A cutting guide attachment for an electric knife including a plastic housing having an inboard portion for attaching the handle to an electric knife. It also includes an outboard portion operatively positioned to the reciprocating blades of the electric knife. The housing has first inverted U-shaped fingers ascending downwardly from the end of the outboard portion of the housing and second inverted U-shaped fingers extending downwardly from an intermediate region of the outboard portion of the housing. The first and second fingers have exterior arcuate recesses on one face thereof. A plurality of rollers is included having varying sizes positionable in nesting relationship one within the other. The interiormost roller has an extended length to be received within the recesses, whereby any number of nested rollers may be received upon the innermost roller for providing a surface of a predetermined diameter for rolling across the food to be sliced.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cutting guide attachment for an electric knife and more particularly pertains to ensuring the cutting of foods to a predetermined thickness.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of kitchen tools of various designs and configurations is known in the prior art. More specifically, kitchen tools of various designs and configurations heretofore devised and utilized for the purpose of slicing objects by various methods and apparatuses are known to consist basically of familiar, expected, and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which has been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,981,078 to Alberti discloses an Electric Knife With Guide Blade. U.S. Pat. No. 3,178,817 to Rubinstein discloses Cutting Implements. U.S. Pat. No. 5,598,759 to Sie et al. discloses Food Slicing Rack Devices. U.S. Pat. No. 3,153,852 to Freeman discloses a Blade Connection Means for Power-Operated Slicing Knife. U.S. Pat. No. 4,204,451 to Reichert discloses a Cutting Block Employing Cuttable Rods. Lastly, U.S. Pat. No. Des. 371,728 to Krueger discloses a Bagel Cutter Guide.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not describe an cutting guide attachment for an electric knife that allows the slicing of objects at a predetermined thickness.
In this respect, the cutting guide attachment for an electric knife according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in doing so provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of to ensure the cutting of foods to a predetermined thickness.
Therefore, it can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for a new and improved cutting guide attachment for an electric knife which can be used for to ensure the cutting of foods to a predetermined thickness. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.

Cutting guide attachment for an electric knife


A closure device for port site closure is provided. The closure device includes an end effector having a top surface and a bottom surface. A stem extends upwardly from a midsection of the top surface of the end effector. The stem has a free end, a distal end, and a middle portion therebetween. An attachment member extends from the distal end of the stem and is fixedly attached to the top surface of the end effector. The attachment member has a width smaller than a width of the distal end. At least one notch is defined by a gap between the distal end of the stem and the top surface of the end effector.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a system and method for closing a port site. More particularly, the present disclosure provides a closure device inserted into an introducer such that an end effector of the closure device is positioned over a peritoneum within an abdominal wall. The introducer is removed and the closure device remains in position.
2. Background of Related Art
Laparoscopy, which is only one example of minimally invasive surgery (MIS), is a modern surgical technique in which operations in the abdomen are performed through small incisions as compared to larger incisions needed in traditional surgical procedures. Laparoscopy provides a number of advantages versus open procedures that include reduced pain from infection and hemorrhaging and shorter recovery time. The abdomen is usually insufflated, or essentially blown up like a balloon, with carbon dioxide gas (CO2). This elevates the abdominal wall above the internal organs like a dome to create a working and viewing space. CO2 is used because it is common to the human body and can be absorbed by tissue and removed by the respiratory system. It is also non-flammable, which is important because electrosurgical devices are commonly used in laparoscopic procedures.
During typical laparoscopic surgeries to close the muscle fascia layer and the skin layer at the port site, the surgeon typically closes these layers at the port site with sutures. After a typical laparoscopic surgery, the surgeon typically closes the muscle fascia layer and the skin layer at the port site with sutures. However, closing port sites with sutures can be time consuming, tedious, and difficult. Obese and morbidly obese patients can have several to many inches of abdominal wall, making closure of the muscle and skin layers quite difficult. Additionally, there is an increased risk of damaging organs and/or the bowel of the patient with a needle due to limited visibility.
The present disclosure provides a system and method for eliminating the need for suturing the muscle fascia and skin layers and thus a reduced risk for damaging organs and/or the bowel of the patient. Additionally, the present system provides an increased ease of use and reduces closure time required.


Systems and methods for automatically configuring network elements for in-band telemetry are disclosed. A controller of a configuration engine, which includes a flow analyzer and an INT configuration module, receives sampled packets and flow updates from network elements that are not yet configured for INT telemetry. The controller forwards the packets to the flow analyzer that extracts flow properties from the received packets, generates a flow summary along various metrics, and records it in a multi-dimensional matrix. A few metrics from top flows are selected and forwarded to the INT configuration module to identify network elements from whom packets containing the selected metrics were received. The identified network elements are automatically configured with the selected INT configuration such that INT telemetry data can be collected from them. Changes to the flow are dynamically accommodated by reconfiguring the network elements based on the telemetry data received after they have been configured.

Real-time collection of data in a network from data sources, also referred to as network telemetry or telemetry, is vital to monitoring traffic flow in a network and troubleshooting issues relating to congestion, latency, jitter, packet loss rate and bandwidth.
In-band telemetry (also referred to as "in-band network telemetry" or "INT") is a type of telemetry mechanism used for collecting data in real-time and reporting the data for monitoring and analysis. The mechanism allows collection of data directly from the data plane without involving the control plane. A core function of INT is to trace the path of a packet and report the state of the packet as it travels along its path to its destination. INT operates by embedding a set of instructions into a packet header at the INT source. The instructions define the type of telemetry data to be collected at each network element that the packet passes along its path to its destination. The network element is configured to follow the set of instructions and inserts metadata that corresponds to the instructions into the INT header. The data collected is reported to a collector and used to build a network state of each network element thereby allowing network operators to monitor the network and address any network issues.
Current INT mechanisms have several limitations. For example, one type of INT mechanism requires network switches to be manually and statically configured. Using this approach, each switch in the network is manually configured with rules for collecting a certain pre-selected subset of flows and type and quantity of data from packets of those flows. Since traffic patterns change rapidly in a network, faced with the manual limitation, such systems are not capable of rapidly changing rules to accommodate the changed traffic patterns and as such cannot keep pace and adapt to traffic changes. The data collected through these systems is therefore lagging and not representative of the current status of network flow.
Another known INT mechanism to measure traffic flow is flow sampling. Systems deploying such mechanisms pseudo-randomly copy selected packets that match configured rules at switches and forward them to a Central Controller. These mechanisms lack adequate representation of traffic flow as they either copy too many packets resulting in heavy storage and/or processing requirements or too few packets resulting in a large gap in data to truly analyze the traffic flow.

Dynamic profile guided network telemetry configuration


There is provided a technique for securing a comfortable examination space in a tunnel type MRI apparatus without increasing the manufacturing cost of the MRI apparatus and sacrificing performance thereof. In an RF coil provided with a hollow-shaped outer conductive element and a strip-shaped conductive element disposed along the outer conductive element in the axial direction, meander lines constituting the strip-shaped conductive element are disposed at uneven distances from the outer conductive element to secure an internal space. In order to obtain uniform sensitivity at the center of the RF coil, the strip-shaped conductive element is constituted with N of connected meander lines, and length of the strip-shaped conductive element is adjusted so that, in the strip-shaped conductive element resonating at resonance frequency of the antenna, nodes are formed in a number of (M+1)×N−1, wherein M is 0 or a natural number of 1 or larger.

In MRI apparatuses, imaging of a subject is attained by irradiating the subject stayed in a uniform static magnetic field generated by a static magnetic field magnet with electromagnetic waves to induce excitation of nuclear spins in the subject, receiving electromagnetic waves generated by the nuclear spins, i.e., magnetic resonance signals, and processing the signals. The irradiation of the electromagnetic waves and reception of the magnetic resonance signals are performed by a device for transmitting and receiving electromagnetic waves of radio frequency (RF), which is called RF antenna or RF coil.
RF coils are roughly classified into two kinds of those called surface antennas or local antennas, and those called volume coils or volume antennas. The surface antennas have a round shape or tabular shape, and show sensitivity in a region near the antennas, and they are used by being put on surface of a subject. On the other hand, the volume antennas have a cylindrical shape or a shape of two discs disposed upper and lower sides, and they show sensitivity in the whole volume in the cylinder or between the discs, and used by placing a subject in that space.
Examples of the volume antennas having a cylindrical shape include those of birdcage type (refer to, for example, Non-patent document 1), and those of TEM type (refer to, for example, Patent documents 1 and 2). In these volume antennas, about 16 to 24 conductive elements of a rod shape usually called rungs (crossbars or rungs of ladder) are disposed in parallel to the center axis of the cylinder and along the side of the cylinder.
Such volume antennas having a cylindrical shape are used in MRI apparatuses of the tunnel type. In MRI apparatuses of the tunnel type, a static magnetic field magnet is disposed in a cylindrical shape to form a tunnel, a subject laid on a bed is entered into the inside of the tunnel, and imaging is performed.
Regions in which sensitivity of local antennas can be obtained often correspond to only a part of such regions of volume antennas and are narrower than such regions of volume antennas. However, since sensitivity of local antennas is usually higher than that of volume antennas, local antennas are often used as a receiving antenna. Examples of the local antennas include, for example, one consisting of a conductive element bent in the shape of a loop (refer to, for example, Patent document 3), one consisting of a conductive element bent in the shape of figure eight (refer to, for example, Non-patent document 2), and so forth.
When it is desired to image a wide region with good sensitivity, a plurality of local antennas may be disposed to extend the region in which sensitivity can be obtained, and used as if it is a multi-channel volume antenna. In such a case, the antenna is constituted as an antenna having electric power supplying and receiving terminals in a number corresponding to the channel number of 3 or more, whereas the channel number of general volume antennas is 2.

