provide an ability to steer a vehicle at a zero turn radius that is easy to operate and maintain.

Apparatuses and methods for providing hybrid steering for a vehicle


The disclosure relates to engineered transport proteins comprising at last one fluorescent reporter covalently bound to the transporter protein, wherein the transporter proteins comprise a structural inverted repeat motif, with the motif comprising a first and second subunit that are structural inverted repeats of one another and that are joined to one another by a polypeptide loop.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to engineered transporter proteins comprising at least one fluorescent reporter covalently bound to the transporter protein, wherein the transporter proteins of the present invention comprise a structural inverted repeat motif, with the motif comprising a first and second subunit that are structural inverted repeats of one another and that are joined to one another by a polypeptide loop.
2. Background of the Invention
Transporter proteins are membrane bound proteins that often utilize potential gradients to drive transport of molecules and ions into and out of cells. Traditionally, these proteins are classified based on the similarity of their amino acid sequence, i.e., the primary structure of the protein.
There is, however, an understanding of the three-dimensional structure of some of these transporters that is emerging. Indeed, some of these transporter proteins possess a structural inverted repeat, and transporters proteins with apparently disparate amino acid sequences have been shown to assume such a structure. It was not at all understood how this structural inverted repeat may affect the molecule or ion flux that is associated with these proteins.
Voltage sensors have been generated by others based on, for example, potassium channels, but these voltage sensors do not directly measure potassium transport. Instead these voltage sensors merely measure membrane potential using the voltage sensor of the transporter. To date, there has been no way to monitor or directly measure molecule or ion transport.
The present invention solves the problems by providing transport proteins that are capable of signaling a conformational change during the transport process. The invention thus provides sensors that are based on virtually any transporter with the required three-dimensional conformation, which, in turn, provides a new means of monitoring their activity or modifications by the regulatory machinery in real time in vivo


Multi-core computers may implement a resource management layer between the operating system and resource-management-enabled parallel runtime systems. The resource management components and runtime systems may collectively implement dynamic co-scheduling of hardware contexts when executing multiple parallel applications, using a spatial scheduling policy that grants high priority to one application per hardware context and a temporal scheduling policy for re-allocating unused hardware contexts. The runtime systems may receive resources on a varying number of hardware contexts as demands of the applications change over time, and the resource management components may co-ordinate to leave one runnable software thread for each hardware context. Periodic check-in operations may be used to determine (at times convenient to the applications) when hardware contexts should be re-allocated. Over-subscription of worker threads may reduce load imbalances between applications. A co-ordination table may store per-hardware-context information about resource demands and allocations.

Field of the Disclosure
This disclosure relates generally to parallel computing, and more particularly to systems and methods for dynamic co-scheduling of hardware contexts for parallel runtime systems on high-utilization shared machines.
Description of the Related Art
Traditionally, parallelism has been exploited in high performance computing (HPC) and multi-threaded servers in which jobs are often run on dedicated machines, or on fixed sets of cores (or hardware contexts) in a shared machine. Traditional HPC jobs have long, stable CPU-bound phases with fixed resource requirements. Traditional servers exploit the ability to process independent requests in parallel. There is often little parallelism within each request. This style of synchronization lets traditional servers run well on current operating systems.
In contrast, many emerging parallel workloads exhibit CPU demands that vary over time. For example, in graph analytic jobs, the degree of parallelism can both vary over time and depend on the structure of the input graph. Other examples include cases in which parallelism is used to accelerate parts of an interactive application (occurring in bursts in response to user input). Current operating systems and runtime systems do not perform well for these types of workloads (e.g., those with variable CPU demands and frequent synchronization between parallel threads). Typical solutions attempt to avoid interference between jobs either by over provisioning machines, or by manually pinning different jobs to different cores/contexts.
Software is increasingly written to run on multi-processor machines (e.g., those with multiple single-core processors and/or those with one or more multi-core processors). In order to make good use of the underlying hardware, customers want to run multiple workloads on the same machine at the same time, rather than dedicating a single machine to a respective single workload.

