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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to anchor implanting devices for orthodontics, and more particularly, to an anchor implanting devices for orthodontics, used in implanting a wire supporting anchor supporting an orthodontic wire, making orthodontics of one or more teeth by supporting a plurality of teeth together.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, when operating orthodontics to treat false occlusion of the teeth, it is very important to control a force produced between moving teeth (mainly, front teeth) to be moved and fixed teeth (mainly, molars) not to be moved, for a better chewing by the molars and a more improved utterance and an aesthetic function by the front teeth.
For example, in the case of making an orthodontics of a projecting tooth or a slant tooth, an orthodontic device comprised of brackets mounted to the teeth and an orthodontic wire connecting the brackets has been used, after a small molar is pulled out, and then a front tooth is moved toward the molar region pulled out.
A reaction toward the molar is applied to the front tooth so as to be moved, due to this orthodontic device. However, a reaction in reverse is generated in the molar region, thereby causing the molar to be moved forward and occupy the position of the tooth pulled out, even though the molar is not to be moved, and therefore, it is problematic because the front teeth cannot be moved as long as desired.
To solve this problem, in the orthodontics an orthodontic device detachably coupled to the teeth has been used, in order to reduce the reaction as mentioned above and provide a sufficient space in which the moving teeth can be moved. However, in the case of adults, it has not been easy to obtain an agreement to mount the detachable orthodontic device to their teeth because it is neither aesthetic nor it is convenient to insert it into and detach it from the teeth.
Recently, small screws have been implanted into alveolar bones of the gum between the roots of the teeth, and the teeth to be made orthodontics and the wire supporting anchor are ligated by means of an elastic material, thereby allowing them to be used as fixtures for fixing them in a secure and continued manner (which is called “mini implant”). Since the wire supporting anchor is implanted between the roots of the teeth, it is not shown to the outside. Also, since the fixing force is strong, the mini implant can exercise its force for the whole day. Thus, this device is advantageous in that the teeth can be moved as soon as possible.
However, since the teeth are covered with the gum and the whole part of the molar region is not seen to the operator, it is not easy to implant a wire supporting anchor correctly between the roots of the teeth so as not to cause damages to the root of the teeth.
Thus, in a conventional implanting device, a small dental mirror has been used to exactly implant the anchor between the roots of the teeth, by the means of a pincette or an anesthetic injection needle, since the exact position of the gum between the teeth can be indicated. Otherwise, the implantation has been operated after ascertaining, by the means of an X-ray, the exact position for implantation of the wire supporting anchor between the roots of the teeth. However, this method has been available only for indicating an external position of the gum, and thus, the direction may be out of joint when actually implanting the wire into the bone. In addition, this method has caused inconvenience in operating the implantation. Therefore, the conventional implanting devices have increased the time and cost for operation of the implantation.
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1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a computer-implemented method for managing at least one data element in control unit development.
2. Description of the Background Art
Methods for managing data elements are known from various technical development sectors, and are used primarily in technical products whose development goes through several stages, wherein multiple developers or development groups taking part in the development have different views of the product and the data elements associated with the product, depending on their area of responsibility.
Control units can be understood to mean robust microcomputers which are presently typically provided for industrial use and which usually have integrated I/O interfaces. Programs which in the broadest sense connect via the I/O interface to a technical process to be controlled and act on this process in a desired manner are frequently executed on control units which are equipped with a real-time operating system. Control units of the described type are used extensively in the automotive field, for example. In the meantime, the development of control units has become an important element in the development of mass-produced vehicles.
Control unit development may be classified into various areas in which different data elements of interest are typically processed. The beginning of the control unit development includes, for example, the area of requirement specifications and the area of test cases for testing the various requirements. These are followed by the area of test system descriptions, for example in the form of a hardware description of a hardware-in-the-loop test system, the area of mathematical models for simulating the control unit environment, or the area of parameter sets and signals for parameterizing the models; the listing is by way of example and may be freely expanded. It is readily apparent that in the various areas of control unit development, various contents in the form of the data elements are processed by different developers, and also should be processed only by them. In the prior art it is presently customary to perform the management of the data elements via control unit development in various development environments. For example, the requirement specifications are processed and managed in a different software environment than the software which is developed for various target control units.
It would be desirable to manage data elements using a uniform computer-implemented method via the overall process of the control unit development, so that different development environments do not have to be used for managing data elements. Accordingly, the object of the present invention is to provide a computer-implemented method of this type.
In the computer-implemented method described at the outset for managing at least one data element in control unit development, the object formulated and presented above is achieved by providing at least one management unit having a user interface, associating the data element with the management unit, and associating an access configuration with the management unit, the access configuration defining the accessibility of the data element by a user via the user interface.
The management unit is thus a program-based repository for the data elements associated with it, the user interface associated with the management unit ensuring the basic possibility for accessing the data elements contained in the management unit. In the access configuration, the type and/or the extent of the possibility for accessing the data element is/are defined by the user via the user interface. The configuration of the management unit according to the invention allows the accessibility of the contained data elements to be controlled by the users.
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A gesture sensor is a human interface device that enables the detection of physical movement without the user actually touching the device within which the gesture sensor resides. The detected movements can be subsequently used as input commands to the device. In some applications, the device is programmed to recognize distinct non-contact hand motions, such as left to right, right to left, up to down, down to up, diagonally up to left, diagonally up to right, in to out, and out to in hand motions. Gesture sensors have found popular use in handheld devices, such as tablet computing devices and smartphones, and other portable devices, such as laptops. Gesture sensors are also being implemented in video game consoles that detect the motion of a video game player.
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional gesture sensing system 100. As shown in FIG. 1, the system 100 includes an illumination source 102 for outputting light 106 and a light sensor 104 for receiving light. In operation, the illumination source 102 is turned on and off, or flashed, in succession in order for the sensor 104 to obtain spatial information about an object 99 proximate the light sensor 104. Specifically, the light sensor 104 is able to receive a portion of the light 106 from the illumination source 102 that has reflected off of the object 99 and back to the light sensor 104. Based on this received reflected light 108, the movement or gesture of the object 99 is able to be determined. FIG. 2 illustrates a signal diagram 200 corresponding to the gesture sensor system 100 shown in FIG. 1. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, as the illumination source signal 202 turns on from time t0 to t1 and time t2 to t3 (e.g. the illumination source 102 flashes) the reflected light 108 received by the light sensor 104 causes the light sensor signal 204 to increase above the measured ambient light level 210 wherein the increase corresponds to the spatial characteristics of the object 99. As a result, movement or gestures of the object 99 are able to be determined based on the measured increases over time.
However, a disadvantage of these conventional systems 100 is the amount of noise on the sensor 104 of the system caused by the ambient light 110. In particular, as the ambient light level 210 increases the minimum detectable signal increases thereby reducing the resolution and effectiveness of the system 100. As a result, many of these systems are forced to employ costly noise cancellation elements in order to cancel out the noise caused by the ambient light. With ever decreasing device size, additional components are undesirable.
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The following U.S. Patents and publications are believed to represent the current state of the art: U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,129,946; 5,487,663; 5,624,261; 5,709,548; 6,106,295.
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A computer system 10, as shown in FIG. 1, includes several components that are collectively used by a user to perform various functions such as, for example, preparing and generating a document with a word processor application. With the computer system 10, the user may input data to a computing portion 12 using peripheral devices such as a keyboard 14 or a mouse 16. Data may also be provided to the computing portion 12 using data storage media (e.g., a floppy disk or a CD-ROM (not shown)). The computing portion 12, using memory and other internal components, processes both internal data and data provided to the computing portion 12 by the user to generate data requested by the user. The generated data may be provided to the user via, for example, a display device 18 or a printer 20. The computing portion 12 of a computer system typically includes various components such as, for example, a power supply, disk drives, and the electrical circuitry required to perform the necessary and requested operations of the computer system.
As shown in FIG. 2, the computing portion 12 may contain a plurality of circuit boards 22, 24, 26, 28 (e.g., printed circuit boards (PCBs) or printed wiring boards (PWBs)) on which various circuit components are implemented. For example, a computing portion designed to have enhanced sound reproducing capabilities may have a circuit board dedicated to implementing circuitry that specifically operate to process data associated with the reproduction of sound.
In FIG. 2, the components of exemplary circuit board 22 are shown. A crystal oscillator 30 provides a reference of time to various integrated circuits (ICs) 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42 (e.g., application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), microprocessors, logic gates) that are connected to the circuit board 22. The integrated circuits 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42 communicate with one another, i.e., pass data, using wires or traces of conductive material (e.g., copper (shown, but not labeled)) embedded in the circuit board 22.
In operation, an integrated circuit, such as those shown in FIG. 2, dissipates heat as a result of work performed by the integrated circuit. Energy that is needed by the integrated circuit for work is not consumed with 100% efficiency, thereby resulting in excess energy that is released, among other things, as heat. As integrated circuits become more dense (i.e., more transistors per unit area) and faster (i.e., higher operating frequencies), they generate more heat. As excessive heat is damaging to an integrated circuit both in terms of performance and component integrity, an important design consideration involves ensuring that heat dissipated by an integrated circuit is sufficiently drawn away from the integrated circuit, where the efficiency of drawing away heat from the integrated circuit is expressed in terms of what is referred to as the “heat transfer rate.”
“Heat sinks” are devices that are commonly used to cool integrated circuits. FIG. 3 shows a heat sink 50 as used with an integrated circuit 52 housed in a package 54 atop a substrate 56. The heat sink 50 is made of a high thermal conductivity metal (e.g., copper or aluminum). A “high thermal conductivity metal” is one that allows heat to pass through it because it contains many free electrons.
A base of the heat sink 50 is secured over the integrated circuit 52 by, for example, a retention clip (not shown) or an adhesive or thermal interface material (shown, but not labeled). During operation of the integrated circuit 52, the temperature of the integrated circuit 52 increases due to increased particle movement resulting from a build-up of excess energy. The increased integrated circuit temperature results in an increase in the temperature of the package 54, and consequently, of the heat sink 50. The increased temperature of the heat sink 50 results in an increase in the temperature of the air around the heat sink 50, whereby the heated air rises and effectively draws heat away from the integrated circuit 52. This process is referred to as “convection.”
The removal of heat dissipated from an integrated circuit by a heat sink is dependent on numerous factors. For example, the thermal resistance of the package that houses the integrated circuit affects how much heat transfers from the integrated circuit to the heat sink. Also, the effectiveness of the adhesives between the integrated circuit and its package and the package and the heat sink affects how much heat transfers between these components. Moreover, the conductivity of the materials used in the package and the heat sink has a direct bearing on the amount of heat that is transferred away from the integrated circuit. The surface area of the heat sink is also important as more surface area results in more air being heated, thereby resulting in more heat being drawn away from the integrated circuit by the rising heated air.
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Many types of conventional electrode leads implantable in living bodies (to be referred to as implantable electrode leads hereinafter) which are used together with implantable heart pacemakers or implantable defibrillators, are known.
An implantable electrode lead is generally comprised of an electrode for supplying an electrical stimulation pulse to the heart or sensing an electrically evoked response of the heart, an electrical connector connected to a heart pacemaker (or defibrillator), and a lead body made up of an electrical conductor wire for connecting the electrode and electrical connector to each other and transmitting an electrical signal between the electrode and heart pacemaker (or defibrillator) and an electrical insulation covering the electrical conductor wire.
In the implantable electrode lead, the electrode and part of the lead body are inserted in the heart and vein, while the remaining lead body and the electrical connector are placed outside the vein and connected to the connection housing of the heart pacemaker or implantable defibrillator.
As an example of a lead body for an implantable electrode lead, a bipolar type lead body in which a plurality of insulation-coated conductor are connected parallel to each other is used, as shown in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-333000. The conductor wires are wound parallel to each other insulated from each other so as to form a coil, and the conductor wires are covered with a sheath, thus forming a lead body.
According to another general lead body, one with a coaxial structure is available, which is comprised of two types of conductor coils with different average diameters, an insulating sheath located between the conductor coils, and a sheath located at the outermost surface of the lead body.
A bipolar type implantable electrode lead body comprised of a plurality of conductor wires with respect to one electrode is used because, even if one of the conductor wires is disconnected, as long as the remaining conductor wires are connected normally, an electrical signal from the heart pacemaker can be continuously transmitted to the living tissue.
As the implantable electrode lead, one with a small energy loss in the conductor wires is sought. For this reason, two conductor wires with the same low resistance are used.
In a conventional implantable electrode lead using two low-resistance conductor wires, even if one conductor wire is disconnected, this produces a small change in electrical resistance, as will be described later. Therefore, it is rather difficult to externally detect disconnection from a change in electrical resistance after the implantable electrode lead is implanted in the living body.
This will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 14 and 15.
FIG. 14 shows a case in which a bipolar type implantable electrode lead, comprised of two low-resistance conductor wires connected parallel with each other, is connected to a living tissue. The lead body of an implantable electrode lead 60 is comprised of two portions, i.e., a tip electrode-side lead resistor 61 and ring electrode-side lead resistor 62. The implantable electrode lead 60 and the living tissue 32 are connected to each other through a tip electrode 4 and ring electrode 3, and the living tissue 32 and the implantable electrode lead 60 substantially electrically form a series circuit as shown in FIG. 14. The implantable electrode lead 60 is connected to an implantable heart pacemaker through a connector pin 1 and connector ring 2.
Each of the tip electrode-side lead resistor 61 and ring electrode-side lead resistor 62 is comprised of two conductor wires with the same resistance (R1). To obtain the resistance R1 used for the implantable heart pacemaker, for example, a low-resistance conductor wire with approximately 16 Ω is used. A bioelectrical resistance 32 (R4) of the living tissue is approximately 1,000 Ω.
FIGS. 15A and 15B show a case wherein changes in resistance that occur when, of the four conductor wires, one conductor-wire of the tip electrode-side lead resistor 61 is disconnected with the condition described above are obtained. FIG. 15A shows changes in electrical resistance upon disconnection. The resistance of the tip electrode-side lead resistor 61 increases from 7.88 Ω to 15.76 Ω upon disconnection.
FIG. 15B shows a change in total electrical resistance obtained on the basis of FIG. 15A. Although the total electrical resistance after disconnection (1,023.63 Ω) is slightly larger than that (1,015.76 Ω) obtained before disconnection, the increase is small, approximately 1% (the ratio of total electrical resistance before disconnection to that after disconnection: 1.008). Also, since the bioelectical resistance sometimes fluctuates by approximately several 10 Ω, it is difficult to determine disconnection from the 1% increase in resistance.
As another lead body for the bipolar type implantable electrode lead, one with a coaxial structure is also available, which is comprised of two types of conductor coils with different average diameters, an insulating sheath located between the conductor coils, and a sheath located at the outermost surface of the lead body.
When the conductor wires of the same pole are not insulated from each other, as in the conventional coaxial structure, the adjacent conductor wires are largely influenced by the contact resistance. As the contact resistance varies depending on the movement or deformation of the lead in the living body, it is sometimes difficult to externally detect the contact resistance from a change in resistance.
When, however, an implantable electrode lead used in a heart pacemaker or implantable defibrillator is completely disconnected, the treatment necessary for the patient cannot be performed, sometimes leading to the worst result such as death of the patient. For this reason, it is desired that a symptom of disconnection of the implantable electrode lead be found at an early stage before complete disconnection.
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a marine propulsion unit for a watercraft, and more particularly to a tilt and trim adjustment system for a marine propulsion unit.
2. Description of Related Art
Outboard motors with four-cycle engines have grown in popularity in recent years, due in part to environmental concerns associated with two-cycle outboard motors. The application of four-cycle engines in outboard motors, however, has raised some challenges, especially with large horse power engines. A four-cycle engine will weigh significantly more that a two-cycle engine that produces a comparable horsepower to that of the four-cycle engine. The additional weight creates problems for the conventional hydraulic power tilt and trim systems used with the outboard motor.
A hydraulic power tilt and trim system supports an outboard motor on a watercraft, and adjusts the trim and tilt position of the outboard motor. A tilt and trim adjustment mechanism of the system commonly includes at least one hydraulic actuator which operates between a clamping bracket and a swivel bracket. The clamping bracket is attached to the watercraft and the swivel bracket supports the outboard motor. A pivot pin connects together the swivel and clamping brackets. The actuator causes the swivel bracket to pivot about the axis of the pivot pin, relative to the stationary clamping bracket, to raise or lower the outboard drive.
Tilt and trim adjustment mechanisms also usually employ a powering unit that affects the trim and tilt operations of the outboard motor. For this purpose, powering units have included a reversible electric motor that selectively drives a reversible fluid pump. The pump pressurizes or depressurizes the actuator for raising or lowering the outboard motor.
In particular, the fluid pump supplies pressurized fluid to various ports of the actuator's closed cylinder, on either side of a piston which slides within the cylinder. The piston forms separate chambers within the cylinder. A conventional seal, such as one or more O-rings, operates between the piston and cylinder bore to prevent flow from between the chambers. The piston moves within the cylinder by pressurizing the chamber on one side of the piston and depressurizing the other chamber on the opposite side.
An actuator arm is attached to the piston and to the swivel bracket. The other end of the cylinder is attached to the clamping bracket. By pressurizing and depressurizing the chambers within the actuator, the piston and thus the outboard motor can be moved.
The actuator and powering unit often are located adjacent to each other in a side-by-side relationship, as illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,049,099. The powering assembly formed by the pump, reservoir and motor, extends along side the actuator for most of the actuator's length. Both the actuator and the powering unit lie between bracket arms of the clamping and swivel brackets. While these components are shielded in this position, the resulting assembly off sets the actuator from the center of gravity of the outboard motor. That is, the stroke axis of the actuator and the center of gravity of the outboard motor which it moves, are not within the same plane. Consequently more force is required to raise the outboard motor, which increases the size of the actuator. With smaller two-cycle engines, this result was acceptable; however, the heavier four-cycle motors exacerbate this problem.
Moreover, the swivel and clamping brackets must be reinforced to handle the increased weight. The brackets also must be widened, which requires additional reinforcing, to accommodate the resulting larger sizes of the actuator, motor, reservoir and pump. Such reinforcing increases the size and weight of the brackets, as well as increases the manufacturing cost.
Prior powering units also include a valve that allows the outboard motor to be raised (i.e., tilted up) and lowered manually when the electric motor is not functioning. The valve, when open, places a chamber of the actuator in communication with the reservoir and/or with the opposite cylinder chamber in order to move the actuator by hand. This valve, however, commonly must be rotated with an aid of a tool, which makes actuation of the valve inconvenient. The tool also is often lost or misplaced by the watercraft owner.
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1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an electroless surface treatment plated layer of a printed circuit board, a method for preparing the same, and a printed circuit board including the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In accordance with an increase in density of an electronic component, various technologies regarding surface treatment of a printed circuit board (PCB) have been developed. In accordance with the recent demand of PCB products that have been thinned and densified, a process of treating a surface of the PCB has been recently changed from electro Ni/Au surface treatment into electroless surface treatment in which tailless implementation may be easily performed in order to simplify a process and solve a problem such as noise, or the like.
Particularly, since the existing used electroless Ni/Au (hereinafter, referred to as ENIG) and recently prominent electroless Ni/Pd/Au (hereinafter, referred to as ENEPIG) have excellent solder connection reliability and wire bonding reliability, they have been used in various fields as well as a package substrate. However, in accordance with miniaturization of a wiring for increasing density of the electronic component, problems of a technology of surface-treating the circuit board according to the related art have started to emerge.
Meanwhile, as a scheme of connecting various devices such as a die, a main board, and the like, to each other, there are mainly two schemes, that is, a wire-bonding scheme and a solder joint scheme.
FIGS. 1A and 1B are, respectively, a cross-sectional view and a top view when a plated layer and a device are connected to each other using the wire-bonding scheme according to the related art. Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B, a polymer resin layer 20 is first formed at a portion except for a copper layer 10 in a printed circuit board to thereby subsequently serve as a resist to plating, and electroless Ni layer 31/Pd layer 32/Au layer 33 are formed as a plated layer 30 using an electroless plating method in order to protect the copper layer 10. In addition, after the electroless Ni/Pd/Au surface treatment plated layer 30 is formed, the metal layers are interconnected using a gold (Au) wire, or the like.
In a substrate including the plated layer 30 of the ENIG or ENEPIG, in the case of the ENIG, the Ni layer has a thickness of at least 3 μm and the Au layer has a thickness of 0.05 to 0.5 μm, and in the case of the ENEPIG, the Ni layer has a thickness of at least 3 μm, the Pd layer has a thickness of 0.05 to 0.3 μm, and the Au layer has a thickness of 0.05 to 0.5 μmm, as seen in FIG. 2.
That is, the Ni layer generally has the thickest thickness of 3 μm or more, more specifically, 3 to 7 μm. The reason is that the electroless Ni layer needs to have coating performance without a defect in order to serve as a barrier layer to thereby suppress diffusion of underlying copper.
However, when the thickness of the Ni layer is thick, as a frequency increases, a phenomenon in which a current flows in a surface due to a skin effect, such that it is concentrated on an outermost layer of Ni/Au or Ni/Pd/Au rather than an inner layer of Cu wiring occurs. However, the Ni layer has electrical resistance higher than that of Cu, such that electrical characteristics are deteriorated. Therefore, a solution thereof has been demanded.
Further, in the case in which the layers have the above-mentioned thicknesses, it is impossible to reduce a space between patterns to 25 μm or less, which is an object of the next generation technology. The reason is that when the space between the patterns becomes narrow, the Ni layer abnormally grows between the patterns to thereby cause an electrical bridge.
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Multi-level monolithic fabrication techniques have been used in the past for semiconductor devices in which impurities are diffused into silicon, germanium or other crystalline substrates, in which the substrates are in general non-conductive. However, especially for electromagnetic devices, there is a need for the provision of conductors within a conductive block in which the conductors are insulated from the block. One such application would be the fabrication of magnetic recording heads.
Magnetic recording heads have, in the past, involved the utilization of a comb-like core through which insulated wires are threaded. The utilization of the insulated wires provides for control of the magnetic head but poses the problem of manually or automatically threading the wires on the core which in general results in high manufacturing costs and less process control.
It will be appreciated that most electromagnetic devices utilize wound cores involving the separate formation of a core which is over-wound in some fashion with insulated or coated wire so as to establish the required electromagnetic function. While in the past it has been possible to form certain types of flat inductors on a substrate, it has been only with difficulty, if at all, that insulated metallic conductors have been embedded in a conductive substrate or material for any kind of three dimensionality or multi-layer configuration.
It will of course be appreciated that the ability to embed conductors which are insulated from themselves and from the surrounding conductive material has utility not only in magnetic recording heads, but also in computer storage devices. The resulting structure can also be used as a multi-conductor cable, or when properly configured, is a magnetic transducer, especially useful in rotary or linear encoders.
Of course, multi-level sets of conductors embedded in a metallic core may, when appropriately connected, form a three-dimensional coil-like structure occupying more than one plane. The ability to form such an inductor especially in a monolithic fashion, has far reaching advantages.
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The present invention is directed to antimicrobial compositions containing active ingredients which are oligomers and/or polymers of xcex2-amino acids.
Chemists have long sought to extrapolate the power of biological catalysis and recognition to synthetic systems. These efforts have focused largely on low molecular weight catalysts and receptors. Most biological systems, however, rely almost exclusively on large polymers such as proteins and RNA to perform complex chemical functions.
Proteins and RNA are unique in their ability to adopt compact, well-ordered conformations. These two biopolymers are unique also because they can perform complex chemical operations (e.g., catalysis, highly selective recognition, etc.). Folding is linked to function in both proteins and RNA because the creation of an xe2x80x9cactive sitexe2x80x9d requires proper positioning of reactive groups. Consequently, there has been a long-felt need to identify synthetic polymer backbones which display discrete and predictable folding propensities (hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9cfoldamersxe2x80x9d) to mimic natural biological systems. Such backbones will provide molecular xe2x80x9ctoolsxe2x80x9d to probe the functionality of large-molecule interactions (e.g. protein-protein and protein-RNA interactions).
Much work on xcex2-amino acids and peptides synthesized therefrom has been performed by a group led by Dieter Seebach in Zurich, Switzerland. See, for example, Seebach et al. (1996) Helv. Chim. Acta. 79:913-941; and Seebach et al. (1996) Helv. Chim. Acta. 79:2043-2066. In the first of these two papers Seebach et al. describe the synthesis and characterization of a xcex2-hexapeptide, namely (H-xcex2-HVal-xcex2-HAla-xcex2-HLeu)2-OH. Interestingly, this paper specifically notes that prior art reports on the structure of xcex2-peptides have been contradictory and xe2x80x9cpartially controversial.xe2x80x9d In the second paper, Seebach et al. explore the secondary structure of the above-noted xcex2-hexapeptide and the effects of residue variation on the secondary structure.
Dado and Gellman (1994) J. Am. Chem. Soc. 116:1054-1062 describe intramolecular hydrogen bonding in derivatives of xcex2-alanine and xcex3-amino butyric acid. This paper postulates that xcex2-peptides will fold in manners similar to xcex1-amino acid polymers if intramolecular hydrogen bonding between nearest neighbor amide groups on the polymer backbone is not favored.
Suhara et al. (1996) Tetrahedron Lett. 37(10):1575-1578 report a polysaccharide analog of a xcex2-peptide in which D-glycocylamine derivatives are linked to each other via a C-1 xcex2-carboxylate and a C-2 xcex1-amino group. This class of compounds has been given the trivial name xe2x80x9ccarbopeptoids.xe2x80x9d
Hamuro et al. (1999) J. Am. Chem. Soc. 121:12200-12201, describe antibacterial compositions containing xcex2-peptides having a repeating 3-peptide residue motif. The compounds described are: Fmoc-(xcex23-HVal-xcex23-HLys-xcex23-HLeu)n-OH (n=2-4); H-(xcex23-HVal-xcex23-HLys-xcex23-HLeu)n-OH (n=2-4); and H-(xcex23-HLeu-xcex23-HLys-xcex23-HLeu)n-OH (n=2-6). While these xcex2-peptides are described as being antibacterial, they are also hemolytic at concentrations near the effective antibacterial concentrations, thus limiting their utility as medicaments.
The increasing prevalence of pathogenic bacteria that are resistant to common chemotherapies has prompted an intensive search for new antibiotics. Cationic peptides that adopt amphiphilic secondary structures (e.g., magainins) constitute a widespread host defense against microbial invasions, and mimicry of these natural antibiotics led the present inventors on a search for new synthetic antimicrobial agents. Many of the cationic antimicrobial peptides appear to act by disrupting bacterial membranes, a mechanism that may not be conducive to the development of resistance. The subject invention is directed to antimicrobial compositions containing unnatural cationic oligomers that have no known natural counterpart and that display antibiotic activity comparable to that of a magainin derivative against at least four different bacterial species, including two pathogens that are resistant to common antibiotics. The oligomers are constructed from xcex2-amino acid building blocks rather than the xcex1-amino acid building blocks of conventional peptides. These xcex2-peptides exhibit lower hemolytic activity than does the magainin derivative, which indicates a favorable selectivity for bacterial cells relative to mammalian cells. Because xcex2-peptides are not expected to be subject to protease degradation, these results point toward the rational design of a promising new antibiotic class.