Magnetic resonance examination apparatus and antenna device


In a multifunction PCI device containing identical backend functions or other large, redundant functional blocks, a single backend function is selected as a primary function while in test mode. All backend I/O channels are then simultaneously tested in parallel, with the same data and control signals from a PCI local bus being driven to all backend channels during the same test clock cycle. A single backend channel is designated as the primary for providing requisite handshaking signals during output to the backend I/O channels. Input data from each backend channel is received in parallel and compared, with miscompares being flagged to allow testing of the input data path from the respective backend I/O channel. Only signals from the primary backend I/O channel are designated for transmission to the PCI local bus. Signals from the remaining backend channels are received in parallel with and compared to the signals from the primary channel, and miscompare flags are generated for any discrepancies identified. The resulting parallel testing of all backend I/O channels within the multifunction device reduces the number of test vectors needed to achieve fault grade goals.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to peripheral component interface device and in particular to devices providing an interface between a peripheral component interface local bus and backend channels. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to testing devices which provide an interface between a peripheral component interface local bus and backend input/output channels.
2. Description of the Related Art
Multifunction peripheral component interface (PCI) input/output (I/O) devices transfer data between a PCI local bus and backend I/O channels. Multifunction PCI devices may connect the PCI local bus to a number of backend channels, which may conform to any one of a variety of I/O standards such as small computer serial interface (SCSI), Ethernet, EIDE, etc. Each backend I/O channel may conform to the same standard, or different backend channels may employ different protocols.
Normal operation of multifunction PCI devices allows data to be transferred between the PCI interface and one channel at a time. However, achieving fault grade goals on multifunction PCI devices which have identical multiple backend I/O channels requires large numbers of test vectors. Even though each backend I/O channel will be tested with the same data pattern, there is considerable overhead required to switch between each backend function. Since only one backend function can have access to the PCI bus at any given time, arbitration logic built into the PCI interface determines which backend has this control. This arbitration sequence adds additional clock cycle delays each time a backend function requests control of the PCI bus to complete a bus transaction. The test time required to test multifunction PCI devices is directly proportional to the number of test vectors which must be run, and product cost is increased with increased testing cost.
It would be desirable, therefore, to reduce the number of test vectors required for testing a multifunction PCI device. It would further be advantageous if the reduction in test vectors could be achieved with a minimal addition of test circuitry to the device.


A data drive for detecting loading/unloading positions and media type is provided. The drive includes: a drive base; a receiver for receiving a storage media device, the receiver being movably coupled to the drive base and translatable from an unloaded position to a loaded position; a media flag, for detecting a media type of the storage media device, movably coupled to the receiver and translatable from a first position to a second position when the storage media device is inserted into the receiver; a media flag sensor fixedly coupled to the drive base for detecting movement of the media flag; a receiver flag, for detecting position of the storage media device, fixedly coupled to the receiver; and a receiver flag sensor fixedly coupled to the drive base for detecting movement of the receiver flag.

Storage subsystems, such as magnetic tape libraries, are widely used for storing information in digital form. These tape subsystems may include a storage subsystem controller for controlling one or more tape drives contained within the storage subsystem and for controlling other components of the storage subsystem, such as the tape picker, which is used to select and load tape cartridges into the tape drives. The storage subsystem may be coupled to a host system which transmits I/O requests to the storage subsystem via a host/storage connection.
Each tape drive reads and writes data to the primary storage medium, which can be, for example, a magnetic tape medium contained within a removable storage media device, such as, e.g., a removable magnetic tape cartridge or cassette. The magnetic tape medium typically comprises a thin film of magnetic material which stores the data. The tape medium may be moved by the tape drive between a pair of spaced apart reels and past a data transducer to record or read back information. In one type of tape drive system, one of the reels is part of the tape drive while the other reel is part of the removable tape cartridge. For this type of tape drive system, the reel which is a part of the tape drive is commonly referred to as a take-up reel, while the reel which is a part of the tape cartridge is commonly referred to as a cartridge reel. In another type of tape drive system, both reels are contained in a removable tape cassette.
Various methods have been used for loading a tape cartridge into a tape drive. In some automated loading systems, the tape cartridge is inserted into the tape drive by, for example, a robotic picker mechanism. The picker arm is typically configured to apply a force to the back of the tape cartridge to fully insert the tape cartridge into the tape drive. Upon insertion of the tape cartridge into the tape drive, a reel driver gear having a set of teeth matching a set of gear teeth provided on the bottom of the cartridge reel rises to couple with cartridge reel in the tape cartridge. A take-up reel of the tape drive is coupled to the cartridge leader on the magnetic tape and draws the magnetic tape out of the tape drive, past the data transducer, and onto the take-up reel. In this type of manual loading system, the tape cartridge travels in a single plane during the loading process. The picker mechanism provides the insertion force in a horizontal direction to drive the front of the cartridge to the location where the take-up leader coupling is to occur. Once the tape cartridge is firmly seated in the tape drive, the reel driver in the tape drive rises in the vertical direction (orthogonal to the horizontal insertion direction) to couple with the cartridge reel.
In other systems, sometimes referred to as "soft load" systems, the tape cartridge is placed in an initial loading location by the picker mechanism or by a human operator. The tape drive then assumes control of the tape cartridge and repositions the tape cartridge into the fully loaded location. This positioning typically involves translating the tape cartridge first in the horizontal direction and then in the vertical direction until a stationary reel driver in the tape drive couples with the cartridge reel. Soft, load systems can enable the tape drive to more accurately locate the tape cartridge in the final loaded positioning, free from the effects of a manual human load or library robotics variations.
Existing tape drive architectures may use sensors of different types to detect different conditions existing in the drive. These sensors, however, operate according to a one-to-one relationship between the condition a sensor is designed to detect and the sensor itself. For instance, a first sensor may be used to detect when a cartridge is present in a drive, while a second sensor may be used to determine the type of cartridge that is present, while a third sensor may be used to determine if the cartridge is in a position in the drive such that a load operation may be initiated. Unfortunately, as the number of sensors utilized in a given drive increases, the cost and complexity of the drive typically increases as well. Accordingly, it may be desirable to provide a tape drive architecture with sufficient ability to detect relevant conditions during operation while decreasing the overall cost and complexity of the drive.


Abrasive discs for use with orbital sanders having dust extractor systems are provided in which the discs are adapted for use with orbital sanders having different patterns and numbers of dust extractor holes.

This invention relates to abrasive discs for use with orbital sanders which are designed for use with integral vacuum exhaust systems. Orbital sanders generate a great deal of dust, particularly when used on wood. This dust is not only inconvenient and possibly injurious to health, but it also obscures the view of the surface being sanded and can "blind" the abrasive disc being used. Many manufacturers therefore sell orbital sanders with integral or readily attachable vacuum exhaust systems design to suck away the dust as it is formed. This is done by applying a vacuum to the back of the support pad to which the abrasive disc is attached and providing holes through the support pad and the disc through which the dust can be evacuated as it is generated.
However there is a problem in that the pattern of exhaust holes in the backup pads is not standardized such that abrasive discs intended for use with, for example a Black & Decker Corporation orbital sander, will not fit a sander sold by Porter-Cable Corporation. One type has five exhaust holes whereas the other has eight exhaust holes. This means that the retailer selling to the "Do It Yourself" (or DIY) market must keep at least two different stocks of abrasive discs, in all grit sizes, if he is to be able to service the needs of all his customers. This consumes valuable shelf space which becomes very inconvenient as the number of DIY products for which replacement abrasive materials must be stocked increases.
The purpose of this invention is to provide a "one size fits all" solution to the problem.


Provided is a communication control apparatus including a communication unit configured to receive, from a base station of a first radio communication system, grant information that specifies a resource for secondary use within a frequency resource assigned to the first radio communication system operated with a frequency division duplex scheme, and a communication control unit configured to operate a second radio communication system with a time division duplex scheme on the resource for secondary use during a period that is associated with the grant information.

The radio communication technology is faced by a problem of a lack of frequency resources due to recent rapid increase in data traffic. One of examples of major solutions to use frequency resources efficiently is to introduce a relay station. A relay station relays traffic for a terminal located inside a cell or in the vicinity thereof where radio waves are weak (e.g., behind a building, inside a building, or near a cell edge). Another example of major solutions to use frequency resources efficiently is to introduce a small cell. A small cell is a concept encompassing femtocells, nanocells, picocells, microcells, and the like. A station of a small cell is installed at a position where radio waves are weak or the traffic amount is large and operates a radio communication system of a small cell.
To introduce a small cell, it is required that a macrocell is not interfered harmfully. One of techniques to prevent interference with a macrocell is to divide frequencies. That is, a base station of a small cell uses a frequency channel that is different from a frequency channel used in s macrocell, and thereby it becomes possible to suppress an interference level given by the base station of a small cell or a terminal thereof to a base station of a macrocell or a terminal thereof.
Patent Literature 1 below proposes a technique in which a base station of a picocell secondarily uses a part of a frequency channel protected for a macrocell in a situation that the macrocell is operated with a frequency division duplex (FDD) scheme. The base station of the picocell operates a radio communication system of a small cell with a time division duplex (TDD) scheme.