Dynamic co-scheduling of hardware contexts for parallel runtime systems on shared machines


A power tool includes a spindle, a motor, an inner housing and an outer housing elastically connected to the inner housing. The inner housing is formed by a first inner housing portion formed of metal connected to a second inner housing portion formed of synthetic polymer. The first inner housing portion includes a housing part disposed in a front part of the outer housing, and a first extending part extending rearward from the housing part and disposed in a grip part of the outer housing. The second inner housing portion includes a second extending part that has a tubular shape and at least partially surrounds the first extending part, and a rear end part connected to the second extending part and disposed in a rear part of the outer housing. The first extending part extends rearward of a center of the second extending part in the front-rear direction.

Known power tools (e.g. oscillating multi-tools, which are also known in the power tool field as "multi-tools") are configured to perform an operation, such as cutting, sanding, scraping, etc., on a workpiece by transmitting a rotary output of a motor to a spindle and thereby pivotally oscillating a tool accessory that is mounted to (on) a lower axial end portion of the spindle. In some of these known oscillating multi-tools, for the purpose of isolating vibration, an inner housing that houses a motor and a driving mechanism is elastically connected with an outer housing, which is designed to be held by a user, in a manner that permits relative movement therebetween.


Improved techniques for customizing information provided from a content server through a network to a user of a computer system in accordance with demographic classifications, user interests, or preferences are disclosed. Such customizing can involve banner advertising on the Internet whereby the advertising banners are able to be targeted to the user. The customizing can also involve altering portions of a web page to be displayed to the user so that the web page is more effective, useful or desirable for the user. Besides customization of the information to be displayed to the user, the invention also provides techniques for obtaining demographic information about the user of the computer system, and techniques for transmitting the demographic information over the network so that remote content servers that provide information content to the user can do so with knowledge of the demographic information about the user.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to providing demographic information over a network. The present invention also relates to customization of web pages and electronic advertising on web pages.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is known to display an advertising banner at the upper portion of web pages to advertise products and services on the Internet. Usually, an advertising banner is randomly selected from a selection of advertisers. Although such advertising has been shown to be effective, it is very inefficient because the advertising banners may advertise particular products and services for which the viewing user would have little or no interest in purchasing. The only correlation with the interest of users is when the particular web page being viewed by a user was of interest to the user and the advertising banner was also somehow related to the content of the web page. For example, a web page of a real estate company might include advertising banners containing advertisements for mortgage companies.
A popular Internet search engine know as "Yahoo!" displays advertising banners on an upper portion of its web pages. Yahoo! appears to select a banner advertisement to display in accordance with a user's search request to the Yahoo! Internet search engine. For example, if you enter a search request for "music", the banner advertisement that is displayed on the next displayed Yahoo! page would contain a music related advertisement. FIGS. 7–11 are graphical images of a series of web pages provided by Yahoo! for the example "music" search request example. Note that the advertising banner for "Music Connection" illustrated in FIG. 11 is the music related advertisement being displayed. This approach of Yahoo! which uses search terms tends to more be more efficient in selecting the advertising banner than the more common random selection. However, the Yahoo! approach remains inefficient because Yahoo! does not have any idea as to who is using the Yahoo! Internet search engine. As a result, advertising banners are still not able to be efficiently selected such that the advertising banner is targeted to the user or requester.
Thus, there is a need for improved banner advertising on the Internet whereby the advertising banners displayed or other portions of a web page are targeted and/or customized to a user so that the web page is more effective.

