A portable protection system including a selectively collapsible truss for supporting a protection member. The truss is movable between a collapsed position and an expanded position. The protection member includes at least one layer of ballistic armor material for disrupting a projectile. The truss includes suitable connectors for releasably connecting the protection member to the truss, and also suitable connectors for releasably connecting the truss to an adjoining truss so as to form a protection wall.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a portable protection system that can be assembled to establish a protective barrier to a threat, such as a ballistic projectile, a blast, or other such threat. More specifically, the present invention relates to a modular portable structure adapted to carry an armor layer to form a protective wall.
2. Description of the Related Art
In military operations and high risk areas for civilian operations, protection of personnel and critical equipment from ballistic projectiles, explosive ordnance, chemical attack, and forces and objects from detonation of improvised explosive devices (collectively hereinafter "projectiles") is critical. In order to provide protection of personnel and equipment from projectiles, it is necessary to provide a means of disbursing the kinetic energy of such projectiles to prevent them from reaching their target. An efficient means of disbursing the kinetic energy of such projectiles is to interpose a shield between the objects and persons to be protected and the incoming threat. Shields fabricated from ballistic material are known to provide at least some protection against projectiles. As used herein, a "ballistic" material is defined as having the property of stopping, or severely retarding the progress of, a projectile. However, it will be understood that a ballistic shield may not be completely impenetrable to all types of projectiles under all situations.
In military operations and other such applications, often it becomes necessary to move personnel, equipment, and the like into an area and establish a defensible position while under the threat of attack from incoming projectiles. In such situations, structures incorporating ballistic shields are often used to protect an area from the incoming projectiles, thereby allowing personnel to seek cover from the incoming projectiles behind the ballistic shield structure. When using conventional ballistic shield structures, such as concrete walls or walls formed from sand bags, a problem arises in that such conventional ballistic shield structures are not easily portable, and assembly of such conventional ballistic shield structures is often slow and labor intensive. As a result, assembly and use of such conventional ballistic shield structures while under the threat of attack from incoming projectiles is often impractical.
Furthermore, in certain applications involving the use of ballistic shield structures, it often becomes necessary for personnel protected by the ballistic shield structure to observe and interact with persons and objects beyond the ballistic shield structure, such as for example, during the interaction of security personnel with persons and vehicles passing a security checkpoint. In such applications, it is often desirable to allow one or more security personnel to remain positioned opposite a ballistic shield structure from persons and objects passing the checkpoint while also allowing the security personnel to observe the persons and objects from the relative safety provided behind the ballistic shield structure. In situations in which the threat of attack from incoming projectiles is imminent, it is often desirable to allow security personnel to remain positioned behind a ballistic shield structure while accessing persons and objects beyond the ballistic shield structure in order to interact with and potentially engage and combat such persons and objects.
Examples of conventional shield systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,681,679 to Vives et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,807,890 to Fugua, U.S. Pat. No. 6,581,505 to Levell, U.S. Pat. No. 5,386,788 to Linker et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 4,398,446 to Pagano et al., the subject matter of each of which is hereby incorporated by reference. These conventional shield systems are often not readily portable, difficult to assemble, limited in the protection provided, limited to a single set up configuration, support only one type of armor, and are not adjustable to various threat levels or environments. Moreover, these conventional shield systems often do not allow for the observance of and interaction with persons and objects through the conventional shield system.


A motor-driven blind for a curved back window of a motor vehicle. A winder roller has an end of a cloth fixed thereto and the other end fixed to a pull-bar. Two arms are hinged at ends to the pull-bar and hinged at the other ends to carriages slidable in slideway which is substantially parallel to the axis of the winder roller. A drive device synchronously moves the carriages, and hence the ends of the arm in opposite directions in the slideway to thereby deploy the cloth. The pull-bar is elastically deformable in a direction perpendicular to the cloth.

Covering the rear windows of motor vehicles presents a problem that is difficult to solve given the particularly complex shape of such a window. In some vehicles, the rear window is highly sloping and curved, generally having greater curvature at the top than at the bottom. Such a bay is presently covered by means of a blind fixed beneath the rear shelf panel and deployed up to the top edge of the window, the blind then extending in a plane that covers more or less well the curved surface of the rear window. These blinds suffers from the drawback of being at a distance from said window, in particular from the base thereof, thus taking up a large area of the rear shelf panel. In addition, a window bay covered by a blind of this type is unsatisfactory in appearance.
Proposals have already been made for blinds in which the cloth is curved because of the shape of the pull-bar used for pulling the blind. The shape of the pull-bar is generally curved to coincide with the curvature at the top of the rear window which is more highly curved than the same window adjacent to the rear shelf panel. Since the winder is generally situated beneath said panel, it must be possible, particularly at the lateral ends thereof, to have sufficient room available for a curved slot that serves to accommodate the pull-bar when the blind is in its wound-in position. Such room is not always available in the rear shelf panels of some vehicles.
Finally, it is recalled that blinds of this type can be motorized in various different ways, in particular by means of deployable arms as described in Document FR-A-2 646 203.
To mitigate the drawbacks of existing blinds for the rear windows of motor vehicles, i.e., firstly they cannot be received in all vehicles and secondly they are not very satisfactory in appearance, the invention proposes a blind having a motor-driven winder for a curved window bay and suitable for being placed close to the window glass in the bay when in its deployed position, and capable of passing through a rectilinear and therefore narrow slot in a rear shelf panel beneath which the winding mechanism can be installed.

Motor-driven blind for a curved rear window of a motor vehicle


The invention relates to a magnetic resonance unit, with a magnet generating a static magnetic field, in the hollow space of which an essentially tubular inner lining is disposed, into which a patient support device can be introduced, and with control elements disposed on a front lining to control the magnetic resonance unit. It is possible to introduce the patient support device and the inner lining, which surrounds the patient support device and can be moved in relation to the patient support device, into the hollow space of the magnet and to remove them therefrom together.

With conventional magnetic resonance units it is unavoidable that the operators regularly stand in very close proximity to the magnet of the magnetic resonance unit, to position the patient on the patient support device, which can for example be configured as a patient bed or to help said patient leave. The patient bed is usually designed such that it can only be moved as far as is absolutely necessary out of the hollow space of the magnet. Also control elements such as switches, a keypad and in some instances also corresponding output elements, such as a display unit, can also be disposed on the outside of the magnetic resonance unit, so that the operators generally have to stand for quite a long time in direct proximity to the magnet, to adjust or control the magnetic resonance unit.
Although according to current knowledge of magnetic resonance units they do not represent a hazard, there has recently been some discussion among elements of the public, whether the presence of people in electromagnetic fields is associated with an adverse effect on their health. Static magnetic fields, as are present in the area around a conventional magnetic resonance unit, are deemed to be problematic, as well as electromagnetic alternating fields. The operators of a magnetic resonance unit have to stand in very close proximity to the magnet when introducing a patient into the hollow space of the magnet and positioning them there, with the result that they spend quite a long time in static magnetic fields. At the same time there is a tendency to use increasingly strong magnetic fields for MR imaging. New MR systems, that are currently available, operate with a magnetic flux density of 2 tesla, while in the near future magnetic resonance units will operate at 3 tesla and for research purposes units operating at 7 to 10 tesla are already being designed and developed, with the result that the problems mentioned will take on an even greater significance.
Until now the patient support device, in particular the patient bed, has been designed in such a manner that it is located in proximity to the magnet. If it were to move out further, a larger high-frequency cabin would be required for the magnetic resonance unit. Conventional magnetic resonance units however have the disadvantage that the operators have to ensure, during introduction into the hollow space of the magnet, that lines, hoses, etc. do not become trapped between the patient bed and the inner lining. As mentioned above, the control elements required to move the patient bed in and out are normally attached to the front lining of the magnetic resonance unit, in such a manner that the operators are permanently in the area of influence of the static magnetic field during the entire procedure of positioning the patient for introduction into the hollow space.


A method and system for quantizing a vector corresponding to an input signal is described. The vector has a plurality of components corresponding to an N-dimensional space. In one aspect, the method and system include recursively dividing the space into equal spaces having one dimension less than a previous recursion until end spaces are formed. Each end space is two-dimensional. The method and system also include asynchronously comparing the components in each end space to determine a sub-space of a particular end space having a closest match to the vector. In another aspect, the method and system include providing tree(s) including a plurality of nodes and asynchronously traversing the tree(s) to determine a closest match to the vector. The nodes correspond to ANDs of comparisons between the components. Each comparison determines whether a first component is greater than a second component.

