A method establishes a communication between a first electronic device associated with a first trusted authority and a second electronic device. The method includes: making a first key available to the first device for the communication between the first authority and the first device. A second trusted authority, associated with the second device and distinct and autonomous with respect to the first authority, generates a second key in order to communicate with the second device. Furthermore, the method includes: making the second key available to the second device; and providing the first and second devices with a communication key, to be used communication between the first and second devices, through at least one of the first and second authorities.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for establishing a connection between electronic devices which allows the secure transmission of digital data.
2. Description of the Related Art
A large amount of digital data is currently transmitted, e.g., through mobile radio communication networks. In particular, portable electronic communication devices such as PDAs (small handheld computers) and the latest generation cell phones allow the direct downloading of suitable software, to be used in multimedia applications, from the internet. In such a way, each user may have access, at any time, to an increasing number of digitally provided services by connecting through such portable devices to appropriate remote internet servers by using the GSM, GPRS or UMTS mobile radio communications networks. Some of the services accessible for the user refer to, for example, multimedia commerce (m-commerce), banking operations (mobile banking) or simply access to Web sites.
Since the information which is transmitted between the portable devices and the remote servers is often sensitive and confidential, it is necessary to ensure its secrecy by resorting to cryptographic procedures or methods which make it inaccessible by unauthorized parties.
As is known, in the most versatile encryption methods, the information, or messages, to be transmitted are encoded through the use of two basic elements: a collection of fixed rules which constitute the cryptographic algorithm and one or more variable encryption keys. The algorithm is formed by encryption and decryption procedures which, normally, are identical to one another or are obtained by applying the same rules in an inverse order, but which may also be different. The keys are certain numbers, generally binary, or characters and, in general, are digital information. Such keys are used in order to encrypt/decrypt a clear/encrypted text thus obtaining an encrypted/clear text. Within the encryption methods currently in use, the cryptographic algorithm is known and the security of the transmission of encrypted data lies in the secrecy of the keys.
For example, in a symmetrical type encryption method, a single private or secret key is used both for encrypting and for decrypting the message to be transmitted. That assumes that the devices wishing to communicate in an encrypted manner must first exchange such private keys. Generally, the private key, generated in a random way, is exchanged through a side channel. The advantage of the private key method lies in the computational simplicity required in order to encrypt and decrypt messages.
The asymmetric, or public key encryption methods, provide the use of two distinct keys: an encryption key for encrypting the data to be transmitted and a decryption key for decrypting them. For such methods the encryption key is public, i.e., it is known or is easily obtainable from a public directory. Vice versa, the decryption key is private, i.e., secret. For example, in order to transmit a public key encrypted message to a receiver device, a sender device must encrypt that message with the receiver's known public key. The confidentiality of the message being sent is guaranteed in that only the receiver device will be able to decrypt the message by using its own private key.
Classic public key encryption methods have led to the conception of a standard security architecture known as Public Key Infrastructure PKI, which ensures a good level of security in the communication between devices, for example over the Internet. In order to encrypt messages, the current PKI methods adopt a hybrid approach, i.e., they use the public key encryption method and the symmetrical type method, simultaneously. In particular, in the hybrid approach, a transmitting device uses the public key of a receiving device (which is known) in order to encrypt a random number, called the session key. Such a session key, sent in an encrypted way to the receiving device, represents a current secret key, used by the same transmitting device in order to symmetrically encrypt the entire message to be sent to the receiving device. In accordance with the symmetrical type encryption method, the receiving device may decrypt the message received only by using the same session key with which the message has been encrypted. In the case in question, the receiving device recognizes this correct decryption key, i.e., the session key obtained by decrypting, with its own private key, the encrypted session key obtained from the transmitting device.
Conveniently, the word "user" will also be used below to indicate the generic device which transmits and receives data in an encrypted manner.
The fundamental problem with public key encryption methods is ensuring the correct and unambiguous matching between any device or user which communicates with that method and its own public key. For this purpose, the PKI infrastructure introduces the role of the Certification Authority CA. The Certification Authority for an encrypted data transmission method is a supervisory body, exterior to every user, having means of data processing, databases and their own means of data transmission. The role of such an institute is to register the public key and the identity of each user in digital certificates, thus guaranteeing the authenticity of the keys and the registered identity in the aforementioned certificates. In particular, the Certification Authority CA guarantees the authenticity of the keys and identities, attaching to such information its own "digital signature" validatable and verifiable by whosoever draws the public key from the Authority CA itself. Furthermore, the certificates underwritten by the Authority CA are published in appropriate directories, which are made freely accessible. In this way, each user may freely have access to the public key of any other user.
It is useful to observe that within the PKI infrastructure, encrypted communication using keys is preceded by a step in which the devices which communicate must, initially, reciprocally identify and authenticate one another. Particularly, each device declares its own identity by establishing with the other a communication, based upon the reliability and impartiality of the Certification Authority CA. For example, prior to the real and proper encrypted communication, an initialization step is provided wherein each device autonomously generates its own public key and its own private key. The public keys of both devices are registered with the Certification Authority CA which transfers the corresponding authentication certificates to both devices. Such certificates are stored, together with the corresponding private key, in appropriate memories internal to such devices. During a subsequent authentication step, each device in question provides its own certificate to the other, verifies the validity of the certificate obtained, and extracts from it the public key of the other device with which it wishes to establish the encrypted communication.
For the PKI infrastructure, encrypted communication may be established only if all the users of the system recognize the authority of guarantee and supervision performed by the Certification Authority CA.
A more recent alternative to the PKI is the method which is based on identity, IBE (Identity Based Encryption). The IBE method also provides the use of a public key and a private key in order to encrypt and decrypt messages, respectively. In particular, the public key is obtained by starting from a string which indicates, in an unambiguous manner, the identity of each user which receives encrypted data using IBE (for example the users taxation code), whilst the corresponding private key is provided to each user by a central authority denominated the Trusted Authority TA. The authority TA defines and makes public their own rules, i.e., for example, the mathematical functions or parameters, with which the Authority TA itself generates the encryption and decryption keys. On the basis of such rules and through a secret master key, the Trusted Authority TA generates the private key of each user starting from the corresponding identity of the user. Subsequently, this private key is transmitted to the corresponding user so that it may be stored within an internal memory of the latter, which is normally an electronic device.
The Trusted Authority TA structurally comprises means for data processing and databases in which, if necessary, the private keys assigned and transmitted to the users communicating encryptedly, are stored.
It is worthy to observe that the Trusted Authority TA does not certify the public keys which are directly obtainable from the identities of the users. Thus, each device which communicates through the IBE method must only store its own private key with a substantial saving in memory occupation.
Furthermore, with the IBE method, the authentication step between the devices is implicit: if a device can decrypt the message sent to it, it is automatically authenticated.
In addition, with the IBE method it is simpler, with respect to PKI, to create a public key having finite time duration, i.e., associated with an issue date. In other words, after a pre-arranged date, all the messages encrypted with that key will be considered to be out of date, therefore they may no longer be decrypted other than by using a new private key corresponding to a new period of validity.
Finally, the Trusted Authority TA database should always be accessible to the Police authorities. In such a manner it is possible to know, at any time, the private key of each user of the system and, in the case of necessity, decrypt their messages.
The transmission of encrypted data using keys has become an unremitting need within various fields, such as, for example, in the case of mobile telephony.
It is important to observe that the present generation of cellular phones are proper electronic platforms comprising different subsystems such as, for example, a mobile equipment, a smart card or a removable memory device.
Ultimately, it is desirable that each of such subsystems may establish encrypted communications, both with another subsystem of the same cellular phone and with another generic device such as, for example, a remote internet server.
Currently, encrypted communication between a mobile equipment and a smart card is not available.
Indeed, such devices are produced and sold by companies which are independent of one another (for example the mobile equipment manufacturing company and the mobile telephony service operator) which have different, and in some cases conflicting, market interests.
Accordingly, each of those companies accepts only limited exchange of the information contained within their own databases with others, such as for example the identification codes of the devices produced by them. Hence, the reciprocal identification and authentication steps of devices in communication, indispensable in order to achieve correct encrypted communication, are compromised.
In addition, such companies do not accept that an outside supervisory authority, such as the PKI architecture Certification Authority CA, may administer the encrypted communication protocol or the acquisition of sensitive and confidential data such as the public or private keys.
Finally, the method for transmitting encrypted data between the communicating subsystems must be transparent to the cellular phone user, i.e., they must not oblige such users to carry out complex operations.