Specifically, the present invention is directed to compounds and to antimicrobial compositions containing the compounds, that is, compositions which inhibit the growth of microbes in general and bacteria and fungi in particular, the compositions comprising an antimicrobial-effective amount of a xcex2-amino acid oligomer or polymer of the formula:
W-(xe2x80xa2xe2x80xa2xe2x80xa2-A-B-C-xe2x80xa2xe2x80xa2xe2x80xa2)-Z
wherein xe2x80x9cxe2x80xa2xe2x80xa2xe2x80xa2-A-B-C-xe2x80xa2xe2x80xa2xe2x80xa2xe2x80x9d represents a xcex2-amino acid oligomer or polymer chain, each of A, B, C, etc. representing individual residues of the oligomer or polymer chain and the ellipses representing adjacent N-terminal and C-terminal xcex2-amino acid residues of the same genus, wherein each residue of the oligomer or polymer chain (that is, each A, B, C, etc.) is the same or different and is independently selected from the group consisting of:
wherein X is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, linear or branched C1-C6-alkyl, alkenyl, or alkynyl; mono- or bicyclic aryl, mono- or bicyclic heteroaryl having up to 5 heteroatoms selected from N, O, and S; mono- or bicyclic aryl-C1-C6-alkyl, mono- or bicyclic heteroaryl-C1-C6-alkyl, xe2x80x94(CH2)n+1xe2x80x94OR, xe2x80x94(CH2)n+1xe2x80x94SR, xe2x80x94(CH2)n+1xe2x80x94S(xe2x95x90O)xe2x80x94CH2xe2x80x94R, xe2x80x94(CH2)n+1xe2x80x94S(xe2x95x90O)2xe2x80x94CH2xe2x80x94R, xe2x80x94(CH2)n+1xe2x80x94NRR, xe2x80x94(CH2)n+1xe2x80x94NHC(xe2x95x90O)R, xe2x80x94(CH2)n+1xe2x80x94NHS(xe2x95x90O)2xe2x80x94CH2xe2x80x94R, xe2x80x94(CH2)n+1xe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94(CH)mxe2x80x94R1, xe2x80x94(CH2)n+1xe2x80x94Sxe2x80x94(CH2)mxe2x80x94R1, xe2x80x94(CH2)n+1xe2x80x94S(xe2x95x90O)xe2x80x94(CH2)mxe2x80x94R1, xe2x80x94(CH2)n+1xe2x80x94S(xe2x95x90O)2xe2x80x94(CH2)mxe2x80x94R1, xe2x80x94(CH2)n+1xe2x80x94NHxe2x80x94(CH2)mxe2x80x94R1, xe2x80x94(CH2)n+1xe2x80x94Nxe2x80x94{(CH2)mxe2x80x94R1}2, xe2x80x94(CH2)n+1xe2x80x94NHC(xe2x95x90O)xe2x80x94(CH2)n+1xe2x80x94R1, and xe2x80x94(CH2)n+1xe2x80x94NHS(xe2x95x90O)2xe2x80x94(CH2)mxe2x80x94R1;
wherein R is independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, C1-C6-alkyl, alkenyl, or alkynyl; mono- or bicyclic aryl, mono- or bicyclic heteraryl having up to 5 heteroatoms selected from N, O, and S; mono- or bicyclic aryl-C1-C6-alkyl, mono- or bicyclic heteroaryl-C1-C6-alkyl; and
wherein R1 is selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, C1-C6-alkyloxy, aryloxy, heteroaryloxy, thio, C1-C6-alkylthio, C1-C6-alkylsulfinyl, C1-C6-alkylsulfonyl, arylthio, arylsulfinyl, arylsulfonyl, heteroarylthio, heteroarylsulfinyl, heteroarylsulfonyl, amino, mono- or di-C1-C6-alkylamino, mono- or diarylamino, mono- or diheteroarylamino, N-alkyl-N-arylamino, N-alkyl-N-heteroarylamino, N-aryl-N-heteroarylamino, aryl-C1-C6-alkylamino, carboxylic acid, carboxamide, mono- or di-C1-C6-alkylcarboxamide, mono- or diarylcarboxamide, mono- or diheteroarylcarboxamide, N-alkyl-N-arylcarboxamide, N-alkyl-N-heteroarylcarboxamide, N-aryl-N-heteroarylcarboxamide, sulfonic acid, sulfonamide, mono- or di-C1-C6-alkylsulfonamide, mono- or diarylsulfonamide, mono- or diheteroarylsulfonamide, N-alkyl-N-arylsulfonamide, N-alkyl-N-heteroarylsulfonamide, N-aryl-N-heteroarylsulfonamide, urea; mono- di- or tri-substituted urea, wherein the subsitutent(s) is selected from the group consisting of C1-C6-alkyl, aryl, heteroaryl; O-alkylurethane, O-arylurethane, and O-heteroarylurethane;
wherein Y is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, linear or branched C1-C6-alkyl, alkenyl, or alkynyl; mono- or bicyclic aryl, mono- or bicyclic heteroaryl having up to 5 heteroatoms selected from N, O, and S; mono- or bicyclic aryl-C1-C6-alkyl, mono- or bicyclic heteroaryl-C1-C6-alkyl, xe2x80x94(CH2)nxe2x80x94OR, xe2x80x94(CH2)nxe2x80x94SR, xe2x80x94(CH2)nxe2x80x94S(xe2x95x90O)xe2x80x94CH2xe2x80x94R, xe2x80x94(CH2)nxe2x80x94S(xe2x95x90O)2xe2x80x94CH2xe2x80x94R, xe2x80x94(CH2)nxe2x80x94NRR, xe2x80x94(CH2)nxe2x80x94NHC(xe2x95x90O)R, xe2x80x94(CH2)nxe2x80x94NHS(xe2x95x90O)2xe2x80x94CH2xe2x80x94R, xe2x80x94(CH2)nxe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94(CH)mxe2x80x94R1, xe2x80x94(CH2)nxe2x80x94Sxe2x80x94(CH2)mxe2x80x94R1, xe2x80x94(CH2)nxe2x80x94S(xe2x95x90O)xe2x80x94(CH2)mxe2x80x94R1, xe2x80x94(CH2)nxe2x80x94S(xe2x95x90O)2xe2x80x94(CH2)mxe2x80x94R1, xe2x80x94(CH2)nxe2x80x94NHxe2x80x94(CH2)mxe2x80x94R1, xe2x80x94(CH2)nxe2x80x94Nxe2x80x94{(CH2)mxe2x80x94R1}2xe2x80x94(CH2)nxe2x80x94NHC(xe2x95x90O)xe2x80x94(CH2)mxe2x80x94R1, and xe2x80x94(CH2)nxe2x80x94NHS(xe2x95x90O)2xe2x80x94(CH2)mxe2x80x94R1;
wherein R and R1 are as defined above; or
X and Y combined, together with the carbon atoms to which they are bonded, independently define a substituted or unsubstituted C3-C8 cycloalkyl, cycloalkenyl or heterocyclic ring having one or more N, O or S atom(s) as the heteroatom(s);
the substituents on carbon atoms of these rings being independently selected from the group consisting of linear or branched C1-C6-alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl; mono- or bicyclic aryl, mono- or bicyclic heteraryl having up to 5 heteroatoms selected from N, O, and S; mono- or bicyclic aryl-C1-C6-alkyl, mono- or bicyclic heteroaryl-C1-C6-alkyl, and the substituents listed above for X and Y when X and Y are not combined;
the substituents on nitrogen heteroatoms being independently selected from the group consisting of xe2x80x94S(xe2x95x90O)2xe2x80x94CH2xe2x80x94R, xe2x80x94C(xe2x95x90O)xe2x80x94R, xe2x80x94S(xe2x95x90O)2xe2x80x94(CH2)mxe2x80x94R1, xe2x80x94C(xe2x95x90O)xe2x80x94(CH2)n+1xe2x80x94R1; wherein R and R1 are as defined above;
m is an integer of from 2-6 and n is an integer of from 0-6;
W is hydrogen or an amino-terminal capping group (such as formyl, acetyl, tBoc, Fmoc, etc.); Z is hydroxy or a carboxy-terminal capping group (such as NH2, NH(alkyl), N(alkyl)2, etc.); and wherein the total number of residues is greater than 6; and further wherein in at least one residue, X and Y are combined in a cyclic moiety; pharmaceutically-suitable salts thereof, and combinations thereof; optionally in combination with a pharmaceutically-suitable carrier.
When X is not combined with Y, X and Y are preferably (and independently) selected from the group consisting of linear or branched C1-C6-alkyl, hydroxy-C1-C6-alkyl, amino-C1-C6-alkyl, aryl-C1-C6-alkyl, heteroaryl-C1-C6-alkyl, and carboxyl-C1-C6-alkyl. When X and Y are combined together into a cyclic substituent, together X and Y and the carbons to which they are bonded define a substituted or unsubstituted cyclopentyl, substituted or unsubstituted cyclohexyl, unsubstituted or N-substituted piperidinyl, or unsubstituted or N-substituted pyrrolidinyl.
In a another embodiment, the composition contains a xcex2-amino acid oligomer or polymer of the above, wherein each residue (A, B, C, etc.) of the oligomer is a xcex2-amino acid residue of formula:
wherein X and Y combined, together with the carbon atoms to which they are bonded, independently from residue to residue define a substituted or unsubsituted C3-C8 cycloalkyl, cycloalkenyl or heterocyclic ring having one or more nitrogen atoms as the sole heteroatom, the substituents being selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, linear or branched C1-C6-alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl; hydroxy-C1-C6-alkyl, amino-C1-C6-alkyl, C1-C6-alkyloxy, C1-C6-alkyloxy-C1-C6-alkyl, amino, mono- or di-C1-C6-alkylamino, carboxamido, carboxamido-C1-C6-alkyl, sulfonamido, sulfonamido-C1-C6-alkyl, urea, cyano, fluoro, thio, C1-C6-alkylthio, mono- or bicyclic aryl, mono- or bicyclic heteraryl having up to 5 heteroatoms selected from N, O, and S; mono- or bicyclic aryl-C1-C6-alkyl, heteroaryl-C1-C6-alkyl, and combinations thereof; where n is a positive integer greater than 6; and pharmaceutically-acceptable salts thereof, optionally in combination with a pharmaceutically-suitable carrier.
The invention is likewise directed to a method of inhibiting microbial growth in mammals, including humans, the method comprising administering an antimicrobial amount of a composition as recited above to a patient in need thereof.
Other aims, objects, and advantages of the invention will appear more fully from a complete reading of the following Detailed Description of the Invention and the attached claims.
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A known image forming apparatus includes a main body having a casing structure, an image forming unit accommodated in the main body, and a circuit board having electric elements mounted thereon and configured to supply electricity to the image forming unit.
The electric elements generate heat during the operation of the image forming apparatus. To prevent temperatures of the electric elements from rising, the electric elements need to be cooled.
Some known image forming apparatuses include a duct to cool a circuit board having electric elements mounted thereon. The duct is configured to discharge air heated by the electric elements of the circuit board outside the main body. Such ducts sometimes consume considerable space in the main body, requiring a larger main body and thus increasing the size of the image forming apparatus.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an anti-skid control system for use in an automotive vehicle, and more particularly to an anti-skid control system for controlling a braking force applied to road wheels in braking operation to prevent the road wheels from being locked.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known that the vehicle stability or the controllability is influenced detrimentally depending upon the road surface condition, when road wheels are locked in abrupt braking operation. In order to prevent the road wheels from being locked, therefore, there has been employed an anti-skid control system which controls the braking force by decreasing, increasing, or holding a hydraulic braking pressure supplied to wheel brake cylinders, and which is also called as an anti-locking control system. The anti-skid control system includes the system for the rear road wheels and that for front and rear road wheels, i.e., four wheel control system. In the case where the road wheels are prevented from being locked according to the former system, the running stability may be ensured and the stopping distance may be minimized. In the case where the front road wheels are also prevented from being locked according to the latter system, the controllability may be maintained.
In view of the fact that, when a hydraulic braking pressure supplied to each wheel brake cylinder is increased, the rotational speed of the road wheel is rapidly reduced immediately before the coefficient of friction relative to the road wheel reaches a maximum, the anti-skid control system controls the wheel cylinder pressure according to the deceleration of the vehicle in order that a slip rate of the road wheel results in around 20%, that is, the maximum coefficient of friction is obtained.
The above anti-skid control system is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. Sho 48-44236, for example, wherein it is determined that a road wheel is in a locking condition, when a decreasing rate of the wheel speed is more than a predetermined value in a rapid braking operation of the vehicle. Then, the anti-skid control is initiated to decrease the hydraulic braking pressure in the wheel brake cylinder. When the decreasing rate of the wheel speed is less than the predetermined value, the hydraulic braking pressure in the wheel brake cylinder is increased until the time when an angular acceleration of the road wheel will reach to the value which corresponds to the angular acceleration memorized during the decreasing mode in the rapid braking operation, thereafter it is increased more gradually comparing with the increasing speed of the hydraulic braking pressure which corresponds to the above angular acceleration.
Thus, in the prior system disclosed in the above publication, when the decreasing rate of the wheel speed is more than the predetermined value, the locking condition of the road wheel is detected, so that the anti-skid control is initiated. Therefore, in the case where the vehicle is running on a rough road, or the road wheel rides on protrusions of the road, or in the case where the wheel speed is momentarily decreased due to backlash of gears in a power train in the anti-skid control system for preventing only driven wheels from being locked, the decreasing rate of the wheel speed may become more than the predetermined value, whereby the locking condition of the road wheel may be erroneously detected to initiate the anti-skid control. Consequently, if the erroneous detection of the locking condition is made immediately after the initiation of braking operation, the anti-skid control will be initiated before the hydraulic braking pressure in the wheel brake cylinder will reach to a sufficient value, and the hydraulic braking pressure in the wheel brake cylinder will be gradually increased, so that the stopping distance will be extended due to lack of braking force.
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The well-known prior art methods of recovering ferronickel from oxidated nickel ores comprise preparing of a charge accompanied by roasting ore, a reducing agent and flux, and followed by electric smelting of the charge. Any solid carbonaceous reducing agent, preferably the anthracite culm, can be suitably used as the reducing agent. Limestone, dolomite, or dolomitic limestone are used as the flux. The amount of the reducing agent and the flux required is determined by the ore composition. Any of such methods is an analog of the present invention.
In the above methods, the reducing agent and the flux are added to the ore prior to its processing in the roasting furnace, thus simultaneously performing the roasting of all components of the charge fed for electric smelting. In the course of roasting, a partial reduction of metal oxides and a partial binding of the free silica occur. However, adequate conditions cannot be provided for the optimal performing of both reactions in one roasting furnace. This is caused by the fact that the intensive thermal decomposition of the used flux with the isolation of the sufficient amount of lime binding free silica is provided, mainly, at temperatures above 1000.degree. C. However, at this temperature the melting of the ore components occurs, leading to the formation of skulls in the roasting furnace. On the other hand, if the roasting temperature is lower than the temperature of intensive flux decomposition, this leads to worse technical- and -economic indices of the electric smelting process. The latter manifests in an increase in the power consumption to provide the complete thermal flux decomposition and in a higher consumption of the reducing agent reacting with the carbon dioxide formed as a result of the thermal decomposition of the flux and leads to a quicker destruction of the electric roasting furnace crown and, hence, to a reduction in its utilization factor. These circumstances are especially essential in the processing of low-grade ores with a high content of silica, that require the addition of relatively large amounts of flux, ranging from 20% of the dry ore weight and over.
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A number of diagnostic and therapeutic medical procedures require the administration of certain organic compounds as contrast enhancing agents in order to enhance the quality of the procedure. These procedures include: contrast-enhancing agents for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Computerized Tomography (CT) and X-ray.
The desire for early detection and treatment of metastatic disease has been the motivation for many recent advances in the fields of radiology and nuclear medicine. In particular, significant advances have been made to improve upon noninvasive techniques for visualizing internal organs using radiography and radioisotope scanning. The use of CT instead of conventional X-ray techniques allows for a more sophisticated visualization of the tissues and organs being studied. In addition, many CT agents have now been developed which provide a further advantage over conventional X-ray radiopaques in that they are more site specific.
Weichert et al. of the University of Michigan have studied the use of halogenated triglyceride compounds as liver and hepatocyte site-specific CT agents. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,873,075, this group at the University of Michigan disclosed polyiodinated triglyceride analogs as radiologic agents. The triglyceride compounds are composed of a triglyceride backbone structure that is 1,3-disubstituted or 1,2,3-trisubstituted with, in some embodiments, a 3-amino-substituted-2,4,6-triiodophenyl aliphatic chain wherein the chain has a structure similar to that of naturally occurring fatty acids.
MRI as opposed to CT has the advantage that it exhibits superior soft tissue differentiation. The two most widespread applications of MRI take advantage of the nuclear magnetic resonance of hydrogen (.sup.1 H) or fluorine (.sup.19 F). .sup.19 F MRI has the added advantage over .sup.1 H MRI in that while .sup.19 F has an NMR sensitivity nearly equivalent to that of .sup.1 H, it demonstrates negligible biological background.
While .sup.19 F MRI provides significant advantages over other imaging techniques, the success of the imaging agents being used depends on such qualities as ease of synthesis, site-specificity, resistance to hydrolysis in-vivo, a sufficient amount of signal and a high signal-to-noise ratio. In some instances, these desired qualities may actually be mutually exclusive. For example, the signal of a .sup.19 F MRI contrast agent can be increased by adding additional fluorines. However, depending on where the fluorine substituents are attached to the imaging agents being used, the fluorine containing molecules may exhibit different spectral resonance lines. This results in insufficient intensity of the signal of interest relative to noise which leads to a low signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio or band broadening and blurred images due to multiple resonances. As a result, high doses of the imaging agent or long imaging times are required.
The use of 3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)aryl compounds, such as 1,3-bis[3',5'-di(trifluoromethyl)phenylacetyl] 2-oleoyl glycerol, for site-specific delivery of fluorine MRI agents has been disclosed by Weichert et al. (Abstracts of the Seventh Annual Meeting of the Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (1988) 1; 484). This compound has the advantage that it exhibits only a single resonance frequency. However, it suffers from the problem of having only a limited number of fluorine equivalents per molecule.
The problem of insufficiency of signal was addressed by Rogers et al. with the development of perfluoro-tert-butyl (PFTB) reporter groups with each having 9 magnetically equivalent .sup.19 F nuclei. It was recognized that these compounds provide a mono-resonant fluorine reporter group making these types of compounds practical for MRI measurements. Rogers et al., Synthesis of Reporter Groups for Fluorine-19 NMR; a New Class of Imaging and Spectroscopic Compounds, Abstracts of the Eighth Annual Meeting of the Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (1989) 2, 819; U.S. Pat. No. 5,116,599. However, known methods of introducing PFTB reporter groups are complicated and often involve steps that would destroy the biological activity or geometry of host compounds and thus interfere with their ability to efficiently target specific organs or tissues.
Therefore, there exists a need to provide for a class of .sup.19 F-MRI imaging agents which can overcome the aforementioned disadvantages.
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The present invention relates generally to data processing, and in particular to branch prediction circuits and methods and systems using the same.
In deeply pipelined processors, successful dynamic branch prediction is crucial to high speed operation. Consequently, a number of branch prediction mechanisms have been developed. One specific mechanism is the Gshare branch prediction mechanism in which a vector is created which captures the outcome of a fixed number of branches that have been fetched immediately before the current instruction fetch. This vector is typically created by shifting a logic 1 or logic 0 into the last position of a shift register when the outcome of a given branch is determined, with a logic 1 representing a branch taken outcome and a logic 0 representing a branch not taken outcome. The bits of the vector are then bitwise XORed with appropriate bits of the current address. The resulting address is used to index into a branch history table entry which typically is a counter which maintains a value which is used for making the prediction (taken/not taken) for the branch.
In highly pipelined superscalar processors, however, instructions are fetched into the pipeline well in advance of their actual execution. As a result, in a high frequency processor, the vector in a conventional global history (global history vector or GHV) register will be based on branch outcomes which have been determined several cycles before the predicted execution of the current instruction. In other words, outcome data for more temporally proximate branches are not available in the vector at the time the vector is needed to make the current prediction.
Consequently, the need has arisen for circuits and methods for improving branch prediction accuracy. Additionally, the values of the GHV generated by such a xe2x80x9cfast forwardedxe2x80x9d instruction fetch may be subject to loss of synchronization with instruction fetches or other errors which become manifest due to events occurring several processor cycles subsequent to the GHV generation. Examples of such events, which may be referred to as fetch redirection events, include cache misses and branch mispredictions. Thus, there is also a need in the art for circuits and methods for recovering the GHV when a fetch redirection event occurs.
The aforementioned needs are addressed by the present invention. Accordingly, there is provided in a first form, a method of recovering a global history vector. The method includes storing first, second and third global history vectors in respective storage elements. A fetch redirection event, corresponding to one of a predetermined set of redirection event types is detected. In response, a current global history vector is reset to a value derived from a selected global history vector selected from one of said first, second and third storage elements.
There is also provided, in a second form, a data processing system. The system includes a central processing unit (CPU) which itself includes a first storage element, a second storage element and a third storage element. The first, second and third storage elements are, respectively, operable for storing a first global history vector generated in a first cycle of the CPU, operable for storing a second global history vector generated in a first succeeding cycle of the CPU, and operable for storing a third global history vector generated in a second succeeding cycle of the CPU. The CPU also contains first logic operable for detecting a fetch redirection event corresponding to one of a predetermined set of fetch redirection event types, and second logic operable for resetting a current global history vector to a value derived from a selected global history vector. The selected global history vector is selected from one of the first, second and third storage elements in response to detecting the redirection event.
The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technical advantages of the present invention in order that the detailed description of the invention that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages of the invention will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the claims of the invention.
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The present invention relates to a switching regulator for generating a DC voltage and a technique that is effectively applicable to a switching regulator required to have a good transient response, or a technique that is effectively utilized for, for example, a switching regulator provided in a system with a large variation in consumption current.
Lately, electronic devices in which a microprocessor is embedded as a system controller are increasing. The operating frequency of the microprocessor (hereinafter referred to as CPU) tends to become higher and higher and the maximum operating current increases, as the operating frequency increases. Meanwhile, portable or similar electronic devices incorporating the CPU often use a method of stepping up or down the battery voltage by a switching regulator to supply the operating voltage to the CPU. In these devices, it is carried out to deactivate whole the CPU or a partial circuit of the CPU when the CPU do not need to operate in order to reduce the consumption of the battery. In consequence, the range in which the current consumed by the CPU varies tends to be greater, as the maximum operating current increases. Due to this, a power supply device for supplying the operating current to the CPU is required to have a good transient response to the varying output current.
As a switching regulator having a good transient response, there is a switching regulator utilizing switching control called a hysteretic current-mode control method, for example, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,825,165 (Patent Document 1). The hysteretic current-mode control switching regulator includes a current sense resistor connected in series to a coil to detect current that flows through the coil and an error amplifier that outputs a current proportional to a difference between a voltage (feedback voltage) that is a fraction of output voltage divided by a resistance voltage divider and a reference voltage. A hysteretic comparator compares an error voltage which is represented as the product of the resistance of a resistor connected between a code connecting the coil and the sense resistor and an output terminal of the error amplifier and the output current of the error amplifier to the output voltage. The switching regulator controls to maintain the output voltage at a constant level in the following manner. When a voltage drop across the sense resistor becomes more than “error voltage+hysteresis voltage,” a main switch allowing current to flow through the coil is turned from on to off and a synchronous circuit which acts to decrease the current flowing through the coil in sync with the main switch operation is turned from off to on. When the voltage drop across the sense resistor becomes lower than the error voltage, the main switch is turned from off to on and the synchronous switch is turned from on to off.
However, a problem associated with the above hysteretic current-mode control switching regulator is that additional power is consumed by the sense resistor connected in series to the coil. Since this power loss increases, as the maximum operating current increases, it would lead to a larger decrease in power efficiency in future application of the switching regulator. To decrease this power loss, it is conceivable to decrease the resistance of the sense resistor. However, an excessively small resistance of the sense resistor inhibits the monitored voltage from exceeding the hysteresis voltage of the comparator. This will result in a drawback such as a large output voltage ripple due to an unstable switching frequency.
The present applicant has previously proposed a switching regulator as an improvement over the above hysteretic current-mode control switching regulator in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication 2004-064994 (Patent Document 2). A basic circuit of the switching regulator disclosed in this publication is shown in FIG. 8. As shown, a series circuit consisting of at least one resistor Rf1 and at least one capacitor Cf is connected in parallel with an inductor L1, and a resistor Rf2 is placed between a connection point of the resistor Rf1 and the capacitor Cf and a ground potential. An output voltage Vout added to a voltage proportional to a current flowing from the above connection point into the inductor L1 circuit is detected as a CR feedback voltage VCP. A reference voltage and the CR feedback voltage VCP are supplied to a hysteretic comparator circuit HCMP. The comparator generates a PWM control signal to switch a power output MOSFET M1 via a pre-diver. This MOSFET controls a current flowing through the inductor L1. It should be noted that a resistor DCR is connected as an equivalent series resistor (parasitic resistance) to the inductor L1 and this resistor is different from the current sense resistor as employed in switching regulator of the above Patent Document 1.
The output voltage Vout of the switching regulator described in the above Patent Document 2 can be expressed by the following equation (1): Vout=Vref−IL×DCR . . . (1). Here, IL is a load current. Hence, in a domain where the load current IL is larger, the equivalent series resistance component (parasitic resistance) DCR to the inductor L1 contributes to a large drop of the output voltage Vout and the load regulation deteriorates. A smaller supply voltage such as, for example, 1.3 V, tends to be used for the CPU as mentioned above and a hard disk drive system, whereas the maximum output current as large as 2 A is required. Allowable range in which a supply voltage of the power supply device varies is generally constant, for example, 3%. In a switching regulator for application of the above-mentioned low voltage output, an absolute value of the maximum allowable voltage becomes small and, therefore, the deterioration of the load regulation (IL×DCR) for the equivalent series resistance component DCR to the inductor L1 becomes non-negligible. For this reason, a circuit for preventing such load regulation deterioration, as is shown in FIG. 9, is also proposed. In this circuit, an error amplifier EA to which the reference voltage Vref and a fraction of the output voltage Vout divided by resistors Ra and Rb are input for comparison is additionally provided to generate a reference voltage to be input to the above comparator circuit HCMP.
[Patent Document 1] U.S. Pat. No. 5,825,165
[Patent Document 2] Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication 2004-064994
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to gloves, and more specifically to therapy and athletic gloves having weights on the backside of the hand and finger portions.
2. Background Information
Hand and finger strength of an athlete is often an overlooked and underemphasized aspect of athletic skill and training. Having powerful hands and fingers provides a distinct advantage to an athlete in competition, and is often a hidden asset that goes unrecognized by competitors. Importance of hand and finger strength is not confined to professional athletes, but also to amateurs and enthusiasts at all levels. Moreover, the importance of hand strength is significant to the overall well-being of people and to patients in need of treatment for conducting everyday activities.
There are numerous instances where individuals attempt to strengthen the hands and fingers for athletic purposes or for general treatment or rehabilitation. There are also numerous contraptions available intended to assist a person in increasing hand and finger strength. Those contraptions may include many varieties of springs, levers, weights, tension devices and other mechanisms designed to improve the strength of the hands and fingers. Very few, if any, devices are designed to be used during the actual performance of an athletic event or everyday life, but are typically designed to be used during a separate training session conducted apart from the intended athletic event, practice or life activity in general.
Weighted gloves are not uncommon, and have been used by athletes and by others for general rehabilitation and enhancement of abilities. Some weighted gloves for which patents have been granted are shown in the following U.S. Pat. Nos.: 4,911,433 to Walker et al.; 5,184,815 to Maddox; 4,684,123 to Fabry; 6,553,574 to Hall, Jr. et al.; 5,802,615 to Wenk; 5,768,710 to Williams; 5,386,591 to Canan; 3,838,853 to Fredenhagen 4,253,660 to Tiktin. Unfortunately, many of these and other devices are either very complicated, are not practical for use in a variety of actual events or real life situations, or have various deficiencies such as being uncomfortable, poorly fitting, or have other deficiencies.
Particularly troublesome with use of weighted gloves is the tendency for the weighted portions to cause the glove to separate from the fingers. This is especially the case for players of basketball, football, hockey, baseball or other hand sport where a user is catching and throwing a ball or object (or swinging an object) in the normal course of play or practice. There have been few, if any, instances of an effective means for securing weighted elements to the glove while inhibiting sagging or release of the glove from the fingertip portions of the user. Further, there is a need for providing a weighted glove that does not unduly limit a user's range of motion, that is flexible, and at the same time being comfortable and forming a secure glove-fit position.
The present invention provides a novel glove that allows the user to perform normal activities such a playing basketball, tennis, football, hockey or other sport or activities. Advantages include a weighted glove that is comfortable and that does not tend to easily slip off the fingers of the user, which would otherwise distract the user from play and hinder development. Providing such a glove, while allowing the user to go about normal activity or athletic training of the particular event, has significant advantage. Applicants believe use of such weighted gloves will provide the benefit of strengthening the forearms, biceps, shoulders, and overall upper body of the user or athlete and also useful for overall conditioning. Such gloves may be used in combination with other rehabilitation or training exercises and equipment. Weighted gloves may be used during rope jumping exercises, sit-ups, jumping jacks, and other movements. Use of weighted gloves for rehabilitation is desired, and may be used in numerous instances, including but not limited to use in rehabilitation of broken arms, wrists, hands, fingers, and assist in the overall improvement of strength and range of motion. Such gloves allow for a user to stretch and develop muscles and coordination. A user or trainer may alter the location or positioning of weights and flex points about the glove to engineer or assist in specialized developments of the hands, fingers and specialized body parts. Numerous other advantages and novel features of the present invention are disclosed throughout.
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The present invention relates to probes for nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometers and specifically to a capacitance tuned probe employing a single sample coil suitable for multiple radio frequency resonance experiments, wherein the tuning elements of the probe are remotely disposed from the magnetic field, connected to the sample coil by means of coaxial transmission lines.