Digital to analog converters (DACs) and analog to digital converters (ADCs) are used in a variety of applications. In performing the conversion, the DAC/ADC typically uses techniques such as ΔΣ conversion to find a closest match to the input signal and convert errors to out-of-signal band noise. The requirements of such DACs/ADCs may be quite stringent for certain applications. For example, DACs and ADCs may be used in modern audio systems. For such applications, the targeted performance may be a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of sixteen bits, or higher in certain bandwidths such as the 20 kHz audio bandwidth. Similar technologies, for example, third generation cellular phone and voice over Internet protocol (VOIP) audio conferencing phones, also require high performance audio coder/decoders (CODECs) that are low in cost but which do not unduly sacrifice performance. Although DACs and ADCs are known, conventional used in converting errors, such as data weighted averaging, may not be adequate for certain applications or may be expensive to implement. Consequently, a mechanism for providing low cost, high-performance data converters is desired.
Dynamic element matching (DEM) is a technique that may be used in converting mismatch errors into out-of-signal band noise for ADCs/DACs. Implementing DEM might be relatively low in cost because DEM does not require highly accurate calibration systems. In order to perform DEM, vector quantization is used. Vector quantization is a mathematical technique that may be used to shape the analog mismatch noise out of the signal band, allowing the DAC/ADC to perform its function. In particular, vector quantization determines a closest match to a particular vector. In an implementation of an ADC/DAC using DEM, vector quantization might be used to determine how to switch the DAC/ADC elements, such as capacitors and current sources, to find the closest match to an input signal.
To more readily understand vector quantization, refer to FIG. 1, which is a diagram 10 depicting three-dimensional vector quantization. The vector U 12 corresponds to the input signal. Thus, U 12 corresponds to a sample of the input signal. Mathematically, vector quantization determines the vector that is closest match to the vector U 12 and that has unit vector components in each dimension. Stated differently, for the three-dimensional case depicted in FIG. 1, vector quantization would determine the projection of the vector U 12 onto the closest vector defined by the origin (0,0,0) and the vertices of the cube 14. Consequently, the output of the vector quantization would be a vector that is zero or is from the origin (0,0,0) to one of the vertices (1,0,0), (0,1,0), (0,0,1), (1,1,0), (0,1,1), or (1,1,1). The closest match between U 12 and the output, V, occurs when ∥U−V∥ is minimized. This quantity is minimized when the scalar product of U 12 and V is maximized, which corresponds to U 12 being aligned with V. Aligning U 12 and V thus corresponds to identifying the largest elements of the U 12. Thus, using mathematical techniques, vector quantization may find the closest match to U 12 as well as the error.
In applications of vector quantization, the number of spatial dimensions corresponds to the desired resolution. The desired resolution, R, is given by the desired number of bits in the resolution. The number, N, of spatial dimensions of the vector U corresponding to the input signal is greater than or equal to 2R−1. Thus, for a two bit resolution, the number of spatial dimensions is three. Consequently, the cube 14 depicted in FIG. 1 might be used in performing vector quantization for applications having a three bit resolution requirement. For four-bit resolution, the number of spatial dimensions is 15. For higher resolution, the number of dimensions scales exponentially.
Although DEM may be lower in cost to implement, there are currently barriers to its use in conventional DACs/ADCs. In particular, implementing vector quantization may have undesirable results. Signals are desired to have n-bit resolution (an n-bit signal), for example in N-bit ΔΣ conversion. In such a conversion, the corresponding vector has N dimensions (corresponding to 2n−1, as discussed above). Stated differently, vector quantization would take place in N dimensions, where N is 2n−1. The conventional vector quantizer would, therefore, sort approximately 2n elements for each input data sample. This sorting operation typically requires a clock that runs 2n times faster than the sampling clock used in obtaining the data sample. Such a clock would be very high frequency, which would be undesirable. Furthermore, the DAC/ADC would include at least two clocks, the sampling clock and the clock used in sorting. Consequently, the DAC/ADC would also be a mixed mode environment. Use of a high frequency clock in a mixed mode environment is also undesirable.
Accordingly, what is needed is a mechanism for aiding in providing high speed, low cost converters. The present invention addresses such a need.

Vector quantizer based on N-dimensional spatial dichotomy


A Bluetooth controller circuit includes: a clock counter arranged to operably generate a first count value corresponding to a reference clock signal; a count value adjusting circuit arranged to operably generate a second count value according to the first count value; a time slot determining circuit arranged to operably determine timing of respective transmission slots according to the second count value; a transceiver circuit arranged to operably transmit Bluetooth signal in transmission slots determined by the time slot determining circuit; and a control circuit, coupled with the count value adjusting circuit, the time slot determining circuit, and the transceiver circuit, and arranged to operably control operations of the count value adjusting circuit, the time slot determining circuit, and the transceiver circuit.

The disclosure generally relates to Bluetooth technologies and, more particularly, to a Bluetooth controller circuit for reducing possibility of noise generation.
As is well known in related art, a Bluetooth communication device conducts Bluetooth packet transmission in the transmission slot (TX slot) defined by the Bluetooth communication protocols, and most transmission slots are periodic slots. In other words, the operations of transmitting Bluetooth packets conducted by the Bluetooth communication device are typically periodical operations. Accordingly, from another aspect, the Bluetooth signals transmitted by the Bluetooth communication device typically has a specific frequency.
However, since the Bluetooth communication protocols specifies the period length (e.g., 312.5 μs) of some transmission slots, the frequency of some Bluetooth signals issued by the Bluetooth communication device will fall within the frequency range that can be perceived by human ears. Therefore, the traditional Bluetooth communication device sometimes generates noises that can be perceived by human ears during the transmission of Bluetooth signals, which may negatively affect the user experience of the Bluetooth communication device, and may even cause the user to feel uncomfortable.


A protective measure against rainfalls or ultraviolet rays is applied to planar display devices which comprise a large-sized display apparatus thus allowing display modules which include display devices to be used outdoors and, at the same time, the structure of a frame is simplified thus realizing the reduction of weight, thickness and a manufacturing cost of the large-sized display apparatus. In a large-sized display apparatus arranging a plurality of planar display devices, as the planar display device, a display device which comprises a display device body which includes a display region in the inside thereof and has a peripheral portion of the display region sealed, and a protective glass which is fixedly mounted on a front surface of the display device body using an adhesive material is used.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a large-sized display apparatus arranging planar display devices, and more particularly to a large-sized display apparatus for use outdoors.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, with respect to this type of large-sized display apparatus, originally, a method which arranges monochroic CRTs (cathode ray tubes) as display devices has been put into practice. Thereafter, a display device which includes a plurality of pixels in the inside of the display device by applying a principle of a CRT or a discharge tube has been developed and the resolution has been remarkably improved. Thereafter, a method which arranges liquid crystal display devices as described in following patent documents 1, 2 has been put into practice. Then, a method which arranges plasma display panels or vacuum fluorescent display has been proposed on a trial basis. In this manner, various types of display devices can be used for constituting the large-sized display apparatus. Recently, the method which comprises the large-sized display apparatus arranging LEDs (light emitting diodes) has become a mainstream. In this manner, the large-sized display apparatus is now applicable to various applications such as in-door high-resolution application, outdoor ultra-high-luminance application, light-weighted and thin building-wall-surface application.
[Patent document 1] JP-A-2002-72928
[Patent document 2] JP-A-2004-341468
This type of conventional large-sized display apparatus, when used outdoors in a state that a plurality of planar display devices are arranged, as in the case of display modules including display devices, is configured such that a sufficient waterproof measure is applied to electronic equipment inside a frame which supports the apparatus as a whole thus enabling the installation of the large-sized display apparatus in an arbitrary environment. Here, there may be a case in which a front glass for protecting a plurality of display modules as a whole from rainfalls is arranged in front of the apparatus. In such a case, the frame itself has to possess a sufficient strength and reliability. Accordingly, there has been a drawback that a manufacturing cost of the large-sized display apparatus becomes large as a whole and weight of the large-sized display apparatus increases corresponding to a size of the front glass.

Large-sized display apparatus and display device and display module used in large-sized display apparatus


A method for processing payments is provided that includes receiving with at least one server data representative of a plurality of payments. For at least one of the payments, the at least one server causes data representative of at least one third party offer to be mailed to the payee associated with the payment along with a check for the payment amount of value associated with the payment. The method also includes receiving with the at least one server, data representative of an acceptance of the at least one third party offer. Responsive to the acceptance, the at least one server may cause: a gift certificate to be issued to the payee; value in the amount of the payment minus a service fee to be transferred to a merchant associated with the at least one third party offer; and to cause the check to be voided.

Online bill payment adoption and utilization continues to expand at a rapid pace. Online bill payment systems offered by financial institutions and/or remittance consolidators often include a web site at which users may input information necessary for preparing and sending payments to businesses and individuals. The information provided by the users to pay bills may include the name and address of the payee, an amount of a payment, as well as the particular payee account associated with the user for which the payment is being sent. For example, if the payment is being sent to a local supply company, the payee account may correspond to the user's account number at that company.
While the majority of such payments are delivered electronically, a significant portion must be sent via relatively costly paper check to the payee. Thus there exists a need for a system and method which lowers the costs associated with the payment process, and/or which generates new income, which can offset portions of these costs.