Communication control apparatus, terminal apparatus, and communication control method


A dust suction device (2), particularly in the form of an industrial vacuum cleaner, has a blower device (6) for generating an intake flow (S), a filter surface (16) for separating dust and dirt particles from the intake flow (S), a collecting chamber (18) for collecting the dust and the dirt particles which is located upstream of the filter surface (16) with respect to the intake flow (S), a clean air chamber (20) which is arranged downstream of the filter surface (16) and is separated from the collecting chamber (18) by the filter surface (16), with the filter surface (16) being acted upon in some areas by a cleaning flow of the blower device (6) which flows through the filter surface (16) in the direction opposite the direction of the intake flow (S), and an adjustable dividing wall (30) provided in the clean air chamber (20) and separating a vacuum area (40) that can be generated by the blower device (6) from an overpressure area (38) that can likewise be generated by the blower device (6).

1. Field of the Invention
The invention related to a dust suction device, particularly in the form of an industrial vacuum cleaner, with a blower device for generating an intake flow. Further, the dust suction device has a filter surface for separating dust and dirt particles from the intake flow. A collecting chamber for collecting the dust and the dirt particles is arranged downstream of the blower device, in the direction of the intake flow and upstream of the filter surface, and a clean air chamber is arranged downstream of the filter surface and is separated from the collecting chamber by the filter surface. The filter surface can be acted upon in some areas by a cleaning flow of the blower which flows through the filter surface in the direction opposite the intake flow direction for cleaning by back-blowing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In devices of the type mentioned above, the filter surface can be back-flushed by the cleaning flow in order to rid the filter surface of adhering dust particles and dirt particles which cause the filter surface to be clogged and accordingly reduce the suction capacity of the dust suction device.
German Publication DE 37 33 255 A1 discloses a bag filter dust collector which has a plurality of bag filters in a housing. To remove dust, air is sucked into the bag filters. In addition, a reverse flow of cleaning air can be blown into the bag filters by blowing pipes. By simultaneously generating a vacuum pressure in some of the bag filters and blowing a reverse cleaning air flow into the other bag filters, the latter can be rid of adhering dust by back-flushing.
In this way all of the bag filters can be cleaned without allowing the blown-back air with a high dust content to exit outward. Accordingly, there is no dust discharged to the environment when cleaning the bag filters.
The known procedure is disadvantageous in that it can only be applied in dust suction devices having at least two filter elements, wherein one filter surface is blown clear, while the other is required for sucking in the dust particles and dirt particles that are disengaged. In addition, the blowing pipes require relatively extensive additional installation space and appreciably increase manufacturing costs.


The present invention discloses a new method for preventing and controlling bacterial diseases in salmonid fish using Quillaja extracts, wherein said method comprises administering to salmonid fish an effective amount of a medicinal composition comprising a Quillaja saponaria extract as active ingredient.

It is widely known that salmon farming industry has increased significantly worldwide in the last two decades and, particularly in Chile, this economic sector has become one of the most important in the country. However, there are different diseases caused by bacteria that infect fish and significantly affect the production.
Most of the bacterial diseases affecting salmonid fish are intracellular bacteria that share common strategies, like the Secretion Systems (TSS 1-7) to internalize, survive, replicate and stablish intracellular infections. For example, the main intracellular bacteria infecting fish in aquaculture are Piscirickettsia salmonis, Renibacterium salmoninarum, Yersinia ruckeri, Edwardsiella tarda, Edwardsiella ictaruli, Francisella noatunensis subsp. Orientalis, Francisella noatunensis subsp. Noatunensis, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Photobacterium damselae subsp. Piscicida, Candidatus piscichlamydia salmonis, Mycobacterium marinum, Mycobacterium chelonae, Mycobacterium gordonae, Mycobacterium fortuitum, Mycobacterium trivale, Candidatus pisciclamydia salmonis, Tasmanian Rickettsia-like organism (RLO), and Aeromonas salmonicida.
Among bacterial diseases affecting fish, Piscirickettsiosis or septicemial rickettsial salmonid syndrome (SRS) caused by Piscirickettsia salmonis, is one of the most serious diseases that affects the salmon industry in Chile. Piscirickettsiosis affects fish during the seawater production cycle, causing high mortality rates that can reach 75% and economic losses for hundreds of millions of dollars (Henriquez, P., Kaiser, M., Bohle, H., Bustos, P., & Mancilla, M. (2016). Journal of fish Diseases 39 (4) 441-448).
To control Piscirickettsiosis, various strategies have been developed such as early harvesting of fish, the use of antibiotics and vaccines. Some factors that currently decrease the control of this pathogen are vaccines having limited efficacy and high quantities of antibiotics used in production, which may produce bacterial resistance to these drugs (Pulgar, R., Travisany, D., Zuniga, A. Maass, A., & Cambiazo, V. (2015). Journal of biotechnology, 212, 30-31). In addition, preventive actions involving the use of vaccines provide fish protection for short periods and are not effective in adult stages of salmon at the final stages of the production cycle (Tobar, J A, Jerez, S., Caruffo, M., Bravo, C., Contreras, F., Bucarey, S A, & Harel, M. (2011). Vaccine, 29 (12), 2336-2340). Moreover, it has been shown the existence of variants of P. salmonis resistant to the most commonly used antibiotics such as flumequine, enrofloxacin, erythromycin, amoxicillin and oxolinic acid (Mora, S J P, Farias, R C, Gadicke, L H P, Rozas, S M (2011). Thesis veterinary medicine: "Analysis of susceptibility of strains of Piscirickettsia salmonis isolated salmon and trout farmed in regions of the Rivers, Los Lagos and Aysen 2007 and 2008" University of Concepción, Faculty of veterinary Science). Due to the low efficacy of treatments and since the level of protection depends on various factors such as the immunobiology of fish, the conditions of administration of treatments and environmental factors, disease control has been difficult to achieve (Tobar, I. et al. (2015). Frontiers in immunology, (6) 244). Despite all the efforts, the high frequency of new epizootic events caused by P. salmonis indicate that there is a need for new alternatives to prevent and control this disease.
The most used bacterial vaccines in aquaculture have been based in inactivated bacteria (or killed wall cell bacteria), which evoke an antibody mediated response (humoral immune response) that can neutralize extracellular pathogens, but not intracellular pathogens. To destroy cells infected with intracellular pathogens is critical that the vaccine or other non-antibiotic alternatives induce the cellular immune response. This explain in part, why the current commercial vaccines, aimed to control Piscirickettsiosis (SRS) and other diseases caused by intracellular pathogens, that do not induce a cellular mediated immune response (CIR), have a low efficacy in their control. Therefore, there is a need for the development of vaccines and/or other non-antibiotic alternatives that evoke a cellular mediated immune response that can attack intracellular pathogens and eliminate infected cells (Munang'andu H M, Evensen Ø (2019). Fish Shellfish Immunol 85, 132-140).
One alternative to the use of vaccines and antibiotics for treating bacterial diseases in fish is administrating a food composition that allows the improvement of fish health. In this regard, various diets rich in microalgae containing polyunsaturated fatty acids, glycans, carotenoids, among others, have been tested. These ingredients can promote fish welfare while improving intestinal health and by increasing the resistance to diseases (Kousoulaki, K. et al. (2015). Journal of Nutritional Science, 4, e24).
Quillaja saponaria Molina (common name Quillay) is a native tree of Chile primarily used as a soap substitute due to the presence of saponins (San Martin, R. (1999). Economic Botany, 53 (3), 302-311). Saponins can be obtained industrially as powder or liquid extracts, and may be in a purified state, partially purified or unpurified. These extracts are marketed by several companies, being one of the most important Natural Response and Desert King (San Martin, R. and Briones, R. (2000). Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 80 (14), 2063-2068).
To date, saponins rich extracts are used as natural emulsifiers in cosmetics, food and beverages. Additionally, these have been used as adjuvants for vaccine production and pharmaceutical formulations (Maier, C. et al. (2015). Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 63 (6), 1756-1762). Other uses such as biocide to eliminate nematodes (US 2005/0074508 A1), mollusks (US 2007/0196517 A1) and fungi (Moya Elizondo, E. A. et al. (2010). Agro Sur, 38 (2), 87-96) have also been described.
The review of Wang, Y. et al. (2016), International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 17 (3), 325, describes the use of saponins in aquatic animals showing that these can modulate the immune system of shrimp and fish, and also promote the growth of the latter. However, the document states that most saponins are unstable in aqueous conditions and are very toxic to fish at high concentrations.
Prior art analysis regarding the application of Quillaja extracts in fish, shows international patent application WO 2015/155293 A1 disclosing an oral food additive for use in the prevention and/or treatment of infections in a fish composition and particularly describes a composition comprising Quillaja saponaria saponins for prophylactic treatment against the ectoparasite of the genus Caligus in fish. The experimental evidence provided by this document does not include the determination of a beneficial effect against other pathogens such as bacteria and virus that affect salmonid fish.
International patent application WO 2015/179840 A1 describes combinations or compositions comprising Yucca schidigera and Quillaja saponaria, and further including antimicrobials, antibiotics and anticoccidial agents, for administration to animals to prevent diseases. As a general disclosure, it describes that they can be applied to fish orally.
International patent application WO 01/51083 A2 discloses an adjuvant composition comprising a saponin and an oligonucleotide comprising at least one CpG unmethylated dinucleotide. Preferably, the composition includes saponins derived from Quillaja saponaria, and most preferably, the saponin is chemically modified or substantially pure (QS7, QS17, QS18 or QS21). No description is done for the use in fish.
Chilean patent application CL 2942-2004 discloses a food additive for fish formulated with a purified extract of Quillaja saponaria Molina comprising 15-25% w/w of triterpene saponins obtained from said extract and 75-85% w/w of potato maltodextrin. This document discloses that the food additive improves the fish growth and feed conversion, but does not mention that this food additive could be effective against pathogens such as virus and bacteria that affect salmonid fish.
The PhD thesis of Fernandes, R. N, (2014) Using Quillaja saponin (Quillaja saponaria Molina) em juvenis of pacu, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Center Aqüicultura, Brazil, describes a study wherein the effect of administering Quillaja saponins in doses from 100 to 400 mg/kg in pacu fish (Piaractus mesopotamicus). After 15 days of feeding fish with Quillaja saponins, 325 fish were inoculated with Aeromonas hydrophila and clinical signs were observed. After seven days, the survival of pacu fish against experimental infection was higher in fish fed with Quillaja saponins in a dose of 200 mg/kg.
On the other hand, Vinay et al. (2014), Veterinary immunology and immunopathology, 158 (1), 73-85, describes an evaluation of the effect of Quillaja saponins administered intraperitoneally as vaccine adjuvant in Paralichthys olivaceus. This study showed that saponins are a good inducer of inflammation but are also toxic for the fish. Saponins concentrations of 500, 160, 50, 16 and 5 μg/fish produced 95%, 65%, 20% and 5% mortality rates, respectively, and with a lethal dose (LD50) of 22.4 mg/kg. The results determined that the toxic effect of saponins depended on the level of purification and the source of the product. Finally, the authors found that a concentration of 3.4 mg/kg of fish is toxic when administered intraperitoneally, and it is recommended to use a lower concentration in Paralichthys olivaceus.
Regarding disclosures of saponins from sources other than Quillaja saponaria, Krogdahl et al. (2015), Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 63 (15), 3887-3902 discloses that soybean saponins administered orally as feed additive in doses of 2-10 g/kg produced intestinal inflammation in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), and the severity is dose-dependent.
This analysis of prior art shows that, although Quillaja saponaria saponins have been described for various uses and applications, they are used mainly as adjuvants and they are not associated with treatment of bacterial infections in commercial fish.