Method for establishing a communication between two devices


A converter unit to improve overall recovered power in a photovoltaic array configuration. Each photovoltaic panel in the photovoltaic array may be coupled to a respective converter unit, which may include a controller to sense an output voltage and output current produced by the solar panel, and manage the output voltage of a corresponding power converter to optimize and regulate the resultant bus voltage to a point which reduces overall system losses, maintains a low loss condition, and removes series-string non-idealities when the panels are series connected. The controller may also adapt to output condition constraints. Instead of single-port regulation, a combination of input voltage and output voltage management and regulation may be performed within the converter. The source voltage and current characteristic may be shaped to correspond to an optimized power curve at the desired bus voltage to allow MPPT tracking according to the DC voltage bus. The optimized power curve may be tracked to hold the DC-bus voltage at the desired operating point.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of voltage regulation, and more particularly to the constraint weighted regulation of DC/DC converters for managing a bus voltage generated in a photovoltaic array.
2. Description of the Related Art
Photovoltaic arrays (more commonly known and referred to as solar arrays) are a linked collection of solar panels, which typically consist of multiple interconnected solar cells. The modularity of solar panels facilitates the configuration of solar (panel) arrays to supply current to a wide variety of different loads. The solar cells convert solar energy into direct current electricity via the photovoltaic effect, in which electrons in the solar cells are transferred between different bands (i.e. from the valence to conduction bands) within the material of the solar cell upon exposure to radiation of sufficient energy, resulting in the buildup of a voltage between two electrodes. The power produced by a single solar panel is rarely sufficient to meet the most common power requirements (e.g. in a home or business setting), which is why the panels are linked together to form an array. Most solar arrays use an inverter to convert the DC power produced by the linked panels into alternating current that can be used to power lights, motors, and other loads.
The various designs proposed and developed for solar arrays typically fall into one of two configurations: a low-voltage configuration (when the required nominal voltage is not that high), and a high-voltage configuration (when a high nominal voltage is required). The first configuration features arrays in which the solar panels are parallel-connected. The second configuration features solar panels first connected in series to obtain the desired high DC voltage, with the individual strings of series-connected panels connected in parallel to allow the system to produce more current. Various problems have been associated with both configurations, with the most prolific array configuration being the high-voltage series-string based configuration. The series-string configuration raises the overall distribution DC-bus voltage level to reduce resistive losses. However, in doing so it increases panel mismatch losses by virtue of the series-string being limited by the weakest panel in the string. In addition, the resultant DC-bus voltage has a significant temperature and load variance that makes inversion from DC to AC more difficult. Consequently, many design efforts have been concentrated on improving the efficiency of the collection of electrical power from the array, by mitigating these non-idealities.
Various designs have been proposed and developed for DC/DC (DC-to-DC) converter systems applied to solar arrays. Most of these designs have concentrated on the implementation of Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT), which employs a high efficiency DC/DC converter that presents an optimal electrical load to a solar panel or array, and produces a voltage suitable for the powered load. Oftentimes the DC/DC converters are implemented with a switching regulator in order to provide highly efficient conversion of electrical power by converting voltage and current characteristics. Switching regulators typically employ feedback circuitry to monitor the output voltage and compare it with a reference voltage to maintain the output voltage at a desired level. While typical regulation may be satisfactory in most applications, when operating DC/DC converters with photovoltaic/solar panels, the requirements associated with such arrays present additional problems that typical regulation cannot adequately address.
Many other problems and disadvantages of the prior art will become apparent to one skilled in the art after comparing such prior art with the present invention as described herein.

Constraint weighted regulation of DC/DC converters


A method for enhancing the immune response of a mammal to a vaccine comprising administering to such a mammal an effective amount of IL-10 in conjunction with the vaccine. A pharmaceutical composition comprised of an effective amount of IL-10, a natural, synthetic or recombinant antigen and a pharmaceutcally acceptable carrier.

Active immunization is the administration of an antigen to an animal to bring about an immune response in the animal. A vaccine against a microorganism is an antigenic preparation which when inoculated into a non-immune individual will confer active immunity to the microorganism but will not cause disease. Specificity and memory, the two key elements of the adaptive immune system, are exploited in vaccination, since the adaptive immune system mounts a much stronger response on second encounter with an antigen. This secondary immune response is both faster to appear and more effective than the primary response. The principle of vaccine development is to alter a microorganism or its toxins (natural antigens) in such a way that they become innocuous without losing antigenicity. Alternatively, antigenic polypeptides of the organism in question can be produced by recombinant methods or by synthetic chemistry to produce an effective vaccine.
One problem that frequently is encountered in the course of active immunization is that the antigens used in the vaccine are not sufficiently immunogenic to raise antibody titer to sufficient levels to provide protection against subsequent challenge, or to maintain the potential for mounting these levels over extended time periods. Another problem is that the vaccine may be deficient in inducing cell-mediated immunity which is a primary immune defense against bacterial and viral infection. Still another problem is that an individual patient might be immunocompromised due to illness or age.
To obtain a stronger humoral and/or cellular response, it is common to administer a vaccine in a formulation containing an adjuvant. An adjuvant is a substance that enhances, nonspecifically, the immune response to an antigen, or which causes an individual to respond to an antigen who would otherwise without the adjuvant not respond to the antigen. An adjuvant is usually administered with an antigen, but may also be given before or after antigen administration.
However, in spite of the many advances in vaccines and vaccine preparation, very often vaccines do not give the immunogenic response desired especially in the immunocompromised and the aged. An example is the pneumococcal vaccine PNU-IMUNE 23. Pneumococcal pneumonia is currently the most common cause of bacterial pneumonia in the United States, and the rate of this disease is especially high in the elderly, young children, patients with predisposing conditions such as asplenia, chronic heart, lung and kidney disease, diabetics and patients suffering from genetic or acquired immunosuppression (Breiman et. al. Arch. Intern. Med. 150: 1401-1404 (1990)). These groups are at greater risk of pneumococcal spread to the blood and the central nervous system which is the most common cause of bacterial meningitis. This vaccine has a aggregate efficacy of approximately 75% in immunocompetent adults, but the coverage in the high-risk groups listed above has been debated, and is certainly much lower (Butler et. al. J. Am. Med. Assoc. 270: 1826 (1993). Thus, there is a need for additional aids or adjuvants which can be administered in conjunction with a vaccine to bring about an immunizing effect to the aged and immunocompromised.

Method for enhancing the antibody response to specific antigens with Interleukin-10


This invention relates to novel apparatus and methods for inserting and positioning a compressible material into a container and for using the container for detecting a specific environmental parameter or combination of parameters, or for determining the effectiveness of a sterilization procedure. Precise positioning of a plug of compressible material in a container has been discovered to provide flexibility necessary for production of indicator systems that vary in their response to sterilizing conditions to reflect the efficacy of sterilizers based on different modes of sterilization and reproduceability necessary for accurate monitoring of each mode. The invention also relates to test indicators containing controlled volumes of compressed, gas-permeable materials and to methods for using test indicators for determining the efficacy of different types of sterilization processes. The test indicator consists of a plurality of interactive enzymes in a container with at least one opening. The opening is filled with a compressed cylindrical foam insert and the test indicator is placed into the sterilization chamber. The foam insert regulates the amount of sterilant such as steam, gas, chemicals or plasma entering the test indicator. After the sterilization cycle is complete, the foam insert is removed and the remaining components of the enzyme system are combined. If the proper sterilization conditions were not met, the interactive enzyme system remains active, and a color product forms upon the addition of the remaining components of the enzyme system. If the proper sterilization conditions were met, the sterilant destroys the interactive enzymes and no color product is formed. Inactivation of the enzyme system parallels the inactivation of bacterial spores subjected to the sterilization process. Results are available in from a few seconds to a few hours. The test indicator can also be placed into a container with material such that the designs simulates an environmental parameter test of the sterilization process.