Method and apparatus for customization of information content provided to a requestor over a network using anonymous demographic data stored on a demographic server


A sheets processing apparatus includes a first processing portion having a first switchback portion for reversing the conveying direction of postal matter branched and conveyed from a main conveying path and a first U-turn path for reversing the front and back of the postal matter and a second processing portion having a second U-turn path for reversing the front and back of the postal matter branched and conveyed from the main conveying path and a second switchback portion for reversing the conveying direction of the postal matter. The first switchback portion is arranged inside the second U-turn path and the second switchback portion is arranged inside the first U-turn path.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sheets processing apparatus for reversing the front and back of each paper-like material and reversing the conveying direction thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, as a sheets processing apparatus for reversing the front and back of each paper-like material and reversing the conveying direction thereof, for example, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,726,199 (Apr. 27, 2004), a switchback device equipped with a switchback portion respectively on both sides of the conveying path is known.
The switchback device repeats an operation of receiving a paper-like material conveyed via the conveying path by one switchback portion, reversing the conveying direction, sending it out onto the conveying path, receiving another paper-like material by the other switchback portion, reversing the conveying path, and sending it out onto the conveying path, thereby continuously switches back a plurality of paper-like materials continuously conveyed.
However, the switchback device is designed so as to process paper-like materials which are comparatively thin and soft such as banknotes and are not suited to paper-like materials such as postal mattes which are comparatively thick and hard like letters. Namely, the switchback device suddenly bends the conveying direction of a paper-like material conveyed via the conveying path, leads it to the switchback portion installed in the direction almost perpendicular to the conveying path, when ejecting it from the switchback portion to the conveying path, suddenly bends the paper-like material, and ejects it to the conveying path, so that it cannot process normally thick and hard paper-like materials.
If it is intended to process a thick and hard paper-like material such as a postal matter by the switchback device, the device must be made larger to increase the curvature of the part for bending the conveying direction of the paper-like material, thus a problem arises that the device must be made larger.


A laser-based system with laser detection and ranging (“LADAR”) and semi-active laser (“SAL”) system capabilities is disclosed. In a first aspect, an apparatus includes a gimbal capable of scanning in azimuth and in elevation and a sensor mounted on the gimbal capable of LADAR acquisition and laser designation. In a second aspect, a method includes flying an airborne vehicle through an environment, scanning a LADAR signal from a sensor into the field of regard to identify a target; and laser designating the identified target with the sensor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to a laser-based system and, more particularly, to a laser-based system with laser detection and ranging ("LADAR") and semi-active laser ("SAL") system capabilities.
2. Description of the Related Art
A need of great importance in military and some civilian remote sensing operations is the ability to quickly detect and identify objects, frequently referred to as "targets," in a "field of regard." A common problem in military operations, for example, is to detect and identify targets, such as tanks, vehicles, guns, and similar items, which have been camouflaged or which are operating at night or in foggy weather. It is important in many instances to be able to distinguish reliably between enemy and friendly forces. As the pace of battlefield operations increases, so does the need for quick and accurate identification of potential targets as friend or foe and as a target or not.
Remote sensing techniques for identifying targets have existed for many years. For instance, in World War II, the British developed and utilized radio detection and ranging ("RADAR") systems for identifying the incoming planes of the German Luftwaffe. RADAR uses radio waves to locate objects at great distances even in bad weather or in total darkness. Sound navigation and ranging ("SONAR") has found similar utility and application in environments where signals propagate through water, as opposed to the atmosphere. While RADAR and SONAR have proven quite effective in many areas, they are inherently limited by a number of factors. For instance, RADAR is limited because of its use of radio frequency signals and the size of the resultant antennas used to transmit and receive such signals. Sonar suffers similar types of limitations. Thus, alternative technologies have been developed and deployed.
One such alternative technology is laser detection and ranging ("LADAR"). Similar to RADAR systems, which transmit and receive radio waves to and reflected from objects, LADAR systems transmit laser beams and receive reflections from targets. Because of the short wavelengths associated with laser beam transmissions, LADAR data exhibits much greater resolution than RADAR data. Typically, a LADAR system creates a three-dimensional ("3-D") image in which each datum, or "pixel", comprises an (x,y) coordinate and associated range for the point of reflection.
Laser energy also finds application in these kinds of environments in what is known as a semi-active laser ("SAL") system. With the SAL system, a narrow laser beam is produced and transmitted toward a target. The laser radiation is typically generated and transmitted from a laser designator aircraft manned by a forward operator. The operator directs the laser radiation to a selected target, thereby designating the target. The laser radiation reflected from the target can then be detected by the laser seeker head of a missile or other weapon located remote from both the target and the laser energy transmitter. The SAL system includes processing equipment for generating guidance commands to the missile derived from the sensed laser radiation as it is reflected from the target. Such a system can be used by pilots or other users to identify a target and guide the missile or weapon to the target.
However, LADAR and SAL technologies typically are not deployed together. For one thing, the LADAR signal, its generation, and its transmission usually are not suitable for target designation, or "spotting." U.S. Pat. No. 6,262,800, entitled "Dual mode semi-active laser/laser radar seeker", issued Jul. 17, 2001, to Lockheed Martin Corporation as assignee of the inventor Lewis G. Minor documents one effort at combining the two technologies. In this patent, the LADAR transceiver is modified to be used as a SAL receiver as well as a LADAR receiver. However, the sensor disclosed and claimed therein still includes no on-board designator such that it must rely on a third party designator in the same manner as conventional SAL systems.
The present invention is directed to resolving, or at least reducing, one or all of the problems mentioned above.