Method for preventing and controlling bacterial infections in salmonid fish using


An electrical connector includes an insulative housing defining a lower inserting port, an upper inserting port stacked thereon, and a mounting port located behind the lower and upper inserting ports. The inserting module is assembled from the mounting port to the inserting ports. The inserting module comprises a set of upper mating contacts each having a contacting portion extending into the upper inserting port, a set of lower mating contacts each having a contacting portion extending into the lower inserting port, a first magnetic module received in the mounting port and electrically connecting with the upper mating contacts, a second magnetic module received in the mounting port and electrically connecting with the lower mating contacts, and a conductive shielding member disposed between the first and second magnetic modules for shielding electromagnetic interference (EMI) therebetween. The conductive shielding member is a flexible member and connecting with the PCBs through pressing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connector, especially to a shielding member of the electrical connector disposed between two magnetic modules.
2. Description of Related Art
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0167869, published on Jul. 14, 2011 discloses a modular jack used for 10 Gbps Ethernet. The modular jack comprises an insulative housing defining a lower inserting port, an upper inserting port stacked thereon, and a mounting port located behind the lower and upper inserting ports. An inserting module is assembled from the mounting port to the inserting ports. The inserting module comprises a set of upper mating contacts each having a contacting portion extending into the upper inserting port, a set of lower mating contacts each having a contacting portion extending into the lower inserting port, a first magnetic module received in the mounting port and electrically connecting with the upper mating contacts, a second magnetic module received in the mounting port and electrically connecting with the lower mating contacts, and a conductive shielding member disposed between the first and second magnetic modules for shielding electromagnetic interference (EMI) therebetween. The conductive shielding member is made of a metal plate and is sandwiched between two foam inserts. The conductive shielding member has three top taps for inserting and soldering to a top printed circuit board (PCB) and six bottom taps for inserting and soldering to a lower PCB. The metal plate is stamped from metal material which is expensive and the cost of the stamping dies is also high. Moreover, mounting the taps to corresponding holes of the PCBs and soldering the taps to PCBs are also complex and time-consuming.
An electrical connector with low manufacturing cost is desired.

Electrical connector having a shielding member disposed between two magnetic modules


A microwave absorber, especially for high temperature applications, has at least one resistive sheet and at least one dielectric layer. The resistive sheet has a material of construction that is a MAX phase material.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a radiation absorber in the microwave field. It is known to coat surfaces reflecting radar radiation with different types of radar absorber. Most radar absorbers currently have a layer structure. There are those using one or more thin resistive sheets with an appropriate surface resistance. Prior art absorbers of this type are Salisbury screens, Jaumann absorbers and single foil layers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A Salisbury screen consists of a resistive sheet which is placed at a distance of a quarter of a wavelength from a metal surface. The resistive sheet has the same surface resistance as the wave impedance in vacuum and the intermediate layer is a dielectric layer with the dielectric constant near 1. A Jaumann absorber is a combination of two or more Salisbury screens. A single foil layer consists of two dielectric layers with an intermediate resistive sheet. It is well known how the various prior art radar absorbers are to be built in respect of surface resistance of resistive sheets, relative dielectric constant of dielectric layers and thickness of the layers included for the radar absorber to function according to requirements.
The surface resistance of the resistive sheet, the relative dielectric constant of the distance material and the thickness of various layers are due to the frequency range in which the structure is optimised and the degree of reflection that is desired, that is due to the demands placed on the absorber. One example of a single foil layer optimised for the X and P band is illustrated in FIG. 1a. The surface resistance of the resistive sheet is 125Ω/□. The two layers of distance material are dielectric materials with a relative dielectric constant ∈r=4 and a thickness of 3 mm. FIG. 1b shows the measured reflection in the frequency range 0-20 GHz from the radar absorber in FIG. 1a. The absorber has a reflection less than −13 dB (5%) in the frequency range 7.4-17.7 GHz.
Resistive sheets in radar absorbers that are currently used are often made of carbon fibre cloth or a plastic film with a thin lossy sheet. These materials function at room temperature and neighbouring temperatures. However, they cannot be used at significantly higher temperatures since they would then be destroyed. It is, however, very important to be able to produce a radar absorber which can be applied to hot surfaces, such as the outlet of a jet engine or a rocket engine. This has not been possible with prior art radar absorbers.

Microwave absorber, especially for high temperature applications


A current sense system includes a current transformer having a primary coil and a secondary coil, wherein the secondary coil has a first and second terminal; a burden resistor connected between the first terminal of the secondary coil and ground; a monitor circuit that measures current in the primary coil by monitoring voltage across the burden resistor; and a built-in test (BIT) circuit connected to the second terminal of the secondary coil. The BIT circuit provides a virtual ground during normal operation, and either a positive voltage or a negative voltage during test operations.

The present invention relates to built-in test (BIT), and in particular to BIT for a current sensing circuit.
Current sensing circuits typically employ a current transformer to monitor current in a system. The current in the system passes through the primary coil of the transformer, which generates a proportional current in the secondary coil of the transformer based upon the ratio of turns in each coil. This proportional current flows through a burden resistor in order to create a voltage that is measurable by a monitor circuit.
Current sensing circuits are tested to ensure proper functionality. In the past, this involved using separate circuitry to inject currents directly to the burden resistor in order to test the monitor circuit. This is not ideal in that it requires external circuitry, and does not test the current transformer itself.

Built-in test injection for current sensing circuit


The disclosed cap has an elongated body with screw threads formed on one end, and an interior cavity extended axially away from the threads toward the other end. The cavity is defined in part by a generally transverse face disposed radially in from the threads and an elongated smaller closed end bore extended axially from the transverse face. The threads and face would be sized to correspond to the threads and transverse face on a packing nut used on an exterior water faucet, and the bore would be sized with sufficient diameter and length to fit with clearance over the faucet stem. The cap would preclude unauthorized use of the faucet by replacing the faucet packing nut with it, which then would overlie the stem and preclude opening or closing actuation of the faucet.