This is a provisional application Ser. No. 60/010,312 filed Jan. 22, 1996 and a provision of Ser. No. 60/025,514 filed Sep. 5, 1996.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to novel methods for inserting and positioning a compressible material into a container and for using the container for detecting a specific environmental parameter or combination of parameters, or for determining the effectiveness of a sterilization procedure. This invention also relates to novel apparatus for use in these methods.
2. Description of the Background
In health care, as well as many other industries, it is nearly always necessary to monitor the effectiveness of processes used to sterilize equipment such as medical devices, instruments and other disposable or nondisposable articles, and often waste. In these settings, sterilization is generally defined as the process of completely destroying all viable microorganisms including structures such as viruses, spores, yeasts and fungus. Standard practice in hospitals is to include a sterility indicator in a batch of articles to be sterilized. The use of sterility indicators allows a direct and sensitive approach to assay the lethality of the sterilization process.
A standard type of biological sterility indicator includes a known quantity of test microbial spores. This indicator is placed into the sterilization chamber and exposed to the sterilization process along with the objects to be sterilized. The test microorganisms, for example Bacillus stearothermophilus or B. subtilis spores, are incubated for a specified period of time under conditions which favor proliferation and examined for possible growth, such as turbidity in the growth medium or the presence or absence of certain metabolic products of any surviving microorganisms. Positive growth, indicating the presence of a viable spore, indicates that the sterilization process was insufficient to destroy all of the microorganisms. While the apparatus for containing the spores has varied continuously, the general sterility detection process has not. Many such indicators are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,239,429; 3,440,144; 4,596,773; 4,717,661; 4,732,850 and 5,167,923.
The largest use of sterility indicators occurs in research and the health care industry. Typically, such facilities have limited resources and must reuse their materials and instruments within 24 to 48 hours after sterilization and often immediately. Conventional sterility indicators normally require that the microorganisms be cultured for at least two and often up to seven days to assure adequate detection of any surviving microorganisms. During this time, items which go through the sterilization process, should not be used until the results of the spore viability test have been determined. Consequently, a holding period for sterility verification is often required. This holding period is both impractical and inefficient and, thus, the major drawback of all conventional sterility indicators.
The use of an enzyme and its subsequent activity as an indicator in detecting sterility has been described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,073,488. This technology has been greatly advanced with U.S. Pat. No. 5,486,459 which describes the use of a plurality of interactive enzymes. This technique involves subjecting a set of interactive enzymes to a sterilization cycle. Following completion of the cycle, the set is incubated with a substrate which is acted upon by the enzymes and transformed into a detectable product. Enzyme-modified product can be detected, for example, colorimetrically or fluorometrically. This method has been proven to be accurate and detection speeds are greatly accelerated as compared to spore systems. In fact, definitive results using interactive enzyme technology can be determined in less than a few minutes.
Sterility indicators are often placed in special packaging or wraps to simulate the condition of wrapped goods being processed in a sterilizer. If the articles to be sterilized are in special wrappings or packaging, the sterilant needs to effectively pass through the wrappings to destroy microorganisms on the article. To test the effectiveness of the sterilant passing through additional materials, sterility indicators are placed in challenge packs. These packs impede the sterilant as would the wrappings and thereby represent the conditions of wrapped goods in a sterilizer.
There are international standards such as the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the European Standards (EN) that deal with sterilization testing including steam sterilization. International standards dealing with biological indicators and testing procedures are found in the ISO 11138 series and EN 860 series. International standards for the air removal tests for pre-vacuum steam sterilizers comprises a chemical indicator in a test pack are found in the ISO 11140 series and EN 867 series. These packs incorporate the Bowie-Dick test and have similar performance standards as seen in AAMI (American Association of Medical Instrumentation), but use different testing procedures.
AAMI has proposed guidelines for challenge packs containing indicators that are assembled by hospital workers to simulate the conditions of wrapped goods in a steam or ethylene oxide sterilizer. Materials required for an AAMI challenge pack for a steam sterilizer include sixteen freshly laundered huck towels, autoclave tape and sterility indicators. In one method, each towel is folded length-wise into thirds and then folded width-wise in half. Towels are placed one on top of another with the folds opposite each other. Sterility indicators are placed between the eighth and ninth towels and the pack is secured with autoclave tape. The AAMI steam challenge pack is placed into a steam autoclave for the appropriate amount of time. Upon completion of a cycle, the indicators are processed to determine if the sterilization process was sufficient to inactivate the indicators buried in the pack.
In the case of ethylene oxide sterilization, AAMI recommends placing a sterility indicator into a plastic syringe so that the plunger is not touching the indicator. In this case, the needle end of the syringe is open. Two such syringes are placed in the center of a stack of folded towels and the stack is wrapped in a single towel. For routine monitoring, the syringe and indicator can be wrapped in a single towel and placed into a peel pouch.
Tests are also performed that evaluate the effectiveness of air removal in a prevacuum steam sterilizer. Prevacuum steam sterilizers are used to minimize the amount of air present in the sterilization chamber, thus enhancing the penetration of steam into porous loads. A prevacuum sterilizer air removal test is also known as the Bowie-Dick test or a prevacuum sterilizer residual air test.
AAMI guidelines for the Bowie-Dick test pack state that the standard pack is made using folded cotton surgical towels. Several towels are folded to create a stack 10 to 11 inches high with a rectangular border of 9 by 12 inches. A Bowie-Dick test sheet, which comprises a pattern of chemical indicator ink or indicator type on a porous sheet, is placed in the center of the pack. The pack is wrapped in a single cotton wrap and processed in a steam prevacuum sterilizer. The acceptance criterion is that the test sheet or tape darkens uniformly after processing. In other words, the chemical indicator ink changes color upon exposure to steam and if the entire sheet shows a uniform color change, there was no residual air to impede the steam.
AAMI guidelines state that other devices may be used in place of the AAMI challenge packs and Bowie-Dick tests if they provide equivalent results to the AAMI packs. Enclosure of sterilization indicators in various fibrous materials, analogous to textiles such as the towels used in the AAMI challenge packs, has been proposed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,200,147; 5,252,484 and 5,223,401. Packages in which a sterilization indicator is surrounded by porous material to replace some of the towels are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,692,307.
Compressible material, such as foam, has a wide variety of uses when placed inside a container. For example, compressible material in a container could be used for absorbing shock vibrations or sound, as a barrier for solids, liquid or gases, for separating components, for absorbing liquids and/or for application of liquids such as ink, paint or antiseptics. A major drawback of using compressed material in a container is the expense of compressing the material into the container. The conventional process for inserting compressed material into a container was for the material to be compressed by hand and forced manually into the container. This method is slow, often unreproducible and, consequently, expensive.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,811,242 relates to an apparatus for compressing blocks of compressible material, particularly polyurethane, to a small percentage of their original volume by compressing in the direction of the longest axis of the block, successively, and in perpendicular directions until the block is of the desired size. Restraining bands are applied to the block to prevent rebound or expansion in all directions of compression.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,400,067 relates to an apparatus for inserting a rectangular foam insert into the rectangular ink chamber of an ink jet print head. The apparatus involves two flat pistons opposing two fixed plates which form a right angle. Pressure is exerted by each of the two pistons successively against two adjacent sides of the foam rectangle to compress the foam to a cross-sectional area smaller than the area inside the ink chamber. The ink chamber is positioned over a rectangular walled tube formed by extensions of the pistons and the opposing plates, and then a ram moving orthogonally to the two pistons pushes the foam into the ink chamber. This device requires successive compression in perpendicular directions by three moveable components.
U.K. Patent number 2,084,954 relates to a method for packaging a cylindrical sponge into a tube. The sponge is placed on a support plate between two jaws having concave arcuate section. According to this method, one jaw is fixed and a second jaw moves across the plate. Sponge is first compressed by a platen parallel to the support plate which descends toward the support plate until the separation between the platen and the support plate is equal to the desired diameter of the compressed sponge. Sponge is further compressed by movement of the moveable jaw across the plate until the two jaws abut, forming a cylindrical cavity containing the compressed sponge. The tube is axially aligned with the cavity and the sponge is pushed from the cavity into the tube by a plunger. This device requires successive compression in perpendicular directions by numerous moveable components that must be kept in perfect alignment.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,602,472 relates to a device for packaging rolls of fiber insulation by compressing them in a compression chamber which employs double stage compression. A pivoting stage compresses the roll in a first direction, analogous to the platen of U.K. Patent number 2,084,954. A ram having a concave semicylindrical surface compresses the roll in a second direction to form a cylinder of the desired size. Subsequently, a discharge ram pushes the roll along the axis of the cylinder into a tubular member suitably sized to receive the roll. A paper or plastic sleeve having a closed end is placed over the tubular member, and the roll pushed through the tubular member into the sleeve, thereby pulling the sleeve off the tubular member and enclosing the roll in the sleeve material.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,208,954 relates to a device for inserting, into cavities in masonry building blocks, preformed insulating foam inserts wherein the foam inserts are slightly larger than the cavities. In the device, the foam is positioned over a channel which in turn is aligned with the cavity in the block, the channel having a throat with curved sidewalls. A tamping head pushes the foam insert through the channel where the foam is compressed by the throat to have a cross-section small enough to fit into the cavity.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,450,036 relates to a device for packing loose granular material such as potting soil around a plant and depositing the packing material and plant into container, such as a pot or bag. The device includes at least two arcuate sections that fit together to form a cylinder holding the plant and soil. A ram pushes the plant and soil together out of the cylinder and into the container. As potting soil is not compressible to any significant degree, the device is a forming apparatus, but not a compressing apparatus.
None of these apparatus and methods are satisfactory for reproducibly inserting and positioning a compressible material such as foam or sponge into a vial.

Material compression and insertion device


A device (1) for comminuting or grinding including a container (2) for receiving the material to be ground and a tool (5) which rotates in the container (2) during processing, and a drive for said tool (5). The container (2) having the tool (5) can be detachably coupled to the drive, which is to say that the container (2) having the tool (5) does not have to be cleaned after a grinding operation but can be replaced by a new such container (2). For this purpose, the tool (5) located in the container (2) can be rotated loosely when in the position of being detached or uncoupled from the drive or before a corresponding coupling operation and, when in the working position, is rotationally fixedly connected to the drive and centered by the coupling.

The invention relates to a device for comminuting or grinding material to be ground, in particular hard, brittle or embrittled particles or substances, comprising a container for receiving the material to be ground and comprising a tool which rotates in this container during the comminuting or grinding and also comprising a drive for this tool.
Devices of this type, for example mills, are known especially in the area of performing analyses and serve the purpose of comminuting specific materials to be ground for the analyzing process. In the case of the known devices of this type or mills, the receiving container is connected to a housing for the drive in such a way that, after a comminuting or grinding operation, the container and the tool located therein have to be carefully cleaned in order to be available for further grinding or comminuting operations. Especially in the case of contaminated or toxic substances, this may be very laborious and under some circumstances not completely successful, because sometimes parts of such substances get into seals for separating the content of the container from the drive, located in particular in the region of the tool, or because it is only with difficulty that such regions can be accessed for the cleaning itself. A correspondingly great loss of time occurs between two comminuting or grinding operations to be carried out successively, in particular because of this cleaning.