In nuclear magnetic resonance machines, a high-intensity uniform magnetic field is generated within an extremely strong magnet. Inserted into the axial bore of the magnet is the sample to be analyzed, and the combination radio frequency transmitting and receiving sample coil. The sample coil is situated to generate an oscillating field with a component at right angles to the main magnetic field. The oscillating radio frequency field causes an oscillation in the alignment of the nuclear spins present in the sample undergoing analysis. The oscillation of the various chemical species within the magnet causes the emission of radio frequency signals, which are received by the sample coil and associated probe circuits.
For some NMR analyses, particularly those involving solid sample materials, it is often desired to irradiate the sample with radio frequency fields of multiple frequencies at relatively high power levels, for example, in the 300 to 1000 watt range. It is important that a good coupling be achieved at all of the frequencies used. The usefulness and efficiency of prior art probes for this application is limited due to the size and magnetic restrictions for probe components, and the limited number of frequencies (usually only two or three) at which the samples may be irradiated without the operator removing and adjusting the probe settings. Each such removal and adjustment operation extends the time required to complete the sample analysis, and increases the chances of calibration and operator error.
The efficiency of prior art probes is additionally limited by their design characteristics. Traditionally, the desired radio frequencies were impedance matched to a particular value using standard, well known inductor techniques. However, while employing inductors is well known to generate impedance minima, inductors are characterized by high radio frequency losses, lowering the overall probe efficiency. Similar radio frequency losses result from each of the numerous interconnecting leads required between prior art probe components.
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The present invention relates generally to optical networks that employ wavelength division multiplexing and, more particularly, to optical networks that use optical cross-connect switches in transit and hub nodes.
Many existing long distance telecommunication systems include spans of optical fiber that link digital switches in a network. Such systems, however, often operate at a single transmission wavelength and use time division multiplexing, which can restrict expansion of the system to handle larger volumes of voice or data communications.
Wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) provides a technique to accommodate increased traffic in existing long distance telecommunication networks. WDM takes advantage of the large bandwidth of optical fibers and sends multiple communications down a single optical fiber in separate wavelength channels. As a result, a WDM system can multiply the capacity of the system compared with the use of only a single wavelength.
Other prospects for expanding the capacity of an existing network provide significant obstacles. For instance, adding new optical fibers to handle more traffic is expensive and can complicate management of the existing network. Also, increasing the bit rate of a single wavelength system can cause transmission problems, such as polarization mode dispersion or self-phase modulation. WDM can avoid these problems while using the existing fiber infrastructure.
Upgrading an existing optical network to WDM, however, may present additional problems when the multiple links between nodes in the network are not uniform. For example, two links between three network nodes may have different numbers of optical fibers. FIG. 1 illustrates an optical network 100 having links such as 105, 110, and 115 interconnecting nodes such as nodes A, B, and C. Link 105 has 6 fibers (each line representing 2 fibers), link 110 has 4 fibers, and link 115 has 2 fibers. Coordinating these differences in fiber capacity presents challenges to the cross-connect switches within nodes A, B, and C.
Moreover, incorporating some links and nodes already operating with WDM into a larger WDM network presents similar problems when the different links are not uniform. For instance, if some WDM has been used between the links, the number of wavelength channels, the wavelengths themselves, or the transport standards may differ. These inequalities may exist due to the current lack of standardization in many areas of WDM communications. Consequently, optical cross-connect switches (OXCs) within the various network nodes must interface the incoming and outgoing optical fibers while maintaining compatibility with the varying optical standards used by the neighboring links.
In order to permit optical communication through an existing network like 100, nodes A-F are equipped with OXCs whose task is to switch the optical channels coming from N input fibers to N output fibers. In general, the possible OXC architectures can be divided into two main classes: fiber-routing cross-connect switches (FR-OXCs), wavelength-routing cross-connect switches (WR-OXCs), and combinations of them. FR-OXCs are also known as optical switches.
FIG. 2 illustrates a typical scheme of a WR-OXC. The WR-OXC performs routing channel by channel, thereby allowing channels from the same input fiber to be sent to different output fibers. WR-OXC 200 includes demultiplexers 205 and 210 for separating the signals traveling in received WDM combs via optical fibers 215 and 220. After the demultiplexing, optional 3R regenerators or transponders 225 and 230 can provide both signal regeneration and wavelength adaptation for each of the wavelengths entering WR-OXC switch 235. Transponders 225 and 230, if present, convert the wavelengths to a grid used particularly by switch 235 and are typically realized by electro-optic techniques. This wavelength conversion, if present, makes the large network opaque with respect to carrier wavelengths, although all-optical networks are envisioned for the future that perform all phases of transmission, amplification, and switching in the optical domain. After passing through switch 235, where any entering wavelength may be switched to any exiting path, the respective wavelengths can pass through optional output transponders 240 and 245, are combined in multiplexers 250 and 255, and exit via optical fibers 260 and 265. Optional output transponders 240 and 245 can convert the carrier wavelengths to the particular value required by the network downstream of WR-OXC 200.
In contrast to the WR-OXC, an FR-OXC has the task of switching entire optical WDM combs between input fibers and output fibers without demultiplexing the optical channels. Adding or dropping of entire WDM combs from or to another optical network entity via the FR-OXC is also possible. Like the WR-OXC, the FR-OXC is statically configured based on a routing table and is reconfigured when the traffic changes. No regeneration is present in the FR-OXC, since the individual WDM channels are not demultiplexed. It is evident that once the number of input and output optical fibers is fixed, a WR-OXC has more switching versatility than an FR-OXC. Due to this increased complexity, WR-OXCs cost more than FR-OXCs.
In a wide area network, such as 100, each node processes and switches a certain number of local channels and a certain number of passthrough channels. The local channels are generated or terminated at destinations affiliated with the node, while the passthrough channels are routed through the node to elsewhere in the network. If the number of nodes is more than a few dozen, the majority of network nodes generally has many more passthrough channels than local channels. These majority of nodes are called transit nodes. The number of local channels exceeds the number of passthrough channels in only a few nodes, which are called hub nodes.
Patents and publications have contemplated the combination of WR-OXCs and FR-OXCs into a tandem switch structure in certain circumstances. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,457,556 discloses an OXC system having a space switch with first and second inlet ports and first and second outlet ports. The first inlet and first outlet ports receive, switch, and transmit entire WDM combs within the space switch. A wavelength switch has first inlet ports connected to the second outlet ports of the space switch via a demultiplexer and first outlet ports connected to the second inlet ports of the space switch via a multiplexer. The wavelength switch receives selected WDM combs from the space switch, switches individual channels between the combs, and sends the switched channels back to the space switch.
In the ""556 patent, system protection occurs at a fiber or multiplex section level. Because protection switching is accomplished without demultiplexing a WDM comb, all incoming and outgoing fibers enter and exit the tandem OXC via a space switch, i.e. an FR-OXC. Accordingly, each node in the network, which operates with fiber level protection, has at least an FR-OXC as the input and output for the links to other nodes.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,805,320 discloses an OXC having a combined FR-OXC and WR-OXC where the FR-OXC handles the bypass component for reserve optical transmission lines in a fiber-level protection scheme termed Type A. The WR-OXC is connected to the working optical transmission lines, and connection links interface the two switches together. For Type B and Type C protection schemes that operate at the channel level, the ""320 patent discloses a combination of WR-OXC switches for both the working and reserve optical transmission lines without the use of an FR-OXC.
Applicants have observed that the known arrangements for OXCs within an optical network suffer from excessive complexity for fulfilling the needs of both transit nodes and hub nodes. In particular, Applicants have recognized that in an opaque optical network having a channel-level protection scheme, existing configurations of OXCs contain an overabundance of wavelength converters or transponders that leads to unnecessary expense and complexity.
Applicants have discovered that an opaque optical network that includes transit nodes and hub nodes can be configured more efficiently and cheaply by incorporating tandem OXCs within transit nodes that use FR-OXCs to switch WDM combs passing through the node and WR-OXCs to switch traffic headed for local destinations, and by incorporating at least WR-OXCs within hub nodes to directly receive and switch local traffic. Applicants have further found that an opaque optical network that has a channel-level protection scheme can be configured more efficiently and cheaply by having at least one OXC node of a tandem FR-OXC and WR-OXC architecture.
In one aspect, an optical WDM network consistent with the present invention communicates WDM channels to local destinations via a plurality of nodes and interconnecting optical fibers, where the nodes include at least one transit node and at least one hub node. The transit node includes a transit switch having a fiber-routing portion (FR) and a wavelength-routing portion (WR), where the fiber-routing portion includes a first group of FR inputs coupled to first network optical fibers and a first group of FR outputs coupled to second network optical fibers. The wavelength-routing portion is positioned in a feedback path between a second group of FR outputs and a second group of FR inputs. The fiber-routing portion is capable of switching a WDM comb from any of the first and second FR inputs to any of the first and second FR outputs.
Quantities of the first and second groups of FR outputs of the transit switch are selected such that CFR1 greater than CWR1, where CFR1 is a switching capacity of the fiber-routing portion and CWR1 is a switching capacity of the wavelength-routing portion. The network also has a hub switch within the hub node that has at least a wavelength-routing portion that includes a first group of WR inputs and a first group of WR outputs. The first group of WR inputs is arranged to receive first orders of WDM channels directly from some of third network fibers, and the first group of WR outputs is arranged to transmit second orders of WDM channels to local destination fibers.
In another aspect, an optical WDM network includes a plurality of first optical fibers each carrying WDM channels from at least one upstream node to a transit node and a plurality of second optical fibers each carrying WDM channels from the transit node to at least one downstream node. The network has a transit switch located in the transit node that includes a first optical switch having a plurality of inlets and a plurality of outlets. A first subset of the first-switch inlets is coupled to the first fibers, and a first subset of the first-switch outlets is coupled to the second fibers.
The transit switch also has a second optical switch with a plurality of inlets and a plurality of outlets and a plurality of input transponders and a plurality of output transponders coupled respectively to the second-switch inlets and the second switch outlets. At least one demultiplexer is positioned between at least one of a second subset of the first-switch outlets and ones of the second-switch inlets, and at least one multiplexer is positioned between ones of the second-switch outlets and at least one of a second subset of the first-switch inlets.
The network of the second aspect further includes a plurality of third optical fibers each carrying WDM channels from at least one upstream node to a hub node, a plurality of fourth optical fibers each carrying WDM channels from the hub node to at least one local destination, and a hub switch located in the at least one hub node. The hub switch has at least one demultiplexer coupled to at least one of the third fibers, a plurality of input hub transponders each coupled to a respective output of the at least one demultiplexer, and a third optical switch.
The third switch in the network of the second aspect has a plurality of inlets coupled to the plurality of input hub transponders and a plurality of outlets, and includes a plurality of output hub transponders coupled to the plurality of third-switch outlets, and at least one multiplexer positioned between the plurality of output hub transponders and the fourth optical fibers.
In a third aspect, an optical WDM network consistent with the present invention has a plurality of nodes interconnected by optical fibers and a channel-level protection scheme. The network includes a plurality of first network optical fibers each carrying first WDM channels that have an affiliated first optical channel header with information about the channel-level protection, and a plurality of second network optical fibers each carrying second WDM channels that have an affiliated second optical channel header with information about the channel-level protection.
The network of the third aspect includes at least one optical cross-connect switch made of a fiber-routing portion (FR) and a wavelength-routing portion (WR). The fiber-routing portion includes a first group of FR inputs coupled to the first network optical fibers and a first group of FR outputs coupled to the second network optical fibers. The wavelength-routing portion is positioned in a feedback path between a second group of FR outputs and a second group of FR inputs of the fiber-routing portion. Quantities of the first and second groups of FR outputs are selected based on an expected capacity of the fiber-routing portion with respect to the wavelength-routing portion.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed. The following description, as well as the practice of the invention, set forth and suggest additional advantages and purposes of the invention.
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Conventional lighting systems often include light-emitting diodes (“LEDs”) capable of efficiently producing high-intensity, high-quality light. Mobile phones, personal digital assistants, monitors, displays, digital cameras, lamps, and refrigerator lights often have solid state lighting systems with LEDs. A group of different color LEDs can be used to produce a combined radiation emission. For example, a white light-emitting LED device (“white LED device”) can be a white RGB LED device that includes a red light-emitting LED (“red LED”), a green light-emitting LED (“green LED”), and a blue light-emitting LED (“blue LED”) that produce radiation emissions in the red region, green region, and blue region of the spectrum to make white mixed light.
Although LEDs produce less heat than many conventional lighting devices, LEDs can produce enough heat to cause a color shift (e.g., a shift of a peak emission wavelength) because the performance of light producing junctions can be highly temperature dependent. Fluorescent materials of light producing junctions also tend to deteriorate over long periods of time. It is difficult to compensate for changes in color coordinates due to color shifts and LED deterioration. White RGB LED devices often produce mixed light that appears off-white or yellow, which reduces the color fidelity of electronic devices.
Conventional lighting systems often include a temperature sensor used to monitor the junction temperatures of LEDs to compensate for peak emission wavelength shifts caused by temperature changes. To control the color coordinate of white mixed light, auxiliary red LEDs are used to increase the intensity of emitted red light to bring the combined radiation emission toward a target radiation emission to adjust the color rendering index (“CRI”). Unfortunately, auxiliary red LEDs occupy space on the LED mounting board resulting in a reduced number of sets of RGB LEDs.
Existing lighting systems have RGB sensors with three separate sensors, including a red sensor, a green sensor, and a blue sensor. These sensors are positioned in the luminaire to measure the individual light intensities of the red LED, green LED, and blue LED, respectively, in order to individually adjust the drive current to each LED to control the color coordinate of the mixed light. Temperature sensors, auxiliary red LEDs, and RGB sensors lead to increased manufacturing costs and complexity as well as increased energy consumption. Additionally, if these components occupy reflective space on the LED mounting board, the performance of the light/system can be reduced.
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Amusement rides or attractions are present in multiple forms in for example amusement parks or other locations where visitors are entertained by such rides or attractions. Some of the more conventional amusement rides are of a passive type wherein the visitors, often in groups, are moved through the ride along a ride path and entertained for example by the speed of the ride. Roller-coasters are perhaps the most well known of such types of rides.
Most visitors are yet very familiar with roller-coasters, in all sorts of forms. To increase the level of amusement, amusement parks seek for additional dimensions to add to conventional existing rides to attract visitors with increased levels of entertainment or to develop and deploy novel attractions having multiple dimensions of entertainment.
A way to increase the level of entertainment and to add an additional dimension is to enable the ride to provide interaction with the visitors. With interaction, the visitors can be impressed and excited.
Interactive rides consist of a scene wherein for example a certain game is simulated, such as a shooter game. In the scene the visitors of the park can interact, in groups or alone, with elements of the scene, for example by a shooter device present in the scene which can be used to shoot towards targets present in the scene in the form of a physical object, or a virtual object shown on a large display. Multiple visitors can be challenged in a game setting to compete against each other, or against a computer controlled competitor.
The scene is often equipped with additional audio and or video systems, which are for example arranged to provide audio or visual effects upon hitting a target in the scene by one of the visitors.
Since the scene of such an interactive ride is often either very large, or not able to cope with large groups of visitors, the capacity of such rides is non-optimal. With an increasing demand for such next level amusement rides, the amusement parks are faced with the difficult challenge to handle all visitors that want to experience the interactive ride.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an amusement ride with improved visitor capacity.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an interactive amusement ride with added dimension for increased visitor experience satisfaction.
It is a yet further object of the present invention to provide an interactive amusement ride with improved visitor capacity and/or limited ground space requirement.
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This invention pertains to antenna switches and, more particularly, to an antenna switch that automatically switches from a first to a second antenna when the second antenna is connected to the switch.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a prior art, four terminal, remotely controlled, single-pole double-throw (SPDT) antenna switch 100. Radio terminal R is connected to the RF input/output terminal of a non-illustrated radio transceiver. Antenna terminal A1 is connected to a first or local antenna 101 while antenna terminal A2 is connected to a second or remote antenna 118. The DC voltage at a separate control terminal C determines whether radio terminal R is coupled to antenna terminal A1 or A2.
When the control voltage source 102 and, consequently, the voltage at control terminal C are a ground potential, a DC current flows from a source of positive voltage V+ through resistor 104, RF choke 106, diodes 108 and 110, and RF choke 112. This current causes diodes 108 and 110 to switch to the conducting state. When diode 110 is conducting, capacitor 114 and inductor 116 form a parallel tuned circuit which is anti-resonant at the operating frequency. This anti-resonant parallel tuned circuit decouples radio terminal R from antenna terminal A1 by inserting a high impedance in the path between these two terminals. Since diode 108 is in the conducting state when control terminal C is grounded, radio terminal R is coupled to antenna terminal A2 through diode 108 and capacitors 120 and 122.
When the voltage at control voltage source 102 and control terminal C are at V+, no DC current flows through diodes 108 and 110, and the diodes switch to the open-circuit state. Since diode 108 is in the open-circuit state, radio terminal R is decoupled from antenna terminal A2. When diode 110 is in the open-circuit state, capacitor 114 and inductor 116 no longer form an anti-resonant parallel tuned circuit. Consequently, radio terminal R is coupled to antenna terminal A1 through inductor 116 and capacitors 120 and 124.
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a prior art, four terminal, transmit/receive ("T/R") switch. Transmit terminal TX is connected to the output of a non-illustrated transmitter, and receive terminal RX is coupled to the input of a non-illustrated receiver. When the voltage at input control terminal C is sufficiently above ground potential, current flows through RF choke 202, diode 204, quarter wavelength transmission line 206 and diode 208, thereby switching diodes 204 and 208 to the conducting state. When diode 208 is conducting, terminal 206A of transmission line 206 is shorted to ground. This causes the impedance at the other terminal 206B to go to infinity, thereby decoupling antenna terminal A from receive terminal RX. Since diode 204 is conducting, transmit terminal TX is coupled to terminal A and antenna 210 through capacitor 212 and diode 204.
When the voltage at control terminal C is near ground potential, no current flows through diodes 204 and 208. Consequently, diodes 204 and 208 are switched to the open-circuit state. Thus, antenna terminal A is coupled through transmission line 206 and capacitor 214 to receive terminal RX. Since diode 204 is in the open-circuit state, transmit terminal TX is decoupled from antenna terminal A.
The switches illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 are both SPDT RF type switches. In addition to the three terminals of a conventional mechanical SPDT switch, both prior art switches require an additional control terminal C. Although the invention described below also provides SPDT RF switching, it has a distinct advantage in that the separate control terminal C has been eliminated. Thus, the invention only requires three terminals. The invention has an additional advantage in that switching from a first antenna to a second occurs automatically, simply by connecting the second antenna to the switch.
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For I/O driver circuits that drive signals having predefined signal levels along an external signaling path, an accurate and fast power-cycling voltage regulator is important for a variety of reasons, including the need to maintain high efficiency by powering down during idle periods between bursts of communication. One of the difficulties encountered by conventional output driver voltage regulators lies in the changing load current that varies with the transmission of data.
Thus, the need exists for improved voltage regulators that quickly provide a regulated voltage that is maintained even under varying load conditions.
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1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate to scoring systems and methods, more specifically, to a tennis scoring and display systems and methods.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Tennis courts used for play commonly have individual scoring devices attached to the net support posts. These devices display and record tennis match progress in sets and games for the competitors and surrounding viewers. Historically, these net mounted devices have all been manually operated by flipping printed cards to the desired numbers or placing tennis balls as markers for a respective score on a printed number pole.
Such flip card devices use a T-bar mounted by its vertical member on one of the net posts and two sets of numbered flip cards supported from the top cross members of the T-bar. Each flip card has a pair of small through-holes defined there through adjacent to the top edge of the card. Metal rings are extended through these holes and disposed over the top cross members so as to support the sets of flip cards below the respective cross members of the T-bar. The numbers are printed in sequence on both front and backsides of the flip cards. The cards must be flipped over until the correct numbers are exposed to post the score.
These flip card devices have several disadvantages. First, the flip cards are tedious to use. The user has to lift each card to see if the number being sought is displayed on the opposite side of the current number being displayed. This creates considerable fumbling around to find and post the correct score. Second, the printed numbers must be large enough to be viewed from a distance increasing the overall size of the device. Third, a high number of exposed moving parts. These parts are affected by weather, constant use, wear and tear as well as theft or vandalism. Fourth, the requirement of the whole unit to rotate as players change sides is subject to wear and tear and unwanted movement by wind. Fifth, the device must use four sets of cards to display the overall match score in sets and the current set score in games. Sixth, the projecting cross bars are hazardous to the players.
Other common devices for individual court scoring include U.S. Pat. No. 5,385,113 to Hierath (1995) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,578,513 B1 to Niksich (2003). These devices are comprised of elongated vertically disposed displays that rely on frictionally secured tennis balls corresponding to a score number.
These devices also have several disadvantages. First, The printed numbers must be large enough to be viewed from a distance and individually stacked upon each other increasing the overall size of the device. Second, the units cannot be rotated as players change sides so different colored numbers must be used to differentiate an individual's score confusing spectators without that knowledge. Third, the tennis balls used for marking require additional cost and effort to acquire and are subject to theft and deterioration from weather making the device aesthetically unpleasing. Fourth, to display an overall match score in sets requires additional markers and space on the display.
Scoring displays for individual courts such as those described above have all employed similar outdated characteristics to operate and perform. The progress of recent technology in the components that make up this display have led to a solution that reduces and eliminates many of the shortcomings of these net mounted devices.
Two electronic scoring devices which are not net mounted include U.S. Pat. No. 0,067,280 to Carrillo and Weiss (2002) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,237,372 to Zevgolis and Kitchen (1980).
The device by Carrillo and Weiss (2002) has several disadvantages. First, remote control units to input scores into the display operate the device. Requiring the competitors to hold remote control units as well as tennis balls can become problematic. The units are also subject to loss, theft, and breakage as well as requiring a power source.
Second, the device has a current game score display. This requires an input action via remote control by each competitor for every point played. Holding the remote control unit and making constant inputs is burdensome, tedious and disrupts the flow of play. The benefit of displaying the current game score is outweighed by the inherit problems of operation.
Third, the overall score of the match in completed sets is not represented on the display. The device only displays the amount of games won by a competitor in the current set. Displaying sets that have been completed is vital for the players and possible spectators.
Fourth, the display is mounted on the wall or placed on the ground. An individual court display cannot always be mounted on a wall at a club with multiple courts. A display placed on the ground reduces the viewing angle, is subject to theft and vandalism, and because the unit does not have identically opposed sides, viewers cannot view the score from the other direction.
Fifth, the device includes a match time indicator adding to the complexity and size of the device for information that is not vital for competitors and spectators. Sixth, as competitors change sides, all information has to be switched and reset in multiple steps.
The device by Zevgolis and Kitchen (1980) is an electronic display and the circuitry involved in recording scores for tennis. The device has a display for the current game score which has the identical disadvantages described above for Carillo and Weiss's (2002) patent. The device also does not display the completed set score. The device is meant to be worn on the wrist or belt which eliminates spectators form obtaining score information.
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1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to delivering messages in communication or multiprocessor networks (generally referred to as networks). More particularly, the present invention relates to an adaptive and dynamic message routing system for delivering messages in wormhole networks using multiple level routing tables at each node of the network.
2. Description of the Background art
Communication networks that are generally used to interconnect computers or those used in telecommunication often comprise a number of nodes and communication links (links, routes) as shown in FIG. 1. Each node generally comprises a processor, one or more storage units and several I/O ports for connecting that node to the other nodes in the network. For example, in FIG. 1, node N1 may communicate to node N2 over communication link N1-N2 and node N3 may communicate to node N5 over communication link N3-N5. Each node in the network is generally capable of acting as a source, sink, and an intermediate node. Source node is a node where the message to be communicated is generated and transmitted from; sink destination) node is a node where the message generated by the source is to be communicated to (delivered to); and an intermediate node is a node between a source and a destination node encountered by the message in its route to the destination node. Furthermore, each message sent over the network generally comprises a message header and the information to be transmitted. The message header generally includes the address of the destination node where the message is supposed to be delivered and the address of the source node where the message was generated from.
As mentioned above, the network is generally utilized to deliver electronic messages among various nodes in the network. Furthermore, a majority of multinode communication networks have been arranged as either a "connection type" network, a "connectionless type" network or as a "wormhole" network.
In a connection type network, all of the data transfer takes place via a communication path which is completely established from a source node to a destination node by a message header before the message is transferred. In this type of network, the communication path established between the source node and destination node, including all the intermediate nodes and links, is held up and not released until the message has been completely delivered.
In a connectionless type network ("store and forward" network), a message is transferred from a source node to a destination node via packets (packets or datagrams refer to a message to be transmitted) where the packets are stored at each intermediate node until a connection is made to the next node (either intermediate or destination node) at which time the data is then transferred to that next node. Connectionless type networks require large buffer (memory) space at each node for storing and forwarding messages from one node to the next node in the network.
In wormhole networks, a message is transmitted from a source node to a destination node immediately after the message header has been transmitted thus avoiding storing and forwarding of the message at each intermediate node. By not storing and forwarding the message at each node, wormhole routing avoids using large memory buffers, and the delays associated with using these memory buffers, at each node of the network. This results in tremendous memory savings in the network as a whole.
Traditionally, wormhole routing techniques have relied on the network topology to route messages and to avoid deadlocks and bottlenecks. For example, E-cube routing routes messages in the order of dimensions in a hypercube network. Address-delta routing techniques route messages in X and then Y directions based on the difference between the address of the source and destination in a mesh network. Unfortunately, these routing techniques rely directly on the network topology and therefore, are not transferable from one network topology to another or vice versa. Also, in the past network topologies have imposed limits on the exact number of nodes in a network. For example, hypercube networks limit the number of nodes in the network to a power of 2 and a mesh network cannot support any prime number of nodes. Furthermore, as the number of nodes and links in a network increases, efficient message delivery and avoiding bottlenecks and preventing messages from endless travelling becomes an ever growing concern.
Therefore, there is a dire need for a message delivery and routing method and apparatus that is independent of a network topology (i.e., an adaptive method and apparatus); wherein the routing decisions are distributed among the nodes of the network (i.e., dynamic routing); and which at the same time can deliver messages in the shortest possible time using the minimum amount of network resources.
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In a construction machine such as an excavator, an engine such as a diesel engine is used as a drive source. Exhaust gas emitted from the engine includes nitrogen oxides and particulate matter. Therefore, among the construction machines, there is one provided with an engine unit having an engine and an aftertreatment device for removing the nitrogen oxides and particulate matter included in the exhaust gas.
Disclosed in Patent Literature 1 is a muffler formed by connecting an exhaust gas purification device and a muffler device, the exhaust gas purification device serving as an aftertreatment device for removing NOx (nitrogen oxides) and PM (particulate matter) from the exhaust gas. A muffler mount mounted with the muffler is mounted, with bolts, to mount brackets for supporting the engine in such a manner as to astride a hydraulic pump.
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This invention relates in general to inkjet printheads and, more specifically, to control in the directionality of ink drops ejected from a printhead in order to improve image quality. More particularly, the invention relates to techniques for compensating for the defects in an inkjet printhead using a disk-type structure to alter the direction of ink drops ejected from the nozzle.
Without limiting the scope of the invention, its background is described in connection with inkjet printers, as an example.
Modern color printing relies heavily on inkjet printing techniques. The term xe2x80x9cinkjetxe2x80x9d as utilized herein is intended to include all drop-on-demand or continuous inkjet printer systems including, but not limited to, thermal inkjet, piezoelectric, and continuous, which are well known in the printing industry. Essentially, an inkjet printer produces images on a receiver medium, such as paper, by ejecting ink droplets onto the receiver medium in an image-wise fashion. The advantages of non-impact, low-noise, low-energy use, and low cost operation, in addition to the capability of the printer to print on plain paper, are largely responsible for the wide acceptance of inkjet printers in the marketplace.
The printhead is the device that is most commonly used to direct the ink droplets onto the receiver medium. A printhead typically includes an ink reservoir and channels, which carry the ink from the reservoir to one or more nozzles. Typically, sophisticated printhead systems utilize multiple nozzles for applications such as high-speed continuous inkjet printer systems, as an example. Continuous inkjet printhead device types include electrostatically controlled printheads and thermally steered printheads. Both printhead types are named according to the means used to steer ink droplets ejected from nozzle openings.
It is well known in the art of inkjet printing that image quality suffers from a failure to accurately control the direction from which ink drops exit the printhead. Variations in the direction of ink drops ejected from a given nozzle from a desired direction of ejection (usually perpendicular to the printhead surface) can occur due to changes in the nozzle during operation, as a result of manufacturing defects present before operation, or both. In most instances, repairs are too difficult and costly, resulting in scrapped parts and decreased manufacturing yields. Accordingly, a cost effective way of increasing printhead lifetimes and printhead production yields would be advantageous.