A conventional water faucet has an outlet spigot and valving that can be actuated to open and close the faucut and allow or stop water discharge from the spigot. Most residential buildings, including detached single family and low-rise multiple family buildings, have several exterior water faucets (sometimes referred to as sillcocks) for satisfying outside water needs. However, unauthorized or irresponsibe use of these faucets can create problems.
For example, the owner or operator of a multiple unit building, such as a rental or condominium association, has to pay for the utility cost of water usage in common areas, which would include exterior faucets. An unattended faucet left open for extended durations, possibly even all day or all night, would not only increase the utility costs but could cause local flooding and damage, resulting in needed repairs. In fact, unauthorized exterior faucet usage might routinely cost as much as $5-20 per dwelling unit per month. This wasteful expenditure can create resident resentment and/or hostility and/or divisiveness in determining who individually is at fault and/or should pay.

Anti-use cap for exterior water faucet and method of using


Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, for providing information to a screen reader. A method includes the actions of receiving at a client side information for representing a web page in a browser; setting focus initially on an element of the web page and presenting the web page to a user; and in response to a user command directing the focus to an element of the web page, determining whether the element is present in a functionality map, and if so, looking up the element in the functionality map, then processing the element as indicated by a corresponding entry point in the map, and if not, providing the focus and information related to web page elements associated with the focus to a placeholder control, and providing a screen reader with access to the placeholder control.

The present invention generally relates to digital data processing and more particularly to presenting controls of web pages to screen readers in a reliable way.
Screen readers are software programs that present graphics and text as speech. For a computer user who is blind or otherwise visually impaired, and therefore cannot read information from a visual display device, e.g., a computer monitor, a screen reader is used to provide information in a non-visual form to a user about what appears on the screen, which will generally include names and descriptions of control buttons, menus, text, and punctuation. In essence, a screen reader transforms a graphical user interface (GUI) into an audio or other non-visual interface. Screen readers can also be used in other circumstances, for example, in industrial workplaces by operators whose eyes are busy with tasks other than watching a computer display.
Many computer-implemented applications display information on a computer screen using a web browser based interface. Such applications can be sites of web pages served over the Internet or client-server based systems such as an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. Business processes within enterprises are often controlled using computer-implemented systems such as ERP systems. An example of an ERP system is the integrated business solution made by SAP AG of Walldorf (Baden) Germany. Within such a system a number of business processes can be controlled, for example, human resources, finance, controlling, purchases, sales, production, and planning. Implementations of business processes usually involve workflows, i.e., sequences of generally sequential steps for completing a specific business process. Typical implementations use a web-based client-server architecture, with client-side graphical user interfaces. Vision-impaired users rely on screen readers to interact with the graphical user interfaces.

Matching user interface elements to screen reader functions


A thrust bearing assembly includes an upper thrust bearing and a lower thrust bearing for an engine assembly of a vehicle and which, are preferably, identically configured. The thrust bearings each include an arcuate bearing shell with a concave inner surface and a convex outer surface, and each includes a pair of axially spaced flanges extending radially outwardly of the bearing shells. The flanges may be formed as one piece with the bearing shell, and one flange is thicker than the other flange. The thicker flanges are load bearing and preferably contoured, whereas the thinner flanges are not. The bearings are installed with the thick flange of each bearing matched radially opposite the thin flange of the companion bearing to minimize fatigue and failure normally attributed to repeated seating and unseating of bearing assemblies having flanges of equal thickness caused by changing bending loads imparted by a shaft.

1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention relates to a thrust bearing assembly as part of an engine assembly for use in a vehicle and a method of aligning a thrust bearing in the engine assembly.
2. Description of the Related Art
Crankshafts are journaled in engine blocks by a series of axially spaced engine bearings. Each engine bearing includes an upper bearing half seated in an arcuate recess of the block and an accompanying lower bearing half clamped tightly against the upper bearing half by a supportive bearing cap bolted to the engine block. At least one of the engine bearings in the set is designed to absorb axial thrust forces imported by the crankshaft during operation. The so-called thrust bearing differs from the other engine bearing in that it has two axially spaced thrust flanges that project radially outwardly. The thrust bearing presents opposite axially outwardly directed thrust faces which are seated on their backsides against support surfaces of the block and engage associated lobes of the crank shaft, when necessary, to provide the thrust support. These thrust flanges typically have a uniform thickness and often are formed with oil grooves and contours to impart a hydrodynamic oil film action to the bearing.
During operation of the engine, loads on the crank shaft tend to force it in axially opposite directions, accounting for the aforementioned thrust loads imparted to the thrust flanges of the thrust bearing. As the thrust loads are applied in one axial direction, it will be appreciated that the forward-most set of upper and lower thrust flanges will be confronted by the crankshaft lobe and will be seated tightly against the associated support surface of the block. It will be further appreciated that when a thrust force is applied by the crankshaft in the axially opposite direction that the opposite set of thrust flanges will be tightly seated against their associated support surfaces of the block. However, this reverse force also has the effect of unseating the forward-most set of thrust flanges. While the unseated thrust flanges will be re-seated the next time the axial thrust forces imported by the crankshaft change, this constant seating and unseating has the detrimental effect of repeatedly bending and thus stressing the thrust bearing of the base of the thrust flanges, which can lead to premature failure of the thrust bearing. Additionally, the repeated seating and unseating can cause the thrust bearing to become misaligned which can also lead to unwanted stress and failure of the thrust bearings.
It is an object of the present invention to minimize or eliminate undesirable seating and unseating of thrust bearings and thus prolongs the operating life of the thrust bearings.


A power line Ethernet adaptor is suitable to be applied to an external module including a first connector. The power line Ethernet adaptor includes a housing, a cover and a circuit board. The housing has an accommodating space. The cover is movably connected to the housing to move between an on-position and an off-position. When placed at the off-position, the cover covers the accommodating space. The circuit board is disposed in the accommodating space and has a power line Ethernet module and a second connector. When at least a part of the external module is disposed in the accommodating space, the first connector and the second connector are electrically connected to each other to establish the signal connection between the external module and the power line Ethernet module, and the cover also covers the external module when placed at the off-position.

Field of Invention
The invention relates to a power line Ethernet adaptor and a power line Ethernet communication kit and, in particular, to a power line Ethernet adaptor and a power line Ethernet communication kit suitable for the application of an external module.
Related Art
With the progress of technologies and the development of information as well as the wide application of computers, smart phones, tablet computers and smart mobile devices, Ethernet has become a very important part of human daily life. Since the Ethernet can rapidly and largely receive and transmit information, people heavily rely on the Ethernet to carry out social, recreational, commercial and academic activities everyday.
In the daily life (e.g. at home or office), it may happen that many people use the Ethernet to share message or information at the same time. Actually, people in the same building may be located at the same space (e.g. room or office) or different spaces. Whichever situation is, if the users want to establish a physical wiring for the Ethernet connection, the complicated wiring will not only increase the difficulty of construction but also raise the cost and cause an unpleasing environment.
To solve the above problem, the power line communication (PLC) has been developed. In fact, the PLC uses the power lines originally existing in the building as the backbone network for the signal transmission.
In the conventional art, when the user wants to join the electronic device to the power line communication, a network line or power line (plug) is required for the connection of the electronic device and PLC. However, through the above method, the network line or power line (plug) between the electronic device and the PLC is easy to make the user stumble and cause an issue of unattractive appearance.
Therefore, it is an important subject to provide a power line Ethernet adaptor and power line Ethernet communication kit so that the electronic device can be joined to the PLC without using the above-mentioned method.