System and method for processing payments


A method and system for performing an auction by determining a request for an item based on at least one of (i) an item to purchase, (ii) a performance specification of the item to purchase, and (iii) a term of a request for the item to purchase. The method and system include sending, through a network, the request for the item to an auctioneer machine server. Performance information is collected for each seller. Notice is provided that a performance evaluation has been received for a specific seller, and is on record with the provider of the information. Additional transaction costs may be captured and included as a separate line item in an auto-rebid auction environment.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to network communications. More specifically, the present invention relates to an auction based procurement system.
2. Description of Background Information
Traditionally in the business world matching buyers and sellers is achieved through advertisement or word of mouth. This is usually followed by contacts between the buyers and sellers which sometimes include lengthy negotiations and massive paper work. Volume trading procures discounts which are usually achieved in auctions by corporations or government entities ordering large volumes of products or services.
Added time and expenses are wasted on collecting, mining, processing, and modeling prior information from a huge, selection of catalogs, trade publications, and directories. Normally this data is used to generate standard business reports and produce quantitative analyses on market trends. The above information is then correlated and analyzed to maximize savings through volume trading.
There are several types of auctions including sealed-bid auctions, ascending bid auctions, e-mail auction, seller-driven systems, and buyer-driven systems. Sealed-bid auctions are where the bidders in one single bidding round simultaneously and independently submit sealed bids to the auctioneer who then determines the auction outcome. Ascending-bid auctions are where the bidders are in a dynamic bidding process submitting bids in real-time until no more bids are forthcoming.
In e-mail auctions, an auction catalog is electronically mailed to people interested in bidding. Subsequently, bidders submit their bids on individual lots to an auctioneer via e-mail. A disadvantage to e-mail auctions is that a human auctioneer is required and it is very difficult for the auctioneer to keep the bidders updated as to the current high bids on the various items.
A system is seller-driven in the sense that they focus on the methods and processes available to the seller, allowing him to price, package, or configure goods and services more effectively. The vast majority of retail purchases utilize seller-driven, fixed-price, nonnegotiable pricing protocols. The buyer does not find the seller, rather the seller attracts numerous buyers who, as a group, determine the final selling price.
A buyer driven system is where a buyer can exercise more control over the terms and conditions of the purchase. If each buyer has a different set of purchasing specifications, communicated using non-uniform language, sellers pay a high cost to review and understand each individual request.
The following patents describe different types of auction based systems and business methods for trading various consumer products and services. U.S. Pat. No. 5,664,115 ("the '115 patent"), issued to Richard Fraser on Sep. 2, 1997, presents an interactive computer system which matches buyers and sellers of real estate, business and other property using the Internet.
The '115 patent provides for the buyer's information to be evaluated by the host system and determine whether the buyer is qualified to purchase each selected property. This computer system obtains and stores a set of records, each corresponding to a property to be sold. Each set of records can then be searched by a remote data terminal associated with a potential buyer.
The results of this search are then provided to the potential buyer, who indicates specific property listings that the potential buyer may be interested in purchasing. The potential buyer provides identifying information which is then provided to the sellers of the indicated property. This interactive computer system does not offer a method or system for volume discount pricing. The '115 patent mainly deals with real estate and other property—which is not volume trading sensitive.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,715,402, issued to Carl A. Popolo on Feb. 3, 1998, specifies a method and system for matching sellers and buyers dealing in spot metals. This is a system for managing steel inventories that aids in selling primary and secondary steel. Sellers can post detailed descriptions of an item for sale and buyers can browse or search the posted inventory. A buyer may bid on part or all of an item posted and the seller may accept or reject any bid. The bidding is done through an auction by electronic mail.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,717,989, issued to Tozzoli et al. on Feb. 10, 1998, stipulates a full service trade system for storing criteria specified by a funder relating to a trade transaction for buyers and sellers. The trade system compares the criteria with a proposed purchase order to determine whether the system can generate a payment guarantee on behalf of the funder for the buyer to the seller.
When the appropriate conditions for payment are met, the system issues funds transfer instructions to transfer payment from the buyer to the seller. This system is not auction based, instead the main purpose of this patent is to confirm that payment is made by the buyer to the seller.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,758,328, issued on May 26, 1998, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,842,178 ("the '178 patent"), issued on Nov. 24, 1998, to Joseph Giovannoli describe a computerized quotation system and method. These systems are for forming a computer based communications network of network members consisting of network buyers and sellers for processing requests for quotation for goods and services through at least one central processing unit. The system includes a filtering means for controlling the communication linkage between network members.
The '178 patent contains no central database of goods and prices, instead the buyer formulates requests and the seller analyzes each request. The system is also not auction based and does not involve volume discount type trading.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,781,911, issued to Young et al. on Jul. 14, 1998, discloses an integrated system and method for data warehousing and delivery. This system consists of an integrated automatic generation of data warehouses or data marts further integrated with an automatic delivery of information from the data warehouses to knowledge workers throughout the enterprise.
This integration allows information in the data warehouses to be delivered to immediately after every refresh of the data warehouse. This is to permit maximum utilization of the information in the data warehouses throughout the enterprise to gain the most optimum decision support. This system deals with the method for extracting data from production of on-line transaction systems and processing that data into information and distributing the information.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,794,207, issued to Walker et al. on Aug. 11, 1998, characterizes a method and apparatus for a cryptographically assisted commercial network system designed to facilitate buyer-driven conditional purchase offers. A controller receives binding purchase offers from prospective buyers. The controller makes purchase offers available globally to potential sellers. Potential sellers then have the option to accept a purchase offer and bind the corresponding buyer to a contract.
Under this method, the buyer is bound and does not have a chance to accept or reject seller's response to the buyer's offer. This is not a volume based discount trading system, instead it is a one-buyer, one-seller system. This system does not utilize a master catalog or use historical data for creating bids.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,794,219, issued to Stephen J. Brown on Aug. 11, 1998, discloses a method of conducting an on-line auction that permits individual bidders to pool bids during a bidding session. The auction is conducted over a computer network that includes a central computer, a number of remote computers, and communication lines connecting the remote computers to the central computers.
A number of bidding groups are registered in the central computer and each bidding group has a total bid for the item being auctioned. Bids are entered from the remote computers which are received in the central computer, each bid including a bid amount and a bid designation. Each bid amount is contributed to the total bid of the bidding group indicated by the bid designation.
The bidding group that has the largest total bid at the end of the bidding session wins the item being auctioned. The method then declares a winning group, the winning group being the one bidding group having the largest total bid at the end of the bidding session.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,835,896, issued to Fisher et al. on Nov. 10, 1998, explains a system and method for conducting a multi-person, interactive auction, in a variety of formats without using a human auctioneer to conduct the auction. The system allows a group of bidders to interactively place bids over a computer or communications network. Those bids are recorded by the system and the bidders are updated with current auction status information.
When appropriate, the system closes the auction from further bidding and notifies the winning bidders and losers as to the auction outcome. This patent promotes higher prices for the seller and does not give the buyer the chance to withdraw bid.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,890,138, issued to Godin et al. on Mar. 30, 1999, discloses an auction system which allows users to participate using their own computers suitably connected to the auction system.
The patent involves a method and system for providing rapid feedback of a reverse auction process and removes the user from the process once an indication to purchase has been received. Rapid feedback in combination with security of information is achieved with the method and auction system.
This method includes removing each purchaser from the auction process upon providing instructions to purchase the product at the displayed current price at the time the instructions were received. In this way the purchaser is not exposed to further decreases in the price of the product, and is removed from that particular auction process.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,905,975, issued to Lawrence M. Ausubel on May 18, 1999, specifies a computer implemented system and method of executing an auction. The system has at least two intelligent systems, one for the auctioneer and at least one for a user. The auction is conducted by the auctioneer's system communications with the user systems.
The auctioneer's system contains information from the user, system based bid information entered by the user. With this information the auctioneer's system determines whether the auction can be concluded or not and appropriate messages are transmitted to the users.
At any point in the auction, bidders are provided the opportunity to submit their current bids, as well as future bids, into the auction system's database. Participants are continually provided the opportunity to revise their bids associated with all future times or prices which have not already been reached, by entering new bids which have the effect of superseding the bidder's bid currently residing in the auction system's database.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,924,082 ("the '082 patent"), and U.S. Pat. No. 5,924,083 ("the '083 patent"), both issued to Silverman et al. on Jul. 13,1999, both describe a form of matching system. The '082 patent is a negotiated matching system which includes a plurality of remote terminals associated with respective potential counter-parties, a communication between the remote terminals, and a matching station. Each user enters trading information and ranking information into his or her remote terminal.
The matching station then uses the trading and ranking information from each user to identify transactions between counter-parties that are mutually acceptable based on ranking information, thereby matching potential counter-parties to a transaction Once a match occurs, the potential counter-parties transmit negotiating messages to negotiate some or all terms of the transaction. Thus, the negotiated matching system first matches potential counter-parties who are acceptable to each other based on trading and ranking information, and then enables the two counter-parties to negotiate and finalize the terms of a transaction.
The '083 patent by Silverman, et al. details a distributed matching system which generates and provides to trading entities a market view display, including a predetermined number of bids and offers of multiple trading instruments. These are available to each individual trading entity based on unilateral and/or bilateral credit availability between the offeror/bidder and the viewing trading entity and the quantity available to the trading entity based of available unilateral or bilateral credit. The displayed market book may consist of individual order prices and quantities, aggregated prices and quantities, and/or average prices at predetermined quantities.
Japanese Pat. No. 55-37661, issued on March of 1980, summarizes a method to obtain a foreign goods total system. This system includes goods controlled by a host computer with an information file for foreign goods or business. The system also controls the shipments of the head office and terminal equipment in branch offices connected to the host computer via transmission circuits.
Most sites on the Internet are primarily limited to situations in which the sellers advertise a product or service by posting a listing on an electronic bulletin board which can be read by potential buyers. Many auction based systems require the payment of a fee in order to gain authority to utilize the database.
Most auction based systems simply perform an item-by-item listing of products or services being offered for sale. In high volume trading, the process usually is more complicated. Instead of searching each product or service to find a desired item, there is a need in the art for tailoring a search according to a variety of criteria such as lowest price, best value, vendor performance, audits, ratings, past choices based on recurring buying patterns learned by the system, etc.
The auction based system needed in the art would permit a buyer to avoid spending unnecessary time looking through catalogs, and the seller spending unnecessary costs through advertising. In this auction based system, it would be beneficial for the seller to narrow contacts with potential buyers to those more likely to consummate a transaction.
Moreover, within the federal arena, for example, there are terms and regulations that apply to past performance. Most of these regulations are applicable to buyers/agencies giving an evaluation to a seller for past purchases over $100,000. There is a general need in the art, however, for buyers/agencies to have the ability to quickly review a seller's past auction performance and other factual activity regarding a seller's performance, as provided in performance information regarding the seller (which may include, for example, ActivityCard® information, such as provided by FedBid, Inc. of Vienna, Va.), regardless of the purchase amount. In addition, there is a lack of standardization in the evaluation criteria and the evaluation forms that different agencies use. Therefore, there is a need in the art for a system and method for permitting buyers/agencies to assess the performance of sellers using evaluation criteria and/or forms of choice, and, rather than publishing the performance evaluation, providing notice of the fact that a performance evaluation has been completed and is on record with the buyer. Further, there is a need in the art, within an auction environment, for such performance evaluation notification method to provide notification only to the evaluated seller and to buyers running auctions on which the evaluated seller is bidding.
In addition, there is a need in the art, within an auction system environment, to eliminate the incentive for sellers to request favorable recommendations from buyers, a problem that is prevalent in existing on-line auction systems such as Amazon and eBay.
Furthermore, there is a need in the art for an auction based system that is capable of capturing and/or calculating an additional transaction cost, such as a contract fee (CF) that is to be added to a bid and an associated purchase order, displayed by the auction based system as a separate line item to the buyer and seller, and provided as a separate line item in the purchase order from the buyer to the seller.
In the federal arena, for example, agencies create contract vehicles, such as Governmentwide Acquisition Contracts (GWACs) and Multi-Agency Contracts (MACs), such that any time a buyer issues a solicitation under that contract vehicle, only sellers that are holders of that contract vehicle or authorized agents of that contract vehicle holder may propose a price or a bid on that solicitation, The buyer then must pay a CF to the buyer/agency that issued the contract vehicle, which is accomplished by the buyer issuing to the seller a purchase order including the CF as a separate, reportable, auditable line item, and the seller, upon receiving payment from the buyer, submitting the CF to the buyer/agency that issued the contract vehicle. Usually, the CF is a function of the total proposed price. It may be, for example, a percentage of the price, or may have a high/low cap.
In essence, the purchase order from the buyer must include the bid price and, in addition, the CF as a separate line item. That is, the buyer would pay more to the vendor to obtain access to the contract vehicle. The vendor, in turn, provides the CF to the buyer/agency that issued the contract vehicle.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for an auction based method and system that have the ability to capture the CF and to include it as a separate line item in an auto-rebid environment, such that when ranking competing bids, the inclusion of the CF does not affect the ranking.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either individually or in combination, describe or teach such an auction based system.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A mesoporous isoporous asymmetric material includes at least one diblock or multiblock copolymer, wherein the material has a transition layer having a thickness of at least 300 nm and a low macrovoid density, and the material has a sub-structure adjacent to said transition layer and said sub-structure comprises a high macrovoid density. A method for producing mesoporous isoporous asymmetric materials having macrovoids can include: dissolving at least one diblock or multiblock copolymer in a solution, the solution having one or more solvents and one or more nonsolvents, to form a polymer solution; dispensing the polymer solution onto a substrate or mold, or through a die or template; removing at least a portion of solvent and/or nonsolvent from the polymer solution to form a concentrated polymer solution; and exposing the concentrated polymer solution to a nonsolvent causing precipitation of at least a portion of the polymer from the concentrated polymer solution.