A string type air damper includes a cylinder formed in a tubular shape, defining a guide hole at one end portion thereof, a piston, which moves in the cylinder, a helical spring for biasing the piston toward the other end portion of the cylinder, and a string member guided from inside of the cylinder to outside thereof through the guide hole. The piston and the string member are integrally formed. Since the string member is formed integrally with the piston, unlike a method according to a related art, it becomes unnecessary to form a loop at the base end portion of the string member with a complicated work and form a hook portion at the piston and hook the base end portion of the string member at the hook portion of the piston. Therefore, the string type air damper can be very easily assembled.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to improvements in a string type air damper, for example, used for a glove box of an automobile.
2. Description of the Related Art
Although a specific example of this type air damper according to a related art is not shown in the drawing, it includes: a cylinder, both end portions of which are open; a piston moving in the cylinder; a string member, the base end of which is connected with the piston; a valve device for controlling a volume of air passing through the valve, attached to the other end side of the cylinder; a guide cap for guiding the string member, attached on one end side of the cylinder; and a helical compression spring for pushing the piston to the other end of the cylinder, interposed between the guide cap and the piston in the cylinder. For example, refer to Japanese Utility Model No. 2557064.
In the case where this string type air damper is used being attached to a glove box of an automobile, the following operation is conducted. The cylinder is fixed to an instrument panel side; a forward end of the string member, which is guided outside through the guide cap of the cylinder, is fixed to the glove box side; when the glove box is moved so that it opens, the string member is gradually drawn out from the cylinder; since the piston is moved in the same direction in the cylinder while resisting a force generated by the helical compression spring, air flows into the cylinder via the valve device, so that the damping effect can be provided and the glove box can be gradually opened.
On the contrary, when the glove box is moved so that it closes, the piston accompanied by the string member is forcibly pushed back by a force of the helical compression spring in the direction of the other end of the cylinder. Therefore, air accumulated in the cylinder is released outside through the valve device. Due to the foregoing, the piston quickly moves in the cylinder and facilitates a closing motion of the glove box.
However, in the string type air damper according to the related art, the following problems may be encountered. The string member and the piston are formed separately from each other. Concerning the string member, a loop is formed at the base end of the string member being accompanied by a complicated work. Concerning the piston, a hook is formed. The loop-shaped base end of the string member must be hooked at the hook portion of the piston. Therefore, this hooking work is complicated.


Novel strains of Pseudomonas fluorescens are disclosed. Several novel mutated strains of Pseudomonads are engineered by repetitive culturing of a parent strain under stressed conditions. Various enriched populations are screened and ranked based on relative performance indices including viable cell yield during growth, efficacy in suppression of dry rot disease, cell growth recovery after dry storage and resistance to switchgrass hydrolysate.

There is growing evidence that widespread use of chemical-based microbial control products, such as azole compounds, to control fungal diseases and other problems in plants and animals has led to chemical resistance of such plant pathogens and medically important fungi (see e.g., Azevedo et al. (2015) Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 63 (34), 7463-7468; Kano et al. (2015) Medical Mycology, 53, 174-177). While many fungicides appear not to pose a threat to humans through resistance, azole-based fungicides do appear harmful. Azole-based therapies are arguably the most important class of oral drugs humans use to fight the infections caused by, for example, fungi in the Aspergillus genus. An increase in azole-resistant infections is likely to worsen what is already a significant human health impact (see e.g., European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, ECDC Technical Report: Risk assessment on the impact of environmental usage of triazoles on the development and spread of resistance to medical triazoles in Aspergillus species. ECDC, 2013).
To combat this detrimental issue, microbial products commonly referred to as "biological control agents" (BCAs) are being developed. BCAs may be mass produced for field applications and are most economically and conveniently stored in a stable dormant dry state prior to sales and application. Pseudomonads (e.g., Pseudomonas fluorescens strains and other Pseudomonas spp.) are known to be effective BCAs of field and postharvest potato diseases (e.g., Fusarium dry rot, late blight, pink rot, among others) and have also been reported to reduce sprouting of potatoes in storage (see e.g., Schisler, D. A. & Slininger, P. J. (1994). Plant Disease, 78, 251-255; Slininger, P. J. et al. (2003). Biocontrol Science and Technology, 13(5), 477-494; Slininger, P. J. et al. (2007). Biocontrol Science and Technology, 17(5/6), 647-663; Schisler, D. A., Slininger, P. J., Miller, J. S., Woodell, L. K., Clayson, S., & Olsen, N. (2009). American Journal of Potato Research, 86, 102-111; Slininger, P. J. et al. (2010). Biocontrol Science and Technology, 20(3), 227-244; Slininger, P. J. & Schisler, D. A. (2011). Fungicides for Plant and Animal Diseases (pp. 141-166). Rijeka, Croatia: InTech). Due to processing demands, a majority of the annual potato harvest is generally stored at lower temperatures (e.g., 7° C. to 13° C.) above that needed for ideal sprout control (ASAE, 1990. Design and management of storages for bulk, fall-crop Irish potatoes. St. Joseph, Mich.: ASAE). Consequently, chemical sprout inhibitors are applied to a majority of the potato harvest to extend storage time (see e.g., Lewis, M. D., et al. (1996) Potato Grower 25(9): 8-9); Slininger, P. J. et al. (2003); Slininger et al. (2010); Slininger, P. J. & Schisler, D. A. (2011)).
Though potentially effective as BCAs, Pseudomonads are difficult to economically produce and deliver on a commercial scale because they are Gram-negative non-spore-forming bacteria with no cell wall, making them among the least resilient of microorganisms, especially under desiccated storage conditions. Numerous strains of this genus have been isolated from agricultural ecosystems, and in many cases, biological control functions have been observed and studied at the molecular level. As such, much of their potential remains untapped and could be useful for applications benefiting from BCAs. A commercial example of potential BCA use is in potato production and processing to control various crop diseases. It is well known that potatoes are one of the most important sources of human food globally. Disease reduction has been attempted using a combination of approaches including resistant varieties (e.g., discovered or developed via genetic modification or selective crossing), chemicals, crop management, and biological control agents.
Of the disease problems which impact the commercial potato industry, fungal dry rot causes greater losses in storage and transit of both seed and commercial potatoes than any other postharvest disease (see e.g., Secor and Salas (2001), Fusarium dry rot and Fusarium wilt. In Compendium of Potato Diseases (2nd Edition), W. R. Stevenson, et al. (Editors), APS Press: St. Paul Minn.). Several species of the fungal Fusaria genus are known to induce this disease. For example, Gibberella pulicaris (Fries) Sacc. (anamorph: Fusarium sambucinum Fuckel) is a major causative fungal species worldwide, especially in North America (see e.g., Boyd, A. E. W. (1972). Potato storage diseases. Reviews of Plant Pathology 51: 297-321). Fusarium spp. can survive for years in field soil, but the primary inoculum is generally borne on seed tuber surfaces. These dry rot-inducing fungi typically infect potatoes via wounds in the periderm inflicted during harvesting or subsequent handling. In stored potatoes, for instance, dry rot normally develops most rapidly in high relative humidity (e.g., 70% and higher) and at temperatures ranging from about 15° C. to 20° C. but continues to advance at other temperatures as well. Although rots caused by Fusarium spp. seldom reach epidemic proportions, the level of infected tubers in storage often reaches 60% or higher, with average losses estimated in the 10% to 20% range (see Secor and Salas (2001)). In addition to destroying tissue, Fusarium spp. can produce trichothecenes that have been implicated in mycotoxicoses of both humans and animals (see e.g., A. E. Desjardins and R. D. Plattner (1989) Trichothecene toxin production by strains of Gibberella pulicaris (Fusarium sambucinum) in liquid culture and in potato tubers. J. Agric. Food Chem. 37: 388-392).
Chemical control of causative fungi is no longer a practical or effective solution against its target diseases due to the occurrence of widespread resistance to chemical treatments normally used on food-grade potatoes (e.g., azoles such as thiabendazole, imidazoles, triazoles, tebuconazole, fluconazole). The narrow mode of action of azoles results in a relatively easy path for fungal organisms to develop resistance to multiple azole moieties even from exposure to just one type (see Azevedo et al. 2015). It is believed that over 80% of naturally-occurring Fusarium sambucinum strains, causative of potato dry rot, have developed resistance to TBZ, and available treatment options are limited, especially in postharvest potatoes destined for food use (see e.g., Desjardins, A. E., et al. (1993) Phytopathology 83: 164-170; Hanson, L. E., et al. (1996) Phytopathology 86: 378-384; Kawchuk, L. M., et al. (1994) Am. Potato J. 71: 185-192). In addition, to prevent loss of effectiveness of medically important antifungal antibiotics for human applications, there is growing pressure to move away from azole use in agriculture. To find alternatives to this currently ineffective and undesirable azole chemistry, eighteen strains of Pseudomonas antagonistic to F. sambucinum were discovered in soil and periderm samples from fields showing low incidence of dry rot (see e.g., Schisler, D. A. & Slininger, P. J. (1994). Plant Disease, 78, 251-255). Three of these bacterial strains (referred to as S11P12, P22Y05, and S22T04) were ranked to have greatest commercial promise due to their ease of efficient, high yielding cultivation in liquid culture (a U.S. industry standard) while still retaining biocontrol efficacy (see e.g., Slininger, P. J. et al. (1994). Proceedings of the Third International Workshop on Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria (pp. 29-32). Adelaide, South Australia: CSIRO). Additionally, compared to mixtures of three pure cultures, a one vessel three-strain co-culture was consistently more efficacious against fungal diseases and sprouting, a feature that makes the application of multiple bacterial strains in one treatment more economically tractable (see e.g., Slininger, P. J. et al. (2010). Biocontrol Science and Technology, 20(8), 763-786). However, there still remains a significant hurdle to the widespread commercial use of Pseudomonas strains due to the inability to effectively and economically store viable cultures for extended periods.
There thus exists an ongoing industrial need to develop genetically improved strains of Pseudomonas that are resilient to extended desiccated storage periods. There is a particular need to develop such strains that are resilient to long-term desiccated storage and can retain viability for agricultural use as biological control agents.