Power line ethernet adaptor and power line ethernet communication kit


A processor includes an execution unit and instruction sequencing logic that fetches instructions for execution. The instruction sequencing logic includes a branch target address cache having a branch target buffer containing a plurality of entries each associating at least a portion of a branch instruction address with a predicted branch target address. The branch target address cache accesses the branch target buffer using a branch instruction address to obtain a predicted branch target address for use as an instruction fetch address. The branch target address cache also includes a filter buffer that buffers one or more candidate branch target address predictions. The filter buffer associates a respective confidence indication indicative of predictive accuracy with each candidate branch target address prediction. The branch target address cache promotes candidate branch target address predictions from the filter buffer to the branch target buffer based upon their respective confidence indications.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to data processing and, in particular, to branch prediction. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a data processing system, processor and method of data processing having an improved branch target address cache (BTAC).
2. Description of the Related Art
A state-of-the-art microprocessor can comprise, for example, a cache for storing instructions and data, an instruction sequencing unit for fetching instructions from the cache, ordering the fetched instructions, and dispatching the fetched instructions for execution, one or more sequential instruction execution units for processing sequential instructions, and a branch processing unit (BPU) for processing branch instructions.
Branch instructions executed by the BPU can be classified as either conditional or unconditional branch instructions. Unconditional branch instructions are branch instructions that change the flow of program execution from a sequential execution path to a specified target execution path and which do not depend upon a condition supplied by the occurrence of an event. Thus, the branch specified by an unconditional branch instruction is always taken. In contrast, conditional branch instructions are branch instructions for which the indicated branch in program flow may be taken or not taken depending upon a condition within the processor, for example, the state of specified condition register bits or the value of a counter.
Conditional branch instructions can be further classified as either resolved or unresolved, based upon whether or not the condition upon which the branch depends is available when the conditional branch instruction is evaluated by the BPU. Because the condition upon which a resolved conditional branch instruction depends is known prior to execution, resolved conditional branch instructions can typically be executed and instructions within the target execution path fetched with little or no delay in the execution of sequential instructions. Unresolved conditional branches, on the other hand, can create significant performance penalties if fetching of sequential instructions is delayed until the condition upon which the branch depends becomes available and the branch is resolved.
Therefore, in order to minimize execution stalls, some processors speculatively predict the outcomes of unresolved branch instructions as taken or not taken. Utilizing the result of the prediction, the fetcher is then able to fetch instructions within the speculative execution path prior to the resolution of the branch, thereby avoiding a stall in the execution pipeline in cases in which the branch is subsequently resolved as correctly predicted. Conventionally, prediction of unresolved conditional branch instructions has been accomplished utilizing static branch prediction, which predicts resolutions of branch instructions based upon criteria determined prior to program execution, or utilizing dynamic branch prediction, which predicts resolutions of branch instructions by reference to branch history accumulated on a per-address basis within a branch history table (BHT) and/or branch target address cache (BTAC).
Modern microprocessors require several cycles to fetch instructions from the instruction cache, scan the fetched instructions for branches, and predict the outcome of unresolved conditional branch instructions. If any branch is predicted as taken, instruction fetch is redirected to the new, predicted address. This process of changing which instructions are being fetched is called a "taken branch redirect". During the several cycles required for the instruction fetch, branch scan, and taken branch redirect, instructions continue to be fetched along the not taken path; in the case of a predicted-taken branch, the instructions within the predicted-taken path are discarded, resulting in decreased performance and wasted power dissipation.
Several existing approaches are utilized to reduce or to eliminate the branch redirect penalty. One commonly used method to reduce branch redirect penalty is to fetch instructions ahead and place them into an instruction buffer; however, if the buffer is empty, for example, due to a branch misprediction, an instruction cache miss, or too many taken branches in quick succession, then part or all of the instruction pipeline may go idle, decreasing performance.
A less common method to reduce the performance loss due to taken branches is the implementation of a BTAC that caches the branch target addresses of taken branches in association with the branch instruction's fetch address. In operation, the BTAC is accessed in parallel with the instruction fetch and is searched for an entry whose instruction fetch address matches the fetch address transmitted to the instruction cache. If such a BTAC entry exists, instruction fetch is redirected to the branch target address provided in the matching BTAC entry. Because the BTAC access typically takes fewer cycles than the instruction fetch, branch scan, and taken branch redirect sequence, a correct BTAC prediction can improve performance by causing instruction fetch to begin at a new address sooner than if there were no BTAC present.

Data processing system, processor and method of data processing having improved branch target address cache

International Business Machines Corporation


The present invention provides an optical polyimide compound defined by the following formula in an optical high polymer material:

This application claims priority to an application entitled xe2x80x9cOptical Polyimide Monomer, Optical Polyimide Compound and Fabrication Method Thereofxe2x80x9d, filed in the Korean Industrial Property Office on Mar. 7, 2000 and assigned Ser. No. 2000-11259, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an optical linear polymer material, and more particularly, to an optical polyimide precursor, an optical polyimide compound, and the fabricating methods thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, optical linear high polymer materials are useful in a variety of optical devices that are the very core of the next-generation fast and large scale data communication industries. Such an optical linear high polymer material is typically utilized in fabricating optical devices for use purpose of optical wave direction, including opto-electronic integrated circuits (OEICs), optical-electrical mixed wiring boards, hydride integration devices, multi-chip-module (MCM) devices, plastic optical fibers, etc.
Of the commercially available optical linear high polymer materials, inorganic crystals such as lithium niobate (LiNbO3) are well known and frequently used. Although widely used as a useful material of various optical devices, inorganic crystals have a limitation in mass production because of difficulties in preparation and processing.
Currently, organic high polymer materials that are feasible for flexible design and processing are under consideration to solve the problem with the inorganic materials. Among the organic high polymer materials, polyimides have been conventionally used as protective buffer agents for semiconductors due to their superior thermal and mechanical properties. An approach to making use of polyimides as an optical polymer material while reducing absorption loss involves substitution of fluorine or deuterium for hydrogen in Cxe2x80x94H bonds of the polyimides. High polymer materials typically absorb light in the near infrared region ranging from 1000 nm to 1700 nm. Such an absorption loss results from harmonic overtones at high frequencies caused by stretching and deformation vibrations of Cxe2x80x94H bonds in the main chain of the polymer. In an attempt to reduce absorption loss, the hydrogen of Cxe2x80x94H bonds is substituted with fluorine or deuterium and the absorption wavelength is thereby shifted out of the near infrared region.
Deuterium-substituted polyimides are not suitable as a material for optical communication devices due to absorption occurring at 1550 nm, whereas fluorine-substituted polyimides are now exploited as a promising material for optical communication devices because they enable minimization of absorption loss at 1000 to 1700 nm. In view of providing a difference in refractive index between core and clad layers, the fabrication of an optical wave guide using the fluorine-substituted polyimide usually involves copolymerization of fluorine-containing monomers with fluorine-free monomers at an appropriate mixing ratio in forming core and clad layers.
However, the related art fluorine-substituted polyimides, i.e., the fluorinated polyimides, have a low refractive index due to the fluorines included therein and their use for the core layer results in a narrower selection range of the material for the clad layer, which must have a lower refractive index than the core layer. Use of the fluorinated polyimides for the clad layer also prevents a problem of increasing absorption loss because the number of Cxe2x80x94H bonds increases with the reduced fluorine content.
Furthermore, the related art polyimides have a flexible chain structure with less double refraction (birefringence) so that when the etching depth is large during an etching process, a crack occurs in the thin film due to a difference in the coefficient of thermal expansion between a silicon substrate and the polyimides.
Examples of polyimides of the contemporary aft are seen in the following U.S. patents. U.S. Pat. No. 4,385,165, to Ahne et al., entitled POLYIMIDE, POLYIDSOINDOLOQUINAZOLINE DIONE, POLYOXAZINE DIONE AND POLYQUINAZOLINE DIONE PRECURSOR STAGES AND THE MANUFACTURE, describes oligomeric and polymeric radiation-reactive precursor stages of polyimides.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,988,795, to Uekita et al, entitled AMPHIPHILIC POLYIMIDE PRECURSOR AND PROCESS FOR PREPARING THE SAME FROM FATTY-SUBSTITUTED POLYAMIDE-ACIDS, describes amphiphilic polyimide precursors for the preparation of Langmuir-Blodgett films.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,094,517, to Franke, entitled POLYIMIDE WAVEGUIDES AS OPTICAL SENSORS, describes waveguides made by coating polyimide on a substrate.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,171,829, to Uekita et al., entitled COPOLYMERIC AND AMPHIPHILIC POLYIMIDE PRECURSOR, PROCESS FOR PREPARING THE SAME AND THIN FILM, discloses copolymeric amphiphilic polyimide precursors.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,449,741, to Ando et al., entitled POLYIMIDE OPTICAL MATERIAL, describes polyimides with perfluorinated repeating groups.
However, the polyimides disclosed in these patents do not address the problem of achieving appropriate refractive index properties while avoiding cracking when the polyimides are used in thin film applications.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide improved optical polyimides and a fabricating method thereof.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved precursor for preparation of optical polyimides.
A yet further object of the invention is to provide an optical polyimide which has low absorption loss between 1300 and 1500 nm.
A still further object of the invention is to provide an optical polyimide which has high of heat resistance.
A still yet further object of the invention is to provide an optical polyimide suitable for use as the core and cladding layers in optical thin film devices.
Another object of the invention is to provide an optical polyimide which can readily be formulated in a wide range of refractive index values.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide an optical polyimide which has low double refraction.
Still another object of the invention is to provide an optical polyimide which does not crack due to thermal expansion coefficient differences during etching of a thin film of the polyimide.
To achieve the above objects, the present invention provides a polyimide precursor, which is a diamine compound, and a polyimide compound for use as an optical high polymer material, and fabricating methods thereof.
The polyimide precursor of the present invention is designed to prevent a crack in the thin film caused by a difference in the coefficient of thermal expansion between a silicon substrate and polyimide as the etching depth becomes larger during an etching process in preparation of the polyimide compound.
The polyimide compound of the present invention is prepared by dissolving the above polyimide precursor and a dianhydride in a solvent to synthesize a polyamic acid as an intermediate, coating the polyamic acid on a silicon substrate, and subjecting the coated silicon substrate to heat treatment.

Optical polyimide precursor, optical polyimide compound and fabricating method thereof

Abstract: wherein X is Cl, Br, oxo-halide, or fully halogenated alkyl; A is a divalent aromatic or halogenated aromatic moiety; and Z is a tetravalent moiety which may be a partly or fully fluorinated aromatic ring, a partly or fully chlorinated aromatic ring, a partly or fully fluorinated cycloaliphatic group, a partly or fully chlorinated aliphatic group, or combinations thereof connected via hetero atoms.