Mesoporous isoporous block copolymer materials are known and are useful due to their small, uniform pores. Combining an asymmetric structure with the mesoporous isoporous structure makes the materials very useful for high resolution, high flux separations wherein the mesoporous isoporous "skin" enables high resolution separations and the asymmetric structure enables high flux. The manufacturing of these materials, however, often results in macrovoids that are deemed undesirable. It is widely taught that macrovoids in membranes are undesirable as they cause mechanical weakness and can breach the skin causing defects.
Abetz 2014a and Abetz 2015 teach about self-assembled diblock copolymer membranes made with solvent mixtures primarily based on tetrahydrofuran (THF) and dimethylformamide (DMF) at different ratios with various poly(styrene-block-4-vinylpyridine) polymers at multiple concentration (19 to 35 wt %) and short evaporation windows (5-10 s). No macrovoids are shown in the materials' structures in the library of conditions explored. Abetz 2014b also characterizes the adsorption of lysozyme protein near its isoelectric point (11.4). However, these membranes demonstrate more than 120 μg/cm2 in lysozyme adsorption and it teaches that the lysozyme adsorption is independent of the membrane pore size and polymer used for the membrane formation.
Besides the well-known typically DMF/THF solvent composition, diblock copolymer membranes from solvents combination of: 1,4-dioxane (DOX)/THF, DOX/DMF, DOX/THF/DMF are also taught in Abetz 2012, Abetz 2014b, Abetz 2015, Abetz 2017, Peinemann 2010, Peinemann 2011, and Peinemann 2014a.
A method of forming isoporous membranes with a sponge-like structure based on self-assembly of block copolymers is described by Peinemann & Abetz 2007 (also see '694 application'). However, none of the structures include macrovoids. Additionally, in Peinemann & Nunes 2012, it is taught in paragraph [0011] that "The method (694 application) has been difficult to reproduce. When the procedure described in the '694 application is applied to commercially available purified block copolymers it does not lead to isoporous membranes." Peinemann & Nunes 2012 also does not include the macrovoid structural feature. While the 694 application states that "Optionally, the casting solution can also contain one or more nonsolvents for the block copolymer in addition to a solvent" no mention of expected outcome is discussed.
Peinemann 2014b teaches a DMF/DOX/Acetone (24 wt %/42 wt %/16 wt %) solvent composition to make diblock copolymer membranes. However, the membranes made from this solution do not comprise macrovoids or a transition layer.
Table of Related ArtAbetz 2014aSelf-organized isoporous membranes with tailored pore sizes,Journal of Membrane Science, 451, 2014 266-275Abetz 2015Performance Study of Isoporous membranes with tailored poresizes, Journal of Membrane Science, 495, 2015, 334-340Abetz 2014bProtein separation performance of self-assembled blockcopolymer membranes, RSC Advances, 2014, 4, 10252-10260Peinemann 2010Ultraporous Films with Uniform Nanochannels by BlockCopolymer Micelles Assembly, Macromolecules, 43, 2010,8079-8085Peinemann 2011From Micelle Supramolecular Assemblies in SelectiveSolvents to Isoporous Membranes. Langmuir 2011, 27,10184-10190Peinemann 2014aTime-Resolved GISAXS and Cryo-MicroscopyCharacterization of Block Copolymer Membrane Formation.Polymer 2014, 55, 1327-1332Abetz 2012Structure Formation of Integral Asymmetric CompositeMembranes of Polystyrene-block-Poly(2-vinylpyridine) on aNonwoven, Macromolecular Materials and Engineering, 2012,297, 790-798Abetz 2017Influence of Solvent on the Structure of an Amphiphilic BlockCopolymer in Solution and in Formation of an IntegralAsymmetric Membrane, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces,9, 37, 2017 31224-31234Peinemann & AbetzAsymmetric superstructure formed in a block copolymer via2007phase separation, Nature Materials 6, 2007, 992-996Peinemann & AbetzUS2009/0173694A12009, or 694 applicationPeinemann & NunesUS2012/0318741A12012Peinemann 2014bBlock Copolymer/Homopolymer Dual-Layer Hollow FiberMembranes, Journal of Membrane Science, 427, 2014, 39-44

Isoporous mesoporous asymmetric block copolymer materials with macrovoids and method of making the same


A method, system and computer software for providing a load anticipation feature for a diesel generating set including a diesel engine, a generator, a speed governor, and an automatic voltage regulator generator in a power system and computer data processor apparatus and computer executable instructions for ascertaining an equivalent linear speed control system whose response approximately matches the non-linear speed response of the diesel generating set; ascertaining at least one programmable parameter of the load anticipation feature based on a real power load applied to the diesel generating set and a desired speed response of the linear speed control system; generating a control output based on a measured real power load and at least one programmable parameter of the load anticipation feature; the speed governor receiving the control output and adjusting the speed of the diesel engine based on the control output.