Laser-based system with LADAR and SAL capabilities


The present invention relates to the field of viral disorders, and in particular to viral obesity. Compositions comprising nutraceutical agents are provided for treating viral obesity. Additionally, compositions comprising nutraceutical agents targeting adenoviruses are provided.

Obesity is a prevalent nutritional disorder in the United States. Obesity in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood represents a serious concern and a challenge to the medical and lay communities. Major impacts include effects on blood pressure, intermediary metabolism, respiratory function, psychological well-being, social adaptation, and educational performance. Obesity is associated with significant adult morbidity, including long-term effects on cardiovascular health and premature mortality.
Accumulation of excess fat mass occurs when total energy intake exceeds total energy expenditure, including the energy allowance for normal growth. This energy imbalance can result from excessive energy intake and/or reduced energy expenditure for body metabolism, thermoregulation, and physical activity. Increases in energy intake are observed in genetic syndromes, such as Prader-Willi syndrome, Cushing syndrome, and drug-induced obesity. Reductions in energy expenditure characterize hormonal deficiency states, including hypothyroidism and growth hormone deficiency.
The etiology of obesity is considered to be multifactorial. Animal obesity has been classified into nine different groups, including obesity of neural, endocrine, pharmacological, nutritional, environmental, seasonal, genetic, idiopathic or of viral origin (see, e.g., Sclaffini, A. (1984) Int. J. Obesity 8: 491-508; herein incorporated by reference in its entirety). While genetic and behavioral components of obesity have been the focus of intense study, six pathogens have been reported to cause obesity in animal models (see, e.g., Atkinson R. L., et al., (1997) Int. J. of Obesity 21:S36; Carter J. K., et al., (1983) Infect. Immun. 39:410-422; Carter J. K., et al., (1983) Avian Dis 27:317-322; Dhurandhar N. V., et al., (1990) J. Bombay Vet. College 2:131-132; Dhurandhar N. V., et al., (1992) Vet. Microbiol. 31:101-107; Dhurandhar N. V., et al., (1996) Obesity Res 4:24S; Dhurandhar N. V., et al., (2000) Int. J. Obesity 24:989-996; Gosztonyi G., et al., (1995) Current Topics in Microbiol. Immunol. 190:39-73; Lyons M. J., et al., (1982) Science 216:82-85; each herein incorporated by reference in their entireties). Indeed, the human adenovirus Ad-36 is implicated in causing obesity in humans (see, e.g., Atkinson R. L., et al., (1998) Int. J. Obesity 22:S57; Dhurandhar N. V., et al., (1997) FASEB J 3:A230; each herein incorporated by reference in their entireties).
Treatment options for virally induced obesity is limited to traditional approaches (e.g., diet management, exercise management, lifestyle management, surgery, and anorectic agents (e.g., phentermine, phenylpropanolamine, mazindol, ephedra, and sibutramine)). What is needed are improved methods of treating viral obesity.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A connector (24) is disclosed for electrically interconnecting a component (14) to circuitry within a cabinet (10), where the component is arranged to slide in and out of a bay (12) in the cabinet (10). The connector (24) is attached to the component (14) and includes an insulated housing (40) having a plurality of electrical contacts (60) arranged therein. The contacts (60) are adapted for mating along a first mating axis (23) of the connector with respective ones of other electrical contacts (100) in a mating connector (26) attached to the cabinet (10). The contacts (60) of the connector (24) are further adapted for mating along a second mating axis (74), that forms a right angle to the first mating axis (23), with respective ones of individual contacts (158) attached to individual wires (156) that are secured to the cabinet (10).