A piezoelectric substrate is provided with interdigital transducer electrodes including a first electrode layer, a second electrode layer, and a third electrode layer that is principally made of aluminum. The piezoelectric substrate has a stepped structure on the surface of the piezoelectric substrate, the stepped structure including terraces each having a width of about 50 nm or less and steps each having a width of a mono-molecular layer (e.g., about 14 Å).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a surface acoustic wave device such as a surface acoustic wave resonator and a surface acoustic wave filter, and a method for manufacturing the surface acoustic wave device, and more specifically, the present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a surface acoustic wave device provided with high-power durable electrodes for high-frequency operation and high-power operation.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, surface acoustic wave devices including a desired electrode pattern disposed on a piezoelectric substrate have been widely used for surface acoustic wave filters and surface acoustic wave resonators with the development of mobile phones and mobile communication systems. The electrodes of the surface acoustic wave devices are made of aluminum from the outset of development due to a low specific gravity and a low electrical resistance of aluminum. On the other hand, a surface acoustic wave device designed for high-frequency operation requires thinning electrode layers and miniaturizing an electrode pattern. The electrode layers on a piezoelectric substrate of a surface acoustic wave device are subjected to repeated stresses that depend on the frequency applied thereto during operation. Further, the stresses applied to the electrode layers constituting the surface acoustic wave device increase with an increase in operating power and frequency. These applied stresses cause migration of aluminum atoms of the thinned and miniaturized electrode layers of aluminum, resulting in the occurrence of defects in the aluminum electrode layers. There is a problem that the defects significantly impair the properties of the surface acoustic wave device.
Measures for enhancing the power durability and the reliability of the electrode layers by improving the orientation and controlling the crystallinity of the aluminum layers are known. These measures are significantly affected by the surface condition of the substrate used to construct the surface acoustic wave device. As a result, these measures have problems in which the aluminum layers have insufficient stability. Moreover, these measures also have problems in which the aluminum layers have insufficient properties suitable for further increased high-frequency operation and high-power operation.
Thus, a method for manufacturing a surface acoustic wave device that has electrodes made of single-crystal aluminum or an aluminum-based alloy disposed on a substrate made of lithium tantalate (LiTaO3) or lithium niobate (LiNbO3) is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application No. 8-195635. This conventional method includes a process for removing impaired surface layers of the substrate prior to forming the electrodes made of the single-crystal aluminum or the aluminum-based alloy, the process including an ion implantation step, a chemical etching step, and an oxidation step, the steps being performed in that order.
However, surface acoustic wave devices disclosed in the known art described above have the following problems.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application No. 8-195635 discloses that pretreatment for achieving a desired surface condition of the substrate before forming the electrode layers includes the steps of ion implantation, chemical etching, and oxidation. In the ion implantation step, the surface of the substrate is treated with an ionized inert gas or ionized nitrogen. This step requires a vacuum unit having desired functions. The substrate is subjected to the chemical etching, followed by the oxidation. This oxidation is performed with, for example, aqueous hydrogen peroxide, ozone, oxygen plasma, or oxygen radical. As a result, the oxidation step requires a unit having desired functions.
Consequently, many steps and a plurality of units for the treatment are required to achieve a desired surface acoustic wave device. Thus, the method described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application No. 8-195635 has a problem in which manufacturing cost is high. The method also has another problem in which power durability is insufficient for further increased high-frequency operation and high-power operation.

Method for manufacturing surface acoustic wave device


Systems and methods for facilitating photo completion are provided. According to one embodiment, a system is provided including a hand held device, an application running on the hand held device, and a printing system. The hand held device includes the capability to both capture and transmit digital photos. The application provides the hand held device with hyper-simplified photo capture and delivery. In one embodiment, the application defaults a number of parameters that can be configured on the hand held device, such as the target, the photo review mechanism, the presentation method. These defaults can be set (reset) directly in the application or overridden in the system post transmission processing. In one embodiment, the printing system may control the schedule of publication. For example, the printing system may print received digital photos immediately, the next morning, on a periodic basis, or after receiving eMail confirmation.

1. Field
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to purpose driven computing and lifestyle-adapted communications solutions, and in particular, to photo completion.
2. Description of the Related Art
Families are frequently located far away from one another, including their aging loved ones. Technology, including personal computers and the Internet, are natural mechanism used by younger members of the family to stay in touch. However, the older a person is, the less likely they are able or interested in owning and using a personal computer, the Internet or email.
The mismatch in the rate of technology adoption between younger and older cohorts of the population makes it increasingly difficult for families to cultivate and sustain the level of communication with their elders that is required to help the elders avoid loneliness and isolation.
Existing mechanisms for connecting non-computer users into the electronic life of their friends and families, such as MSN® TV (formerly WebTV) and EarthLink MailStation™, are plagued with problems that lead to non-acquisition, abandonment or ineffective use of the system chosen. Consequently, alternatives to complicated personal computers and pseudo computers for elders and similarly situated people are needed to provide them with means of communicating via email.
Similarly, camera phones and digital cameras are approaching ubiquity with all demographics except the elderly. Transmission, downloading and printing digital photos taken with these and other hand held devices is complicated and requires several post-photo steps and typically pre-photo configuration steps, as well. As a result, many digital photos remain in digital form on flash memory sticks and are not widely shared with friends and family.


A hand-held adhesive tape dispenser/applicator comprising a housing shell (1) including a hub (2) for mounting adhesive tape rolls, a tape discharge opening (13) and a lever mechanism (3). The lever mechanism (3) comprising pivotally mounted levers actuated by movement of the dispenser housing during the tape application and cutting process providing means for locking the tape whilst cutting, preventing roll back of tape end and an anti-locking function enabling smooth passage of tape whilst dispensing. Dispensing tape passes over a tape guide applicator (4), when a requisite length of tape is applied a user tilts the housing shell (1) engaging a cutter lever (6) with the tape actuating a tape depressor lever (5) which depresses and adheres a section of tape to the housing shell (1). As tape is severed a new tape end remains adhered until released by the next application. When inverted, the dispenser/applicator is freestanding and dispenses tape in desktop mode.

Adhesive tape dispensers are available generally in the form of desktop tape dispensers and hand-held tape dispensers and requiring the use of two hands, some of which dispensers apply tape directly to a surface. However, these dispensers have problems with preventing tape from unreeling tape cutting, prevention of tape from retracting into the dispenser after cutting, tape adhering inadvertently to the dispenser housing and contamination of the protruding tape end when not in use. Other dispensers are unable to satisfactory overcome these problems economically or require multiple components and elaborate mechanisms, friction or gravity to alleviate the problems. Suitability of such tape dispensers is premised upon minimizing the cost of manufacture whilst maintaining the functionality of the dispenser. This invention overcomes all the hand-held dispenser/applicator issues and also functions as a freestanding desk top tape dispenser.

Single hand operation adhesive tape dispenser


An apparatus for delivering an electrical microstimulator having a microstimulator body comprises a handle having a handle body. An elongate delivery rod includes a delivery sleeve and a stretching shaft, with one of the delivery sleeve and the stretching shaft configured for reciprocal movement with respect to the handle body, and the other extending longitudinally from, and stationary relative to, the handle body. The delivery sleeve selectively engages a fixation aperture of a microstimulator docking feature having a fixation base and a fixation member, concurrent with the stretching shaft engaging a proximal end of the microstimulator body. Longitudinal motion of the delivery sleeve with respect to the stretching shaft causes longitudinal motion of the fixation base to responsively move the fixation member between substantially linear and substantially coiled states. A method of delivering an electrical microstimulator to a target implant site of a patient's body is also provided.

Overactive bladder (OAB), a type of pelvic floor disorder, is a symptom complex that is characterized by urinary urgency, with or without urgency-associated urinary incontinence. OAB is often associated with urinary frequency and nocturia in the absence of infection or other obvious pathology.
Current treatment options for OAB include behavioral therapy, pharmacotherapy, and neuromodulation. Behavioral therapies include lifestyle changes, bladder training, and pelvic floor muscle training. Pharmacological agents approved for use in OAB include anticholinergics, beta3-receptor agonists and detrusor injections of neuromuscular blockers. Anticholinergics inhibit the binding of acetylcholine to the muscarinic receptors in the detrusor muscle, thereby suppressing involuntary bladder contractions. This results in an increase in bladder volume voided and a decrease in micturition frequency, sensation of urgency, and the number of urge incontinence episodes. Beta3 adrenergic agonists elicit a direct inhibition of afferent nerve firing independent of the relaxing effects on bladder smooth muscle. Detrusor injections of botulinum neurotoxin type A, a neuromuscular blocker, may be considered for adults with OAB who cannot use or do not adequately respond to anticholinergic medication.
In terms of neuromodulation, the two most commonly utilized techniques are sacral nerve stimulation (SNS) and percutaneous tibial nerve stimulation (PTNS). SNS provides continuous stimulation of the sacral nerve through surgical implantation of a permanent electrode and a permanent pulse generator while PTNS uses intermittent stimulation of the tibial nerve at the ankle with no permanently implanted lead or stimulator. SNS procedures involve making a midline sacral incision and carrying the incision down to the level of the lumbodorsal fascia, which is opened sharply from the midline. The underlying paravertebral muscles are separated or divided, and the sacral periosteum is identified. An electrical lead is ultimately inserted through the appropriate sacral foramen to lie adjacent to the sacral nerve and the lead is sutured to the periosteum to prevent lead migration. An example of PTNS involves percutaneously inserting a fine-gauge needle just above the ankle next to the tibial nerve and placing a surface electrode on the foot. The needle and electrode are connected to a low-voltage stimulator that delivers stimulation pulses to the tibial nerve. PTNS therapy is provided in an outpatient clinic setting and, in general, is performed initially for 30 minutes weekly for 12 weeks, followed by occasional treatments as needed based on patient symptoms. An advantage of SNS and PTNS is that the electrode is placed close to the target nerve providing direct stimulation of the nerve and requiring less energy consumption.
Recent studies have also been carried out regarding the efficacy of transcutaneous tibial nerve stimulation with the use of external electrodes. Electrodes are applied near to the ankle where the tibial/sural nerve is located. It is believed that the electrical stimulation can penetrate the skin delivering tibial nerve stimulation in the same way as PTNS, but without the need for a needle electrode. Transcutaneous tibial nerve stimulation is completely non-invasive, with surface electrodes connected to a battery-operated stimulator and applied to an appropriate site of the body. Such treatment generally does not require regular patient visits at clinics and usually is self-administered at home, which is convenient for the patient.