Generating sets ("Gensets") are used to provide electricity for distributed power generation systems, which include prime power, standby generation, and network support. Deregulation of electrical utilities has resulted in many customers utilizing their standby diesel gensets to improve power quality or to avoid peak electricity tariffs.
Gensets often consists of a diesel engine, a synchronous machine, and two controllers (a speed governor and an automatic voltage regulator ("AVR")). Some of the modern microprocessor based AVR's are implemented with the Proportional, Integral, and Derivative (PID) control for stabilization and various supplemental control systems which include many limiters, VAR/PF controller, tuning functionality, protection and monitoring features.
The genset's output frequency is directly proportional to the diesel engine's speed. The speed governor seeks to maintain the diesel engine at a constant speed. The speed governor is designed to respond to changes in engine speed, acting as a feedback controller which controls the fuel rate to minimize a speed excursion due to a sudden change in the genset's real power load. Unlike the large size generators, many gensets may be expected to change operation from unloaded to full load in a single step load application, which causes large changes in engine speed or may cause the engine to stall.
International Standard ISO8528-5; 2013 provides a means to assess diesel genset performance, which classifies a genset based on a series of key performance indicators. For the modern gensets with G2 classification, the maximum voltage deviation from the nominal setpoint for a sudden load acceptance shall not exceed 20%, and the maximum electrical frequency deviation shall not exceed 10%. Voltage recovery time must be less than 6 seconds and frequency recovery time be less than 5 seconds. While some diesel genset controllers are able to meet the requirements of ISO8528-5; 2013, such controllers are expensive to manufacture.
A common way to reduce the engine speed drop is to provide an additional voltage dip during speed drops. Thus, faster engine speed recovery is achieved by reducing the real power load. Various voltage setpoint adjustments (under-frequency schemes) are used in modern AVR's. A load adjustment scheme has been suggested which temporarily reduces the voltage during a transient and therefore aids engine speed recovery. However, the speed governor's reaction to an engine speed change is much slower than the real power change. As such, the inventor hereof has identified a need for a system and method that can reduce the engine speed deviation of a genset when the real power load changes.

System and method for a load anticipation feature and its tuning method for a generating set


A semiconductor device includes a substrate including a cell region and a peripheral region, a cell gate electrode buried in a groove crossing a cell active portion of the cell region, a cell line pattern crossing over the cell gate electrode, the cell line pattern being connected to a first source/drain region in the cell active portion at a side of the cell gate electrode, a peripheral gate pattern crossing over a peripheral active portion of the peripheral region, a planarized interlayer insulating layer on the substrate around the peripheral gate pattern, and a capping insulating layer on the planarized interlayer insulating layer and a top surface of the peripheral gate pattern, the capping insulating layer including an insulating material having an etch selectivity with respect to the planarized interlayer insulating layer.

1. Field
Example embodiments relate to semiconductor devices and methods of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Semiconductor devices are attractive in the electronic industry because of their small size, multi-function, and/or low manufacturing costs. The semiconductor devices may be categorized as any one of a semiconductor memory device storing logic data, a semiconductor logic device processing operations of the logical data, and a system-on-chip (SoC) having both the function of the semiconductor memory devices and the function of the semiconductor logic devices. The semiconductor devices have been highly integrated with the development of the electronic industry.

Semiconductor devices with peripheral gate structures


Fluid-based dielectric material is used to backfill multiple patterned metal layers of an IC on a wafer. The patterned metal layers are fabricated using conventional CMOS techniques, and are IMD layers in particular embodiments. The dielectric material(s) are etched out of the IC to form a metal network, and fluid dielectric material precursor, such as a polyarylene ether-based resin, is applied to the wafer to backfill the metal network with low-k fluid-based dielectric material.

Integrated circuits ("ICs") typically have several patterned thin-film metal layers separated by dielectric layers. Conductive vias are used to make electrical connections from one patterned metal layer to another. It is desirable to avoid parasitic capacitances for a variety of reasons, and "low-k" dielectric materials (i.e. materials having a low dielectric constant) are preferred. As used herein, "low-k" refers to dielectric material that has a relative dielectric constant less than 4, which is the nominal relative dielectric constant of silica.
Several types of low-k dielectric materials are based on silica, such as fluorinated silicate glasses ("FSGs") or undoped silicate glasses ("USGs"). Many IC fabrication techniques have been developed to use FSG materials, such as chemical-mechanical polishing ("CMP"), via etch processes, and metallization processes. Other types of low-k dielectric materials are organic-based.
An example of an organic-based low-k dielectric material is the dielectric material resulting after processing SiLK™ resin. SiLK™ resin is available from the ADVANCED ELECTRONIC MATERIALS group of THE DOW CHEMICAL COMPANY, and is applied as in a fluid state. After the resin is cured, a porous dielectric matrix remains. Dielectric materials having relative dielectric constants as low as 2.6, and in some instances as low as 2.2, are obtained using SiLK™ material. For purposes of discussion, low-k dielectric materials that are applied to an IC wafer in a fluid state and then cured to provide solid dielectric material incorporated in the IC will be referred to as "fluid-based" dielectric materials.
While SiLK™-type materials have been developed to utilize typical IC fabrication apparatus and methods, the techniques for using organic-based low-k dielectric materials in ICs are often substantially different than those for using FSG or USG materials. For example, SiLK™ layers can be patterned. They are often cured for a relatively long time (24 hours) after patterning, which is not required with FSG or USG materials. If SiLK resin is used to form many layers of dielectric material in the IC, the after-patterning cure is typically repeated for each layer, adding to the process time, increasing work-in-progress, and often reducing throughput of the IC fabrication facility.
It is therefore desirable to provide techniques for utilizing fluid-based dielectric materials between conductive layers in an IC that avoids the multiple curing times of conventional techniques.

Method of fabricating CMOS devices using fluid-based dielectric materials


A complete collision avoidance contention resolution protocol is provided for networks with stations communicating over a shared access communication medium. The protocol is used where a physical layer connected to the communication medium uses a carrier modulation scheme with multiple frequencies. Stations on the network that desire access to the communication medium use a carrier modulation scheme with multiple frequencies. Stations that desire access simultaneously transmit a single frequency selected at random from a set of physical layer frequencies during an open-contention-interval. At the same time, the stations listen to a combined frequency signal and analyzes it for frequency content. If one station whose own frequency matches the highest frequency signal in the combined signal, the station gains access to a communication medium. If more than one station have the same highest frequency signal in the combined signal, no station gains access to the medium. The stations with the highest frequency signal initiate a restricted-contention-interval. The probability of successful contention resolution increases very rapidly using the restricted-contention-interval. When only one station has the highest frequency signal, it gains access to the medium. By resolving contention prior to providing access to any station, collisions of data are completely eliminated. By partitioning the set of frequencies in contiguous ranges, multiple priority classes can be used with the contention resolution method.

Local Area Networks ("LAN") may operate using different topologies and protocols for providing stations on the LAN with access to communications facilities for communicating with one another and for sharing resources. In several widely used topologies, stations share a communication medium over which stations transmit data to one or more stations. Successful transmission of data by a station typically requires exclusive access to the medium. When more than one station has data to transmit at the same time, protocols may provide resources for resolving conflicts among the contending stations.
Various protocols for resolving contention among stations having data to transmit on the communications medium may be used. One widely used scheme is the Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection ("CSMA/CD") protocol. The CSMA/CD is organized around layered protocols according to the Open Systems Interconnection ("OSI") reference model. The OSI model consists of seven layers including, from lowest-to-highest, a physical, data link, network, transport, session, application and presentation layer. The physical layer transmits bits over a communication link. The data link layer establishes and maintains point-to-point connections for the transmission of data frames.
The CSMA/CD protocol includes a data link layer with a Logical Link Control ("LLC") sub-layer and a Medium Access Control ("MAC") sub-layer. The LLC sub-layer handles logical links between stations while the MAC controls access to a communication medium via a physical layer. A CSMA/CD standard for Ethernet LANs is defined by Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers ("IEEE") 802.3 standard.
The CSMA/CD structure is a peer-to-peer network structure and stations on the network are vying for use of a channel when they have data to transmit. The contention can result in collisions that distort the transmission signals. Stations on the network cannot use distorted collision signals. A "collision window" is typically used to handle CSMA/CD collisions. A collision window describes the length of time required for a signal to propagate through the channel and to be detected by each station in the network.
Token bus LANs use a bus topology and provide access to a channel as if it were a ring. The token bus protocol is a collision-free protocol that uses a special frame called a "token" to govern which network station is allowed to send data. Capacity can be allocated through the use of priority classes. IEEE 802.4 defines a token bus LAN standard.
Token ring LANs connect participating stations in a ring topology; each station is connected to the medium via a ring interface unit. The ring interface unit is responsible for monitoring data passing through it as well as regenerating a signal and passing it to the next station. Token ring LANs use a token to determine which station may transmit, and also include a priority scheme. The object of the priority scheme is to give each station an opportunity to reserve the use of the ring for the next transmission around the ring. IEEE 802.5 defines a token ring LAN standard.
The CSMA/CD work reasonably well with large numbers of stations, but do not easily or efficiently support multiple priority classes or priority schemes. Also, their throughput performance suffers significantly in the presence of a high volume of network traffic. Token bus and token ring protocols with LLC and MAC can sustain relatively constant throughput even if the network traffic grows but they are typically more complex than CSMA/CD protocols.
In addition, contention resolution schemes that permit data collision in controlling access to the communication medium may operate adequately in small networks. In larger networks that have a higher number of stations, however, the overall throughput of the system degrades. This is because the probability of collision increases in systems in which the number of stations contending for access increases. One substantial component of the conflict resolution time is the time required to begin the transmission of data and to detect collisions. As the number of collisions increases, the time required to resolve the conflicts increases resulting in the degradation of the system throughput.
It is desirable, especially in the area of real-time services (e.g., teleconferencing), to have a contention resolution protocol which is simple, efficient, fair and distributed that can be used on a variety of computer network topologies (e.g., star, inverted tree, bus). The protocol should allow for a large number of network stations with differing priority class levels and delay requirements.
It is further desirable to provide a contention resolution scheme for networked stations to contend for resolution without the need to detect collisions.