In the electrical power distribution industry, as well as other industries, large equipment cabinets are provided containing electrical components that are electrically interconnected to other equipment in the cabinet. Some of these components, such as large circuit breakers, must be able to be temporarily disconnected and removed or simply disconnected and left in place. Such components are usually arranged on rails or slides within the equipment cabinet which permit the component to slide into the equipment cabinet along a mating axis for electrical mating and out of the equipment cabinet for removal. There is usually a primary connector and a secondary connector that must be mated. In the case of a circuit breaker, for example, the primary connector interconnects the power circuits while the secondary connector interconnects various test and control circuits. The secondary connector attached to and carried by the circuit breaker usually includes guide members, such as posts having tapered ends, that engage corresponding guide features associated with the mating connector, such as holes. In certain applications a conventional terminal strip is substituted for the secondary connector which is then interconnected to the cabinet circuitry by means of separate conductors having terminals attached to their ends. Therefore, the secondary circuits of the circuit breaker must be capable of being mated to either a mating connector or individual terminated conductors. This, of course, requires two different circuit breakers, one with a secondary connector and one with a terminal strip. Additionally, when mating with the mating connector, movement of the secondary connector along the mating axis corresponds to the movement of the circuit breaker, which is front to back as the circuit breaker is moved along its rails into the cabinet. This direction, however, is unsuitable for mating with the individual terminals, which must by mated manually with the circuit breaker partially in the cabinet. Ideally, the terminal strip should be accessible from the top or sides of the circuit breaker where operator visibility of the contacts is greatest.
What is needed is a secondary connector having electrical contacts that are able to mate both with the contacts of the mating connector as the circuit breaker is inserted into the cabinet and with the individual terminated conductors when the circuit breaker is partially inserted in the cabinet. Further, the secondary connector should be arranged so that mating of the individual terminated conductors is accomplished from the top or sides of the circuit breaker.

Electrical connector having dual directional mating


A method for heat integration in a sulfur recovery unit, the method comprising the steps of reacting the acid gas stream and the air stream in the reaction furnace to produce a reaction effluent, where the reaction effluent comprises elemental sulfur, reducing the temperature of the reaction effluent in the heating extension to produce an effluent stream, reducing the temperature of the reaction effluent in the waste heat boiler to produce a cooled effluent stream, reducing the temperature of the cooled effluent in the sulfur condenser to produce a liquid sulfur stream and a cooled gases stream, where the liquid sulfur stream comprises the elemental sulfur, and increasing a temperature of the cooled gases stream to produce a hot gases stream, where the heating extension is configured to capture heat from the reaction effluent and release the heat to the cooled gases stream.