Devices, systems, and methods for delivery of electrical microstimulators


A frame trigger recreation method is provided. Said frame trigger recreation method comprises the steps of generating a periodic trigger on the basis of a receiver clock with at least one period adjustment and at least one offset based on a difference between the receiver clock and a transmitter clock.

Generally, in times of an increasing number of applications providing wireless communication capabilities, there is a growing need of a frame trigger recreation method and a frame trigger recreator because exemplarily in the context of performing over-the-air measurements, a frame trigger is obligatory in order to verify correct functioning of said applications in a highly accurate and efficient manner. Unfortunately, in many situations, said frame trigger is not provided by the application to be tested.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,130,884 B2 discloses an apparatus and a method for synchronizing a signal analyzer. The apparatus includes an Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC), a signal storage unit, a trigger signal generation unit, a signal acquisition control unit, a signal analysis unit, and a time error control unit. The ADC converts the input signal into a corresponding digital signal. The signal storage unit stores therein the digital signal received from the ADC. The trigger signal generation unit generates a trigger signal for each predetermined period. The signal acquisition control unit acquires the digital signal from a signal acquisition time point. The signal analysis unit calculates the start position of a frame from the digital signal. The time error control unit calculates a time error between the time point at which each trigger signal is generated and the start position of the digital signal, and sets a subsequent signal acquisition time point based on the calculated time errors. Disadvantageously, said apparatus and method are not only rather complex, which leads to inefficiency, but do also not allow for recreating a frame trigger being obligatory for particularly accurate measurements.
Accordingly, there is a need to provide a frame trigger recreation method and a frame trigger recreator, which provide a frame trigger being necessary for performing measurements in a highly accurate and efficient manner.

Frame trigger recreation method and frame trigger recreator


Integrated circuit, system, method and machine readable media embodiments adjust a slew rate and/or a transmit pre-emphasis of an output signal at selected phases during a bit time. A timing circuit provides a plurality of delayed data signals in response to a clock signal. A plurality of adjustable impedance circuits, including a plurality of select circuits, output a plurality of selected delayed data signals to form the output signal having an adjusted slew rate. Delay elements in the timing circuit are also biased from a current of a lock loop circuit to further adjust slew rate of the output signal. Transmit pre-emphasis of the output signal is adjusted by selecting a polarity of a selected delayed data signal in each of the plurality of adjustable impedance circuits. Each adjustable impedance circuit also includes a predriver and driver for adjusting impedance in response to a signal indicating an impedance value. In an embodiment, an integrated circuit is able to operate in multiple modes of operation depending upon the type of output signal, frequency range of the output signal, physical packaging and/or system configuration.

In high speed signaling, integrated circuits provide output signals having particular wave shapes or signal characteristics depending upon the type of output signals transmitted, frequency range of the output signals, physical packaging, and/or system configuration. For example, an integrated circuit included in one interconnect topology configuration, such as a bus architecture, may need a different output signal wave shape than the same integrated circuit in a different interconnect topology configuration, such as a point-to-point connection. Further, if the integrated circuit is coupled to a system having a bus with multiple components, an integrated circuit may need a particular output signal wave shape that is different than when the integrated circuit is coupled to a system having a bus with few components.
In some applications having relatively high inductive packaging and a low output signal frequency, slew rate circuits have been used to wave shape the output signal. In other applications having relatively higher frequency output signals that may be sensitive to capacitive loading and thus may result in inter-symbol interference, equalization circuits may be used to wave shape output signals.
Depending upon a particular type of output signal used, frequency range of the output signals, physical packaging and/or system configuration, an integrated circuit will need to provide an output signal having a wide range of signal characteristics or wave shapes.

Wave shaping output driver to adjust slew rate and/or pre-emphasis of an output signal


A method for transferring data from an actuating element to a control unit activating the actuating element. The control unit activates an inductance contained in the actuating element, for the transfer of the data in the actuating element in parallel to the inductance, a load being connected in parallel, or not.

The present invention is directed to a method for transferring data from an actuating element to a control unit and to a corresponding actuating element and a corresponding control unit according to the definition of the species in the independent patent claims. For conventional actuating elements, the properties are ascertained at the end of a production and applied, as corresponding data, on the outer side of the actuating element with the aid of a dot matrix. During a start-up, the corresponding data are then read out of the dot matrix by a technician and transferred into a control unit.

Method for transferring data from an actuating element to a control unit, corresponding actuating element and corresponding control unit


Disclosed is a content interchange bus that is configured for (i) receiving a first content creation request from a client, the first content creation request including a first content object that includes data intended for distribution, a first metadata name/value pair describing the first content object, and a second metadata name/value pair describing a first content container; (ii) creating the first content container in the cloud storage platform; (iii) storing the first content object in the cloud storage platform; (iv) receiving a first message from the client, the first message including the first content container's uniform resource identifier and/or the first content object's uniform resource identifier, the message including a topic string that includes a first routing string; and (v) routing the first message to a first subscriber based at least partially on the topic string including the first routing string.

In many business transactions it is often necessary to exchange large amounts of structured and/or unstructured data. For example, in the mortgage industry many documents must be completed and/or provided as part of the loan application process. In electronic form, the total size of these documents can be substantial (e.g., several gigabytes). Various messaging systems can provide for the exchange of documents, however, these messaging systems typically allow for limited message payloads and, thus, are typically inadequate for large content transfers (e.g., due to large documents and/or a large volume of documents). Accordingly, a need exists for an improved way of transferring large content between parties.


A method and associated apparatus for generating time slice maps and/or horizon maps, representative of a time slice or a horizon in an earth formation that is subject to a seismic operation, in response to received seismic data includes the steps of: (a) cross correlating a plurality of seismic traces from the seismic data and a corresponding plurality of quadrature traces associated, respectively, with the plurality of seismic traces to obtain a corresponding plurality of cross correlation functions "Q(.tau.)", (b) obtaining a plurality of particular values from the plurality of cross correlation functions "Q(.tau.)", at least one particular value being obtained from each cross correlation function, and (c) assigning the plurality of particular values to a respective plurality of reflection points on a map, each particular value being assigned to a different one of the reflection points, thereby constructing the time slice map and/or the horizon map. The particular value could be either a quadrature correlation coefficient (QCC), or a time lag (TL), or a sum of a normalized quadrature correlation coefficient and a normalized time lag (QCC.sub.n +TL.sub.n).

The subject matter of the present invention relates to a seismic signal processing method and apparatus which responds to a plurality of seismic signals emerging from an earth formation by generating either time slice attribute maps or horizon attribute maps which are used to determine the geologic features on the time slices or the horizons in the earth formation, a first said map including a plurality of quadrature correlation coefficient values, a second said map including a plurality of time lag values, and a third said map including a plurality of combined quadrature correlation coefficient/time lag values.
Two dimensional seismic data is acquired along lines that consist of geophone arrays onshore or hydrophone streamers offshore. The geophones or hydrophones act as sensors which receive seismic energy that is transmitted into an earth formation and is reflected back to the surface of the earth from the subsurface horizon interfaces in the earth formation. In three dimensional (3-D) seismic, the principle is the same except that the arrays of geophones and hydrophones are more closely spaced to provide more detailed subsurface coverage. As a result, extremely large volumes of digital data are received which needs to be recorded, stored, and processed before final interpretation can be made. The processing of the digital data requires computer resources which store and execute complex software for enhancing the digital data/seismic signals received and for muting any accompanying noise which masks the signals. Once the digital data/seismic signals are processed, the resultant processed signals are recorded and displayed in the form of horizontal time slice maps or horizon maps which display various geologic features situated on the time slice map or the horizon map in the earth formation. As a result, three dimensional seismic is used extensively to provide a more detailed structural and stratigraphic image of subsurface reservoirs. However, as good as the 3-D seismic surveys and interpreters have become, improvements are needed.
One such improvement is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,563,949 to Bahorich et al, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference into this specification. The Bahorich patent discloses one such software based method and apparatus which, when executed by a processor of a computer, generates time slice maps that display various geologic features in the earth formation that was subjected to the seismic survey operation. However, the method and apparatus disclosed in the Bahorich patent represents one method for generating the time slice maps. Other such methods and associated apparatus can be employed for generating those time slice maps.

Seismic signal processing method and apparatus for generating time slice or horizon maps in response to seismic traces and quadrature traces to determine geologic features