Method and protocol for complete collision avoidance contention resolution in local area networks


A microelectromechanical micromotion amplifier generates a controlled lateral motion in response to a small deformation in the axial direction of a MEM beam or body. Lateral motion is produced by buckling of one or more long slender beams, the buckling motion being relatively large with respect to the axial motion which causes such lateral motion. The beams may be designed with a slight asymmetry to achieve gradual buckling in a desired direction. The device is capable of amplifying a driving motion in the range of 1-5 micrometers to produce a transverse motion in the range of 50-200 micrometers.

The present invention relates, in general, to microelectromechanical motion (MEM) amplifiers, and more particularly to microelectromechanical structures wherein a small driving motion in an axial direction applied to a structure produces a relatively large motion in a direction transverse to the axial drive motion, thereby amplifying the drive motion, the structure of the invention providing an amplification of about two orders of magnitude.
In micromechanical systems, for example of the type illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,506,175 to Zhang and MacDonald, motion of a rigid MEM body is typically obtained by attaching that body to an actuator which is then activated to generate the motion.
The actuator may include a fixed portion and a relatively movable portion supported by a set of springs formed from released structural beams, with motion of the movable part of the actuator deforming the springs. The force required to deform the springs and thus move the actuator may be obtained, for example, by the use of parallel plate or comb capacitors actuators, by differential heating of actuators, or by other controllable force generators.
In spring-supported devices, the resisting force of the supporting springs varies linearly with deformation as long as the deformation is small; however, for larger deformations, the force required to move the spring varies nonlinearly, primarily as the cube of the deformation, with the nonlinear terms of the spring restoring force becoming dominant. Thus, the applied force generated by the actuator has to be increased nonlinearly for large increments of deformation, and this requires prohibitively large voltages for electrical actuators such as capacitors. Furthermore, if the actuator is a parallel plate capacitor, the available motion is limited by the gap between the parallel plates, while if the actuator is a comb capacitor, large motion involves a large overlap between the combs which, together with the high voltage required, may produce an unstable actuation. These factors have limited the maximum available controlled deformation of such micromechanical devices to only several micrometers.


The invention overcomes the deficiencies of the art by providing an agronomically elite soybean plant with non-transgenic mutations of at least two of the glycinin subunits selected from the group consisting of Gy1, Gy2, Gy3, Gy4, and Gy5, such as conferring a Gy2 and Gy4 null phenotype and increased β-conglycinin content in seed. The invention also provides derivatives, and plant parts of these plants and uses thereof. Methods for marker assisted selection of soybean varieties comprising non-transgenic mutations conferring a reduced Gy1, Gy2, Gy3, Gy4, and Gy5 phenotype are also provided as part of the current invention. Methods for producing such plants that are further lipoxygenase and/or Kunitz Trypsin Inhibitor null and the plants produced thereby are also provided. The invention is significant in that soybeans from such plants are preferred dietary additives and provide important health benefits.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of plant breeding and molecular biology. In particular, the invention relates to agronomically elite soybean varieties with increased beta-conglycinin content and materials for making such plants.
2. Description of Related Art
Glycinin and β-Conglycinin are two major storage proteins in soybeans, accounting for approximately 70% of total proteins or 40% of total seed weight. The glycinin (11s globulin) is composed of five different subunits, designated A1aB2, A2B1a, A1bB1b, A5A4B3, A3B4, respectively. Each subunit is composed of two polypeptides, one acidic and one basic, covalently linked through a disulfide bond. The two polypeptide chains result from post-translational cleavage of proglycinin precursors, a step that occurs after the precursor enters the protein bodies (Chrispeels et al., 1982). Five major genes have been identified to encode these polypeptide subunits. They are designated as Gy1, Gy2, Gy3, Gy4 and Gy5, respectively (Nielsen et al., 1997). In addition, a pseudogene, gy6, and minor gene, Gy7, were also reported (Beilinson et al., 2002). Genetic mapping of these genes has been reported by various groups (Diers et al., 1993, Chen and Shoemaker 1998, Beilinson et al., 2002). Gy1 and Gy2 were located 3 kb apart and mapped to linkage group N (Nielsen et al., 1989), Gy3 was mapped to linkage group L (Beilinson et al., 2002). Gy4 and Gy5 were mapped to linkage groups O and F, respectively. All of these genes were mapped using RFLP probes on Southern Blots.
β-conglycinin, on the other hand, is composed of α (˜67 kda), α′ (˜71 kDa) and β (˜50 kDa) subunits and each subunit is processed by co- and post-translational modifications (Ladin et al., 1987; Utsumi, 1992). The β-conglycinin subunits are encoded by the genes Cgy1, Cgy2 and Cgy3, respectively. Genetic analysis indicated that Cgy2 is tightly linked to Cgy3, whereas Cgy1 segregates independently of the other two. The β-conglycinin gene family contains at least 15 members divided into two major groups, which encode the 2.5 kb and 1.7 kb embryo mRNA, respectively (Harada et al., 1989).
Soybean plants with increased β-conglycinin levels and decreased glycinin levels would provide substantial benefit. One reason for this is that β-conglycinin is a soluble protein whereas glycinin is much less soluble. It has also been found that β-conglycinin, especially the α′ subunit, has significantly higher nutritional value and a positive impact on human health as compared to glycinin (Baba et al., 2004). A number of experiments using animal models have indicated that α′ subunit from soybean β-conglycinin could lower plasma triglycerides, and also increase LDL ("bad" cholesterol) removal from blood (Duranti et al., 2004, Moriyama et al., 2004, Adams et al., 2004, Nishi et al., 2003). Therefore, soybean varieties with an increased β-conglycinin content will have higher value than traditional varieties and will be suitable for use in nutrition drinks and other food products.
Interestingly, mutations in the glycinin genes have a direct impact on β-conglycinin content in soybean seeds. Mutant soybean plants with decreased glycinin content have increased β-conglycinin content. However, since multiple glycinin alleles are involved in glycinin subunit production, breeding plants with reduced expression from multiple Gy subunits has proved difficult since such plants have other attributes, such as low yield, excessive lodging and green seed that render them commercially nonviable. Previous methods for determining the inheritance of mutations resulting in decreased glycinin content did not enable high-throughput techniques required to select for these phenotypes while introducing agronomically superior characteristics. For example, previous assessment of Gy inheritance was dependent upon analysis of protein expression, which is costly, labor intensive and cannot track the inheritance of recessive mutations. The possibility of producing such plants regardless of labor was also unknown, due to additional complications such as linkage drag and epistasis associated with attempts to introgress a mutant Gy allele. The combination of alleles are also unpredictable with respect to the phenotype obtained. Thus, there is a longstanding but unfilled need in the art for agronomically elite soybean plants with reduced expression of multiple Gy protein subunits and methods for production of such plants.
Lipoxygenases are enzymes that catalyze the dioxygenation of polyunsaturated fatty acids. Soybean seeds contain three lipoxygenase isozymes—lipoxygenases 1, 2, and 3. These isozymes contribute to the production of unpleasant flavors in soybean seeds. The unpleasant flavors are absent or less pronounced in seeds deficient in these isozymes, particularly those lacking lipoxygenase-2. Accordingly, soybean seeds lacking one or more lipoxygenase isozymes are desirable for use in making drink and food products. Genetic studies of Lipoxygenase 1, 2, and 3 deficient lines demonstrated that the absence of each was due to single recessive alleles—lx1, lx2, and lx3, respectively. The loci defined by lx1 and lx2 are closely linked and are not genetically linked to lx3 (Kitamura, 1984; Kitamura et al, 1985; Hajika et al., 1992; Hildebrand et al., 1982). The structural genes encoding Lipoxygenases 1, 2, and 3 have been cloned and designated Lox1, Lox2, and Lox3, respectively (Shibata et al., 1987; Shibata et al., 1988; Yenofsky et al., 1988).
Kunitz Trypsin inhibitor (KTI) is an antinutritional and allergenic factor in soybeans that interferes with digestion and absorption of proteins when present in a diet. Thus, soybean varieties with a KTI-null mutant trait have a higher commercial value than traditional varieties. Genetic and biochemical studies of KTI production in soybean lines have been carried out (e.g. de Moraes et al., 2006; Natarajan et al., 2006), and three related genes have been identified, with KTI3 encoding the predominant Kunitz Trypsin Inhibitor Protein in cultivated soybean genotypes (Natarajan et al., 2006). Some specific DNA markers associated with loss of KTI production in certain soybean lines have been reported (de Moraes et al., 2006).