Desiccation resistant pseudomonad strains and treatment of agricultural maladies therewith

The United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of Agriculture


The keyed clamp circuit of this invention has the clamp circuit for clamping the video signal including the equalizing pulse and the vertical synchronization signal based on the clamp pulse, the synchronization signal separation circuit for separating the synchronization signal from the video signal clamped by the clamp circuit, and the clamp pulse generation circuit for generating the clamp pulse based on the synchronization signal from the synchronization signal separation circuit. The clamp pulse for the equaling pulse with a pulse width, which is shorter during the equalizing pulse period compared to the pulse width during the vertical synchronization signal period, is generated. The clamp pulse can be generated based on the equalizing pulse and the vertical synchronization signal, performing the keyed clamping on the video signal even during the blanking pulse period.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a keyed clamp circuit that performs clamping to a video signal, especially to a keyed clamp circuit that can accurately clamp a video signal with an equalizing pulse and a vertical synchronization signal.
2. Description of the Related Art
The edge level of a horizontal synchronization signal needs to be kept at a certain level in an analog video signal. A clamp circuit can be used as a circuit for equalizing the edge level of the horizontal synchronization signal of a video signal. A keyed clamp circuit is a type of the clamp circuit.
A sync tip clamp of the keyed clamp circuit equalizes the edge level of the horizontal synchronization signal with a reference level while clamp pulses are coming, equalizing the direct current level at the edge of the horizontal synchronization signal. The clamp pulse is generated during the horizontal synchronization signal period. When there is a difference in the direct current level between the reference level and the direct current level at the edge of the horizontal synchronization signal during the clamp pulse period, the difference is detected and a capacitor is charged by the voltage difference. The video signal is superimposed on the voltage of the capacitor. Therefore, the edge level of the horizontal synchronization signal of the video signal is equalized.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the keyed clamp circuit. An input terminal 1 in FIG. 2 receives the video signal shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B. FIG. 3A shows a composite video signal, which includes a vertical synchronization signal, the horizontal synchronization signal, an equalizing pulse, and a brilliant signal. The video signal from the input terminal 1 is then applied to a synchronization signal separation circuit 4 after being clamped by the clamp circuit 2 and a capacitor 3 for stopping direct current.
The synchronization signal separation circuit 4 slices the composite video signal shown in FIG. 3A at the level shown as a dotted line in the figure. The synchronization signal separation circuit 4 also generates a vertical blanking pulse shown in FIG. 3B. The synchronization signal sliced at the level shown as the dotted line in FIG. 3A is then applied to a clamp pulse generation circuit 5. The clamp pulse generation circuit 5 applies the synchronization signal to the clamp circuit 2.
However, the clamp pulse generation circuit 5 does not apply the synchronization signal to the clamp circuit 2 during the entire period. The clamp pulse generation circuit 5 does not apply the synchronization signal to the clamp circuit 2 during a blanking pulse period when the blanking pulse shown in FIG. 3B is generated. Therefore, the clamp circuit 2 performs clamping during the period except the blanking pulse period. The clamped composite video signal is obtained at an output terminal 6 through this operation.
The reason why the clamp circuit 2 does not perform the clamping of the video signal during the blanking pulse period will be explained. FIG. 4A shows the horizontal synchronization signal, and FIG. 4B shows the clamp pulse generated from the horizontal synchronization signal in FIG. 4A by the keyed clamp circuit shown in FIG. 2. The level of the horizontal synchronization signal shown in FIG. 4A is detected during the T1 period shown in FIG. 4B. FIG. 4C shows the equalizing pulse. The pulse width and the cycle of the equalizing pulse are a half of those of the horizontal synchronization signal. Therefore, when the level of the equalizing pulse shown in FIG. 4C is detected during the T1 period shown in FIG. 4B, the edge level of the equalizing pulse can not be detected correctly, because the level during the T2 period shown in FIG. 4C will be also detected.
Therefore, the clamp circuit 2 does not perform clamping to the video signal during the blanking pulse period when the equalizing pulse is present.
However, if the clamping of the video signal is not performed during the blanking pulse period, the average direct current level becomes lower compared to the period when there is a brilliant signal, because there is no brilliant signal during the blanking pulse period. When this sort of signal goes through the capacitor 3 for stopping a direct current, a phenomenon called V-sag, where the average direct current level of the video signal goes up, will take place. Although the keyed clamp can absorb V-sag, V-sag can not be absorbed when the clamp pulse is stopped during the blanking pulse period.
Therefore, the clamp circuit that is capable of performing keyed clamping by generating the clamp pulse according to the equalizing pulse and the vertical synchronization signal even during the blanking pulse period is preferable.


An installation tool that is used to install a bundling member, such as a metal tie or strap, around a bundle of objects. The installation tool has a tool body, a front handle and an adjustable rear handle. The front handle is positioned within the tool body and the rear handle is pivotally connected to the tool body. The front handle includes a tensioning mechanism with a ratchet mechanism that tensions the bundling member around the bundle of objects to a predetermined tension setting. The front handle also includes a lockout mechanism that overrides the predetermined tension setting of the tension mechanism to enable the bundling member to be tensioned to a desired tension setting.

As is well known to those skilled in the art, cable ties, or straps are used to bundle or secure a group of articles such as electrical wires and cables. Cable ties of conventional construction include a cable tie head and an elongated tail extending therefrom. The tail is wrapped around a bundle of articles and thereafter inserted through the passage in the head. The head of the cable tie typically supports a locking element which extends into the head passage and engages the body of the tail to secure the tail to the head.
In practice, the installer manually places the tie about the articles to be bundled, inserts the tail through the head passage and then manually tightens the tie about the bundle. At this point, a cable tie installation tool is used to tension the tie to a predetermined tension. The tools of the prior art, although capable of tensioning and thereafter severing the excess portion of the cable tie, typically have several disadvantages therewith.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an installation tool with an improved tensioning mechanism.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an installation tool with an improved resistance mechanism that overrides the preset tension to provide variation in the tension applied to the tie or strap.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an installation tool with a handle that is easy to adjust.


There is disclosed a diathermic cutter including a cylindrical main body member having a central axis, an axially elongated member including a tip end portion movable so as to change a projected state from a tip end of the main body member along the central axis of the main body member, an electrode including a base end portion on which the tip end portion of the elongated member is disposed and extending in a direction deviating from the central axis of the elongated member, and an electrically insulating member with which the electrode is coated in such a manner that at least a part of a base-end surface of the base end portion of the electrode in the vicinity of the tip end of the main body member is exposed toward the tip end of the main body member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a diathermic cutter for cutting off living tissues.
2. Description of the Related Art
A treatment for cutting off living tissues such as mucosa, for example, via an endoscope has heretofore been carried out. A high-frequency treatment instrument disclosed, for example, in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 4-329944 is used in this cut-off treatment.
The high-frequency treatment instrument disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 4-329944 includes a needle-shaped cutter section (electrode section) extending in an axial direction. When a high-frequency current is supplied to this cutter section, the living tissue contacting the cutter section is cauterized/incised.


The present invention provides a system and method for providing terrorism intelligence indications and warning consisting of multiple tasks that create warning products on a Website and in which the associated computer program maintains a Webpage that tracks and displays each analyst's pending tasks based on their assigned responsibilities in the system.