For any given nozzle, the direction of the exiting ink drop stream is controlled by the physical characteristics of the nozzle. Where misdirection occurs, the ink drops can produce printing artifacts such as random placement errors between subsequent drops from a single nozzle or placement errors of drops from one nozzle with respect to those from another nozzle. Variations in the direction of ink drops ejected from a given nozzle may occur over a variety of time scales. For example, in Bubble Jet printheads, made by Canon Company, rapid variations may occur when bubbles nucleate randomly on the surfaces of heaters, causing random variations in the velocity and direction of ejected ink drops from each nozzle. Variations in the direction of ejected ink drops may also be caused by sources external to the inkjet printhead such as, for example, vibrations of the inkjet printer. It is difficult or impossible to correct such random variations in the direction of ejected ink drops, which typically change rapidly with time.
In other cases, factors causing deviation of the direction of ejected ink drops from a desired direction can occur slowly over a long period of time. Such slowly changing variations may arise, for example, from gradual changes in the material properties of the nozzle, such as changes in the stress of the materials comprising the nozzle or surrounding the nozzle openings, from changes in the resistance of heater materials during operation, or from wear of nozzle materials during operation.
In still other cases, factors causing deviation of the direction of ejected ink drops from a desired direction can be essentially permanent. Deviations caused by manufacturing defects in nozzles, for example defects that alter or vary the shape of the nozzle openings, are essentially permanent. Permanent deviations may also arise after a period of time of operation of a nozzle. For example, a piece of material may become permanently chipped away from a portion of a nozzle after a period of time of operation, or a piece of material may lodge permanently within a nozzle during operation.
Thus, it is desirable to compensate for slowly changing variations in the directionality of ejected ink drops. For slowly changing variations, compensation may be needed from time to time during operation. It is also desirable to compensate for permanent changes in the directionality of ejected ink drops in order to improve image quality and increase manufacturing yield. Compensation cannot be applied before operation of the nozzles, since it is generally not possible to predict the direction and magnitude of deviations in the direction of ejected drops for a particular nozzle, which occur after operation. Compensation applied after or during operation of nozzles is herein referred to as active compensation.
Substantial effort has been directed toward active compensation for slowly changing variations in the direction of drop ejection for drop-on-demand printers, as discussed and illustrated, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,238,804, assigned to Xerox Corporation, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,877,036, assigned to IBM, which teach measuring the position of ejected ink drops and compensating for variations from the ideal direction by electrostatic means. While such electrostatic deflection can be used to direct ink in a desired direction, as is well known in the art, electrostatic deflection in these cases adds mechanical complexity. Also, correction techniques of this type are largely ineffective in cases where large variations in the direction of ejected ink drops occur.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,592,202, assigned to Laser Master Corporation, teaches an electronic means to correct inaccuracies in ink drop placement by advancing or retarding the time of a drop-on-demand actuation pulse. However, this method does not correct variations in both of the directions of ink drop ejection in a plane perpendicular to the direction of drop ejection, as it is more suited to adjusting ink drop placement only in the scan direction of the printhead. Moreover, not all printhead circuits can be easily adapted to control the firing times of individual ink drops, since the firing pulses may be derived from a common clock.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,250,962, assigned to Xerox Corporation, teaches the application of a moveable vacuum priming station that can access groups of nozzles to remove entrained air in one or more nozzles. Although entrained air is known in the art to cause variations in the direction of ink drop ejection, it is only one of many mechanisms causing variations. Also, entrained air principally refers to failure of the ink to fill the printhead, not to a change in the head itself. Removal of trapped air serves to restore the nozzle to its original condition, but does not alter the physical characteristics of the nozzle.
Other prior art techniques for achieving compensation include the selection of one nozzle among a plurality of redundant nozzles for printing a particular imaging pixel, the preferred nozzle having favorable ink drop ejection characteristics. However, redundancy selection techniques of this type are complex in nature and require substantial real estate space on the printhead form factor to implement. Such methods also increase cost and/or reduce productivity.
In the case of continuous inkjet printheads using electrostatic steering of ink drops, as in the current generation of commercialized continuous inkjet printheads, for example those manufactured by Scitex Corporation, compensation for variations in the direction of ejected ink drops from an ideal direction can be accomplished by electrostatic means; and in this case, additional mechanical complexity is not required, since the means of printing itself is based on electrostatic deflection and the required hardware is already in place. Printheads of this type produce electrically charged ink drops, which are deflected using a charged electrode at each nozzle. The electrode voltage is set to one of two discreet values (for example, either 100 volts or 0 volts) each time an ink drop is ejected, causing ink drops to be deflected either in a printing direction (for example, in the case the voltage is 100 volts), or into a gutter (for example, in the case the voltage is 0). To correct for slow or permanent deviations of the direction of ejected drops from a particular nozzle, the voltage corresponding to printing at that nozzle might be set, for example, to 110 volts. The use of electro-static techniques such as these, however, requires additional voltage control hardware.
In the case of continuous inkjet printheads using thermal steering of ink drops, an electrode apparatus is not already in place, and other means of correction are desired to correct for the effects of slow variations in direction of ink drop ejection, as well as for permanent manufacturing defects.
Accordingly, a need exists for a cost effective method of correcting defects in inkjet printheads to permit compensation in the direction of ink drops ejected from the nozzles. A means of increasing manufacturing yields by permitting active compensation for ink drop ejection misdirection from a nozzle would provide numerous advantages.
The present invention provides a method of compensating for the effects of manufacturing defects in an inkjet printhead having at least one nozzle and nozzle opening in the nozzle, and a disk having an off-center aperture about the disk axis positioned over the nozzle opening to direct ink drops ejected from the nozzle. With the present invention, printheads that would normally be discarded due to defects that cause ink drop misdirection can be repaired rather than discarded.
Accordingly, disclosed in one embodiment is a method of compensating for the effects of defects in an inkjet printhead to permit control in the direction of ink drops ejected from a nozzle of the printhead. Initially, the printhead is tested to determine the ink stream directionality onto a receiver medium, such as paper, from a nozzle opening. Variability in the direction of the ink drops ejected from a nozzle of the inkjet printhead caused by manufacturing defects is then identified. Thus, the amount of misdirection from a nozzle of an inkjet printhead can be quantified and the amount of compensation desired in the direction of ink ejected from the nozzle opening can be determined.
The method comprises the step of sliding the disk over the nozzle so that the off-center aperture traverses the nozzle opening and causes ink ejected from the nozzle opening to be deflected with regard to the desired amount of compensation. In one embodiment, heat is applied to at least one finger-like actuator, for example a thermal actuator. Such heat causes the finger-like actuator to traverse in an up and down direction about the disk. Thus, the disk aperture is adjusted about the nozzle opening in order to correct the misdirection of ink ejected from the nozzle opening.
Once the desired amount of compensation has been achieved by adjusting the disk, the application of heat to the finger-like actuator is then ceased. The elimination of heat causes the finger-like actuator to return to its non-actuated state, which serves to hold the disk forcibly in the desired position.
In accordance with yet another embodiment, an internal heater is activated, causing the adhesive, or wax, to melt and the disk to be released. An external force is then applied in order to accomplish the step of sliding the disk over the nozzle so that the off-center aperture traverses the nozzle opening and causes ink ejected from the nozzle opening to be deflected with regard to the desired amount of compensation. Once the disk is adjusted to its desired position, the internal heater is deactivated in order to allow the adhesive to cool. This allows the disk to remain forcibly in its desired position.
According to another embodiment, the step of activating the internal heater is then followed by the step of activating at least one external heater, which is adapted to expand a mass of thermally expandable material. Thus, the mass of thermally expandable material is utilized in sliding the disk in a position for compensating for the effects of defects in an inkjet printhead. Upon causing the ink ejected from the nozzle opening to be deflected with regard to the desired amount of compensation via sliding the disk, the internal heater is then deactivated in order to allow the adhesive to cool. The external heater is then deactivated in order to cease expansion of the thermally expandable material. As such, the disk remains in its desired position in order to correct misdirection of ink drops ejected from the nozzle opening.
In accordance with yet another embodiment, disclosed is an inkjet printhead with integral compensation for misdirection of ink drops ejected through at least one nozzle of the printhead. The inkjet printhead comprises a substrate forming a wall, which defines a nozzle cavity adapted for facilitating the flow of ink from an ink reservoir. The inkjet printhead also comprises a membrane predisposed about the nozzle cavity to create a resistive barrier against ink flow. The membrane includes a nozzle opening to which ink drops are ejected.
The inkjet printhead further comprises a disk positioned over the nozzle opening. The membrane further comprises a recess, which is symmetrical with the nozzle opening. Thus, the recess is configured to accept the disk.
The disk, which comprises a solid material, has an off-center aperture about its axis. The off-center aperture of the disk is the same size as that of the nozzle opening. As such, the disk is configured to rotate in any direction within the recess and is adapted to cause ink ejected from the nozzle opening via the off-center aperture about the disk axis to be deflected with regard to a desired amount of compensation.
The inkjet printhead further comprises one or more finger-like actuators configured to retain and release the disk. The finger-like actuators, which are shaped memory alloy type, are adapted to deform semi-permanently when heated over a first temperature range, returning to their original shape when heated to a second, higher, temperature range. The actuators can have different shapes, such as rectangular or square shape, and can be of the bi-metallic type.
The inkjet printhead also comprises a means for determining the amount of compensation desired in the direction of ink ejected from the nozzle opening, as well as a means for sliding the disk over the nozzle so that the off-center aperture traverses the nozzle opening. In yet another embodiment, the inkjet printhead further comprises an adhesive adapted to secure the disk to the membrane within its recess. The adhesive, when melted, is adapted to release the disk and allow for a force to be effectively applied.
The inkjet printhead also comprises one or more internal heaters integrated within the membrane. The internal heaters are configured to activate via passage of an electrical current, thus, transitioning the adhesive into a molten state.
The inkjet printhead further comprises a force applied to the disk in order to adjust its position. That is, the adhesive, when melted, is adapted to release the disk and allow for a force to be effectively applied. Thus, the force can include an external force or an adjustment force. In yet another embodiment, the inkjet printhead further comprises a right adjustment heater and a left adjustment heater. The adjustment heaters are predisposed about the nozzle opening. In this case, an adjustment force is generated by one or more thermally expandable beads, which comprise a plastic material. Thus, the beads are adapted to expand and contract when heated by the adjustment heaters.
Technical advantages of the present invention include a cost effective method of compensating for the effects of defects in inkjet printheads that would otherwise result in misdirection of ink drops ejected from the nozzles. As such, printing artifacts caused by irregularities in the ink drops landing onto a receiver medium are eliminated.
Other technical advantages include the increase in manufacturing yields as printheads that would be typically discarded can be repaired and used.
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Electric signals used for wireless communication typically include a carrier signal that exists independent of the data being conveyed, and a modulation signal that is applied to the carrier signal to embed the conveyed data into the carrier. The modulated carrier signal is then conveyed as radio frequency electromagnetic waves to a receiver, which extracts the modulation signal data from the carrier frequency and so recovers the data.
Carrier signals are typically designed to have one or more narrow, carefully controlled frequencies, ensuring that radiated power is controlled to be within specified guidelines and is used to the greatest benefit of the transmitting device. But, some systems have adapted wireless communications methods having a seemingly inconsistent approach, which is to spread the signal frequency out over a very wide range, resulting in a low fraction of total transmitted power at any one specific frequency. Such signals are often called ultrawideband signals, and are being explored for short-range communications systems, such as wireless networks, as well as for some special functions like radar in which the bandwidth makes such a signal difficult to jam. But, generation of an ultrawideband signal is not a trivial task, and requires methods and circuits different from those traditionally used to produce narrow carrier signals.
A system for producing ultrawideband signals is therefore desired.
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Support and demand for video systems that support three-dimensional (3-D) video has increased rapidly in recent years. Both literally and physically, 3-D video provides a whole new way to watch video, in home and in theaters. However, 3-D video systems are still in their infancy in many ways and there is much room for improvement in terms of both cost and performance.
Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional approaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, through comparison of such systems with some aspects of the present invention as set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.
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Coal-fired power plants currently account for more than 55 percent of the total electricity production in the United States. Extending the reliable lifetimes of fossil-fired boiler components may be considered important for reducing the maintenance cost and improving power plant operational efficiency. Currently, corrosion and erosion are leading causes of superheater and reheater boiler tube failures, which can result in costly, unscheduled outages. Several coatings and weld overlays have been used to extend the service life of boiler tubes.
Greater efficiency can be achieved in fossil-fired power plants by increasing the steam temperature and pressure into the Ultra Super Critical (USC) conditions (760° C. and 35 MPa). The USC conditions, however, promote coal ash corrosion and increase corrosion rates. In order to improve the reliability and availability of fossil-fired USC boilers, new coatings are needed to provide enhanced corrosion and erosion resistance without adversely affecting mechanical performance of the component materials.
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The present disclosure relates to the field of for-hire vehicles such as taxis, limousines, shuttles, buses or any other vehicle that provides shared transportation or transports one or more passengers between locations of the passengers' choice.
A for-hire vehicle (FHV) generally charges fares for transporting a passenger from one location to another. Some FHVs, such as taxicabs, operate with a meter. The primary purpose of a meter is to calculate fares for the passengers that hire the FHV. For example, the meter may charge an initial fee to start a trip and then may calculate a fee per every one-eighth mile traveled. The fares are generally displayed in a manner so that the passenger may view the calculation of the fare during the trip. A meter serves as a way to fairly and accurately calculate the total amount the passenger will be charged for the trip in the FHV. Meter-operated FHVs may differ from non-meter operated FHVs because in the former, the passenger's fare is calculated as the trip progresses while in the latter, the fare may be negotiated before the passenger is picked up.
The operation and maintenance of FHVs and meters is highly regulated. The entity charged with developing and enforcing the regulations (“regulatory agency”) for a jurisdiction generally imposes several requirements on operators of FHVs. For example, the regulatory agency may require the operator to obtain a certificate of public convenience and necessity (“CPCN”), which certifies that the operator is fit to operate a FHV or fleet of FHVs and that the vehicle or vehicles used to transport members of the public comply with certain minimum standards. As used herein, CPCN (or “certificate”) is meant to refer to the FHV owner's or operator's general certificate of license to operate as granted by the regulatory agency, jurisdiction, or governmental body, however denominated. A regulatory agency may also enforce geographic or time restrictions on the CPCN of a FHV operator. The geographic restrictions may restrict operation of a FHV to a limited area within the regulatory agency's jurisdiction of control, such as “west of the interstate” or “within the airport region.” The time restrictions may restrict operation of a FHV to a particular time frame such as nights or weekends. Regulatory agencies may also issue permits or licenses to drivers of FHVs authorizing them to drive a FHV within the regulatory agency's jurisdiction for a period of time such as a year. In addition to certificates of public convenience and necessity and permits (or FHV drivers' licenses), regulatory agencies may also issue medallions to meter-operated FHVs. Medallions are generally unique within a single jurisdiction and may be identified by a serial number, or medallion number and are associated with only a single FHV at any one time. Some medallions authorize unrestricted use of a FHV within the jurisdiction, while other medallions only authorize use during certain times or in certain geographic regions. For example, one medallion may permit twenty-four hour a day, seven day a week, operation, while another may only permit operation during certain hours on the weekends. Currently, in order for the FHV to be operating within regulations, its associated medallion must generally be displayed so that enforcement officers and/or passengers may view the medallion. Regulatory agencies may also impose other restrictions on the operation of FHVs that apply to all operators and are not specifically associated with a CPCN, medallion or permit. These general regulations may apply to FHVs of a certain type, such as taxicabs, and may relate to passenger safety, the environment, or other concerns within the public interest.
The combination of restrictions imposed by the regulatory agency through CPCNs, medallions, permits, and general regulations creates a set of rules that define the authorization for a FHV and driver to operate a FHV (“authorization rules”). For example, all of the medallions of an operator or driver will carry basic certificate restrictions, in addition to any restrictions placed on the specific medallions allocated to the operator, if any. For example, the regulatory agency may issue a certain number of medallions to all certificate holders in the jurisdiction that may be operated from noon to 2 AM, seven days per week. A FHV operator in the jurisdiction with a certificate restricting passenger pick-ups to a geographic area “west of the interstate,” for example, could operate the new medallion from noon to 2 AM, 7 days a week, but only for pick-ups “west of the interstate” even though the newly issued medallions do not have geographic restrictions. On the other hand, competitors with unrestricted certificates could operate the same newly issued medallions during the permitted times and pick-up passengers anywhere within the jurisdiction. In addition, only those drivers with valid permits are allowed to operate a FHV. In addition, the general regulations may impose universal restrictions. For example, FHVs may not be permitted to operate above a certain speed when carrying a passenger.
Currently, the enforcement of authorization rules is limited to visual inspection. In some jurisdictions, medallions are affixed to the exterior of the FHV and may be color coded to indicate the scope of their authorization. Driver permits must be inspected by enforcement officers by asking the driver to provide evidence of their permit. FHVs may continue to operate, even outside the scope of their authorization rules, until an enforcement officer inspects a FHV, its current operating environment (such as the FHV's location and the current time) and indicia of its authorization such as its medallion, CPCN, or the driver's permit. FHVs may (and unfortunately often do) also accept passenger fares at times or in places not permitted by their authorization rules if there is no enforcement officer present to observe the conduct which is in violation of the scope of operation granted to the FHVs by the regulatory agency. Thus, adequate enforcement of authorization rules is dependent upon human intervention; an enforcement officer would need to be available at all times to inspect the medallion, certificate, and permit of all FHVs operating within a jurisdiction in order to ensure proper compliance. Compliant meter operation is also dependent upon human intervention. As a result, effective enforcement may be expensive and cost prohibitive in many jurisdictions. The present state of regulation in many, if not most, jurisdictions, is that, enforcement may be ineffective because there are not enough enforcement officers available to adequately ensure compliance.
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a glass and a dielectric composition containing the same. It also relates to a multilayer wiring substrate and multilayer ceramic capacitor which are prepared using the dielectric composition.
2. Prior Art
Known substrate materials for forming wiring boards for use in electric and electronic equipment include a recently developed, low-temperature firing material in the form of a mixture of a glass frit having a softening point of about 700.degree. to 900.degree. C. and aluminum oxide. This substrate material can be fired concurrently and integrally with conductors, resistors and the like at relatively low temperatures of, for example, up to 1,000.degree. C.
It was proposed to incorporate dielectric layers having a high dielectric constant in multilayer wiring substrates made of such low-temperature firing substrate materials, thereby building capacitors in the substrates while achieving a size reduction. Typical dielectric layer materials are lead series low-temperature firing dielectric materials (Pb series perovskite compounds) which can be co-fired with the low-temperature firing substrate materials. This system suffers from serious interdiffusion between the dielectric material and the substrate material. One solution is to provide an intermediate layer, but the system still remains unstable and far below the practically acceptable level.
A variety of mixtures of a ceramic filler and glass were proposed as the dielectric composition which can be fired concurrently and integrally with low-temperature firing substrate materials. The glass materials used heretofore are those of lead oxide, silicon dioxide and boron oxide base systems which have several disadvantages including a low dielectric constant, a low glass transition temperature (Tg), and a high average coefficient of linear expansion causing cracks at the interface with the substrate due to thermal strains. For example, Japanese Patent Application Kokai (JP-A) No. 119815/1975 discloses a ceramic composition comprising in admixture polycrystalline ceramic refractory material and interstitial glass. This ceramic composition has a high dielectric constant and is sinterable at relatively low temperatures. The interstitial glass disclosed therein is a lead oxide series glass such as PbO-SiO.sub.2, PbO-Al .sub.2 O.sub.3 -SiO.sub.2 and PbO-ZrO.sub.2 -SiO.sub.2. Such a composition cannot meet all the requirements of dielectric constant, Tg, and an average coefficient of linear expansion.
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The concept of immersion is to make a user feel like they are part of the simulated environment. The success with which an immersive digital environment can actually immerse the user is dependent on many factors. Technology, such as three-dimensional graphics, surround sound, interactive user-input and other factors such as simplicity, functionality and potential for enjoyment have allowed multimedia users the ability to become immersed into media content. In fact, immersive digital environments are readily known, where realistic environmental effects such as wind, seat vibration and ambient lighting, are used to develop and further an interactive immersive experience.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,369,903 discloses a type of ambient lighting technology that generates light effects around a television, the light effects being dependent on the type of video content being displayed and having the effect of a more immersive viewing experience.
The patent relates to the on-line analysis of meta-data that is received together with a video signal. This analysis results in an adaptation of the lighting surrounding the presentation device (110). One or more characteristics of the meta-data are filtered out and translated into lighting settings of one or more light elements (102, 104, 106, 108), which in turn can contain one or more light sources.
The '903 patent illustrates an embodiment of an ambient light environment. Here, 100 illustrates a living room in which light elements, 102, 104, 106, 108, and 112 are positioned. The light elements can comprise LED illumination cells of different colors like red, green, and blue. Other colors and other light emitting resources, like conventional light, can also be used.
The television 110 receives and processes a television signal and the processed television is shown on its screen. The television 110 can be an analog or a digital television signal receiver. The television signal can be received via a satellite dish, cable, storage device, internet etc. Furthermore, the television signal can in general be a video signal or an image as can be stored upon a VCR, CD, DVD, a Game machine a PC etc. The living room 100 contains also other furniture like chairs 116, 118, and 120 and a table 122. The positions of the furniture and the shown furniture is only meant as an example to illustrate the invention that allows realization and change of both ambiance and light effect in combination with video, games, audio, etc.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,080,063 describes a method and apparatus for simulating participation in a live event. The apparatus operates by gathering input from the live event through sensors located at the live event, and by gathering user input from a remote participant through a user interface. These inputs are transmitted to a computer system where they are used to generate a display of the simulation, which reflects what is actually happening at the live event, as well as the effect of user commands on the live event simulation. The display includes “entities” corresponding to real participants in the live event as well as “entities” corresponding to simulated participants in the live event. In the '063 patent, an example is well described where the event is an automobile race. Sensors at the race periodically record the position of real automobiles participating in the race. This position information is relayed to the computer system where it is used to construct a display of the automobile race showing the real vehicles in their proper locations. Commands received from the user interface control a simulated vehicle in the display. By issuing commands through the user interface, a remote participant navigates the simulated vehicle in and out of the real vehicles in the display. In this way, the excitement a highly interactive video game is combined with the drama and publicity surrounding a live event.
As discussed, the '063 patent permits remote participants to effectively “compete” with the real participants in the live event, creating an artificial but immersive experience. However, there is no immersive effect or simulation concerning actual external surroundings. Rather, the prior art prepares a simulation according to limited conditions occurring at a remote external location, which is not currently encountered by the participant.
Often, occupants of moving vehicles will utilize traditional video games and entertainment devices to divert their attention from their travel. The occupant becomes distracted and removed, while becoming less integrated with the current environment.
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to continuous passive motion apparatus for mobilizing the knee joint of the patient's leg.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recent years, there has been an increasing awareness of the advantages of mobilization of joints as a part of the orthopedic care which follows an injury, an illness, or a surgical procedure. A joint can stiffen rapidly as a result of immobilization, and in many cases extensive therapy is required in order to regain full use of the joint after it has stiffened.
Active motion of a joint occurs when the patient has sufficient muscle strength to flex or extend the limb without need for external applied force. In contrast, passive motion of a joint involves the use of an external force to flex and extend the limb to induce motion. Continuous passive motion of a joint following injury, illness or surgery has been found to reduce post-operative pain, decrease adhesions, decrease muscle atrophy, and enhance the speed of recovery, while minimizing other risks of immobilization such as venous stasis, thromboembolism and post-traumatic osteopenia.
Continuous passive motion (CPM) devices developed in the past have, in general, included a base or frame, a femur support which supports the upper part of the leg, a tibia support which supports the lower part of the leg, and a drive system. The femur support typically is pivoted with respect to the base while while the tibia support pivots with respect to the femur support and is supported above the frame. Examples of this type of device are shown in the Ragon et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,450,132, the Bimler U.S. Pat. No. 3,717,144 and the Pecheux U.S. Pat. No. 4,323,060.
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The present invention relates to plastic blow molding machines.
A widely used process to produce containers, such as bottles, from a thermoplastic resin, such as polyethylene, is "blow molding". In that process plastic resin, generally in the form of pellets, is placed in a hopper which leads to an extrusion screw. The screw, by pressure or heat and pressure, causes the solid pellets to flow into a viscous semi-fluid mass of thermoplastic resin. The semi-fluid resin is forced by pressure to flow around a mandrel and through an extrusion die orifice which shapes it into a thin-walled elongated tube called a "parison".
The parison, having just been forced from the extruder die orifice and while still hot, is positioned over a blow tube and within an opened two-part mold. The mold is closed and its sealing members seal the top and the bottom of the parison to form an air-tight unit. Air is blown into the parison through the blow tube, causing it to expand against the inner walls of the mold. The walls of the mold are cooled and the cold walls of the mold cool the parison and form it into a bottle. The air is then exhausted and the two mold halves are opened.
This type of blow molding machine is generally described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,369,272 entitled "Apparatus For Concurrently Blow Molding And Trimming Plastic Articles" and U.S. Pat. No. 3,470,582 entitled "Apparatus For Compacting And Trimming Necks In Blow Molded Containers" describes a somewhat similar machine. Both of these patents are assigned on their faces to Hoover Ball and Bearing Company. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,369,272 the mandrel is elongated and has a bore containing the blow pipe. The top of the mandrel is threaded and screwed into a ring which is a portion of the die assembly.
In some blow molding machines a "pre-finish" neck is formed by a shearing action in the mold. When the mold parts are closed, a sealing and shearing member is moved into a cylindrical hollow on the blow pin, leaving a gap filled by the resin parison, to form a seal using the parison. Then the blow pin (sealing neck member) attached to the blow pipe is moved axially upwards; and the rising blow pin shears the plastic resin of the neck by forcing it against the shearing and sealing member which remains level. The blow pipe is raised and lowered within the bore of the hollow mandrel by an air cylinder piston. This type of blow molding machine is described in U.S. Pat. No. Re. 30,215 entitled "Sealing and Shearing Member In A Plastic Resin Blow Molding Machine" and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,234,299 entitled "Blow Pin Construction In A Plastic Bottle Blow Molding Machine."
In a typical blow molding machine, when the extrusion screw at its forward point hits a limit switch, a compressed air blast of low air pressure (for example, 45 pounds) for 2/10 to 3/10 of a second is sent through the blow pin to slightly blow (expand) the parison before the mold is closed. The mold is then closed and sealed and a blast of high pressure air (for example, 80 pounds) is expelled through the blow pin to expand the parison to the interior mold wall to form the bottle. The formed bottle is cooled by the cold mold wall for 3 to 5 seconds. The blow pin is then automatically pulled upwardly, for example, for a travel of 1/2 inch, to shear the bottle neck and form the round hole of the pre-finish neck.
An example of a blow molding machine is the UNILOY.TM. Model 350R2 made by Hoover Ball and Bearing Company. That machine may be equipped with four, six, eight, ten or twelve heads (molds). When equipped with six heads to make milk and juice gallon containers (less than 65-gram gallon size) it may make 2400 or more containers an hour.
In one type of blow molding machine the mandrel may be vertically lowered or raised relative to its forming die by means of an adjustment nut. The mandrel adjustment nut is freely rotatable within a plate and has interior screw threads which mate with the exterior screw threads on the top portion of the mandrel. A series of evenly spaced indentations are formed on the exposed upper portion of the mandrel adjustment nut. These indentations are round in cross-section and permit the insertion of a tool having a rounded boss. An operator may apply rotational pressure to the mandrel adjustment nut, turning it relative to the plate, by using the tool. As the mandrel adjustment nut is rotated on the screw threads of the mandrel, the mandrel is vertically lowered or lifted, depending upon the direction of rotation.
However, since there are vertical spacer pillars which prevent a full turn of the tool, it must be frequently repositioned in different indentations of the adjustment nut, preventing rapid and easy adjustment of the mandrel. When foreign particles become lodged in the extrusion orifice and the mandrel should be rapidly lowered, the slow action of the adjustment nut may cause a prolonged disruption in production. It has also been suggested that the adjustment nut may be rotated by a gear system. However, since the gear system presents a large mechanical advantage, the operator may not be sensitive to the orifice size and may injure the mandrel or the forming die.
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High surface area metal oxide particles are well known in the art. Conventionally they are precipitated from either a liquid or a gas phase. In the usual liquid phase embodiments, the acidity, temperature or concentration of the metal salt solution is varied to precipitate the metal oxide or hydroxide. Typical of that prior art process is the neutralization of an acid solution of aluminum nitrate or titanium chloride with sodium hydroxide. In the usual gaseous phase embodiment, a metal salt is evaporated and then hydrolyzed by steam or oxygen to precipitate the metal oxide. Representative of that prior art method are the formation of fumed silica from vaporized silicon tetrachloride and fumed alumina from vaporized aluminum chloride. In both the usual liquid and gas phase precipitations the particles formed can be quite fine and have quite large specific surface areas; however, these powders do not possess an internal foam structure.