Agronomically elite soybeans with high β-conglycinin content


There is provided a system and method for communicating with a first peripheral device, of a plurality of peripheral devices, using a touch-sensitive system that has a processor and a touch surface. According to an exemplary embodiment, a method includes detecting, using the processor, a plurality of touches on the touch surface of the touch-sensitive system that are made by the first peripheral device. The method further includes identifying, using the processor, the first peripheral device based on the plurality of touches on the touch surface of the touch-sensitive system that are made by the first peripheral device. The method additionally includes communicating data, using the processor, to a receptive circuit of the first peripheral device in response to the identifying of the first peripheral device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of electronic devices, and more particularly, to electronic devices using touch-sensitive surfaces.
2. Background Art
Touch-sensitive devices, such as touch screen devices, are becoming increasingly prevalent in the marketplace. These touch-sensitive devices offer a touch-sensitive surface that can detect the presence and position of touch-based input opening up the possibility of new ways to interact with electronic devices. The popularity of recent touch screen devices, including tablet computers such as iPad from Apple®, means that touch screen devices can be found among many family households. At the same time, physical game pieces and/or toys remain a staple of kids, with collectible figures and objects serving as a bedrock for imaginative toy play in the form of interaction between the figures and objects as well as the larger environment.
In this context, kids are having increased exposure to touch screen devices making it desirable to provide new technologies, which can enhance the interactive experience with touch screen devices and their existing toys.
In a conventional approach, a toy may be integrated with a video game or other software running on a computer through establishing wired or wireless communication between the toy and the computer. For example, the video game or other software could run on a touch screen device and communicate with the toy over a universal serial bus (USB) connection. However, this approach is limited in that the video game or other software cannot track the presence, position, and orientation of the toy in the physical world without requiring complex and expensive electrical components. These limitations present a barrier to new interactive experiences.
Accordingly, there is a need to overcome the drawbacks and deficiencies in the art while providing interactive game pieces and/or toys, which can be used with touch screen devices.

Game pieces for use with touch screen devices and related methods


An electrical cable (10) includes at least one central reinforcing element (1, 2) extending along the cable, said reinforcing element being encircled by at least one electrically conductive element (3) extending along the cable, where the central reinforcing element (1, 2) is a tubular body.

1. Fields of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical cable. It is typically, but not exclusively, employed as a high-voltage electrical transmission cable or overhead cable, commonly called an overhead line (OHL), to transmit power.
More particularly, the invention relates to an electrical cable that reduces the incidence of the corona effect.
2. Description of the Related Art
Overhead lines are traditionally formed by bare conductive elements held by an appropriate array of pylons. These lines are conventionally intended to transmit high-voltage (225 to 800 kV) AC electrical power. Each conductor therefore has a diameter of a few centimeters and may be composed of a metal layer or, more frequently, of several assembled metal wires. Along the bare conductor an effect, called the corona effect, is always observed. Specifically, any conductor or line subjected to a high voltage will exhibit the corona effect. Once the electric field at the surface of the conductor, especially depending on local radii of curvature, becomes sufficiently high locally (i.e. higher than the dielectric strength of moist air, about 10 kV/cm; or even higher than the dielectric strength of dry air, about 30 kV/cm), the air ionizes and a luminous corona forms around the conductor.
One of the consequences of the corona effect is the production of noise. However, when the conductor is dry a very limited amount of noise is generated, which is practically negligible in terms of the discomfort it causes. In contrast, when the conductor is wet the noise generated is much louder and it is a source of notable discomfort and a great deal of annoyance for people passing by or living next to this type of conductor. Specifically, under these conditions, the conductivity of the air increases and thus the ionization is more intense and more efficient.
The corona effect also results in power losses and the electromagnetic radiation, acoustic noise, and power losses generated may have health effects.
In order to overcome this problem, one solution consists in insulating the conductors by covering them with a layer of an insulating plastic material, so as to prevent electrical contact between the biased metal parts and the air, thereby suppressing the corona effect.
In another approach, it has been suggested to increase the diameter of the cable. Document DE 4 424 007 describes an electrical cable especially comprising at least one layer of a conductive element intended to conduct the power transmitted by the cable in its operational configuration, and a supporting element formed from carbon fibers. Said supporting element encircles said layer of the conductive element or is positioned between two layers of said conductive element, which layers are intended to conduct the power transmitted by the cable in its operational configuration. Increasing the diameter of the cable reduces the tangential electric field and therefore the incidence of the corona effect. However, this type of cable has the drawback of either being too heavy or not adequately reducing the incidence of the corona effect. Furthermore, its current capacity is limited.

High-voltage electrical transmission cable


An apparatus and method for train control utilizing virtual lock stepping are disclosed. In accordance with the illustrative embodiment, an improved method of train control utilizes identical software applications executing on redundant processors. The redundant processors are maintained in virtual lock step to ensure the safety integrity of the overall system being controlled. In accordance with the illustrative embodiment, one software process is a master and one software process is a slave. The master and the slave both independently execute application logic based upon detected events (e.g., input data, etc.). In order to ensure that any anomalies that might result in a hazard are detected in the timeliest manner, and that false anomalies are minimized, the redundant software processes must process the same event within a specified time frame.

Typically in a safety-critical system there are one or more system components having certain measures and techniques considered so critically important they are referred to as vital. In some domains such as the rail industry and the associated positive train control systems, a safety-critical system with improved vitality is implemented to ensure that the train control system does not fail ambiguously.
Positive train control systems are utilized to prevent unsafe movement, avoid train collision or separation, enforce speed restrictions, enforce wayside safety for rail workers, and so forth. In positive train control systems it is imperative that a safety-critical system be capable of redundant cross checking of events in order to detect when a fault (e.g., individual hardware failure, network failure, data corruption, anomalies, etc.) occurs and react accordingly to the fault in a timely and vital manner.

Virtual lock stepping in a vital processing environment for safety assurance


The present invention relates to antibodies including human antibodies and antigen-binding portions thereof that specifically bind to human SARS-CoV S protein, and that function to neutralize SARS-CoV. The invention also relates to antibodies that are bispecific, derivatized, single chain antibodies or portions of fusion proteins. The invention also relates to isolated heavy and light chain immunoglobulins derived from human anti-SARS-CoV S protein antibodies and nucleic acid molecules encoding such immunoglobulins. The present invention also relates to methods of using the antibodies and compositions for diagnosis and treatment. The invention also provides gene therapy methods using nucleic acid molecules encoding the heavy and/or light immunoglobulin molecules that comprise the human anti-SARS-CoV S protein antibodies. The invention also relates to transgenic animals or plants comprising nucleic acid molecules of the present invention.