1. Field of the Invention (Technical Field)
The present invention relates to the field of intelligence warning and provides a system and method for providing intelligence indications and warning of terrorism. The present invention is applicable to any intelligence topic.
2. Description of Related Art
Note that the following discussion may refer to a number of publications by author(s) and year of publication, and that due to recent publication dates certain publications are not to be considered as prior art vis-à-vis the present invention. Discussion of such publications herein is given for more complete background and is not to be construed as an admission that such publications are prior art for patentability determination purposes.
The focus to improve intelligence warning normally turns to intelligence collection, rather than analysis. Although improvements in collection are needed, these improvements do not address the predominant problems in intelligence warning. Warning failures are rarely due to inadequate intelligence collection, are more frequently due to weak analysis, and are most often due to decision makers ignoring intelligence. Ronald D. Garst, "Fundamentals of Intelligence Analysis," in Intelligence Analysis ANA 630, no. 1, ed. Joint Military Intelligence College (Washington, D.C.:Joint Military Intelligence College, 2000): 7 (cited hereafter as Garst). Decision makers, however, ignore intelligence largely because analytic product is weak. Hans Heymann Jr., "The Intelligence—Policy Relationship," in Intelligence Analysis ANA 630, no. 1 ed. Joint Military Intelligence College (Washington, D.C.: Joint Military Intelligence College, 2000): 55 (cited hereafter as Heymann). Thus, the problem points mainly to analysis.
Yet, the trend to focus on collection continues after Sep. 11, 2001, with the Intelligence Community's consensus that terrorism warning improvement can best be achieved by improving collection, rather than analysis.
Empirical research, however, shows that more information does not improve the accuracy of analysts' assessments; it merely improves analysts' certainty in their assessments. Garst, 23; Kam, 55. Additional research even finds, "an intensified collection effort does not necessarily lead to better analysis and more accurate estimates; when the additional information contains a large portion of noise, the risks of another intelligence failure leading to surprise may even increase." Kam, 55. Furthermore, "it is sometimes assumed that counterterrorism analysis suffers from a dearth of intelligence. Actually the opposite is the problem—there is too much intelligence . . . . As with all intelligence analysts, value-added analysis requires an ability to separate out . . . the signals from the noise." Mark V. Kauppi, "Counterterrorism Analysis," Defense Intelligence Journal 11, no. 1, (Winter 2002): 39-53. The evidence suggests there is more value in the available information than current analytical technique reveals.
Hiring smart people does not necessarily lead to good analysis. Many argue that "the best way to ensure high-quality analysis is to bring high quality analysts into the process." "Making Intelligence Smarter: The Future of U.S. Intelligence," Report of an Independent Task Force 1996, www.copi.com/articles/intelrpt/cfr.html (23 Jul. 1999). Their reasoning is that many intelligent minds working together are bound to produce a good assessment. They're wrong, according to researchers. J. Edward Russo and Paul J. H. Schoemaker, Decision Traps: The Ten Barriers to Brilliant Decision-Making and How to Overcome Them (New York: Rockefeller Center, 1989), 145 (cited hereafter as Russo). Studies show that, "frequently groups of smart, well-motivated people . . . agree . . . on the wrong solution . . . . They didn't fail because they were stupid. They failed because they followed a poor process in arriving at their decisions." Russo, 146.
A systematic process is the most effective way to facilitate good analysis. There is a long-standing debate within the Intelligence Community over whether structured techniques work on complex problems, such as terrorism analysis. Robert D. Folker, Jr., Intelligence Analysis in Theater Joint Intelligence Centers: An Experiment in Applying Structured Methods, Occasional Paper, no. 7 (Washington, D.C.: Joint Military Intelligence College, 2000), 7 (cited hereafter as Folker). The non-structured approach has become the norm in the Intelligence Community. Folker, 1. Many analysts argue that structured techniques cannot account for the infinite number of variables involved in complex problems and that intuition can do better. However, research shows that intuitive judgments "seldom take proper account of all the information available." Russo, 120. People selectively remember information based on the vividness and time since their exposure to it. "People have difficulty keeping more than seven or so 'chunks' of information in mind at once." Russo, 14. Psychological studies show that people tend to ignore evidence that does not support their biases and interpret ambiguous information as confirming their biases. When the mind is overwhelmed with information, that tendency is magnified as part of a simplification technique to reduce the information down to a manageable size. Kam, 102, 106. Furthermore, "intuitive judgments suffer from serious random inconsistencies due to fatigue, boredom, and all the factors that make us human." Russo, 135. Many people argue that they can avoid these pitfalls by simply being aware of them, but empirical research shows that "tactics can improve your success beyond what you can achieve simply by being aware of the dangers." Russo, 115.
Many analysts think structured methods take too long. Folker, 7. If, however, an analyst makes data entry to the structured framework part of his daily routine, and even automates certain parts of the process for which he has made predetermined (intuitive) choices, then methodology can in fact save time rather than consume it.
Intuition cannot be eliminated from intelligence analysis because a great deal of intelligence information is qualitative—"information that can be captured that is not numerical in nature." William M. K. Trochim, "Qualitative Data," Cornell University: Research Methods Knowledge Base 2002, http://trochim.human.cornell.edu/kb/qualdata.htm (31 May 2002). Because non-numerical information cannot be counted, an analyst must assess its value subjectively using intuition.
A key misunderstanding in the debate over intuition versus structured technique is that an analyst must choose either intuition or structured technique. Folker, 1. In fact, both intuition and structured technique can be used together in a systematic process. "Anything that is qualitative can be assigned meaningful numerical values. These values can then be manipulated to help us achieve greater insight into the meaning of the data and to help us examine specific hypotheses." William M. K. Trochim, "The Qualitative Debate," Cornell University: Research Methods Knowledge Base 2002, trochim.human.cornell.edu/kb/qualdeb.htm (31 May 2002). It is not only possible to combine intuition and structure in a system; research shows the combination is more effective than intuition alone. "Considerable research suggests that you will maximize your chances of making the best choice if you find a systematic way to evaluate all the evidence favorable or unfavorable to each possible choice, compare the strength of evidence on each side rigorously, then pick the choice that your system indicates the evidence favors." Russo, 130. Thus, intelligence analysis must not only apply the art of intuition, but also the science of structured technique.
Finally, regardless of an analyst's individual opinion, decision makers have called on the Intelligence Community to use methodology.                The Rumsfeld Commission noted that " . . . an expansion of the methodology used by the IC [Intelligence Community] is needed." . . . [Methodology] helps overcome mindset, keeps analysts who are immersed in a mountain of new information from raising the bar on what they would consider an alarming threat situation, and allows their minds to expand to other possibilities. Keeping chronologies, maintaining databases and arraying data are not fun or glamorous. These techniques are the heavy lifting of analysis, but this is what analysts are supposed to do. If decision makers only needed talking heads, those are readily available elsewhere. Donald Rumsfeld, press conference, quoted in Mary O. McCarthy, "The Mission to Warn: Disaster Looms," Defense Intelligence Journal 7 no. 2 (Fall 1998): 21.
Because intuition cannot be eliminated from intelligence analysis, analysts must find a way to limit their vulnerability to the pitfalls of intuition. What would be useful is a methodology that combines intuitive judgments with structured techniques in a way that guards against the pitfalls of intuition and the pitfalls of intelligence warning.
The best known prior art that is related to this invention is an Intelligence Community member organization's method of determining terrorism warning levels for given countries. In the method, analysts give an intuitive rating to four factors on a four-level warning scale and then combine them in an intuitive judgment of an overall country terrorism warning level (on the U.S. four-level scale; the four factors are not identified here for security reasons.

System and method for providing terrorism intelligence indications and warnings


An input apparatus including a sensor section that confirms whether a pressing or touching operation is performed on a panel's front surface with a detected data value that varies depending on which operation is performed, a position determination process section that generates a control signal corresponding to the detected data value, and a control section that generates a signal waveform of a drive voltage supplied to a drive section to deform the panel with the control signal. When an operator performs a pressing or touching operation, the panel is deformed corresponding to a signal waveform having a first amplitude. If the pressing operation is confirmed, the panel is deformed with a signal waveform having a second amplitude larger than the first amplitude. Thus, an operator feels a stroke sense from the weak vibration after the touching operation and a click sense from the strong vibration after the pressing operation.

Input apparatuses that use a touch panel have been widespread for automatic teller machines in banks, automated ticket vendors for train tickets, commuting passes, and so forth, so-called convenience store terminals used in convenience stores for ticket sales and other services, information process apparatuses such as PDAs (Personal Digital Assistances), and so forth. The touch panel type input apparatus accomplishes a GUI (Graphical Operator Interface) for users of these apparatuses by correlating buttons and icons displayed on a display device such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) with a coordinate system and detecting the position that a finger or a pointing device such as a pen touches on the panel.
With many of these touch panel type input apparatuses unlike normal input apparatuses that use real switch buttons, the operator cannot really feel a click sense. Thus, recent touch panel type input apparatuses generate operation sound such as beep sound and/or change the shape of a display button corresponding to an operator's input operation to acoustically and/or visually inform him or her that the input operation has been performed.
However, when the operator uses such an input apparatus, it may slowly respond to the input operation or may not operate. If the operator mistakes an input operation, he or she becomes anxious about the operability of the input apparatus. Thus, it cannot be said that the conventional touch panel type input apparatuses are easy to operate.
To solve such a problem, a mechanism of which for example a piezoelectric device is disposed immediately above a panel has been proposed. In this mechanism, when the operator performs an input operation, the piezoelectric device causes the panel to deform corresponding to the input operation to feed back a force sense to him or her. Thus, when the operator operates the input apparatus, he or she feels a click sense as if he or she pressed a switch button.
In a conventional apparatus, a resistive film type touch panel is used. In the resistive film type touch panel, a plurality of flexible electrode sheets are layered with a predetermined space so that their electrode surfaces are opposite to each other. In this apparatus, a bobbin coil is fitted to a housing on which the touch panel is secured. This apparatus is disclosed in for example Japanese Patent Application Unexamined Publication No. 2002-259059, paragraphs [0037] to [0040], FIG. 3, FIG. 6, and FIG. 7. In this input apparatus, when the operator presses the touch panel, the electrode sheets contact each other and electricity flows. As a result, the bobbin coil operates and pushes the touch panel back to the operator. Thus, the operator can feel a click sense.
In another proposed input apparatus, a touch panel is supported by a piezoelectric device. An operation force is detected with a voltage that occurs in the piezoelectric device corresponding to a pressing pressure on the touch panel. (This input apparatus is disclosed in for example Japanese Patent Application Unexamined Publication No. HEI 11-212725, paragraphs [0132] to [0143], FIG. 15, FIG. 16). Thus, when the operator presses the touch panel, it does not have a press stroke. However, the operator can feel a click sense.
However, in the conventional touch panel type input apparatuses, when the operator operates the panel, he or she cannot feel a stroke sense. In addition, since the touch panel type input apparatuses generate a click sound, press the panel back to the operator, or vibrate it with a small delay after he or she operates the panel, these input apparatuses cannot clear operator's anxiety about the touch panel. Thus, the touch panel type input apparatuses have not satisfied virtual switches.
Since the operator knows a touch sense of real switches, when he or she presses the panel of such a touch panel type input apparatus, he or she cannot feel a stroke sense. If the operator feels a strong sense on the touch panel after he or she have pressed the panel, he or she may become uncomfortable.
In other words, the touch panel type input apparatuses need to not only give feedback to the operator, but also cause the operator to virtually feel a stroke sense as if he or she pressed a switch button.
The conventional touch panel type input apparatuses deforms the panel and feed back a force sense to the operator regardless of the strength with which the operator presses the panel. In the input apparatuses, the panel is pressed in various manners that depend on the operators. In particular, an operator who is not accustomed to the apparatus tends to strongly press the panel. This is because the feedback from the panel is the same regardless of the manners that the operator presses the panel. The operator does not know a response of the apparatus corresponding to the pressure with which he or she presses the panel. As a result, the operator will have a bad impression about the operability of the touch panel.
When the operator presses the panel, if he or she has feedback, he or she may feel safe against the operation. However, if the operator strongly presses the panel, his or her finger is fatigued. When the operator becomes accustomed to the input operation, he or she can lightly press the panel. However, if the feedback from the panel is constant, it is difficult for the operator to learn to optimally press the panel. In particular, if the operator is not accustomed to the operation of the panel, he or she tends to mistake the operation.
The present invention is made from the foregoing point of view. An object of the present invention is to provide an input apparatus and a control method thereof that allow the operator to virtually feel a stroke when he or she operates the panel.
In addition, an object of the present invention is to provide an information process apparatus and a remote control apparatus that use such an input apparatus.
In addition, an object of the present invention is to provide an input apparatus and a control method thereof that allow the panel to deform corresponding to manners in which the operator operates the panel so as to feed back a force sense to the operator.
In addition, the present invention is to provide an information process apparatus and a remote control apparatus that use such an input apparatus.