The decomposition or hydrolyzation of metal salts in high temperature gas streams is common in the art. In the usual approach, known as the spray dryer technique, a slurry or solution of a decomposable salt is atomized into a gas. The particles so formed can be relatively large, hollow spheres. The spheres often contain holes where the residual water or decomposition gases have escaped from the interior of the particle. The hollow spheres formed under these conditions do not have high specific surface areas.
A method for high temperature hydrolysis of a metal salt solution is disclosed by Walsh in U.S. Pat. No. 3,273,962 and in an article entitled, "Ultrafine Metal Oxides By Decomposition of Salts in a Flame," Ultrafine Particles (Wiley & Sons, 1963). Two related U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,172,753 and 3,161,468, further describe Walsh's method. In this method, which Walsh terms "atomizing into a flame," a two fluid atomizing nozzle is used to form a cloud of solution droplets in a plume of gas. This plume may contain, or is subsequently combined with, the fuel and oxidizing gas for a flame. Subsequent to creation of the droplets, a pilot flame initiates combustion. When combustion occurs, the fuel gases are burned to provide heat and thus permit decomposition of the metal salts.
Walsh teaches the use of cool gases in a two fluid nozzle to atomize the solution with the heating occurring in the later combustion process. Two aspects of Walsh's method retard the rate at which the droplets are heated. Since the droplets are in a plume of the cool atomizing gas, they are to some extent insulated. Alternatively, if the atomizing gas is either fuel or oxidant for the flame, the droplet's evaporation will cool the gas, prolonging the time needed for the gas to reach ignition temperature, burn and release heat.
Walsh emphasizes that the processing temperature must remain below 1150.degree. C. in order to achieve hollow shelled particles. According to Walsh, when the reaction temperatures exceed 1150.degree. C. only thin platelets or wall segments remain. This occurs because the initial droplet heating is not sufficiently rapid in the Walsh method.
The Walsh method does not result in the formation of high surface area particles. The largest specific surface area taught by Walsh for alumina hollow shells is 24 square meters per gram and for titania is 10 square meters per gram. Walsh discloses the formation of zirconia but indicates that the particles will occur as flakes rather than as hollow spheres.
A Pennsylvania State University thesis by Renato Ciminelli entitled "Synthesis of Alumina from Al (NO.sub.3).sub.3 .9H.sub.2 O by the Evaporative Decomposition of Solution Process" examines the question of the decomposition of aluminum nitrate in a high temperature atmosphere. Ciminelli used an atomizing nozzle to spray aluminum nitrate solution into a furnace heated ceramic tube. Ciminelli found that aluminum nitrate droplets converted to aluminum oxide particles, with a hollow sphere or foam structure, when the temperature of the outside of the ceramic tube, midway along its length, was in a range from 700.degree. C. to 1000.degree. C. The formation of hollow spheres according to Ciminelli's method depends upon heat being added to the mixture of gas and droplets.
In Ciminelli's method, the solution droplets are heated relatively slowly. This occurs because the aluminum salt droplets first experience low temperature gases from the bifluid nozzle and the mixing between the spray plume and the hot furnace gas is slow. Further, the heat required to raise the temperature by the final 200.degree. C. to 400.degree. C. was conducted through the walls of the ceramic tube. Under these conditions, Ciminelli was unable to make alumina particles with surface area greater than 43 square meters per gram. Ciminelli also calcined the particles made in his apparatus. By further heat treating the alumina particles at 950.degree. C. he was subsequently able to raise their surface area to 77 square meters per gram. Specific surface area decreased drastically when higher calcining temperatures were encountered.
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Conventionally, in an asynchronous successive approximation register (SAR) analog-to-digital converter (ADC), an analog-to-digital (AD) conversion time per cycle is determined by applying a predetermined delay time to an output signal of a comparator. Such delay time is determined in advance by, for example, a fixed delay circuit. In the case where the AD conversion time necessary per cycle becomes long, the SARADC using the fixed delay circuit may fall below a predetermined number of cycles with respect to the overall AD conversion time (i.e., resolution is degraded).
In contrast, a SARADC capable of appropriately adjusting a delay time is known. Such SARADC uses a delay circuit which is capable of adjusting the delay time appropriately, and adjusts the delay time by a ring oscillator and a counter. The time delay is adjusted by adjusting an oscillating frequency of the ring oscillator. The oscillating frequency of the ring oscillator is adjusted by a feedback loop so that the value of a counter becomes a predetermined value. According to this SARADC, it is possible to adjust the delay time while AD conversion is in operation (i.e., background adjustment). However, since high-speed operation would be required for the ring oscillator and the counter, there is a problem that large power consumption is required.
As another SARADC, a configuration which adjusts a delay time by counting an AD conversion cycle of a predetermined time is known. Such SARADC detects an output edge of a comparator and increases the value of a counter for the number of detected edges. The value of the counter corresponds to the number of cycles of an AD conversion that occurred during the overall AD conversion time. In other words, this SARADC determines the delay time as being short if the value of the counter is larger than a predetermined value, and as being long if the value of the counter is smaller than the predetermined value. However, since this SARADC performs control by an accumulated value of the value of the counter, there is a problem that a time for adjustment would be required separately (i.e., background adjustment cannot be performed).
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Various methods and apparatus for positioning the master pattern in relation to the desired location of a printed or transfer pattern on material to be printed are known to be art.
For example, there is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,226,181 a method and apparatus for adjusting the position of a stencil in relation to a printing table, according to which method:
(a) A transparent material is placed on the printing table, over a reference pattern; PA1 (b) The stencil master pattern is transferred to the transparent material, through a printing process; PA1 (c) Any deviation between the printed pattern and the reference pattern is compensated for and eliminated by displacing the printed transparent material in a manner to cause the printed pattern to coincide with the reference pattern; PA1 (d) The positions of the stencil and the stencil frame are adjusted in precisely the same manner as the position of the transparent material. PA1 (a) Positioning a reference pattern, serving as a master pattern, on an alignment table separate from the printing table and creating a first reference pattern alignment means corresponded by second alignment or index means on the printing machine; PA1 (b) Scanning the reference pattern formed on the master pattern to establish pre-determined markings, using at least one scanning and sensing means; PA1 (c) Reading the positional values of the markings obtained with the aid of at least one scanning and sensing means; PA1 (d) Applying print in the printing machine to material registered therein with the aid of the second alignment or index means; PA1 (e) Bringing the material printed in accordance with (d) into register with the first aligning means on the alignment table; PA1 (f) Scanning the material printed according to (d) and reading markings on the print corresponding to the pre-determined markings on the reference pattern, using to this end at least one scanning and sensing means; PA1 (g) Reading the positional references of the markings on the print obtained from at least one scanning and sensing means; PA1 (h) Comparing the positional references established in accordance with steps (c) and (g); PA1 (i) Establishing each deviation between the markings of the reference pattern and the print with respect to its numerical values and directional sense; PA1 (j) Establishing displacement values suitable for rectifying this deviation and for applying subsequent print to further material substantially precisely in relation to the reference pattern; PA1 (k) Establishing the displacement values which need to be applied to a number of positioning means in order to compensate for this deviation. PA1 Establishment of the true position of the material to be printed, including small tolerances (less than 0.1 mm) when the material occupies its registered or aligned position in a printing station (on a printing table), by sensing the position of an index mark or a significant part of a previously printed pattern. PA1 Determination of the position of the aligned index mark in relation to a fixed reference, normally a location on the frame structure of the silkscreen printer. PA1 Conversion of data relating to the configuration of the index mark and obtained in time sequence. PA1 Application of measures for deriving from this sequential data unequivocal information relating to the true position of the index mark and its configuration. PA1 Establishment of the center of gravity of the index mark. PA1 Comparison of calculated x and y co-ordinates of the center of gravity of the index mark with previously stored co-ordinate reference values. PA1 Establishment of possible deviations between the center of gravity of the index mark and the stored co-ordinate values with respect to magnitude and direction. PA1 Calculation of the composite motion required of a plurality of stepping-drive motors, normally three in number, in order to compensate for the established deviation and to move either the material or the stencil to a desired position. PA1 A necessary effectuation of similar compensation with respect to a discrepancy or deviation in which the distance between two index marks differs from the same distance for the stored co-ordinate values. PA1 Provision to the stepping-motors of control signals produced in reponse to calculations carried out while observing possible compensation.
A development of the method and apparatus described in the aforesaid U.S. Pat. Specification is described in Swedish Patent Application No. 7903516-8 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 4,485,447), this further development relating to adjustment of print applied to material by means of a printing machine, so that the print coincides substantially with a reference pattern. The method described in this prior Patent Application comprises
The method according to German Offenlegungsschriften No. 3 027 717 for guiding a printing arrangement with the aid of individually controllable means also forms part of the pertinent prior art.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for improving system throughput of service generating small amount of traffic such as VoIP (Voice over IP) in 3GPP LTE (3rd Generation Partnership Project Long Term Evolution) system.
2. Description of the Related Art
The mobile communication system has evolved into a high-speed, high-quality wireless packet data communication system to provide data services and multimedia services beyond the early voice-oriented services. Recently, various mobile communication standards, such as High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) and High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), both defined in 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), High Rate Packet Data (HRPD) defined in 3rd Generation Partnership Project-2 (3GPP2), and 802.16 defined in IEEE, have been developed to support the high-speed, high-quality wireless packet data communication services.
Such recent mobile communication systems adopt Adaptive Modulation and Coding (AMC) and channel sensitive techniques to improve transmission efficiency. With AMC, the transmitter can control the data amount according to channel state. That is, when the channel state is bad, the data rate is decreased to math a predetermined error rate, and when the channel state is good, the data transmission rate is increased to match another predetermined error rate. In this way, the mobile communication system can transmit large amount of information efficiently.
With the channel sensitive scheduling resource management method, the transmitter can serve the user having superior channel state first selectively among multiple users and thus increase system throughput as compared to the general channel allocation and serving method. For example, the AMC and channel sensitive scheduling are the techniques for using the most appropriate modulation and coding scheme at the most efficient timing based on the partial channel state information fed back by the receiver.
There has been many researches done to adopt Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) to next generation communication systems in place of Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) that has been used in 2nd and 3rd Generation mobile communication systems. The standardization organizations such as 3GPP, 3GPP2, and IEEE are developing standards for enhanced system based on the OFDMA or modified OFDMA. It is known that OFDMA promises to increase system capacity as compared to CDMA. One of the factors affecting the increase of system capacity in an OFDMA system is the use of frequency domain scheduling. As the channel sensitive scheduling technique uses the time-varying channel for capacity gain, it is possible to increase the capacity gain with frequency-varying channel characteristic.
LTE adopts Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) in Downlink (DL) and Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) that are both capable of scheduling in frequency domain.
The AMC and channel sensitive scheduling are the techniques that are capable of improving the transmission efficiency in the state where the transmitter has acquired information enough on the transmit channel. In FDD (Frequency Division Duplex) mode where the transmitter cannot estimate the state of the transmit channel based on the receive channel, it is designed for the receiver to report the information on the transmit channel to the transmitter. In case of TDD (Time Division Duplex) mode where the transmit channel state can be inferred from the receive channel state, the transmit channel state report from the receiver to the transmitter can be omitted.
Although the mobile communication system evolves to support high speed high quality radio packet data communication, voice communication is still one of the main services. VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) is the service for supporting efficient voice communication in the communication system designed for radio packet data communication. The voice communication service has a characteristic in that a certain amount of traffic takes place at a certain interval and very sensitive to delay. In case of the traffic not sensitive to time delay, the scheduler can schedule the data on appropriate radio resource with temporal margin so as to expect high gain with the AMC and channel sensitive scheduling. In case of the delay sensitive traffic, however, the scheduler has to schedule the data without enough temporal margin and, as a consequence, it is difficult to expect the large gain of channel sensitive scheduling. Also, if a certain amount of traffic takes place regularly, the AMC which changes the modulation and coding scheme depending on the data amount becomes useless. In such cases, the control signals for indicating the modulating and coding scheme that are transmitted by using the AMC and channel sensitive scheduling techniques causes consummation of relatively large amount of resource as compared to the data amount to be transmitted.
By taking notice of these features of VoIP, a new resource allocation scheme appropriate for VoIP, referred to as SPS (Semi-Persistent Scheduling), is defined in LTE. SPS is designed to prevent the control signal from being transmitted for every data transmission such that the resource is allocated automatically at the interval of the traffic occurrence with the initially configured modulation and coding scheme until a resource release signal is transmitted.
FIG. 1 is diagram illustrating a resource unit defined for downlink in a LTE system.
Referring to FIG. 1 LTE adopts OFDMA in downlink. The resource is allocated in unit of resource block (RB) 110. An RB 110 is generated from 12 subcarriers on frequency axis and a subframe on time axis. A subframe has 1 msec duration and consists of 14 OFDM symbols. 10 subframes constitute a radio frame.
The basic unit of radio resource is resource element (RE). An RE 112 is defined by one subcarrier on frequency axis, one OFDM symbol on time axis, and one virtual antenna port on spatial axis. This means that one RE carrier a modulation signal. In case of allocating resource in unit of RE, too much information amount is required for indicating allocated resources and thus resource allocation is performed in unit of Resource Block (RB).
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an RB composed of a plurality of REs arranged with different purposes in LTE downlink.
Referring to FIG. 2, an enhanced Node B (eNB) transmits predetermined reference signal (RS) at predetermined positions in an RB for channel estimation. A User Equipment (UE), which knows the position of the resource designated for the signal, estimates channel according to the received RB. Reference number 120 denote the RE used for common RS. FIG. 2 shows the RB configured with common RS in case that 4 antenna ports are used.
One RB consists of 168 (=12×14) REs and, when the number of transmit antennas is 4, 24 REs are assigned for common RSs. In order to indicate resource allocation, Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) is transmitted in n OFDM symbols duration at the beginning of a subframe which is referred to as control region 122. Here, n can be 1, 2, or 3. Since the control region consists of 3 OFDM symbols in the example of FIG. 2, n=3. The size of the control region can vary every subframe and indicated by Physical Control Format Indicator Channel (PCFICH) at the first OFDM symbol of each subframe.
In the control region 122, physical ARQ Indicator Channel (PHICH) carrying ACK/NACK signal for Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) is defined to support HARQ process. That is, the control channel region carries RS, PDCCH, PCFICH, and PHICH. Reference number 124 denotes RE designated for control signal transmission. Reference number 126 denote RE designated for PUSCH transmission carrying scheduled user data.
PDSCH cannot be transmitted in the control region 122. Accordingly, in the exemplary case of FIG. 2 where the number of transmit antenna ports is 4 and the control region consists of three OFDM symbols, the number of REs that can be used for PDSCH transmission in an RB is 116.
Table 1 summarizes the number of REs available for PDSCH transmission in one RB according to the number of eNB's transmit antennas, whether the dedicated RS is defined, and length of the control region.
TABLE 1# of transmitSize of controlNumber ofConditionantenna portsDedicated RSregionPDSCH REs11Not defined115021Not defined213831Not defined312641Defined113851Defined212661Defined311472Not defined114482Not defined213292Not defined3120102Defined1132112Defined2120122Defined3108134Not defined1136144Not defined2128154Not defined3116164Defined1124174Defined2116184Defined3104
The number of REs determined which is by referencing table 1 is available in case of using normal Cyclic Prefix (CP) and system bandwidth is greater than 10 RBs. This is because the number of OFDM symbols constituting a subframe using an extended CP decreases to 6 and the size of the control region is configured with 2, 3, or 4 rather than 1, 2, or 3 when the system bandwidth is equal to or less than 10 RBs.
Reference number 130 denotes a principle of frequency first mapping for PDSCH. The modulation symbols streams of PDSCH are arranged in ascending order direction of subcarrier indices on the frequency axis. Once all of the subcarriers in an OFDM symbol are assigned, and then subcarriers in next OFDM symbol are assigned for PDSCH resource.
In an RB, dedicated RS can be defined additionally. The dedicated RS means the RS, when beamforming is applied for a scheduled user, to which the same beamforming is applied as to the PDCCH. The dedicated RS is mapped to 12 REs per RB.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an eNB transmitter in a legacy LTE system.
FIG. 3 shows the configuration of normal eNB transmitter using spatial multiplexing (SM) in case of transmitting two codewords (CWs).
Transport Block (TB) denotes the information signal delivered from a higher layers to a physical layer to be transmitted through PDSCH. In case of supporting SM, up to two TBs can be transmitted on the same resource. Reference number 200a denotes TB1 for the first CW, and reference number 200b denotes TB2 for the second CW.
TB1 200a and TB2 200b channel coded by the channel coders 202a and 202b, scrambled by the scramblers 204a, 204b, and modulated by the modulators 206a and 206b so as to be converted to modulation signal streams. In case that no SM is used, TB1 200a does not exist such that the processes 202b, 204b, and 206b for TB1 200a are omitted.
The one or two modulation signal streams are converted to modulation signal streams per spatial layer to which precoding is applied by the precoder 210 through layer mapper 208. In case of SM the number of CWs is limited to 2 but four spatial layers are allowed an thus it is necessary to define the arrangement for this.
In case of using transmit diversity, the number of spatial layers is 2 or 4 while the number of CWs is 1, and precoding means the transmit diversity coding. The precoding can be categorized into one of transmit diversity coding, open-loop precoding, and closed-loop precoding.
The precoder 210 can converts the modulation signal streams per spatial layer to signal streams to be transmitted through respective transmission antenna ports 2116c and 216d. The precoded signal streams are mapped to REs corresponding to antenna ports by RE mappers 212c and 212d, converted to OFDM symbols by OFDM signal generator 214c and 214d, and then transmitted through respective antenna ports 216c and 216d.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a resource unit defined in uplink of a legacy LTE system.
Referring to FIG. 4, LTE adopts SC-FDMA in uplink, and the basic unit of radio resource is RE as in downlink. An RB 400 is generated from 12 virtual subcarriers and one subframe on time axis. The subframe has 1 msec duration and consists of 14 OFDM symbols as in downlink. The RE 402 is defined by a virtual subcarrier in an SC-FDMA symbol.
SC-FDMA applies Discrete Fourier Transform as precoding at step prior to OFDM signal generation. Accordingly, the RE mapped designated for a modulation symbol does not means a subcarrier but is referred as virtual subcarrier. In case of allocating resource in unit of RE, too much information amount is required for indicating allocated resources and thus resource allocation is performed in unit of Resource Block (RB).
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating resource arrangement per purpose in an RB in uplink of legacy LTE.
Referring to FIG. 5, RS can be defined in unit of RE in SC-FDMA. Accordingly, a specific SC-FDMA symbol is entirely used for RS. The uplink RS is defined in the form of dedicated RS for per-user uplink channel estimation and used for demodulation so as to be referred to as Demodulation RS (DM RS).
Uplink Multi-User Multiple Input Multiple Output (MU-MIMO) means uplink Space Domain Multiple Access (SDMA). If the dedicated RSs that are orthogonal between user are received, the eNB receiver applies spatial filter appropriate for the per-user spatial channel response to discriminate among PUSCHs transmitted to different users.
The fourth and eleventh SC-FDMA symbols of a subframe 510 are SC-FDMA symbols 514 for transmitting the dedicated RS. By transmitting the per-user orthogonal signals as dedicated RS, it is possible to support uplink MU-MIMO. Other SC-FDMA symbols 516 are the resource available for PUSCH transmission. Among the total 168 (=14×12) RBs are defined in LTE uplink, the number of REs available for PUSCH transmission is 144 (12×12) with exception of resource assigned for RS.
In case of the subframe including Sounding RS (SRS) transmitted for uplink channel state at eNB, the last SC-FDMA symbol of a subframe is used for SRS transmission. Accordingly, the number of PUSCH REs is 132 (=11×12) per RB. Here, the number of REs is for a normal CP subframe. In case of using the extended CP, the number of SC-FDMA symbols constituting the subframe decreases and, as a consequence, the number of RE varies.
FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a UE transmitter in a legacy LTE system.
Referring to FIG. 6, the TB 620 is channel coded by a channel coder 622, scrambled by a scrambler 624, and modulated by a modulator 626, so as to be output as a modulation symbol stream. The modulation symbol stream is transform-precoded by a transform precoder 628 as DFT precoder, mapped to PUSCH RB by an RE mapper 630, and then converted to SC-FDMA signal by a SC-FDMA signal generator 632 to be transmitted through a UE transmit antenna 634.
FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an eNB receiver in a legacy LTE system.
Referring to FIG. 7, the signal received by the receive antenna 710 processed by a SC-FDMA signal receiver 712 and then RE-demapped by an RE demapper 714. In case that the eNB has multiple receive antennas, it is assumed that an antenna combiner is included in the SC-FDMA signal receiver 712. The signal separated to decode the DFT precoding applied at the UE for generating the SC-FDMA signal is processed by a transform-precoding decoder 716 as an Inverse DFT (IDFT), demodulated by a demodulator 718, descrambled by a descrambler 720, and channel-decoded by a channel decoder 722 so as to be recovered as the TB 724 transmitted by each user.
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating resource allocation according to channel state of UE in conventional system.
Referring to FIG. 8, two UEs 802 and 804 are connected to a eNB 800. The UE 804 is located close to the eNB 800 as compared to the UE 802 such that the average channel state of the UE 804 is superior to that of the UE 802.
If the channel response of UE 802 is good enough to apply a high order modulation and coding scheme, it is possible to allocate the resource small in amount to the UE 802 for transmitting the same data amount as the UE 804. For example, if the 16QAM (16 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation) is applied to the UE 802 while QPSK (Quadrature Phase Shift Keying) to the UE 904, the PDSCH or PUSCH for UE 802 carries 4 coded bits per RE while the PDSCH or PUSCH for UE 802 carries 2 coded bits per RE. If the same channel coding is applied and the same data amount is transmitted, the UE 804 needs only half of the resource allocated to the UE 804.
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The present invention generally relates to an apparatus for exercising the human body and enhancing the body""s overall health, particularly an individual""s back health. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus specifically designed to perform a number of back strengthening exercises which exercise an individual""s back muscles and enhance the overall health of an individual""s back.
The present invention relates generally to an apparatus and method which aid in exercising the human body and enhancing the body""s overall health. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus specifically designed for performing reverse sit-ups and other exercises and a method for strengthening an individual""s back muscles and enhancing the overall health of an individual""s back.
Epidemiological studies have indicate that back pain afflicts approximately 60to 80% of the population in the Western world. An estimated 75 million Americans currently suffer from back pain. In addition, over 16 million Americans visit their doctors each year because of back pain. This number does not include visits to chiropractors and other therapists who treat back pain.
Furthermore, the number of Americans in bed due to back pain on any single day is estimated at 6 million and an estimated 93 million workdays are lost every year in the United States due to back pain. The costs associated with back pain relating to diagnosis and treatment, loss of productivity, disability payments, Worker""s Compensation, and lawsuits are high. The U.S. federal government estimates that approximately 14 billion dollars is spent on back pain each year.
Back pain can result from a number o problem areas in the back. Many problem areas are attributed, to the degenerative process of the spine which begins after the bones of the spinal column have reached their mature size. This usually occurs when an individual reaches their mid-twenties. However, although the degeneration of the spine can result in back pain, a great deal of back pain has been shown to be related o an individual""s inactivity.
Spinal ligaments, the tough bands of connective tissue that bind the vertebrae of the spine together, frequently begin to lose some of their strength as a result of inactivity and aging. When these ligaments become lax, thereby losing some of their ability to support the spine, it is very important to have strong muscles to compensate for their lack of spinal support. Unlike ligaments, muscles are extremely elastic and can therefore help maintain the proper posture of the back. However, when the muscles associated with the spine become weakened from chronic strain and inactivity, they cannot perform their job in aiding the support of the back.
Therefore, in that today""s lifestyles seldom include back strengthening activities, there is a need for a simple apparatus and method for strengthening the back muscles in order to enhance the overall health of the back and thereby reduce or eliminate back pain.
The present invention comprises a simple apparatus for strengthening the muscles in an individual""s back. Briefly, the apparatus includes a base structure having a first horizontal base member and a second horizontal base member attached perpendicularly to the first horizontal base member, a support member for supporting a user""s lower trunk area positioned above the first horizontal base member, means for securing the support member in a vertical position above the first horizontal base member, such as a bar member or pole, and a planar support plate attached to the bottom of the first horizontal base member such that the planar support member is located adjacent to the means for securing the support member but on the side of the securing means that is opposite the second horizontal base member.
The back strengthening apparatus may also include a removable foot plate that is attached to the first horizontal base member near an end opposite the second horizontal base member where the removable foot plate is adjustable along a length of the horizontal base member.
In one aspect of the invention, the support member includes at least one indentation at a position where a user""s lower trunk area is supported. In one embodiment of the support member, the support member includes at least two indentations, substantially equal in shape and size to one another, that are positioned opposite one another in order to accommodate the hips of a user""s trunk area. In another embodiment of the support member, the support member may include a third indentation located between the oppositely positioned indentations where the third indentation is substantially the same shape as the two oppositely positioned indentations but larger in size than the oppositely positioned indentations.
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The present invention relates to a system for securing an animal to a fixed object. More particularly, the invention provides a system configured to frictionally retain a lead line such that an animal may pull a length of the lead line through the system when frightened or startled.
Users of saddle and pack animals, such as horses, donkeys, llamas, camels, etc., sometimes must leave an animal unattended outside of an enclosed environment. To prevent the animal from wandering away, the user may sometimes tie or otherwise secure the animal to a fixed object with a lead line or rope.
In places where saddle or pack animals are frequently left unattended, various devices to which the animals may be tied are sometimes provided. One common example of such a device is a hitching post. A hitching post typically includes a horizontal bar to which the animals may be tied, and one or more vertical supports that support the horizontal bar off of the ground. Another common device to which an animal may be tied is a tie ring. A tie ring includes a ring to which a lead line may be tied, and some mechanism (for example, an eyebolt) for securing the ring to a post or other fixed object.
While known securing devices are simple to use and construct, they also have various drawbacks. For example, if an animal tied to a hitching post or tie ring pulls on the lead line excessively, the knot securing the horse to the tie ring may pull tight, making it difficult to untie the animal. Also, it may be difficult for beginning riders to learn how to tie the animal to these devices.
Furthermore, securing an animal to a fixed object with a knot may present various dangers. For example, if an animal is frightened or startled, the animal may pull back against the knot. If the knot used to tie the animal does not have any give, the animal may feel trapped. This may cause the animal to panic and pull harder against the knot. If the animal continues to panic, it may injure itself, and also may present a danger to anybody that attempts to untie it. This may be an especially dangerous situation if the animal is tied into a transport trailer, due to the confined nature of such trailers.
The use of an ordinary tie ring aboard a transport trailer may also present a serious danger when an animal falls down inside of the trailer. If the knot used to tie the animal into the trailer has no give, the animal""s head may be twisted into an unnatural position by the tension of the lead rope when the animal falls. This may cause serious injury to the animal, and may also prevent the animal from getting its head and/or body into a position from which it can right itself. Furthermore, this may cause the animal to panic, and thus to present a danger to itself and anyone who enters the trailer to try to help the animal.
Various solutions to these problems have been proposed. For example, one solution involves tying the animal to an elastic device, for example an automobile inner tube, that is fixed to an object such as a wall, a tree, etc. If a panicked animal pulls against the inner tube, the inner tube may stretch, which may prevent the animal from injuring itself. However, because the elastic member exerts a continuous force against the animal when the animal pulls against it, the animal may have the feeling that it is trapped, and may become panicked. Also, the continuous pull may cause the animal to tend to fight against the elastic member. This may tend to reinforce any pull back problems the animal may have.
Another known solution involves the use of a quick-release device that releases when an animal pulls against the device with enough force. While quick-release devices allow a panicked animal to free itself, the sudden nature of the release may cause the lead line to snap back toward the animal with enough force to injure the animal. Furthermore, the animal may fall down due to the sudden release of the lead line. Finally, the release of the lead line may leave the animal completely unsecured to any fixed object, and thus free to wander off.
The present invention provides a securing system configured to be coupled to an object to facilitate the securing of an animal to the object with a lead line. The device comprises a plurality of spaced-apart members coupled configured to accept a length of the lead line in an interlaced fashion to frictionally retain the lead line, and a mounting structure coupled with the plurality of spaced-apart members, the mounting structure being configured to couple the device to the object.
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{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a built-in antenna, an electronic device using the built-in antenna, a method of making the built-in antenna and a method of installing the built-in antenna.