A conventional Claus process consists of a thermal unit and a catalytic unit. The thermal unit consists of a reaction furnace, a waste heat boiler, and a sulfur condenser. In the thermal unit hydrogen sulfide and oxygen react to produce elemental sulfur and sulfur dioxide. The elemental sulfur is removed in the sulfur condenser. The catalytic unit includes a series of catalytic reactors, where each catalytic reactor is preceded by a re-heater and followed by a condenser. In the catalytic reactors elemental sulfur is produced by the reaction among hydrogen sulfide, sulfur dioxide, and oxygen. The re-heater increases the temperature to the reaction temperature in the catalytic reactors. The condenser condenses the elemental sulfur to produce a liquid sulfur stream. The re-heater is a direct-fired reheater that burns fuel gas to increase the process stream temperature.

Advanced heat integration in sulfur recovery unit—SafarClaus


A recognition system includes an acquisition module configured to acquire an image data generated by an image sensor, a first generation module configured to generate a graphical user interface which contains the image data, and an input module configured to detect an input on the graphical user interface, the input indicating a position designation on the image data. The recognition system further includes a second generation module configured to overlap a frame-line on the image data of the graphical user interface based on the position designation detected by the input module, and a calculation module configured to calculate one or more feature values of an object image within the frame-line.

A recognition system specifies the category of an object by analyzing the image data acquired from an image sensor and comparing the image data with feature values for reference. This system may be useful in a bakery or a grocery which deals in some commodities that do not have a barcode label.

Recognition system, recognition method and computer readable medium for calculating feature values of an object image


Techniques for manufacturing a CMOS image sensor are provided. A semiconductor substrate is provided, and at least one isolation region can be formed between a periphery region of the substrate and a photo-sensing region of the substrate. A first well in the periphery region and a second well in the photo-sensing region of the substrate are formed. A third well associated with a photodiode is also formed. A gate oxide layer, polysilicon layer, and first metal layer are respectively deposited. The polysilicon layer and first metal layer are etched to form an least one gate in the photo-sensing region and at least one gate in the periphery region. At least two doped regions in the first well are formed, as well as a doped region in the second well. A silicide block layer is deposited over the photo-sensing region of the substrate. A second metal layer is deposited at least over the periphery region after deposition of the silicide block. The substrate is exposed to a thermal environment to form silicide. The second metal layer is removed by etching.

The present invention is directed to integrated circuits and their processing for the manufacture of semiconductor devices. More particularly, the invention provides a method and device with selective silicide formation. Merely by way of example, the invention has been applied to complimentary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensing. But it would be recognized that the invention has a much broader range of applicability.
Integrated circuits or "ICs" have evolved from a handful of interconnected devices fabricated on a single chip of silicon to millions of devices. Current ICs provide performance and complexity far beyond what was originally imagined. One such type of IC is a CMOS imaging system. The CMOS imaging system can be fabricated on standard silicon production lines and therefore inexpensive to make. Additionally, the CMOS image sensor consumes low power and especially suitable for portable applications.
Specifically, a CMOS image system converts a light signal into an electrical signal, whose intensity is related to the light intensity. FIG. 1 is a simplified diagram for a conventional CMOS imaging system 100. System 100 is configured into two regions, a photo-sensing region 110 and a periphery region 120. In photo-sensing region 110, an array of CMOS image sensors are organized in rows and columns to detect light intensity. Circuits providing additionally functions are disposed in periphery region 120. For example, periphery region 120 can include signal amplification circuits, analog-to-digital converters, image signal processor, or a digital signal processor.
FIG. 2 is a simplified circuit diagram of a CMOS image sensor. The CMOS image sensor 200 corresponds to one pixel and includes a reset transistor 210, a photodiode 220, a source follower 230, a selecting transistor 240, and a bias resistor 250. The photodiode 220 receives a light signal and generates a photocurrent from a node 260 to a node 262. Additionally, a leakage current also flows through the photodiode 220 in the same direction. This leakage current is sometimes referred to as dark current of the CMOS image sensor. One source for the leakage current is the source region of the reset transistor 210, which is connected to the photodiode 220. A large leakage current adversely affects the performance of the CMOS image sensor.
In a CMOS device, including a CMOS imaging system, salicide can be used to improve RC delay. However, a conventional salicide process has certain limitations when applied to a CMOS image system. The formation of silicide in most areas of the photo sensing region of the CMOS image sensor (such as photodector diode areas and source/drain regions in photo sensing area) generally increases leakage current, and thus degrades sensor image quality.
Accordingly, a conventional silicide block technique using a photo process has been proposed. Unfortunately, this technique typically does not have the requisite alignment accuracy. It generally does not provide consistent control for selective growth of silicide. That is to say, it is difficult to form silicide on a polysilicon gate in the photo-sensing region without forming unwanted silicide on other areas of the photo-sensing region. Another conventional approach is an etch back process to remove silicide from the source/drain regions of the photo-sensing area to selectively form suicide on a gate. However, the etch back process is often difficult to control and reduces production yield.
From the above, it is seen that an improved technique for a CMOS image sensor is desired.