Input device, information processing device, remote control device, and input device control method


The disclosure provides an adapter assembly of a generator and an axle-end generator assembly. An adapter assembly includes a first part configured to mount to a wagon bogie and a second part connecting to the first part. The first part and the second part are configured to form a base for mounting a stator of a generator together.

Railway freight wagons used to have no electric power supplier, because in the past few electrical applications were implemented on railway freight wagons. However, with the development of the railway freight wagons, more sensors and mechatronics parts are implemented on the freight wagons, and the electric power solution becomes a critical demand.
A disc type permanent magnet generator has been proposed as the electric power supplier for railway freight wagons. The disc type generator is an easy-mounting, reliable and economical power supply solution for railway applications. The disc type generator can be mounted onto a wagon bogie via fitting to an axle box, which is robust in the operation condition.
The disc type generator has a rotor and a stator. The rotor is mounted to an axle end, and thus the generator can also be called as an axle-end generator. The stator of the axle-end generator needs to be mounted to a stable and strong position, and in addition, the mounting position should have precisely controlled manufacturing tolerance and assembly tolerance.
The axle box is a good position to mount the stator. FIG. 1A schematically shows a front face of the generator mounting position, while FIG. 1B schematically shows the mounting structure from a side in which the axle box is partly peeled to expose the rotor mounting position.
As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the mounting structure for the axle-end generator includes an axle box 1 which can be mounted to the wagon bogie, and an axle 2 which is rotatable relative to the axle box 1. An end of the axle 2 is surrounded by the axle box 1.
A rotor 4 of the generator is mounted to the end surface of the axle 2 by screws (not shown) via screw holes 21 formed in the end of the axle 2. A stator 5 is mounted to an end surface of the axle box 1 by screws (not shown) via screw holes 11 formed at four corners of the end of the axle box 1. There is a gap between the rotor 4 and the stator 5.
The axle box 1 supports the bogie payload, from both up and down sides. This mounting structure provides a stable operation condition for the generator.
However, most wagon bogies have no axle box structure, instead, they use (conventional) adapter. The adapter supports the bogie payload. FIG. 2A schematically shows a front face of a supposed generator mounting position, while FIG. 2B schematically shows the supposed mounting structure from a side in which the adapter is partly peeled to expose the rotor mounting position.
As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the supposed mounting structure for the axle-end generator includes an adapter 6 which can be mounted to the wagon bogie, and an axle 2 which is rotatable relative to the adapter 6. An end of the axle 2 is partly surrounded by the adapter 6.
A rotor 4 of the generator is mounted to the end surface of the axle 2 by screws (not shown) via screw holes 21 formed in the end of the axle 2. A stator 5 is mounted to an end surface of the adapter 6 by two screws (not shown) via two screw holes 61 formed in the end of the adapter 6.
Such a conventional adapter gives a big challenge to the railway axle-end generator operation, because the stator 5 is only supported from one side (upper side in FIGS. 2A and 2B). The asymmetric mounting structure results in inevitable vibration and drifting of the stator 5, and thus the railway generator may be easily damaged. Therefore, it seems difficult to implement the railway axle-end generator onto the wagon bogie using the conventional adapter.

Adapter assembly of generator and axle-end generator assembly


A rotary drive device includes a motor including a rotary shaft, a planetary gear mechanism, and a rotation position detector. The planetary gear mechanism decelerates a rotation output of the motor at a reference reduction ratio and includes an outer gear, multistage gears, and an output shaft. The outer gear is fixed to a housing of the motor. The multistage gears are provided inside the outer gear. The output shaft transmits the decelerated rotation output of the motor to an outside of the rotary drive device. The rotation position detector detects a rotation position of the output shaft to control rotation of the motor. The motor, the planetary gear mechanism, and the rotation position detector are combined into a single integrated unit and aligned in an axial direction of the rotary shaft of the motor.

1. Field of the Invention
Example embodiments generally relate to a rotary drive device and an image forming apparatus including the rotary drive device, for example, for providing an increased reduction ratio with a compact structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
A related-art image forming apparatus including a copier, a facsimile machine, a printer, or a multifunction printer having at least one of copying, printing, scanning, and facsimile functions, typically forms a toner image on a recording medium (e.g., a recording sheet) based on image data using an electrophotographic method.
For example, a charging device charges a surface of a photoconductor. An optical writer emits a light beam onto the charged surface of the photoconductor to form an electrostatic latent image on the photoconductor according to the image data. A development device develops the electrostatic latent image with a developer (e.g., toner) to form a toner image on the photoconductor. A primary transfer roller transfers the toner image formed on the photoconductor onto an intermediate transfer belt. After a secondary transfer roller transfers the toner image carried by the intermediate transfer belt onto the recording sheet, the toner image is fixed on the recording sheet by heat and pressure applied by a fixing device. Thus, the toner image is formed on the recording sheet.
When such image forming apparatus forms a color image, the image forming apparatus may include a plurality of photoconductors arranged along the intermediate transfer belt and a plurality of primary transfer rollers opposing the plurality of photoconductors across the intermediate transfer belt. For example, the plurality of photoconductors forms cyan, magenta, yellow, and black toner images, respectively, and the plurality of primary transfer rollers transfers the cyan, magenta, yellow, and black toner images from the photoconductors onto the intermediate transfer belt so that the cyan, magenta, yellow, and black toner images are superimposed on the intermediate transfer belt.
The image forming apparatus may further include a contact-separation mechanism designed to make the photoconductors and the primary transfer rollers contact and separate from the intermediate transfer belt. For example, when the image forming apparatus forms a monochrome image, the contact-separation mechanism separates the photoconductors for forming the cyan, magenta, and yellow toner images, respectively, and the primary transfer rollers opposing the photoconductors for forming the cyan, magenta, and yellow toner images from the intermediate transfer belt. The secondary transfer roller is separated from the intermediate transfer belt when no pressure is applied to the intermediate transfer belt before and after image formation. As a result, the photoconductors, the primary transfer rollers, and the secondary transfer roller may be protected from damage, thereby increasing the working life of the image forming apparatus while improving image quality.
Such contact-separation mechanism is activated by a rotary drive device using a planetary gear mechanism including multistage gears. The planetary gear mechanism includes a gear unit including a sun gear, a plurality of planetary gears, a planetary carrier, and an output shaft. The sun gear is fixed to the planetary carrier. The plurality of planetary gears is provided around the sun gear and engages the sun gear. Thus, when the sun gear rotates, the planetary gears rotate around the sun gear at a desired speed reduction ratio. The reduced rotation output is transmitted to the output shaft and transformed into movement of the contact-separation mechanism.
However, when a radial load is directly applied to the planetary gear mechanism over a long period of time, backlash (e.g., play) between the respective gears may fluctuate in a normal line direction. Such fluctuation of the backlash in the normal line direction may increase rotational resistance between the respective gears. When the backlash becomes too great, the gears may be excessively worn and damaged.
Therefore, there is a need for a technology to provide a rotary drive device including a planetary gear mechanism in which a plurality of gears can properly engage each other in order to obtain a large reduction ratio.