2. Description of the Related Art
Built-in antennas are conventionally used in a mobile terminal device such as a cellular phone and a personal computer. The built-in antenna is fixed to a printed-circuit board, a cellular phone body cover etc. of the device. In general, the fixation is made such that a copper antenna plate (conductor plate) with a given shape and a positioning penetrating hole formed by punching is attached to the printed-circuit board or plastic molded body while fitting a positioning protrusion formed on the printed-circuit board or plastic molded body to the positioning penetrating hole, then fixing the antenna plate thereto by using adhesive tape or the like (first method, disclosed in, e.g., Japanese patent application laid-open No.10-163748 (page 2 and FIG. 2)), or by heating and melting the positioning protrusion (second method, disclosed in, e.g., Japanese patent application laid-open No.10-190512). Meanwhile, the antenna plate is electrically connected to the conductive pattern of printed-circuit board through a metallic contact pin.
However, in the first method, the step of attaching the adhesive tape to the antenna plate is additionally required and therefore it is not suitable for mass production. Further, after attaching the antenna plate to a molded body, the position of antenna plate cannot be changed to fit the shape of molded body. The adhesive tape itself is not suitable because it may affect the antenna characteristics.
In the second method, a special tool for heating and melting the protrusion requires a lot of skill to master. Further, after attaching the antenna plate to a molded body, the position of antenna plate cannot be changed to fit the shape of molded body.
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{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Various tools are of course well-known in the PRIOR ART for accomplishing, for example, the insertion of a plurality of electrical wires into an electrical connector so as to achieve electrical connection of the plurality of electrical wires with a plurality of electrical contact blade members, disposed within the electrical connector, in accordance with insulation displacement techniques. Such. PRIOR ART tools, devices, or implements usually suffer or exhibit operational drawbacks or disadvantages which has necessitated the development of a new and improved installation, insulation displacement, and terminating tool for inserting a plurality of electrical wires into an electrical connector so as to electrically connect the plurality of electrical wires to electrical contact members disposed within the electrical connector in accordance with insulation displacement techniques. For example, the PRIOR ART tools are not usually relatively small in size so as to enable the same to be readily held, grasped, or manipulated by means of an operator. Furthermore, when it has been attempted to construct PRIOR ART tools of the aforenoted type such that the tools have in fact been of relatively small size so as to be capable of being readily held, grasped, and manipulated by means of an operator, such tools have usually been unable to develop the sufficiently large thrust forces which are required in order to successfully achieve the insertion and electrical connection of the plurality of electrical wires to the plurality of electrical contact blade members, disposed within the electrical connector, in accordance with insulation displacement techniques. Still yet further, it has likewise been experienced that in order to, for example, replace the driven insertion tool assembly so as to enable the tool to be operatively used in connection with the insertion and electrical connection of a plurality of electrical wires, to a plurality of electrical contact blade members, disposed within differently configured electrical connectors, or alternatively, to enable the replacement of the cutter blade component of the driven insertion tool assembly when, for example, the cutter blade component becomes worn and dull, the process required for achieving such replacement of the driven insertion tool assembly within such PRIOR ART tools is quite tedious and time-consuming.
A need therefore exists in the art for a new and improved installation, insulation displacement, and terminating power tool for inserting a plurality of electrical wires into an electrical connector so as to electrically connect the plurality of electrical wires to electrical contact members disposed within the electrical connector wherein the tool is relatively compact in size in order to permit the same to be readily held or grasped by means of an operator's hand, and yet, the tool is powerful enough to develop the needed thrust forces in order to achieve the insertion and electrical connection of the plurality of electrical wires to the plurality of electrical contact blade members disposed within the electrical connector in accordance with insulation displacement techniques, and wherein further, the power tool is capable of achieving a quick-change replacement of its driven insertion tool assembly so as to enable the tool to be operatively used in connection with the insertion and electrical connection of a plurality of electrical wires, to a plurality of electrical contact blade members, disposed within differently configured electrical connectors, or alternatively, to enable the replacement of the cutter blade component of the driven insertion tool assembly when, for example, the cutter blade component becomes worn and dull.
Power head can be used with a variety of insertion style tools to suit differing types of correctors.
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{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Deletions are entire regions of chromosomes that are no longer present in the genome. Chromosomal deletions are powerful tools in the genetic analysis of complex genomes. They have been exploited extensively in several species including Drosophila melanogaster, humans and mice. Drosophila melanogaster is an organism in which deletions in the genome can be efficiently induced and selected. Chromosomal deletions in the genome of Drosophila melanogaster can be induced through the use of either irradiation or treatment with a mutagenic chemical. In humans, deletions that have arisen spontaneously have facilitated the dissection of phenotypes in contiguous gene syndromes. The identification of deletions in the genome of humans has led to the positional cloning of genes with functions critical to the normal functions of the individual. In mice, sets of deletions within particular regions of the genome created by whole animal irradiation experiments have enabled a systematic characterization of functional units along defined chromosomal regions. However, due to the inordinate amount of time required to identify sets of unique deletions within a particular predetermined genetic locus, classical mutagenesis in mice is logistically impractical.
Presently, the most efficient method that can be used to create a chromosomal deletion at a predetermined genetic locus in mice is the Cre/loxP system disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,959,317. This recombination system uses two DNA constructs that are integrated into predetermined genetic loci on a chromosome, thus enabling the generation of a precise, single deletion in between the two inserted constructs. When a chromosomal deletion is desired in the genome of a mouse, the deletion is first created in an ES (embryonic stem) cell. The ES cell is then injected into a murine multicell blastocyst or morula or aggregated to an earlier stage murine embryo. ES cells used in this manner have the ability of developing into a chimeric mouse which contains the predetermined chromosomal deletion. The Cre/loxP recombination system however, lacks the feature of creating sets of unique deletions at a predetermined genetic locus afforded by classical mutagenesis. In order to create these sets using the Cre/loxP system, it is necessary to produce two new DNA constructs for each desired deletion. Therefore, the Cre/loxP system requires a great deal of effort and time in order to create sets of unique deletions within a predetermined genetic region.
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{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an image formation apparatus, and especially relates to an image formation apparatus wherein an image formation position of a color is adjusted in reference to an image formation position of another color based on temperature variance of conveyance means for conveying a printing medium and intermediate transfer means for performing intermediate image imprinting, such as an intermediate imprinting belt for transferring an image.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years and continuing, image formation apparatuses are required to deliver full-color prints at a higher printing speed, and to be small-sized. In order to fulfill the requirements, image formation apparatuses employing a quadruple tandem system are becoming popular.
However, in the quadruple tandem system, there is a problem in that colors are not precisely superposed, resulting in a color gap, due to fluctuations of conveyance speed of the printing medium, which is caused by thermal expansion and contraction of the conveyance belt indicated by temperature fluctuation.
In order to solve the above problems, Patent Reference 1 discloses an image formation apparatus capable of suppressing a temperature rise of intermediate transfer means, such as an intermediate imprinting belt, with minimum energy and a simple configuration, keeping the same dimensions of the image formation apparatus, and without the complications of a special mechanism. Specifically, the intermediate imprinting belt is directly cooled by a fan, or alternatively, the intermediate imprinting belt is indirectly cooled by a heat transfer pipe attached to a roller that drives the intermediate imprinting belt.
[Patent reference 1]
JP, 2001-296755, A
[Problem(s) to be solved by the Invention]
According to the image formation apparatus of Patent Reference 1, the temperature rise (heat gain) of the intermediate transfer means may be suppressed; however, if the temperature of the intermediate transfer means actually rises, delivery of a high quality image can be difficult.
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{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The EPS of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (“3GPP” for short) is constituted by an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (“E-UTRAN” for short), a Mobility Management Entity (“MME” for short), a Serving Gateway (“S-GW” for short), a Packet Data Network GateWay (“P-GW” for short), a Home Subscriber Server (“HSS” for short), a 3GPP AAA server (3GPP Authorization/Authentication/Accounting server), a Policy and Charging Rules Function (“PCRF” for short) and other supporting nodes, wherein the S-GW is an access gateway equipment connected with the E-UTRAN for forwarding data between the E-UTRAN and the P-GW and responsible for buffering paging waiting data; the P-GW is a boarder gateway between the EPS and a Packet Data Network (“PDN” for short) and is responsible for the access of the PDN and for forwarding data between the EPS and the PDN, etc.; the PCRF obtains service information via a Rx interface and a operator Internet Protocol (“IP” for short) service network interface, and is connected with the gateway equipment in the network via a Gx/Gxa/Gxc interface, is responsible for initiating establishment of an IP bearer, ensures Quality of Service (“QoS” for short) of the service data, and controls the charging.
The EPS supports the interworking with a non-3GPP network. The interworking between the EPS and the non-3GPP network is realized via an S2a/b/c interface. The P-GW is used as an anchor point between the 3GPP network and the non-3GPP network. The non-3GPP network comprises: trusted non-3GPP network and untrusted non-3GPP network, wherein the IP access of the trusted non-3GPP network may be directly interfaced with P-GW via the S2a; and the IP access of the untrusted non-3GPP network needs be connected with the P-GW through an Evolved Packet Data Gateway (“ePDG” for short) with the S2b as the interface between the ePDG and the P-GW.
In the 3GPP network between the EPSs, a Policy and charging enforcement function (“PCEF” for short) exists in the P-GW. All functions can be controlled as long as the PCRF is connected with the P-GW. The PCRF exchanges information with the P-GW via the Gx interface. When the interface between the P-GW and the S-GW is based on Proxy Mobile IP (“PMIP” for short), a Bearer Binding and Event Report Function (“BBERF” for short) is present in the S-GW, and the S-GW exchanges information with the PCRF via the Gxc interface. When the trusted non-3GPP network accesses, the BBERF resides in the trusted non-3GPP access gateway, and the trusted non-3GPP network access gateway exchanges information with the PCRF via the Gxa interface. When a User Equipment (“UE” for short) roams, an S9 interface acts as the interface between a home PCRF and a visited PCRF, meanwhile, an Application Function (“AF” for short) providing service for the UE sends service information which is used to generate Policy and Charging Control (“PCC” for short) policy to the PCRF via a Rx+ interface.
A plurality of PCRF nodes exist in one Public Land Mobile Network (“PLMN” for short) of the EPS, and all the PCRF nodes belong to one or more Diameter domains (i.e., PCRF domain), and all the PCRFs in a same Diameter domain (i.e., PCRF domain) have same capacity. The connection of one UE to the PDN network is called as one IP Connectivity Access Network (“IP-CAN” for short) session. The PCC policy of one IP-CAN session is merely decided by one PCRF. In order to ensure all the PCEFs or BBERFs related to one IP-CAN session and the AFs which provide service for this IP-CAN session are all associated with the same PCRF, the EPS introduces one logical function means, i.e., Diameter Routing Agent (“DRA” for short), into each Diameter (PCRF) domain.
When the UE is to establish the IP-CAN session to one PDN, one PCRF is selected by the DRA for this IP-CAN session, the PCEFs, the BBERFs and the AFs related to this IP-CAN session are associated to the selected PCRF through the DRA. The PCEF, BBERF and AF establish the Diameter sessions with the selected PCRF, respectively, and the policy and service information, etc. for controlling the IP-CAN session are transmitted via these Diameter sessions. In order to ensure that the DRA associates the PCEF, BBERF and AF with one PCRF correctly, the DRA should save the related information capable of uniquely identifying this IP-CAN session and corresponding PCRF identifier or IP address, the information identifying the IP-CAN session includes the Network Address Identity (“NAI” for short) of the UE, the IP address of the UE, the Access Point Name (“APN” for short) through which the UE accesses the PDN, and so on. When the PCEF, the BBERF and the AF of the same IP-CAN session establish the Diameter sessions with the PCRF, the information is provided to the DRA, and the DRA may select the same PCRF for it by searching for the saved information. The information of the Diameter session established by the PCEF, the BBERF or the AF and the PCRF, for instance, the session identity of the established Diameter session, and so on, may be saved in the DRA, thus the DRA can know the Diameter session it manages for the IP-CAN session. The DRA may also select the same PCRF for all the IP-CAN sessions of the UE. When the Diameter session established by the PCEF, the BBERF or the AF and the PCRF is deleted, the PCEF, the BBERF or the AF will notify the DRA that this Diameter is deleted, and the DRA may delete the information (e.g. session identifier) of this Diameter session. When all the Diameter sessions managed by the DRA for a certain IP-CAN session are deleted, the DRA will delete all the information of this IP-CAN session. When the DRA selects a same PCRF for all the IP-CAN sessions of the UE, the DRA will delete all the information of this IP-CAN session after all the Diameter sessions managed by the DRA for this UE are deleted.
Currently, the EPS has three types of roaming architectures. The first type is home routed. FIG. 1 is a roaming architecture view of the home routed of the EPS. As shown in FIG. 1, the P-GW is in the home network, and is provided with IP service by a home network operator (i.e., the AF is in the home network). The second type is local breakout and the IP service is provided by the home network operator. FIG. 2 is a roaming architecture view of the local breakout and the home network operator providing the IP service. As shown in FIG. 2, the P-GW is in a visited network and is provided with the IP service by the home network operator (i.e., the AF is in the home network). The third type is the local breakout and the IP service is provided by a visited network operator. FIG. 3 is a roaming architecture view of the local breakout and the visited network operator providing the IP service. As shown in FIG. 3, the P-GW is in the visited network, and is provided with the IP service by the visited network operator (i.e., the AF is in the visited network).
The DRA can be realized specifically in the following three modes: (1) a Redirect mode, wherein when the PCEF, the BBERF and the AF send a Diameter session establish request message to the PCRF, this message is firstly sent to the DRA. If the DRA has not had any information related to this IP-CAN session yet, the DRA will select one PCRF for this IP-CAN session and feeds back the identifier or address of the selected PCRF to the sender; if the DRA has already had the information related to this IP-CAN session, the DRA feeds back the identifier or address of the corresponding PCRF to the sender. The sender sends the Diameter session establish request message to the selected PCRF after the sender obtains the address or the identifier of the PCRF; (2) a Proxy mode, wherein when the PCEF, the BBERF and the AF send the Diameter session establish request message to the PCRF, this message is firstly sent to the DRA. If the DRA does not have any information related to this IP-CAN session, the DRA selects one PCRF for this IP-CAN session and forwards the message related to this IP-CAN session to the selected PCRF; if DRA has already had the information related to this IP-CAN session, the DRA forwards the message related to this IP-CAN session to a corresponding PCRF, and the acknowledgement message of the PCRF is also forwarded to the PCEF, the BBERF or the AF via the DRA; and (3) a modification of the Proxy mode which is similar to the Proxy mode and different at: the DRA will also send the address of the PCRF to the PCEF, the BBERF or the AF when the DRA forwards an acknowledgement message fed back by the PCRF. Thereby, in subsequent message interacting, the PCEF, the BBERF or the AF can interwork directly with the PCRF without passing through the DRA.
Regarding the above mode (2), no matter it is the session establish message in the first place or the subsequent messages, they all pass through the DRA, thus, when the Diameter session is to be terminated, the DRA may analyze and obtain the indication for terminating the session carried in the message so as to delete the information of this session in the DRA. Regarding the above mode (3), when the Diameter session is to be terminated, it can be realized merely by that firstly a client sends a termination message to the DRA and then the DRA forwards the same to the PCEF. Regarding the mode (1), a problem yet to be solved is how the client deletes the information related to the session in the DRA when terminating the Diameter session with the PCRF, especially under the roaming scene. There is still no good solution at present for deleting the related information saved in the DRA when one Diameter session is terminated.
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{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Present Invention
The present invention relates to searchlights, and more particularly to a reflective LED searchlight.
2. Description of Related Art
As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional searchlight 11 is a versatile searchlight supporting vertical and horizontal adjustment of its illumination angle. The searchlight 11 includes a lamp holder housing 12, a supporting seat 13 pivotally supporting the lamp holder housing 12 from below, and a lamp assembly 15 pivotally installed in the lamp holder housing 12.
Therein, the lamp assembly 15 is configured to tilt up and down with respect to the lamp holder housing 12 so as to change the illumination angle of the searchlight 11 vertically. The lamp holder housing 12 and the lamp assembly 15 can rotate horizontally in both directions with respect to the supporting seat 13, so as to change the illumination angle of the searchlight 11 horizontally.
As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the lamp assembly 15 uses LEDs as light sources, and has a condensing lens 16 and an LED circuit board 18. The condensing lens 16 has a plurality of convex lens surfaces 17, and the LED circuit board 18 has a plurality of LEDs 19 that are quantitatively corresponding to the convex lens surfaces 17 of the condensing lens 16. When assembled, the condensing lens 16 is located in front of the LED circuit board 18, so that the LEDs 19 of the LED circuit board 18 are located at the focuses of the convex lens surfaces 17.
When the searchlight 11 is turned on, the LEDs 19 of the lamp assembly 15 emit light, the light is then condensed by the convex lens surfaces 17 of the condensing lens 16, and projected as parallel beams far in front.
The lamp assembly 15, nevertheless, has its weakness. Since the LEDs 19 of the LED circuit board 18 are sealed in the narrow space defined by the convex lens surfaces 17 of the condensing lens 16, the heat generated from the LEDs 19 if lighted is hardly dissipated, and this may lead to overheat and failure of the LED circuit board 18 of the lamp assembly 15.
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{
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The present invention relates generally to user interface displays, and more particularly to de-emphasizing certain content in user interface displays.
In most current layout display technology/applications, a user is often inundated with a variety of displayed content, some or much of which may be superfluous to the user's desired viewing at that time. For example, an internal web page for a corporation might display portions of articles or documents for a variety of departments. Often, the user is only interested in a subset of the displayed content. Many such layout applications allow for filtering of certain content, for example, by providing a filter and then only displaying content that matches a user's filter query; the remaining content is no longer displayed. To review removed content, the user must navigate back to a prior layout display. This can be a cumbersome and inefficient process for the user.
Accordingly, what is desired are improved methods and apparatus for solving some of the problems discussed above. Additionally, what is desired are improved methods and apparatus for reducing some of the drawbacks discussed above.
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{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Computer virtualization is a technique that involves encapsulating a physical computing machine platform into a virtual machine that is executed under the control of virtualization software on a hardware computing platform. Virtualization software enables multiple virtual machines to be run on a single hardware computing platform, and can manage the allocation of computing resources to each virtual machine.
A set of hardware computing platforms can be organized as a server cluster to provide computing resources for example, for a data center. In addition, supporting technology can move running virtual machines between servers (also referred to herein as “host systems”) in the cluster; an example of this supporting technology is sold as VMware VMotion™ by VMware, Inc. of Palo Alto, Calif. In addition, server cluster virtualization management software can determine initial and ongoing locations of virtual machines on hosts within the server cluster, and can manage the allocation of cluster computing resources. An example of this server cluster virtualization management software is sold as VMware Distributed Resource Scheduler™ by VMware, Inc. of Palo Alto, Calif. In addition, high availability software (hereinafter referred to as “HAS”) provides features that monitor virtual machines to detect operating system and hardware failures, restart virtual machines on other physical servers in the cluster without manual intervention when server failure is detected, and protect applications from operating system failures by automatically restarting virtual machines when an operating system failure is detected. An example of this high availability software is sold as vSphere™ by VMware, Inc. of Palo Alto, Calif.
The cluster resource management service for a virtualized environment handles the placement and scheduling of a set of virtual machines (VMs) on a set of hosts that each belong to a cluster, in accordance with a set of constraints and objectives. To address constraint violations and achieve objectives, the cluster resource management service generates and can automatically execute live migrations of VMs between hosts and can recommend powering on hosts. For a VM to be powered-on on a host within a cluster, the cluster needs to have sufficient computing resources compatible with the VM's execution constraints to meet the VM's admission control requirements, and those resources must be available in unfragmented form, i.e., all on a single host in the cluster.
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Paving machines are used for depositing, spreading, compacting, and smoothing paving material on a roadbed in such a manner that a uniform and drivable surface is produced. In the case of an asphalt paving machine, the paving material is typically an aggregate filled bituminous mixture that is deposited on a roadbed while hot. Once the mixture cools after being suitably compacted and smoothed, a hardened pavement surface results.
Paving machines use screed assemblies to smooth and compact the paving material. The screed assembly is typically drawn behind the paving machine and is adjustable to establish the thickness of the deposited layer of paving material.
A screed assembly typically includes a base portion and may include one or more extension portions, each of these portions having steel screed plates mounted to the screed portions in such a manner that the plates both smooth and compress the deposited paving material, leaving behind a mat of the desired thickness. The screed plates are typically heated to prevent the bituminous material from clinging to the steel plates. In modem screed assemblies, the screed plate heaters are commonly implemented in the form of resistive electrical heaters that can be optimally positioned on or near the screed plates. Screed plates may also be heated by gas or other combustible fuel heaters.
It is important to maintain a proper screed plate temperature. If the screed plates are either too hot or too cold, a poor finish will be obtained in the resulting pavement mat. In a simple screed having only base screed portions, each of the base screed portions typically includes both a heater and a temperature sensor. In such a system, each of the base screed plates may be individually temperature controlled according to feedback received from the associated temperature sensor.
However, many screed assemblies make provision for attaching extension screeds to the ends of the base screed portions. These extension screed portions must be mechanically connected to the base screed portions, and must also be connected to provide controlled power to the heating elements. It is known to merely connect the heating elements of the extension screed portions in parallel with the heating elements of the base screed. In such a configuration, the extension screed heaters are controlled in response to temperature sensors located on the base screed portion. Consequently, the extension screed portions may be either too hot or too cold to produce a desired mat finish.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problem set forth above.
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{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a deviation amount detecting device which computes an amount of deviation for each of multiple toner images of different colors in a color image forming device wherein a color image is formed by superimposing the toner images of different colors.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a tandem type color image forming device, a color image is formed on a recording sheet or an intermediate transfer belt by using four image formation units of different colors which are arranged to superimpose the toner images on one another on the recording sheet or the intermediate transfer belt.
In the image forming device of this type, if the position where the toner images of the respective colors are superimposed slightly deviates from a desired position, it is difficult to stably obtain a color image with good quality. To avoid this problem, deviation compensation patterns of the respective colors formed on a transporting member are detected, and the deviation compensation is performed so that the toner images of the respective colors are superimposed at the same position. Specifically, by this deviation compensation, each of the detection results of color patterns (cyan, magenta and yellow) is compared with the detection result of a reference color pattern (black), and an amount of deviation of each color pattern to the reference color pattern is computed.
However, even if the computation of the amount of deviation and the deviation compensation are performed, a deviation will take place again according to various factors with the passage of time. Especially, if the reflection characteristics of the reflection mirror of the image forming device change due to a temperature rise of the exposure unit of the image forming device, a deviation may easily take place.
Conventionally, in order to correct the deviation which takes place due to the temperature rise of the exposure unit, it is necessary to frequently perform a deviation compensation process using the deviation compensation patterns. Refer to Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2005-103927 and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2006-259444.
However, the deviation compensation process using the conventional deviation compensation patterns needs to form many color patterns on a transporting belt, needs to read these color patterns by the sensors, and needs to perform the computation to compute the amounts of deviation based on the results of reading of the color patterns. Thus, the deviation compensation process using the conventional deviation compensation patterns requires a series of several tasks, including the formation of color patterns on the transporting belt, the reading of the color patterns by the sensors and the computation based on the pattern reading results, and much time is needed to complete the deviation compensation process.
The amount of deviation for one of the different colors produced due to a temperature rise in the exposure unit of the image forming device is different in size from that for another of the different colors. However, the deviation compensation process using the conventional deviation compensation patterns performs the deviation compensation uniformly for all the colors. There is a problem in that the deviation compensation process using the conventional deviation compensation patterns includes an unnecessary compensation process, which is not efficient.
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{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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In gas turbine engines and the like, a turbine operated by burning gases drives a compressor which, in turn, furnishes air to one or more combustors. Such turbine engines operate at relatively high temperatures. The capacity of an engine of this kind is limited to a large extent by the ability of the material, from which the higher temperature components (such as turbine rotor blades, stator vanes or nozzles, etc.) are made, to withstand thermal stresses which can develop at such relatively high operating temperatures. The problem may be particularly severe in an industrial gas turbine engine because of the relatively large size of certain engine parts, such as the turbine blades and stator vanes. To enable higher operating temperatures and increased engine efficiency without risking blade failure, hollow, convectively-cooled turbine blades and stator vanes are frequently utilized. Such blades or vanes generally have interior passageways which provide flow passages to ensure efficient cooling whereby all the portions of the blades or vanes may be maintained at relatively uniform temperature. The traditional approach for cooling blades and vanes (referred to herein collectively as "airfoils") is to extract high pressure cooling air from a source, for example, by extracting air from the intermediate and last stages of a turbine compressor. In modern turbine designs, it has been recognized that the temperature of the hot gas flowing past the turbine components could be higher than the melting temperature of the metal. It is, therefore, necessary to establish a cooling scheme to protect hot gas path components during operation. The invention focuses on gas cooled airfoils, and particularly those with trapezoidal or triangular cooling passages along trailing edges of such airfoils.
In general, compressed air is forced through small cavities close to the trailing edges of gas turbine airfoils for cooling. These trailing edge cavities assume trapezoidal (usually generally triangular) cross sectional areas with extremely low acute wedge angles, of less than 5.degree.. Other cavities not necessarily at the trailing edge but located nearby in the airfoil can also assume similar geometrical attributes. In cooling passages having such geometrical attributes, poor cooling flow distribution results in excessive airfoil metal temperatures, resulting in premature loss of component life.
Examples of cooling circuits for gas turbine airfoils, including stator vanes, may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,125,798; 5,340,274; and 5,464,322.
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Not applicable
Not applicable
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to communications systems, and in particular, to a communications system that provides Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) connections and echo cancellation.
2. Description of the Prior Art
At present, long distance networks are deploying ATM systems to carry traffic. At the same time, de-regulation in the local telecommunications environment is creating the opportunity for multiple local networks to compete in the same territory. These local networks will require interconnection for calls that originate in one local network and terminate in another local network. In addition, these local networks will need access to the ATM equipment in the long distance networks.
Voice traffic that travels long distances requires echo cancellation. Echo cancellation removes reflections from the impedance mismatch caused by 4-wire/2-wire conversions at the user end.
At present there is a need for a system that provides connections between communications devices in different local networks, and between communications devices in the same local network. There is also a need for a system that provides connections with echo cancellation between local Time Division Multiplex (TDM) networks and long distance ATM networks.
The invention provides a method and communications system for providing ATM connections and echo cancellation to a communications device. The communications device could be in a local network, and the ATM connection could be in a long distance network. The invention comprises a first interworking unit, a second interworking unit, an echo canceller, and a signaling processor. The first interworking unit is connected to the signaling processor and the second interworking unit. The second interworking unit is connected to the signaling processor and to the echo canceller.
The first interworking unit accepts a first DS0 from the communications device. The signaling processor receives sionaling related to the first DS0, and processes the signaling to select a first ATM virtual connection from the first interworking unit to the second interworking unit, and to select a second ATM virtual connection from the second interworking unit to the ATM network. The signaling processor provides a first control instruction to the first interworking unit that identifies the first DS0 and the first ATM virtual connection. The signaling processor provides a second control instruction to the second interworking unit that identifies a second DS0 to the echo canceller and the second ATM virtual connection.
The first interworking unit interworks the first DS0 with the first ATM virtual connection. The second interworking unit interworks the first ATM virtual connection with the second DS0 to the echo canceller. The echo canceller cancels echo from the second DS0 and provides the second DS0 back to the second interworking unit. The second interworking unit interworks the second DS0 back from the echo canceller with the second ATM virtual connection.
In some embodiments, the invention establishes communications between the ATM network and a second communications device. The second interworking unit accepts a third ATM virtual connection from the ATM network. The signaling processor receives signaling related to the third ATM virtual connection, and processes the signaling to select a third DS0 from the second interworking unit to the echo canceller, and to select a fourth DS0 from the first interworking unit to the second communications device. The signaling processor provides a third control instruction to the second interworking unit that identifies the third ATM virtual connection and the third DS0. The signaling processor provides a fourth control instruction to the first interworking unit that identifies a fourth ATM virtual connection and the fourth DS0. The second interworking unit interworks the third ATM virtual connection with the third DS0 to the echo canceller. The echo canceller cancels echo from the third DS0 and provides the third DS0 back to the second interworking unit. The second interworking unit interworks the third DS0 back from the echo canceller with the fourth ATM virtual connection. The first interworking unit interworks the fourth ATM virtual connection with the fourth DS0.
In some embodiments, the invention establishes communications between a second communications device and a third communications device. The communications system further comprises an ATM matrix that is connected to the first interworking unit. The first interworking unit accepting a third DS0 from the second communications device. The signaling processor receives signaling related to the third DS0, and processes the signaling to select a third ATM virtual connection from the first interworking unit to the ATM matrix and back to the first interworking unit, and to select a fourth DS0 from the first interworking unit to the third communications device. The signaling processor provides a third control instruction to the first interworking unit that identifies the third DS0, the third ATM virtual connection, and the fourth DS0. The first interworking unit interworks the third DS0 with the third ATM virtual connection to the ATM matrix and interworks the third ATM virtual connection back from the ATM matrix with the fourth DS0.