Method of making CMOS image sensor—hybrid silicide

Semiconductor Manufacturing International (Shanghai) Corporation


A surveillance server connected to a camera through a network is provided, the camera acquiring an image of a surveillance area. The surveillance server includes: a data acquisition unit configured to acquire from the camera image data of the image that is encrypted; a mode selection unit configured to select a processing mode of the image data; and a decryption control unit configured to decrypt the image data in response to selection of a first mode.

1. Field
Apparatuses and methods consistent with exemplary embodiments relate to a surveillance server, a method of processing data of the surveillance server, and a surveillance system, and more particularly, to a surveillance server which may control decryption of data according to a data processing mode, a method of processing data of the surveillance server, and a surveillance system.
2. Description of the Related Art
A surveillance system may include network cameras and a server. The cameras and the server are connected through a communication network. Security is important in the surveillance system due to the characteristic of data that are transmitted and received. For example, a third party may intercept or damage data by accessing a network. In the surveillance system, exposure of data or damage of data may cause a serious problem.
Accordingly, there is a demand for a strong security surveillance system which may prevent a third party from accessing data to alter the data and a third party who accesses a network from reading data.
To address the above problems, a method of encrypting data to be transmitted through a network has been suggested. However, a data processing load may increase in the process of encrypting and decrypting data. Also, the data may be exposed in the process of decrypting encrypted data or re-encrypting data.

Surveillance server, method of processing data of surveillance server, and surveillance system


A package for an oral tobacco product is a package that houses a pouch P including tobacco microparticles made of a tobacco raw material and a packaging material for packaging the tobacco microparticles and configured to cause, when being put in an oral cavity of a user, the user to absorb a tobacco component of the tobacco microparticles, the package including, in the inside thereof, a liquid storing section 24 in which liquid to be supplied to the pouch is stored.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a package for an oral tobacco product that absorbs a tobacco component via saliva and to an oral tobacco product.
Description of the Related Art
As a tobacco product that a user can imbibe irrespective of places such as in a plane and in a train, there is SNUFF with which the user puts treated tobacco microparticles in the oral cavity, the nasal cavity or the like and directly absorbs a tobacco component from the mucous membrane while enjoying the flavor.
In recent years, SNUS has attracted attention because, in order to improve easiness to use and a sense of use, it allows a user to hold tobacco microparticles in the oral cavity in a pouch form obtained by packaging the tobacco microparticles with a packaging material such as nonwoven fabric (see, for example, Patent document 1). The user (a consumer) holds a tobacco packaging body (in general, referred to as a pouch), which is put in the oral cavity, between the upper lip and the gum to absorb a tobacco component extracted to the saliva into the body from the gum while enjoying flavor thereof.    [Patent document 1] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2011-4    [Patent document 2] International Publication Pamphlet No. WO 2008/148072

Package for oral tobacco product and the oral tobacco product