Rotary drive device and image forming apparatus


The present invention is to provide a digital radio receiver using a carrier offset compensating circuit capable of compensating for carrier offsets even in a TDD communication system, and extending the range that can cope with offset frequencies to secure stable operation. The digital radio receiver is such that an initial phase correction part determines a phase shift from a known signal and corrects the phase shift, a multiplication part performs multiplication of a tap coefficient of the immediately preceding symbol from a first equalizer, and an equalizer performs waveform equalization while updating the coefficient based on an area-determination result.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a digital radio receiver used for digital radio communication, and in particular to a digital radio receiver that can extend the range of carrier offset compensation, to improve demodulation characteristics.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a modem utilizing a multi-value modulation system typified by a 16 QAM modulation system, both of transmitter and receiver (modulator and demodulator) perform modulation and demodulation using carrier signals from local oscillators that are basically on the same local frequency. In this case, a frequency error is caused due to a difference in oscillating frequency accuracy between the transmitter and receiver, a temperature change, a change with time, and so on. The frequency error manifests itself as a frequency offset (carrier offset) of a signal received.
The frequency offset (carrier offset) has become a major problem to be solved not only in the field of next-generation subscriber radio access (FWA: Fixed Wireless Access) systems, but also in keeping with the trend toward higher frequencies, that is, the trend in making frequency (RF: Radio Frequency) of radio communication higher.
The frequency offset manifests itself as a phase rotation with a fixed speed of the received signal after detected. To obtain a correct demodulated signal, the frequency offset needs compensating.
In the case of digital radio communication, there is one typical technique for frequency offset compensation. In this technique, a signal (UW: unique word) known to both the transmitter and the receiver, which may be used for synchronous acquisition or equalizer training, is transmitted by adding the same to transmitted data. On the receiver side, a phase error is detected from the unique word and the received signal, equalized through a PLL circuit or the like, and inputted as a voltage value to a voltage control oscillator as a local oscillator. Thus the local oscillation frequency on the receiver side is controlled to compensate for the frequency offset.
Another conventional technique for frequency offset compensation is a frequency offset compensating circuit using an equalizer.
When a carrier offset is corrected through a carrier offset compensating circuit using an equalizer, a frequency-to-error (BER) characteristic is plotted as shown in FIG. 19. FIG. 19 is a graph showing simulation results of the frequency-to-error (BER) characteristic in the conventional carrier offset compensating circuit.
One of conventional techniques for frequency offset compensation is disclosed in Japanese unexamined patent publication No. 10-98500 laid open on Apr. 14, 1998 and entitled "Automatic Frequency Control Method and Circuit" (Applicant: Kokusai Electric Co. Ltd., Inventor: Hiroki Goto).
In this conventional technique, a delay detector obtains phase differences among a plurality of symbols of a received signal containing a symbol known as a UW and variable data symbols. Based on the output of the delay detector, a discriminator obtains a residual phase-rotation component remaining after a modulation component of each variable data symbol is removed. Then, a phase shifter obtains a frequency offset estimated value, an LPF can do averaging the obtained frequency offset estimated value, and a complex multiplier compensates for the frequency error. The automatic frequency control method and circuit constituted such above can extend the frequency offset compensation range of an AFC used for base band signal processing in a reception/modulation circuit of a multi-value modulation system without deteriorating transmission efficiency.
However, when the conventional carrier offset compensating circuit is used in a TDD communication system, since the local oscillator cannot be controlled in a transmission section, some measures need to be taken such as to keep a control value obtained at the time of completion of reception. In any case, a frequency offset within a range corresponding to that of stability of the local oscillator is unavoidable, which causes a received signal to rotate in a reception section, and hence results in such a problem that the received signal cannot be demodulated properly.
In addition, the carrier offset compensating circuit with the equalizer incorporated therein shows a frequency-to-BER characteristic as shown in FIG. 19, which results in another problem that the carrier offset compensating circuit is limited in its range that can cope with offset frequencies.


A fence post, comprising a vertically elongated anchoring member having a front face, and a vertically elongated fence holding foot projecting outwardly from the front face of the anchoring member. The fence holding foot is substantially T-shaped in a horizontal plane and comprises two lateral arms and a substantially perpendicular base. The two lateral arms are spaced apart from the front face of the anchoring member by the base. The opposite ends of the two lateral arms include flanges opening towards the front face of the anchoring member. The lateral arms also include a plurality of slots extending horizontally through the flanges at spaced locations along their vertical length. The anchoring member preferably has a shape of an isosceles trapezium in a horizontal plane. The fence post is preferably formed from a single piece of metal.

Various types of metal fence posts have already been proposed.
Some of them take a similar form to a railway rail of extruded aluminium, made with a virtually circular head having a web terminating in a foot, the flanges of which are cut away. This type of post is relatively expensive, of low strength and does not permit easy installation, in particular of latticework fence panels.
Others consist of a hollow bar with a triangular cross-section, one of the sides of which is split over its entire length, parallel to the edges of the prism, and the flanges of which are grooved. Although this latter solution permits the use of latticework fence panels, it does not enable them to be fastened reliably and with varying orientations and, furthermore, does not make it possible to use substructures, for example prefabricated sheet piles.
The object of the invention is to provide an improved metal fence post which does not have the disadvantages, mentioned in brief, of those mentioned above, and which is extremely simple to manufacture and use.


A suspension recline system for a stowable seat may comprise a suspension member comprising a first end configured to be coupled to a seat back of the stowable seat, and a second end configured to be coupled to a legrest for the stowable seat, wherein the suspension recline system is moveable between a stowed position and a deployed position. The stowable seat may recline in response to the suspension recline system being moved to the deployed position. An end of the suspension member may be configured to be inserted into a slot disposed in the legrest, in the deployed position.

Aircraft cabin seats are used for flight attendant safety and comfort during taxi, takeoff, landing, and inflight rest periods. Useable volumetric space on an aircraft may be too limited for large, bulky seats. Additionally, seats should not hinder ingress and egress for passengers in the event of an emergency. Aircraft cabin seats may be used for long periods of time and longer duration flights. An uncomfortable cabin seat may cause pain and/or discomfort for the crew on an aircraft.


According to the present invention, there is provided a thermoplastic elastomer laminate which comprises. a layer comprising a thermoplastic elastomer (A) composed of a crystalline polyolefin and a rubber, and PA1 a layer comprising an ultra-high molecular weight polyolefin (B) or an ultra-high molecular weight polyolefin composition. PA1 In addition, a glass run channel composed of the thermoplastic elastomer laminate is also provided in the invention.

Various laminates have heretofore been used for preparing interior automotive trims, sealing materials or the like. For Example, glass run channel is known as one of important sealing materials used in automobile. This glass run channel is a guide member provided between a window glass and a window frame in order to make an intimate (liquid tight) sealing operation between the window glass and the window frame possible while facilitating the ascent-decent and open-shut operations of the window glass.
Materials used conventionally for preparing glass run channels include (1) a composite material comprising vulcanized rubber consisting essentially of an ethylene/propylene/diene copolymer rubber excellent in weathering resistance and heat resistance, an adhesive and nylon fiber, (2) a composite material comprising the above-mentioned vulcanized rubber and an adhesive, and (3) a non-rigid PVC for use in contour extrusion.
The conventional glass run channels composed of such composite materials as mentioned above comprise a main body having a groove-like cross-section and tongue-like draining portions, each extending from the tip of the side wall of groove toward the central side of the groove.
In the conventional glass run channels, a nylon film or the like is laminated with an adhesive to the surface of the window glass sliding portion of each draining portion in order that the window glass may part favorably from said sliding portion and also may be prevented from staining, or the surface of each sliding portions of the draining portions is subjected, before or after the above-mentioned lamination of the nylon film or the like, to embossment treatment in order to lessen the contact area of said sliding portions with the window glass.
In a process of preparing such glass run channels as mentioned above, however, there are involved such inconveniences as large number of steps and time-consuming jobs, wherein because of no adhesive properties existing between the above-mentioned non-rigid synthetic resin or vulcanized rubber and such surface material as nylon, it becomes necessary to take the steps of coating the surface of the window glass sliding portions of the main body of glass run channel molded from the above-mentioned non-rigid synthetic resin or vulcanized rubber with an adhesive, and laminating a nylon film or the like to the surface of said window glass sliding portions, and further to carry out the embossment treatment of the surface of said sliding portion before or after the above-mentioned lamination of the nylon film or the like.
On one hand, when the conventional glass run channels are prepared by contour extrusion molding the above-mentioned composite material (3), i.e. a non-rigid polyvinyl chloride, the production process employed therefor is simplified. However, this composite material is poor in heat resistance and dimensional stability, and is inferior in practical performance to the above-mentioned composite materials (1) and (2).
When the conventional glass run channels molded from the above-mentioned composite materials (1) or (2), there is a durability problem of the channels because the nylon film or the like is laminated by means of an adhesive to the window glass sliding portions of the draining portions, and there is also such a drawback that the thus laminated nylon film is liable to peel off from said window glass sliding portions with time and upon exposure outdoors. Furthermore, the embossed pattern formed on the surface of the window glass sliding portions by the embossment treatment is not fully satisfactory in point of combination of fineness and uniformity, and there is much room for improvement in intimate contacting properties between the window glass sliding portion and the window glass at the time of shutting the window glass and also in light sliding properties between the window glass sliding portions and the window glass at the time of opening the window glass.
Accordingly, there has been desired the advent of laminates which are excellent in weathering resistance, heat resistance and dimensional stability, can be prepared by a simplified production process and can be used for the purposes such as interior automotive trims, sealing materials or the like, and also the advent of glass run channels comprising window glass sliding portions molded from said laminates.

Thermoplastic elastomer laminates and glass run channels molded therefrom