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In recent years, public interest in odor in daily life has grown, and stationary-type deodorizing products, spray-type deodorizing products, and various other deodorizing products (e.g., wallpaper, curtain, carpet, mat, sofa, filter, and clothes) that are provided with a deodorizing effect have been put on the market in order to deal with a demand for a reduction in an unpleasant odor or an offensive odor. Examples of the unpleasant odor or the offensive odor include a putrid odor (e.g., emitted from garbage), a human or animal excretion odor, sweaty odor, and aging odor, an aldehyde emitted from furniture and home appliances, a cigarette odor, and the like. Since an odor in daily life is normally a complex odor including a plurality of components, a combination of deodorizing components has been proposed so as to deodorize such a complex odor.
Activated carbon has been widely used as a deodorant. Since activated carbon is characterized by physical adsorption, it is difficult to use activated carbon as a general-purpose deodorant in various applications. Physical adsorption has a drawback in that a gas other than a gas that emits an offensive odor is continuously adsorbed in an open space irrespective of the type of gas component, and the adsorption capacity is immediately saturated. Moreover, when the adsorption capacity has been saturated, or the ambient temperature has increased, the adsorbed gas is released, and emits an offensive odor. Therefore, activated carbon can only be used for a product that can be replaced (exchanged). Since activated carbon has a black color, it is difficult to produce a white or chromatic deodorizing, product using activated carbon. In order to deal with the above problem, a deodorant that utilizes chemical adsorption and has a white or light color has been developed.
For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a deodorant that consists of a fine zinc oxide having a specific surface area of 40 to 100 m2/g, a hydrogen sulfide deodorizing capacity of 3.0 mmol/g, and a primary particle size of 0.2 μm or less, and that is suitable deodorizing sulfur-based gas. Patent Document 2 discloses a deodorant that consists of particles in which zinc oxide and either or both of aluminum oxide and silicon oxide are closely bonded, and that is suitable for deodorizing an ammonia-based gas, an amine-based gas, or a sulfur-based gas. Patent Document 3 discloses a deodorant composition that includes a deodorant in which a compound having a primary amino group is supported on an organic or inorganic carrier (support), and a deodorant including aluminum silicate, and is suitable for deodorizing an aldehyde gas or a basic gas.
Patent Document 4 discloses an aluminum silicate having a BET specific surface area of 450 to 600 m2/g and a pore volume of 0.6 to 1.2 mL/g, and describes that this compound is a basic substance adsorbent. Patent Document 5 discloses a deodorant consisting of a layered zirconium phosphate represented by Zr1-xHfxHx(PO4)6·nH2O.
Patent Document 6 discloses a deodorant that includes a metal complex of a hydrazide compound as an effective component, and is suitable for deodorizing an aldehyde gas or an acidic gas. Patent Document 7 discloses a deodorant for an aldehyde gas that includes a mixture including an aminoguanidine salt in which a pH becomes 1 to 7 when dissolved in purified water, and at least one compound selected from a silicate compound in which a pH becomes 2 to 8 when dispersed in purified water, a tetravalent metal phosphate compound in which a pH becomes 2 to 8 when dispersed in purified water, a zeolite in which a pH becomes 2 to 8 when dispersed in purified water, and a silica gel in which a pH becomes 2 to 8 when dispersed in purified water, wherein a pH of an aqueous suspension including the mixture becomes 1 to 7.
However, these chemical adsorption-type deodorants differ as to the reaction mechanism, and one deodorant can normally adsorb only one type of offensive odor. Therefore, it is necessary to use a plurality of deodorants in combination in order to deal with a complex odor.
For example, Patent Document 8 discloses a deodorant composition that includes an aldehyde gas deodorant in which at least one compound selected from the group consisting of succinic acid dihydrazide, carbohydrazide, and oxalic acid dihydrazide is supported on at least one compound selected from the group consisting of a silicate compound and a tetravalent metal phosphate, and at least one deodorant selected from the group consisting of a sulfur-based gas deodorant, a basic gas deodorant, and an organic acidic gas deodorant, and further a deodorant composition that includes an aldehyde gas deodorant in which at least one compound selected from the group consisting of saccinic acid dihydrazide, carbohydrazide, and oxalic acid dihydrazide is supported on a mixture including at least one compound selected from the group consisting of an aluminum silicate, a zeolite, and a tetravalent metal phosphate, and magnesium silicate, and at least one deodorant selected from the group consisting of a sulfur-based gas deodorant, a basic gas deodorant, and an organic acidic gas deodorant.
Patent Document 9 discloses an adsorbent composition that includes silicon dioxide, a water-insoluble phosphate of a tetravalent metal, and a hydroxide of a divalent metal, and is suitable for deodorizing an acidic gas and a basic gas.
Patent Document 10 discloses a deodorant for a film that includes a porous inorganic substance, an amine compound, and a metal oxide, and is suitable for deodorizing an aldehyde gas, a basic gas, and a sulfur-based gas, wherein the average particle size of at least one component is 5 to 30 μm.
Patent Document 11 discloses a deodorizing carpet having a nonwoven fabric onto which a deodorant that includes a porous inorganic substance, an amine compound, and a metal oxide is sprayed, and a skin layer consisting of pile yarns and a ground fabric.
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The present invention generally relates to guidewires for use with medical catheters and to a welding procedure useful in manufacturing guidewires and other devices incorporating welding techniques. The welding procedure is particularly well-suited for assembling guidewire core wires of an alloy containing nickel and titanium as the principal components with a component such as a guidewire coil made of a different metal or material. Such an assembly procedure is in the nature of welding, and in the context of a medical guidewire, the weld forms the distal tip of the guidewire from the guidewire tip coil and the distal end of the core wire.
Guidewires have long been used in many medical procedures. Generally speaking, a guidewire is the initial member inserted into a body cavity during many transluminal procedures. A guidewire is an elongated fine wire device that is intended to readily pass through body passageways and to a location at which a medical procedure or treatment is to take place. Thereafter, in a typical arrangement, a catheter is slid over the thus inserted guidewire, with the catheter following the pathway defined by the guidewire. In general terms, a guidewire is flexible, at least at its remote distal end tip.
Remote distal end tip flexibility is often enhanced by providing a fine coil at the distal portion of the guidewire and securing that fine coil, typically at its distal end, to the distal end of the core wire of the guidewire. Typically, this securement application also includes a rounded distal tip that imparts some atraumatic characteristics to the guidewire. In the usual approach, these components are secured together by soldering, brazing, welding or by the use of an adhesive such as ultraviolet-curing adhesives or anaerobic adhesives such as cyanoacrylate adhesives.
It will be appreciated that core wires and guidewire coils are of extremely small diameter and are particularly fine and difficult to assemble by whatever means are utilized. Welding can be especially troublesome, particularly when attempting to work with certain materials that can be difficult to weld together. In this regard, it has been proposed to manufacture guidewires or other devices which incorporate components made of so-called shape memory alloys such as nickel and titanium alloys. Included are the so-called Nitinol alloys. Welding of these materials has met with considerable difficulty. Welding in accordance with conventional techniques has led to the development of embrittlement at the weld area, particularly of a Nitinol component. Materials such as Nitinol have been found to be so sensitive that they become embrittled when subjected to conditions that are too harsh.
It has been found that the procedure in accordance with the present invention provides welds of guidewires and other devices that minimize these types of embrittlement problems, even when a component being welded is made of a Nitinol material. In summary, the present invention accomplishes this improved welding by a procedure which includes inserting a guidewire coil or the like into a collet such that a distal end portion of the coil or the like projects out of the collet and beyond its face, and locating an elongated core wire or the like at a staged position remote from this face of the collet. Next, the projecting distal end portion of the coil is heated in order to form a heated tip mass until this mass engages the face of the collet, preferably in substantially sealed engagement. Then, this heated tip mass and the leading end of the core wire or the like are engaged with each other, typically by sliding the core wire or the like along the axis of the coil or the like and into the heated tip mass. Upon cooling, the leading end is joined to the now solidified coil tip mass so as to define a welded assembly. This welded assembly is suitable for use as a coil and core wire of a medical guidewire joined together by a generally atraumatic tip formed from the heated tip mass. This procedure and the products produced thereby are especially suitable for welding when one of the components, such as a core wire component, is made of a Nitinol alloy of which nickel and titanium are the principal components.
It is a general object of the present invention to provide an improved medical guidewire and welding process.
Another object of this invention is to provide an improved welding process, particularly suitable for medical devices, that avoids imparting harsh conditions to at least one of the components welded together, the procedure finding special application when one of the components is a Nitinol type of alloy.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved medical guidewire with a heat-formed distal tip having a core wire welded therewithin, which core wire is of a material that is particularly sensitive to deterioration when subjected to excessively high welding temperatures.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved process for manufacturing, including a procedure for welding a Nitinol elongated component together with another assembly component having a melting temperature greater than the Nitinol alloy.
These and other objects, features and advantages of this invention will be clearly understood through a consideration of the following detailed description.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an exposure apparatus comprising a chamber where an optical element having a capping layer is arranged, a control method for the exposure apparatus, and a device manufacturing method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, as a lithography method to manufacture fine semiconductor devices, such as semiconductor memories and logic circuits, reduction projection exposure using ultraviolet rays has been performed. However, as the integration density of the semiconductor devices increases, the development of a technique has become a matter of great urgency, which can obtain a resolution with a minimum line width of 70 nm or less, which conventional photolithography arrangements employing ultraviolet light cannot achieve.
Recently, to transfer a very fine circuit pattern onto a photoresist, a photolithography technique that employs EUV (Extreme Ultraviolet) light having a shorter wavelength of 11 nm to 15 nm, to replace ultraviolet rays, has been developed. The EUV lithography technique is expected to be promising as a technique that can obtain a resolution with a minimum line width of 70 nm or less.
In the EUV region, which covers a wavelength of 11 nm to 15 nm, all substances have strong absorption. In this region, an optical system including a transmissive optical element, which utilizes refraction as in lithography employing ultraviolet light as the exposure light, cannot be employed. Hence, an optical system comprising a reflective optical element, such as a thin film filter or mirror, is employed. The surface of such a reflective optical element has a multi-layer film obtained by alternately stacking two types of substances having different optical constants. For example, alternate stacking of molybdenum (Mo) and silicon (Si) on the surface of a glass substrate polished into an accurate shape can form the multi-layer film. Regarding the thicknesses of the respective layers, for example, each Mo layer has a thickness of about 3 nm, and each Si layer has a thickness of about 4 nm.
A gas component present in the atmosphere also absorbs light within the EUV region, which covers a wavelength of 11 nm to 15 nm, to attenuate the light greatly. Thus, the interior of the exposure apparatus is maintained to such a vacuum degree that exposure light will not attenuate. Gases mainly containing water and a carbon-based substance remain in the vacuum atmosphere in the exposure apparatus. The residual gases include a gas generated by a member, such as a cable used in the exposure apparatus, and a gas volatilizing from a resist applied on a wafer.
The residual gas components repeat physical adsorption in the surface of the optical element used in the exposure apparatus and desorption from it. The time duration of adsorption in the optical element surface varies depending on the substances, and ranges from a minimum of several tens of picoseconds to a maximum of several thousand seconds. Usually, the residual gas components merely adsorb physically, and neither chemically combine with the optical element surface nor cause a reaction.
When, however, EUV light irradiates the optical element, secondary electrons are generated on the optical element surface to dissociate the residual gas components that have adsorbed in the optical element surface. Particularly, when water has been physically adsorbed, active substances, such as oxygen radicals or hydroxide radicals generated by the dissociation, react on the optical element surface to undesirably oxidize it.
When the optical element surface oxidizes, it degrades the performance of the optical element, to decrease the throughput. Particularly, in an EUV exposure apparatus, if the optical element is a reflective multi-layer mirror, oxidation of the uppermost layer by merely several nm leads to a decrease in reflectance. In the EUV exposure apparatus, even a slight decrease in reflectance of each multi-layer mirror may adversely affect the throughput of the exposure apparatus very largely. If surface oxidation occurs locally, it causes nonuniform illuminance to degrade the image performance of the exposure apparatus.
To prevent the surface oxidation, a method of forming a capping layer, which covers the surface of the multi-layer mirror, has been proposed. As the material of the capping layer, a more inactive material should be selected. For example, groups including diamond-like carbon, boron nitride, boron carbide, silicon nitride, silicon carbide, B, Pd, Ru, Rh, Au, MgF2, LiF, C2F4, and TiN, and their compounds and alloys are useful (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid Open No. 2001-59901 that corresponds to U.S. Pat. No. 6,449,086 B1). By using such a resistant material to form the capping layer, the oxidation resistance can improve.
Formation of a capping layer on the optical layer in order to prevent surface oxidation is an effective way to prevent degradation of the optical element so as to prolong the service life of the optical element. It is, however, very difficult to prevent surface oxidation of the optical element semipermanently, to maintain the performance of the exposure apparatus.
Once the optical element oxidizes, it cannot be restored. Hence, to prolong the service life of the optical element, it is indispensable to avoid oxidation.
Particularly, when the capping layer is made of a substance which decreases by oxidation, oxidation of an underlying layer is also likely to progress. For example, when the capping layer is a carbon film, oxidized carbon forms carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, or the like, to decrease the carbon content of the film. When the carbon film becomes thin or less dense, not only do the optical characteristics change due to the carbon film, but also, oxidation of the underlying layer is likely to progress.
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1. Area of the Art
The present invention relates to the art of producing coagulation factor concentrates from blood plasma.
The invention is directed to enhancing the yield and purity of fractionated plasma proteins.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are a number of medical indications for administration of “clotting” or “coagulation” factors from human blood. These factors are proteins that cause the clotting of blood to staunch bleeding from wounds, etc. Individuals with any of a series of genetic abnormalities affecting the proteins responsible for blood coagulation are afflicted with a disease (hemophilia) in which the blood fails to clot normally, subjecting the individual to the danger of uncontrolled bleeding. For many years, this condition has been treated by administering concentrates of the missing or defective proteins. Many clotting factors are synthesized in the liver so that victims of liver disease are also in need of augmentation of their clotting factors. Additionally, there are other important medical uses for clotting-related factors including the use of fibrin to produce “fibrin sealant” or “fibrin glue” or “fibrin fabric”.
While some of the clotting factors are currently produced through biotechnology, at this time there is still no cost effective method of artificially manufacturing all of these proteins or these proteins in sufficient quantities. Further, the “artificially produced” factors made by recombinant and related technologies tend to be more expensive. Many of the “minor” factors are not yet (and may never be) available from biotechnology sources and so must be purified from donated human blood. Also, there is often a synergy between factors whereby a single administered recombinant factor is not nearly as effective as a natural mixed fraction produced from fractionated blood.
There is also a special problem in Third World countries where the biotechnology products are generally either not available or not affordable. Therefore, much of the supply of anti-hemophilia factor (AHF, also known as Factor VIII), and other blood clotting factors are prepared from pooled human plasma. A hemophiliac requires treatment for a whole lifetime. Victims of liver disease and other users of clotting factors may also require prolonged treatment. Therefore, these patients are exposed to blood products produced from the blood of a large number of donors.
The presence of AIDS (Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome) virus or HIV in the blood supply means that hemophiliacs and other users of clotting factors have become infected with this terrible disease. Although tests to screen out AIDS-tainted blood have been improved, some infected blood does slip by. Even if the AIDS problem is solved, the danger of other blood-borne diseases, such as the various types of hepatitis and other, as yet unknown, infectious agents, makes it desirable to reduce or eliminate virus and other disease organisms from plasma used to prepare clotting factors. One way of achieving this goal is to replace pooled plasma products with products from a single donor (or pooled from a limited number of donors) since with pooled products “one bad apple spoils the entire barrel”, and the larger the number of donors in a pool, the greater the chance of “spoilage”.
Even with the use of clotting factors derived from a single donor, there is still danger. Even though tests may show the donor is free of known disease, the donor may be incubating a disease that will later show up on the tests, or the donor may harbor a yet unknown disease or a yet unknown strain of a known disease. These dangers have been lessened by use of plasma pre-treatments that inactivate disease organisms. Unfortunately, the best commonly used treatments either do not inactivate all types of disease organisms or damage the labile clotting factors during the process of inactivating disease organisms.
The basic methods for preparing clotting factor concentrates from blood have not changed greatly over the last few decades. Generally, a concentrate of clotting factors is derived from pooled plasma by a cryoprecipitation step. The plasma is frozen and then thawed. During the freezing process certain proteins precipitate to form a “cryoprecipitate.” Various additives such as ethanol and/or polyethylene glycol are often added to enhance the efficiency of the cryoprecipitation step. Following cryoprecipitation, the partially purified factors may be further purified by additional precipitation steps or by chromatographic methods, and most recently by methods using monoclonal antibodies. For additional information on the basic techniques of clotting factor purification and the history of the development of these methods, the reader is directed to U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,560,475, 3,631,018, 3,682,881, 4,069,216, and 4,305,871 and 5,770,704 by the present inventor, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference, and the references cited therein. Because these and similar methods usually involve pools of plasma from many donors, the relative safety of a single or limited donor pool is generally not attained.
After the cryoprecipitate has been removed, the supernatant remaining is usually subjected to further purification by means of ethanol precipitation to yield gamma globulin (immune globulin) and albumin, both of which have significant uses in medicine. After the clotting factors have been purified from the cryoprecipitate, the leftover fibrinogen (including fibronectin and some other factors) is either discarded or used to produce some type of fibrin sealant or bandage.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to wagering games, gaming machines, networked gaming systems and methods and, more particularly, to wagering games, gaming machines, networked gaming systems and methods having a slot machine game for two players including a shared feature game.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the prior art, various types of gaming machines have been developed with different features to captivate and maintain player interest. In general, a gaming machine allows a player to play a game in exchange for a wager. Depending on the outcome of the game, the player may be entitled to an award which is paid to the player by the gaming machine, normally in the form of currency or game credits. Gaming machines may include flashing displays, lighted displays, or sound effects to capture a player's interest in a gaming device.
Another important feature of maintaining player interest in a gaming machine includes providing the player with many opportunities to win awards, such as cash or prizes. For example, in some slot machines, the display windows show more than one adjacent symbol on each reel, thereby allowing for multiple-line betting. Feature games of various types have been employed to reward players above the amounts normally awarded on a standard game pay schedule. Generally, such feature games are triggered by predetermined events such as one or more appearances of certain combinations of indicia in a primary game. In order to stimulate interest, feature games are typically set to occur at a gaming machine on a statistical cycle based upon the number of primary game plays.
Some gaming machine games today include one or more progressive prize awards. In some configurations, the progressive prize may have a small probability of a player winning it; thus making it possible to have a larger progressive prize. In other game configurations, the progressive prize may be a small amount; thus allowing the player patron to win the progressive prize more frequently. In most typical game configurations, the player wins the progressive prize as a result of a specific game outcome within the primary or main game.
Gaming machines have traditionally been under the control of a single player. While single-player gaming machines including feature games and progressive prizes have been very successful, there remains a need for games that provide a shared multi-player game experience.
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It is known as the so-called dark silicon problem that all the transistors cannot be caused to operate simultaneously because of the balance with power consumption.
Due to the abovementioned problem, there is a case where an electronic circuit needs limitation of the operation thereof as necessary. In other words, because there is a fear that simultaneous operation of all the circuits results in excessive power consumption and malfunction, there is a case where it is required to limit the operation of the circuit as necessary and thereby prevent excessive power consumption.
As one of the techniques for preventing such an operation of the circuit, Patent Document 1 is known, for example. Patent Document 1 discloses a processor which includes a power accumulation part accumulating power information about power consumed during issuance of an instruction, a comparison part comparing the accumulated power information with a given threshold, and a control part blocking another instruction from being issued. According to Patent Document 1, in a case where the accumulated power information exceeds the threshold, the control part blocks another instruction from being issued.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. JP-A 2013-518346
However, according to the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, issuance of an instruction is blocked when the accumulated power information exceeds the given threshold. Therefore, employing the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 may restrict issuance of a new instruction without exception when, for example, power consumption becomes equal to or more than a predetermined rating.
Thus, there is a problem that issuance of a new instruction may be restricted without exception when power consumption exceeds a rating in an electronic circuit.
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N.times.N waveguide grating routers are key components in wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) transmission systems and networks. These devices, also known as wavelength grating multiplexers and frequency routers, are compatible with many lightwave integrated semiconductor applications. These devices are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,002,350, 5,136,671, and 5,243,672, all issued to C. Dragone. They incorporate an N.times.M star coupler as their main building block. This coupler is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,904,042 issued to Dragone.
In all these router devices, input and output waveguides from the router couple first order diffracted light from the free space region of the router. One object in designing these routers has been to maximize the transfer of first order diffracted optical energy from the waveguide grating region to the input and output waveguides of the router. Another object has been to minimize the amount of energy radiated in higher order diffraction modes from the waveguide grating region in order to minimize the optical loss of the router. Obviously, the higher order diffraction modes are unwanted in such devices.
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This section provides background information related to the present disclosure and is not necessarily prior art.
A climate-control system such as, for example, a heat-pump system, a refrigeration system, or an air conditioning system, may include a fluid circuit having an outdoor heat exchanger, one or more indoor heat exchangers, one or more expansion devices disposed between the indoor and outdoor heat exchangers, and one or more compressors circulating a working fluid (e.g., refrigerant or carbon dioxide) between the indoor and outdoor heat exchangers. Efficient and reliable operation of the one or more compressors is desirable to ensure that the climate-control system in which the one or more compressors are installed is capable of effectively and efficiently providing a cooling and/or heating effect on demand.
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Adenoviruses are simple DNA-containing viruses (i.e., composed of only DNA and protein) that multiply in the cell nucleus of the host. These viruses induce latent or acute infections in tonsils, adenoids, lungs, bladder and cornea as well as the gastrointestinal tract and are readily activated. Several adenoviruses are the first common viruses of humans shown to be oncogenic for lower animals under special experimental circumstances. The adenoviruses may serve as "helpers" for adeno-associated viruses which cannot replicate in their absence.
The viral particles of the adenovirus have a dense central core and an outer coat known as the capsid. These particles have an icosahedral configuration and are composed of 252 capsomers: 240 hexons make up the faces and edges of the equilateral triangles and 12 pentons comprise the vertices. The hexons are truncated triangular or polygonal prisms with a central hole. The pentons are more complex, consisting of a polygonal base with an attached fiber protein, whose length (i.e., short or long) varies with viral type. Minor capsid proteins are also associated with the hexons or pentons and confer stability on the capsid to form links with the core proteins, and to function in virion assembly.
Each virion contains one linear, double-stranded DNA molecule associated with proteins to form the core of the adenovirus.
The early region 3 (E3) of adenoviruses plays a critical role in pathogenesis of the virus's disease process even though none of its gene products are essential for replication of the virus in cell cultures. Not all proteins coded in the E3 regions of adenoviruses have been identified, even for the most commonly studied adenovirus, type 2 (Ad2). However, it has been postulated that they mediate cellular or immunological responses through structural or functional homology to regulatory molecules. For this reason, it is possible that proteins generated from the E3 region, or their derivatives, can be used in therapy as modulators of the immune response (e.g., as an immunostimulation system in AIDS patients) or as anti-cancer agents to modify the action of various growth factors. In addition, specific E3 proteins can be used to distinguish between different adenovirus types.
Adenoviruses are widespread in nature. The 89 accepted members of the adenovirus family have similar chemical and physical characteristics and a family cross-reactive antigen but are distinguished by antibodies to their individual type-specific antigens: at least 41 are from humans and the rest from various animals.
The enteric adenoviruses, such as Adenovirus Type 40 or 41 (and also known as Type F Enteric Adenoviruses), are a virus group that cause serious intestinal and diarrheal diseases of young children. In 1978, the World Health Organization initiated a program for global prevention and control for such childhood diseases. As a result, the relative importance of various pathogens in the etiology of diarrhea in many parts of the world has been recognized. For example, rotaviruses, which rank as the most prevalent viral pathogen in childhood diarrhea, may now be close to control as many vaccines are now in sight. This has been made possible through very intensive research over the past decade.
However, the control of enteric adenoviruses, which are responsible for at least 15% of all cases of severe infantile gastroenteritis, is not yet within reach. Although they are second after rotaviruses as viral agents causing this type of infection, enteric adenoviruses remain a poorly defined group of viruses. The paucity of research done on enteric adenoviruses is mainly due to the difficulty of propagating the viruses in cultures. For this reason, there is no sensitive, fast, and diagnostic procedure able to distinguish between enteric adenoviruses and other adenoviruses (Group A, B, C, D, and E) which are commonly present in stools but are not agents of gastroenteritis. Another reason for studying enteric adenoviruses is their possible link to intestinal cancer which appears later in the life of infected individuals.
The standard reference methods for diagnosis of enteric adenoviruses have been (1) immunoelectron microscopy; (2) type-specific neutralization; (3) growth differences on primary human and Graham-293 cells. None of these methods are accurate and suitable for rapid routine use. Recently a new commercially available enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay (ELISA) to detect enteric adenoviruses (Adeno-Type 40/41 EIA, Cambridge Bioscience) based on a polyclonal antibody to enteric adenovirus hexon protein was created, but this kit lacks both specificity and sensitivity.
However, the present invention solves the problems associated with the previous methodologies. The present invention describes a recombinant DNA molecule which can produce at least one of Human Adenovirus Type 41 Tak (Ad41) short fiber protein, long fiber protein, or proteins RL-1 to RL-6 of the Ad41 E3 region. (There are presently several isolates known of human adenovirus type 41, but the most common isolate of this adenovirus is human adenovirus type 41 Tak, represented in the present invention. This isolate is the standard Ad41 strain and it is listed in the American Type Culture collection under catalog number ATCC #VR-930.)
The Ad41 short and long fiber protein gene and Ad41 E3 proteins are useful for assays for human enteric adenoviruses since they express only minor immunological cross-reactivity between adenoviruses belonging to different serotypes; they are unique adenovirus proteins (i.e., Ad41 long fiber protein and possibly the short fiber as well are responsible for attachment of the virus to specific cellular receptors in the cell membrane during infection) and they express selective type-specific antigenicity. The genes of the present invention are ideal candidates for specific, selective monoclonal antibodies based on an enzyme immunoassay (EIA) kit, a DNA probe assay system and a vaccine derived from the gene products. The present invention will not only enhance the understanding of the mechanism by which human enteric adenoviruses cause disease in humans, but will also assist in developing molecular probes for diagnosis of such infections.
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This disclosure generally relates to communication systems and methods, and particularly relates to leakage and side band signal suppression.
Most low cost two-way wireless communication systems generate baseband signals in a baseband frequency range. These signals are typically converted to an intermediate frequency or radio frequency (IF/RF) by a modulator device. An example modulator may be the AD8346 Quadrature Modulator from Analog Devices, Inc., which is a single-step analog up-converter that generates an L-Band (IF) signal from complex (in-phase and quadrature) baseband analog signals.
Such modulator devices are preferred due to their simplicity and low cost; however, these devices often have an L-band synthesizer (sine wave) signal and/or an opposite side band signal at the output, which can have deleterious effects on system performance. The L-band synthesizer signal is often referred to as “carrier bleed through” or “local oscillator (LO) leakage,” and the opposite side band signal is often referred to as the “negative image signal.” The LO leakage, although small compared to the desired output signal, can be a significant portion of the total output power. Additionally, the L-band synthesizer signal typically does not change in response to changes in the in-phase and quadrature baseband signal amplitude. The opposite side band signal is likewise small compared to the desired output signal, but may cause interference to a user operating in the frequency range of the opposite side band signal.
The LO leakage and opposite side band signals can be minimized by proper adjustment of the in-phase and quadrature input signals. Disclosed herein is an apparatus and method to measure the LO leakage and opposite side band signals. Also disclosed herein is an apparatus and method to adjust the input processing signals to a quadrature modulator to minimize the LO leakage and side band signals.
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This invention pertains to electro-acoustical devices.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,028,491, issued June 7, 1977 to the same assignee, discloses a transducer switching system that serves the same purpose as the present invention.
However, it has been found that the slotted poppet type valve of the above patent is subject to audio loss out the rear chamber. Once the valve opens it allows any accumulated particles and/or liquids to directly enter the electrical contact area. The slotted valve can be easily damaged by the blade of a screwdriver, or similar object, being inserted into the open cavity, engaged in the slot and rotated; inadvertently by a service man, or otherwise. This breaks the valve and prevents it from ever being used again for its intended purpose.