Coronaviruses (CoV) historically are known to cause relatively mild upper respiratory tract infections, and account for approximately 30% of the cases of the common cold in humans. However, a recently identified CoV, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) causes severe respiratory distress in humans leading to mortality in 9.6% of individuals infected (1). In the year 2003, SARS-CoV established efficient human to human transmission resulting in several super-spreading events. By the end of the outbreak in July of 2003, SARS-CoV was responsible for more than 774 deaths and 8096 cases worldwide involving 29 countries (see World Health Organization website, Epidemic and Pandemic Alert and Response, Diseases, SARs). Since the conclusion of the SARS outbreak several reports of confirmed cases of SARS of unknown origin (29, See World Health Organization website) indicate that the environmental threat of SARS-CoV still exists. SARS-CoV-like virus can be isolated from horseshoe bats in China, and researchers postulate that this is the natural reservoir for the virus (18). SARS-CoV-like virus remains present in intermediate wild animal hosts, such as the Himalayan palm civet, raising the possibility of re-emergence of SARS-CoV infection in humans. Because of the remaining threat, it is prudent to develop effective modalities of pre- and post-exposure treatments against SARS-CoV infection.
During the SARS outbreak, isolation measures proved effective in bringing the outbreak under control. In addition, corticosteroids and antiviral treatments, such as ribavirin, were used to treat infected patients although the efficacy of these treatments for SARS has not been established (5). Therefore, a targeted and effective treatment for SARS-CoV remains highly desirable. In humans, SARS-CoV peak viral load is reached by about 10 days post-infection, thus offering an opportunity for effective post-exposure treatment (6). One modality of treatment that may limit virus replication and thus the spread of the virus is passive immunization with pre-formed neutralizing human monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). Such a treatment during the prodromal phase of the disease could aid in rapid clearance of virus and limit poor clinical outcome and person to person spread, without the adverse effects associated with use of corticosteroids, animal sera, or human sera.
SARS-CoV mediates infection of target cells via the spike (S) protein expressed on the surface. SARS-CoV S protein (Genbank accession number: AY525636; nucleotide sequence SEQ ID NO: 93; amino acid sequence SEQ ID NO: 94) is a type one transmembrane glycoprotein divided into two functional domains S1 (amino acids 15-680) and S2 (amino acids 681-1255) (13). The S1 domain mediates the interaction of the S protein with its receptor, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) (17). A region of S1 consisting of 193 amino acids forms the receptor binding domain (RBD) which is responsible for ACE2 binding (30). More recently, a receptor binding motif (RBM) within the RBD, consisting of 70 amino acids, has been shown to come in direct contact with the tip of ACE2 (16). The S2 domain of the S protein contributes to infection of the target cell by mediating fusion of viral and host membranes through a conformational change in which two conserved helical regions (HR1 and HR2) of the S protein are brought together to form a six-helix bundle fusion core (11).
The S protein serves as the main antigen that elicits protective immune responses, including neutralizing antibodies in infected humans and animals (3, 4, 6, 9, 12, 14). Intranasal or intramuscular application of a modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) expressing S protein into mice elicits SARS-CoV neutralizing antibodies (3). Immunization of mice with a DNA vaccine encoding the S sequence, devoid of the cytoplasmic domain and/or the transmembrane domain, results in the development of neutralizing antibodies as well as both CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses (31). However, it is not the cellular, but the humoral (IgG) component of immunity that inhibits viral replication (31). In fact, transfer of immune serum from immunized mice to naive mice reduces SARS-CoV titers following viral challenge (25). Together, these studies show that primarily Abs are responsible for protection against SARS-CoV replication, and indicate the potential therapeutic value of passive transfer of neutralizing Abs against SARS-CoV. The immunogenic property of the S protein, including its ability to induce neutralizing antibodies and its essential role in viral attachment and fusion, make it an ideal target for developing effective immunotherapy against SARS-CoV infection.
During an outbreak, the SARS-CoV can mutate and exhibit antigenic variation. In fact sequence analysis indicated that the clinical isolates could be divided into early, middle, and late isolates (27). The significance of this is demonstrated in the ability of later isolates to escape neutralization by a monoclonal antibody that effectively neutralized an earlier isolate (32). Therefore, it is important to produce neutralizing mAbs that are effective against a wide range of clinical isolates with antigenic diversity. Because of the potential evolution of antigenic variants an effective passive therapy against SARS-CoV will likely contain a cocktail of neutralizing Abs that target different epitopes and/or steps in the entry process, such as blocking receptor binding and fusion.
Passive therapy with human immunoglobulin can confer immediate protection without the deleterious effects associated with the use of animal or chimeric Abs containing animal derived amino acid sequences. Accordingly, there remains an urgent need for potent, broad spectrum antibody therapeutics for use in treating SARS-CoV infection.


A system for and method of assessing fluid spray using image processing techniques of a calibration and one or more as-sprayed witness cards. Calibration and as-sprayed witness cards are exposed to a backlight sufficient to make a plurality of stains thereon electronically visible. At the same time an image of the stains is captured by, e.g., a digital camera. Resulting image data is processed to assess characteristics of the stains of the fluid on the as-sprayed witness card(s) and thereby assess characteristics of the spray, e.g., volume of fluid delivered. In one embodiment, the witness card is a chemically coated semiopaque plate.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,277,570, which is incorporated herein by reference, describes image processing techniques to determine as-sprayed drop statistics for sprayed witness cards (WCs). As described therein, a wide variety of manufacturing and agricultural processes rely upon the use of instrument controlled spraying. For example, farmers and foresters typically use aircraft and/or farm equipment equipped with instrument sprayers to apply fertilizers and pesticides. Manufacturers use spray techniques to apply coatings and/or layers of a prescribed density and/thickness.
In the case of farming and forestry, the spraying process preferably results in a prescribed amount of fertilizer or pesticide being distributed uniformly to the ground, crop or trees. A spray that distributes too little fluid to a target area may reduce the effectiveness of the fertilizer or pesticide treatment, resulting in lost crops/trees and/or reduced yield. A spray that distributes too much fluid to a target area typically increases the cost of applying the treatment and may result in additional losses due to undesired side effects and/or pollution. A spray that distributes fluid to a target area unevenly, typically results in some portions of the sprayed area receiving too little treatment and other portions of the area receiving too much treatment, resulting in both types of losses described above.
Manufacturing environments, such as automobile production plant paint shops, plywood manufacturers, coated glass manufacturing, and other processing facilities typically use sprays to apply paint, adhesives, cleaning solutions, etc., at various steps in production processes. The ability to deliver a precise distribution of a sprayed solution in a specified period of time allows such plants to conserve resources, to reduce waste, and to optimize a production line for consistent production.
In recent years, the ability to quantify the effectiveness of military and homeland security detection equipment designed to detect pollutants, toxic chemicals and/or biological agents within an environment has further increased the need for a fast and effective determination of spray characteristics as applied to a target area. For example, Raman spectroscopy may now be used to scan an operational environment to detect trace amounts of unknown or suspect substances. In order to perform operational testing of such a system, the precise nature of a sprayed distribution within the target area of a test must be precisely known.
The performance instruments used to dispense a fluid in the form of a mist, or spray, is typically quantified in terms of volume per unit time. This, plus sprayer motion, results in a desired spray density and a mass median diameter (MMD) of droplets deposited upon a sprayed target. Spray density quantifies the total mass of all droplets deposited within a predetermined area. Mass median diameter is the diameter for which one-half of the mass sprayed upon a target is contributed by particles smaller than the MMD and one-half of the sprayed mass is contributed by particles larger than the MMD. For example, if 1001 mg of solution is sprayed upon a target, the mass median diameter is the particle size such that 505.5 mg are contributed by particles smaller than the MMD and 505.5 mg are contributed by particles larger than the MMD. Assuming that each droplet is substantially spherical, measures of spray density and MMD provide a measure of the coverage achieved with the spray.
Currently, there is no reliable mechanism for setting an instrument controlled spraying device to deliver a pre-set range of drop sizes with a pre-set quantity of chemical in order to meet prerequisite density and MMD parameters on a target area. Absent the precision in spraying, 1) droplets may be too small, resulting in spray drift and low spray density and poor coverage, and 2) droplets may be too large resulting in the same low spray density, and poor coverage. Further, the same control setting upon a spray device may result in a different as-sprayed result upon a target area due to a variety of external factors such as the temperature of the fluid being sprayed, the viscosity of the fluid at the current temperature, the distance of a target from the spray jet, the presence/absence of wind, high/low humidity, high/low ambient temperatures, and/or other factors which can cause portions of a spray to drift off and/or portions of the spray to evaporate prior to reaching a target.
The inability to control such spray characteristics via a spraying device, especially with respect to agricultural, forestry and military test operations, in which fluids are typically sprayed from aircraft and/or ground vehicles operating in relatively uncontrolled environments, requires that a spray's characteristics be sampled/monitored within a sprayed area in order to determine the spray characteristics achieved by a specific sprayed application. Such sampling/monitoring is also helpful in controlled environments such as production lines to periodically ascertain the as-is characteristics of an applied spray. In addition to the above, it is also an objective of the U.S. Department of Defense to evaluate military chemical detection systems by subjecting these systems to simulated field conditions where the spraying condition might, e.g., emulate the explosion of ordinance containing chemical warfare agents. Meeting these unusual conditions requires that the as-sprayed characteristics be sampled/monitored within a sprayed area in order to determine the spray characteristics.
Typically, such monitoring is performed by laying down paper or cardboard cards, commonly referred to as witness cards (WCs), at one or more locations within an area to which a spray is to be applied. The witness cards absorb the sprayed drops resulting in a fixed pattern of stains of varying sizes deposited on the cards. Thus, each card captures a representative sample of the spray at a location within the sprayed area. Once stained, a witness card is analyzed and the stain pattern is translated into a characterization of the spray in terms of spray density, MMD and other statistical parameters.
Unfortunately, conventional techniques for processing witness cards are quite limited. For example, one technique is to assess the droplet stains found within a plurality of portions of a given witness card, and found within a plurality of witness cards. A single witness card is typically sampled until a maximum of 15 portions/samples are processed or until information on 100 droplets is collected. Information related to the droplet stains is used to characterize the spray at the location of the witness card. By collecting information related to multiple witness cards distributed over an area subjected to a spraying operation, statistics related to the overall spraying are generated. U.S. Pat. No. 7,277,570 describes a more automated methodology for analyzing as-spayed witness cards that relies on electronic imagery and calibration techniques.
Notably, however, prior art witness card test spray methodologies require that the substance being sprayed be dyed so that droplets that stain the witness cards can be more easily seen or detected. However, dying a substance or liquid to be sprayed adds unnecessary expense in terms of both time and materials, may change the characteristics of the substance being sprayed, may adversely affect the performance of a given chemical detection system under test, or may cause different spray characteristics for different batches of the dyed liquid. For example, the U.S. Government has approved several "simulants" for use in spray tests. A simulant is a substance (e.g., a liquid or fluid) that may be used in place of another liquid, which may be too expensive or hazardous to use merely for testing purposes. By dyeing a simulant, the characteristics of the simulant may change, thereby further distancing a test spray from spray characteristics of a substance for which the simulant is being used.
Accordingly, there remains a need to provide improved witness card analysis techniques, especially where simulants are not dyed.

Systems and methods for witness card analysis