The switch contact, being a double-wound spring, has had variations in the actuation point as the headset plug was inserted normally into the open cavity. The spring contact makes a butt type electrical connection and is not self-cleaning.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,610,830, Daleiden, discloses a switch 39 that is operated by translation of sleeve 34A when plug 14A is inserted. However, switch 39 makes butt electrical and mechanical contact, and is devoid of any self-cleaning wiping action.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a frequency synthesizer having a multi-band voltage controlled oscillator, and more particularly, to a frequency synthesizer including a multi-band voltage controlled oscillator having different voltage controlled oscillating cores according to a frequency band, which can automatically determine a frequency band where each of the voltage controlled oscillating cores operates.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a frequency synthesizer is a circuit that generates an output signal of a specific frequency having a predetermined phase corresponding to a reference frequency by using a phase locked loop (PLL). The frequency synthesizer with the phase locked loop may include a phase frequency detector (PFD), a charge pump (CP), a loop filter, a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), a prescaler, and a divider. The phase frequency detector compares a pre-set reference frequency with a frequency obtained by dividing an output frequency of the frequency synthesizer output from the prescaler in a predetermined ratio in the divider, and then outputs an error signal corresponding to a difference from the comparison. The charge pump generates a control voltage of the voltage controlled oscillator depending on a size of the error signal, and the loop filter removes a high frequency component from the control voltage, and then the control voltage is input to the voltage controlled oscillator as a control signal of the voltage controlled oscillator. The voltage controlled oscillator generates a frequency corresponding to the control voltage and outputs the frequency, and the generated frequency is divided into a final desired frequency by the prescaler.
Since the voltage controlled oscillator of the frequency synthesizer includes one voltage controlled oscillating core, a range of frequencies that can be generated is limited. Particularly, as processes of manufacturing a voltage controlled oscillator are getting smaller, a range of frequencies of the voltage controlled oscillator that can be generated is being gradually limited. Thus, a voltage controlled oscillator applied to fields requiring a wide band of frequencies includes a plurality of voltage controlled oscillating cores that can generate different frequency bands from each other. Also, each of the voltage controlled oscillating cores are manufactured to divide a frequency band that each of the voltage controlled oscillating cores can generates into a plurality of bands and to operate according to each of the divided bands.
Meanwhile, the control voltage provided to the voltage controlled oscillator is limited within a predetermined range to obtain low noise characteristics. When a range of operation frequencies of the voltage controlled oscillator is changed by variations in a temperature or a process, it may be out of a range of frequencies generated by the control voltage within a predetermined range in an operation band of the voltage controlled oscillating core. In this case, the voltage controlled oscillator must change the operation band of the voltage controlled oscillating core generating an output frequency into another band of an appropriate frequency generated by the input control voltage, or change the operating voltage controlled oscillating core itself. Also, in a process of changing the operation band of the voltage controlled oscillating core, it is required to provide a bias current that optimizes noise characteristics of an output frequency of the relevant operation band.
Similarly, in the case of the prescaler, operation bands are divided according to an input frequency band. That is, the prescaler must set an appropriate operation band according to an input frequency band.
Thus, it is required in the art to develop a technology that can appropriately and automatically change an operation band of the operating voltage controlled oscillating core and provide an appropriate bias current for the changed band such that the voltage controlled oscillator outputting frequencies of multi-bands generates a frequency having excellent noise characteristics even when variations in a temperature and a process occur. It is also required in the art to develop a technology that can appropriately and automatically determine an operation band of the prescaler according to a frequency band generated by the voltage controlled oscillator.
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1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to semiconductor processing equipment. More particularly, the present invention relates to a stage assembly which is suitable for use in a vacuum environment such as a vacuum environment associated with an extreme ultraviolet lithography system.
2. Description of the Related Art
For precision instruments such as photolithography machines which are used in semiconductor processing, factors which affect the performance, e.g., accuracy, of the precision instrument generally must be dealt with and, insofar as possible, eliminated. When the performance of a precision instrument is adversely affected, as for example by contamination, products formed using the precision instrument may be improperly formed and, hence, function improperly. For example, if a photolithography machine which is not designed to operate in a vacuum is used in a vacuum environment, the photolithography machine may cause the vacuum environment to be contaminated. As a result, the vacuum level associated with the environment may be compromised, thereby affecting an overall photolithography process which utilizes the photolithography machine.
Lithography processes, e.g., photolithography processes, are integral to the fabrication of wafers and, hence, semiconductor chips. Systems used for lithography include optical lithography systems, electron beam projection systems, and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography systems. The development of EUV lithography systems is becoming more widespread, as the capabilities of EUV lithography systems generally exceed those of conventional optical lithography systems and electron beam projection systems.
In an EUV lithography system, beams of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light are reflected off of a reflective reticle, which contains a circuit pattern, onto a semiconductor wafer. Reticle scanning stages are generally used to position a reticle over a wafer such that portions of the wafer may be exposed as appropriate for masking or etching. Patterns are generally resident on the reticle, which effectively serves as a mask or a negative for the wafer. When a reticle is positioned with respect to a wafer as desired, a beam of EUV light may be reflected off of the reticle on which a thin metal pattern is placed and effectively focused onto the wafer.
Many scanning stage devices include a coarse stage and a fine stage which cooperate to position an object such as a reticle or a wafer. Specifically, many high precision machines used in semiconductor fabrication use a coarse stage for relatively large motion and a fine stage for smaller, or more precise, motion. A coarse stage is used to coarsely position a wafer, for example, near a desired position, while a fine stage is used to finely tune the position of the wafer once the wafer is positioned near its desired position by the coarse stage.
In general, an EUV lithography system must operate in a relatively high vacuum environment, which may be expensive to maintain, as any gas leakage into the vacuum environment must be corrected in order to prevent the vacuum level from being significantly compromised. Gas leakage may be associated with air bearings used in many standard EUV lithography systems. Maintaining the vacuum level in a vacuum environment such as a chamber to compensate for gas leakage and other contamination is often difficult or impractical.
As is the case with many scanning stages, the scanning stages used in an EUV lithography system are typically moved using motors such as linear motors. When it is necessary to service the motors, since the motors are positioned within a vacuum chamber, the vacuum chamber is generally opened to enable the motors to be accessed. Opening and closing, i.e., unsealing and resealing, the vacuum chamber is often a tedious process. The accessing of motors within a vacuum chamber exposes the vacuum chamber to contaminants and moisture, which may contaminate the surfaces of components within the vacuum chamber. The moisture within the vacuum chamber generally must be removed before the vacuum chamber may be used again, which increases the time associated with an overall pump down process used to create a vacuum within the vacuum chamber once the vacuum chamber is resealed.
Within a vacuum chamber, it is difficult to maintain an acceptable operational temperature, as motors used to move scanning stages, as for example fine scanning stages, often heat up during operation. When the temperature within the vacuum chamber is too high, the operation of sensors within the vacuum chamber may be compromised. Since there is no air available in the vacuum chamber during an EUV lithography process, the only cooling that is available within the vacuum chamber results from conduction and radiation. As such, maintaining an acceptable temperature within the vacuum chamber is often a difficult process.
Maintaining an acceptable vacuum level and an acceptable temperature within a vacuum chamber is important in order to ensure a high level of performance for an EUV lithography process. Specifically, the ability to efficiently and relatively easily maintain a desired vacuum level and a desired temperature is important.
Therefore, what is needed is a method and an apparatus for providing a relatively easy to maintain EUV lithography system. That is, what is desired is an EUV lithography system which includes a wafer stage device that enables both a desired vacuum level and a desired temperature to be accurately and efficiently maintained.
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The present invention relates generally to alloys of titanium and aluminum. More particularly, it relates to cast and HIPped gamma alloys of titanium and aluminum which have been modified both with respect to stoichiometric ratio and with respect to chromium, boron, and tantalum addition.
It is known that as aluminum is added to titanium metal in greater and greater proportions the crystal form of the resultant titanium aluminum composition changes. Small percentages of aluminum go into solid solution in titanium and the crystal form remains that of alpha titanium. At higher concentrations of aluminum (including about 25 to 35 atomic %) an intermetallic compound Ti.sub.3 Al is formed. The Ti.sub.3 Al has an ordered hexagonal crystal form called alpha-2. At still higher concentrations of aluminum (including the range of 50 to 60 atomic % aluminum) another intermetallic compound, TiAl, is formed having an ordered tetragonal crystal form called gamma. The gamma compound, as modified, is the subject matter of the present invention.
The alloy of titanium and aluminum having a gamma crystal form, and a stoichiometric ratio of approximately one, is an intermetallic compound having a high modulus, a low density, a high thermal conductivity, favorable oxidation resistance, and good creep resistance. While the TiAl has good creep resistance it is deemed desirable to improve this creep resistance property without sacrificing the combination of other desirable properties. The relationship between the modulus and temperature for TiAl compounds to other alloys of titanium and in relation to nickel base superalloys is shown in FIG. 3. As is evident from the figure, the TiAl has the best modulus of any of the titanium alloys. Not only is the TiAl modulus higher at higher temperature but the rate of decrease of the modulus with temperature increase is lower for TiAl than for the other titanium alloys. Moreover, the TiAl retains a useful modulus at temperatures above those at which the other titanium alloys become useless. Alloys which are based on the TiAl intermetallic compound are attractive lightweight materials for use where high modulus is required at high temperatures and where good environmental protection is also required.
One of the characteristics of TiAl which limits its actual application to such uses is a brittleness which is found to occur at room temperature. Also, the strength of the intermetallic compound at room temperature can use improvement before the TiAl intermetallic compound can be exploited in certain structural component applications. Improvements of the gamma TiAl intermetallic compound to enhance creep resistance as well as to enhance ductility and/or strength at room temperature are very highly desirable in order to permit use of the compositions at the higher temperatures for which they are suitable.
With potential benefits of use at light weight and at high temperatures, what is most desired in the TiAl compositions which are to be used is a combination of strength and ductility at room temperature. A minimum ductility of the order of one percent is acceptable for some applications of the metal composition but higher ductilities are much more desirable. A minimum strength for a composition to be useful is about 50 ksi or about 350 MPa. However, materials having this level of strength are of marginal utility for certain applications and higher strengths are often preferred for some applications.
The stoichiometric ratio of gamma TiAl compounds can vary over a range without altering the crystal structure. The aluminum content can vary from about 50 to about 60 atom percent. The properties of gamma TiAl compositions are, however, subject to very significant changes as a result of relatively small changes of one percent or more in the stoichiometric ratio of the titanium and aluminum ingredients. Also, the properties are similarly significantly affected by the addition of relatively similar small amounts of ternary elements.
I have now discovered that a composition including the quaternary additive elements, tantalum and chromium, together with boron doping, has a uniquely desirable combination of properties which include a substantially improved strength and a desirably high ductility when the proper proportions of the ingredients are present and the alloy is cast and HIPped.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a method for forming an aluminum oxide film, in particular, to a method for forming an aluminum oxide film by plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) using an Al compound having an alkyl group and an alkoxy or alkylamine group.
2. Description of the Related Art
A process of depositing a thin film of Al2O3 on a substrate by atomic layer deposition (ALD) is commonly performed using a trimethyl aluminum (TMA) as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,682,657. However, TMA is pyrophoric, requiring special handling and storage precautions.
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Apparatuses of the aforementioned type, which can be constructed as screw extruders, screw presses, ram presses, etc., are in particular used in plastics processing for the extrusion of plastic materials. However, they are also used for extruding other homogeneous and inhomogeneous plastic materials, e.g. in the production of explosive or powder strands. In the latter case, the pressure and temperature conditions within the extruder, particularly on the extruder head and on the retainer plate must be very accurately controlled, as a function of the components of the material to be processed, so as to ensure that the material does not detonate or deflagrate. Despite carefully respecting the operating parameters, it is not possible to entirely exclude such irregularities. As the material is under feed and shaping pressure and is completely enclosed within the casing, high energy levels are evolved during detonation or deflagration, which can lead to the destruction of machine components or the entire machine and also possibly the area around the machine.
It has therefore been proposed for special applications to fix the retainer plate to the casing by using hydraulic holding clamps, so as to permit the retainer plate to lift in the case of an excessive overpressure in the casing. However, this constructional measure only has the desired effect if the pressure build-up does not occur too rapidly. In addition, the holding clamps only have a limited travel, so that the exit cross-section on raising the retainer plate does not permit a sudden overpressure reduction
However, the problem of an excessive pressure build-up in the casing also exists when extruding other materials. There can be numerous different causes for this, e.g. clogging of the retainer plate in the case of small shaping cross-sections, modification to the material composition and/or the plasticity of the material.
In the case of extruders for pressure-sensitive or temperature-sensitive products, it is known (DE-C-34 31 274), to provide a retainer plate with a linear row of nozzles and to construct the plate in two-part manner with a parting plane located in the nozzle row. One of the two parts of the retainer plate is fixed and the other Connected in articulated manner with the extruded casing and is consequently pivotable. The pivotable plate can be brought by a pneumatic cylinder from the closed into the open position In order to permit raising in a manner dependent on the pressure or temperature, in the extruder is provided a measuring device, which records the pressure or the temperature or some other measured quantity essential for the same and by a control system controls the pneumatic cylinder. This construction is much too slow for rapid pressure rises. It can also not be looked upon as an automatically operating overpressure preventer, because it is a measuring-technical control system. Therefore, it is particularly unsuitable for explosives. In addition, the pneumatic cylinder closes again after opening, without removing any hazard which may be present.
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1. Field of the Invention
Apparatuses and methods consistent with the present invention relate to an AV (Audio Video) signal storage method and apparatus and a television (TV) having an AV signal storage function, and more particularly, to an AV signal storage method and apparatus for efficiently managing storage units and a TV having an AV signal storage function.
2. Description of the Related Art
A major example of broadcast stream storage apparatuses is personal video recorder (PVR) systems. PVR systems can receive an AV signal (or AV data, or AV stream). The AV signal can include a broadcast stream. Accordingly, an AV signal storage function can be defined as a broadcast stream storage function.
PVR systems are also called digital video recorder (DVR) systems. PVR systems include storage units such as hard disk drives (HDDs) which store, in real time, a stream of broadcasting programs (or a broadcast stream) transmitted from a broadcasting station and reproduce the stream at a time desired by a user.
Unlike conventional analog video cassette recorders (VCRs), HDD-embedded PVR systems store audio and video information as digital data. Therefore, the HDD-embedded PVR systems can guarantee lossless image quality despite the unlimited reproduction of the digital data and provide functions similar to those of VCRs.
A core function of PVR systems is a time shift function which enables a viewer to simultaneously store and reproduce a broadcasting program that the viewer is watching on television (TV). For example, when a viewer is interrupted by a phone call while watching a broadcasting program, if the viewer presses a pause button on a remote control, broadcast streams received thereafter are stored in a hard disk. After the phone call, if the viewer presses a playback button on the remote control, the viewer can watch the broadcasting program from a scene temporally stopped and thereafter stored in the hard disk. In other words, PVR systems can simultaneously perform storing and reproducing operations at regular time intervals using the time shift function.
TVs having a PVR function also have the time shift function described above.
To provide the time shift function, conventional PVR systems or TVs having the PVR function keep embedded HDDs always turned on. However, after initial driving, the HDD, which is set ON, rotate more than 5400-7200 RPM per minute. Consequently, if the HDD is always kept ON the life of the HDDs is shortened, which, in turn, shortens the life of PVR systems or TVs having the PVR function.
In addition, the time spent on initially driving the HDDs results in a loss in received broadcast streams and delays an output of the received broadcast streams.
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The present invention relates to vibration testing, and more particularly to methods for determining vibratory excitation spectrum tailored to physical characteristics of a structure having critical elements located thereon, such as a printed circuit board including electronic components associated with an interconnecting layout, some of which are considered as critical elements including connectors, resistors, capacitors, inductances, Integrated Circuits (IC) or Ball Grid Array components (BGA), to be subjected to vibration testing, under predetermined thermal conditions.
The production of reliable electronic products requires the use of defect precipitation and detection processes such as Environmental Stress Screening (ESS). The defect detection process should take place at different integration stages during the manufacturing process. Although each electronic system and the location and types of defects vary widely, an average 70% of the defects found in electronics are a result of a defect at the Printed Circuit Board (PCB) level (solder, component defects). The other 30% of the causes of failures are found at the system assembly level (connectors, errors in assembly). ESS testing at PCB manufacturing level offers many advantages. Diagnostics for individual circuit cards can run faster and may be more specific for identifying the root cause of the fault than diagnostics at the system level. Other stresses such as voltage margining and power cycling can be tailored to each circuit card type to maximize precipitation and detection of defects. Moreover, finding a problem at the circuit card level is usually less expensive than at the system assembly level.
The use of vibration and thermal stresses to find latent defects was first advocated and promoted in the military field. As mentioned by D. S. Steinberg in xe2x80x9cVibration analysis of electronic equipmentxe2x80x9d, Second edition ed. New York: John Wiley and sons, 1988, pp. 443, electronic chassis assemblies that have high resonant frequencies can be effectively screened in vibration using the NAVMAT P-9492 xe2x80x9cNavy Manufactured Screening Program, 1979xe2x80x9d p. 16. The vibration profile referenced in the NAVMAT P-9492 is a 6 g RMS random 20-2000 Hz Power Spectral Density (PSD) set of curves. However, this profile can adversely damage flexible products that have low resonant frequencies, as mentioned by Steinberg in the above-cited reference. As stated by W. Tustin, in xe2x80x9cAccelerated stress testing handbook: Guide for achieving quality productsxe2x80x9d edited by H. Anthony Chan and Paul J. Englert, New York: IEEE press, 2001, Chapter 10, pp. 155-181, it is desirable to carry out vibration testing experiments with other spectra to adjust the frequency content of the excitation. It is well known that a given defect will only be precipitated when sufficient fatigue damage is induced in the mechanical structure and this often occurs at the structures natural resonant frequencies. The vibration energy that does not correspond to the resonance frequencies of the unit under test is wasted, specially for simple mechanical systems such as PCBs. Therefore the most efficient ESS vibration applied to the unit under test should be based on the response of the product, and not on a predetermined spectrum. In xe2x80x9cManagement and Technical Guidelines for the ESS Process.xe2x80x9d Mount Prospect, Ill. 60056: Institute of Environmental Science and Technology, 1999, pp. 41-50, tailored input spectra an tailored spectral response methods are proposed, which include spectrum tailoring respectively at the PCB and assembly level.
The ESS process does not call for a specific type of vibration equipment. However, electro-dynamic and repetitive shock shakers are commonly used in typical ESS processes, and more recently acoustic vibrators as disclosed International PCT Patent Application published under no. WO 01/01103A1 to Lafleur et al. and naming the same assignee as the present patent specification. The physical operation modes of these equipment are quite different and have been the object of comparative works reported by several authors such as by E. K. Buratynski in xe2x80x9cA Comparison of Repetitive Shock and Electrodynamics Equipment for Vibration Stress Testingxe2x80x9d, Proceeding of the 5th Accelerated Stress Testing Workshop (AST 99), IEEE CPMT Society, Boston, Mass, 1999, pp. 319-328, by W. Tustin and al. in xe2x80x9cAcoustical Screeningxe2x80x94A Sound Solutionxe2x80x9d, Evaluation Engineering, Vol. 40, No. 8, pp. 58-63, 2001, by P. A. Rodger in xe2x80x9cVibration Tools for Accelerated Stress Testingxe2x80x9d, Proceeding of the 6th Accelerated Stress Testing Workshop (AST 2000), IEEE CPMT Society, Denver, Colo., 2000, pp.247-259, and by W. Tustin in xe2x80x9cRandom vibration for the developmental testing and for post-production screening of high-rel electronic productsxe2x80x9d, Proceeding of EtroniX 2001, Anaheim, Calif., 2001, pp.7. The electro-dynamic shaker is considered to be the most versatile type of vibration equipment. The electro-dynamic shaker allows to control random or sine vibration at the base of the unit under test in term of frequency and level typically from 2 to 2000 Hz, at high vibration level up to large payload. However, the relatively and high acquisition cost of this equipment constitute its principal disadvantage. On the other hand, the repetitive shock shaker creates vibration on the unit under test by impacting the vibration table with several air driven impact hammers. This mode of operation leads to a vibration without providing spectrum control, the spectrum being directed by vibration platform natural frequencies. As stated by C. Felkins in xe2x80x9cAccelerated stress testing handbook: Guide for achieving quality productsxe2x80x9d edited by H. Anthony Chan and Paul J. Englert. New York: IEEE press, 2001, Chapter 9, pp. 137-154, if table resonance and product resonance overlap, then a way must be found to either damp the table resonance or alter the product fixtures. The repetitive shock excitation presents the advantage of allowing an easy 6 degrees of freedom. However it inputs more energy into high frequencies than low frequencies and it may cause some defect precipitation that are not related to early failure. Acoustic vibrators such as disclosed International PCT Patent Application published under no. WO 01/01103A1 can be used as economical system for testing structures such as PCB""s. A main advantage of acoustic vibrator is to allow vibration control in amplitude and frequency over a wide bandwidth for flexible structures with non-contact and directional excitation. Typically, the acoustical excitation is able to achieve nominal vibratory response in random excitation of 20 g rms or higher in the 2 HZ to 2000 Hz frequency domain, as well a sine excitation at level reaching 100 g peak at PCB""s resonance. While the electro-dynamic shaker is well adapted for heavier structures, acoustical vibrators are particularly suitable for flexible structures such as PCBs for cost and simplicity reasons, especially when combined with thermal stimulation. The acoustical chamber can be used as a thermal chamber, thus avoiding the use of specific thermal barriers, as required with electro-dynamic repetitive shock shakers. In WO 01/01103A1, Lafleur et al. discloses typical cycling temperature response curves as obtained using a thermal control subsystem provided with a set of temperature sensors, while imparting vibration to a PCB under test. In the presented example, a predetermined profile for performing thermal cycling stress screening of the PCB and as previously stored in the system computer memory is selected by a user. Characteristics of the selected cycling profile were determined according to well known criteria, including cycle characteristics (low temperature, high temperature, product thermal response rate, dwell times at temperature extremes), number of thermal cycles and PCB condition (powered, unpowered, monitored, unmonitored), with reference to xe2x80x9cEnvironmental Stress Screening Guidelines for Assembliesxe2x80x9d, Institute of Environmental Sciences, March 1990, and to xe2x80x9cProduct Reliability Division Recommended Practice 001.1, Management and Technical Guidelines for the ESS Processxe2x80x9d Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology, January 1999, pp. 57-64.
The use of modal analysis methods for determining dynamic vibration characteristics of a structure, including natural frequencies, mode shapes and damping factors is known. Such a method is disclosed in U.S. Patent Application published under no 2002/0183942 A1 to Lafleur et al. However, the application of known modal analysis methods to spectrum tailoring for specific structures such as PCBs to be subjected to ESS testing, in a view to maximize vibration power transfer to the critical elements of the PCB to be subjected to vibration according to a given testing environment temperature, has not been widely developed prior to the present invention.
It is therefore a main object of the present invention to provide methods for determining vibratory excitation spectrums tailored to physical characteristics of a structure having critical elements located thereon to be subjected to vibration testing, which spectrums are capable of maximizing vibration power transfer to the critical elements of the structure a given testing environment temperature.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide methods for determining vibratory excitation spectrums tailored to physical characteristics of structures such as printed circuit boards (PCBs) having critical elements located thereon including connectors, resistors, capacitors, inductances, Integrated Circuits (ICs) or Ball Grid Array components (BGA), to be subjected to vibration testing, under predetermined thermal conditions set forth by Environmental Stress Screening (ESS) procedures, to either detect or precipitate latent defects that may have otherwise caused failure of the PCB in the field.
According to the above mentioned main object, from a first broad aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for determining a vibratory excitation spectrum tailored to physical characteristics of a structure having critical elements located thereon to be subjected to vibration testing, said physical characteristics including a frequency response function corresponding to a testing environment temperature and defined in term of power spectral density amplitude over a global excitation frequency range for said vibratory excitation spectrum and characterized by a plurality of power spectral density amplitude peaks corresponding to a plurality of natural resonance frequencies each being associated with respective mode shape and damping factor, the method comprising the steps of: i) locating as part of said global excitation frequency range at least one anti-resonance frequency range extending between two said natural resonance frequencies considered as main natural resonance frequencies; ii) defining on the basis of the amplitude peaks corresponding to said main natural resonance frequencies at least two corresponding sets of amplitude peaks each including the amplitude peak associated with any other said natural resonance frequency near corresponding said main natural resonance frequency included in said corresponding set; and iii) defining from said at least two sets of amplitude peaks at least two spectral profile sections associated with corresponding frequency ranges as part of said global excitation frequency range, each said spectral profile section being expressed as power spectral density amplitude according to the mode shape and damping factor associated with corresponding said main and any other natural resonance frequencies and to the location of said critical elements, to form a vibratory excitation spectrum capable of maximizing vibration power transfer to the critical elements of the structure to be subjected to vibration at said testing environment temperature.
According to the above mentioned main object, from a further broad aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for determining a set of vibratory excitation spectrums tailored to physical characteristics of a structure having critical elements located thereon to be subjected to vibration testing under a plurality of testing environment temperatures, the method comprising the step of: i) providing a plurality of frequency response functions representing said physical characteristics at said testing environment temperatures, each said function being defined in term of power spectral density amplitude over a global excitation frequency range for all said vibratory excitation spectrums and characterized by a plurality of power spectral density amplitude peaks corresponding to a plurality of natural resonance frequencies each being associated with respective mode shape and damping factor; ii) locating as part of said global excitation frequency range and for each said frequency response function at least one anti-resonance frequency range extending between two said natural resonance frequencies considered as main natural resonance frequencies; iii) defining on the basis of the amplitude peaks corresponding to said main natural resonance frequencies and associated with each said frequency response function at least two corresponding sets of amplitude peaks each including the amplitude peak associated with any other said natural resonance frequency near corresponding said main natural resonance frequency included in said corresponding set; and iv) defining from said at least two sets of amplitude peaks associated with each said frequency response function at least two spectral profile sections associated with corresponding frequency ranges as part of said global excitation frequency range, each said spectral profile section being expressed as power spectral density amplitude according to the mode shape and damping factor associated with corresponding said main and any other natural resonance frequencies and to the location of said critical elements, to form each said vibratory excitation spectrum capable of maximizing vibration power transfer to the critical elements of the structure to be subjected to vibration at each said testing environment temperature.
According to the above mentioned main object, from a further broad aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for determining a vibratory excitation spectrum tailored to physical characteristics of a structure having critical elements located thereon to be sequentially subjected to vibration testing under a plurality of testing environment temperatures, the method comprising the step of: i) providing a plurality of frequency response functions representing said physical characteristics at said testing environment temperatures, each said function being defined in term of power spectral density amplitude over a global excitation frequency range for said vibratory excitation spectrum and characterized by a plurality of power spectral density amplitude peaks corresponding to a plurality of natural resonance frequencies each being associated with respective mode shape and damping factor; ii) locating as part of said global excitation frequency range and for each said frequency response function at least one anti-resonance frequency range extending between two said natural resonance frequencies considered as main natural resonance frequencies; iii) defining on the basis of the amplitude peaks corresponding to said main natural resonance frequencies and associated with each said frequency response function at least two corresponding sets of amplitude peaks each including the amplitude peak associated with any other said natural resonance frequency near corresponding said main natural resonance frequency included in said corresponding set; iv) and defining from said at least two sets of amplitude peaks at least one spectral profile section associated with a corresponding frequency range as part of said global excitation frequency range, each said spectral profile section being expressed as power spectral density amplitude according to the mode shape and damping factor associated with corresponding said main and any other natural resonance frequencies and to the location of said critical elements, to form a vibratory excitation spectrum capable of maximizing vibration power transfer to the critical elements of the structure to be subjected to vibration at all said testing environment temperature.
According to the above mentioned main object, from another broad aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for vibratory testing a structure having critical elements located thereon at a plurality of sequential testing environment temperatures, comprising the steps of: i) determining a set of vibratory excitation spectrums tailored to physical characteristics of the structure from a plurality of frequency response functions representing said physical characteristics at said testing environment temperatures, each said function being defined in term of power spectral density amplitude over a global excitation frequency range for all said vibratory excitation spectrums; and ii) imparting vibration to said structure according to each said vibratory excitation spectrum sequentially at each corresponding said testing environment temperature to maximize vibration power transfer to the critical elements of the structure.
According to the above mentioned main object, from another broad aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for vibratory testing a structure having critical elements located thereon at a plurality of sequential testing environment temperatures, comprising the steps of: i) determining a vibratory excitation spectrum tailored to physical characteristics of the structure from a plurality of frequency response functions representing said physical characteristics at all said testing environment temperatures, each said function being defined in term of power spectral density amplitude over a global excitation frequency range for said vibratory excitation spectrum; and ii) sequentially imparting vibration to said structure according to said vibratory excitation spectrum at said sequential testing environment temperatures to maximize vibration power transfer to the critical elements of the structure.
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In various multistage rotary machines used for energy conversion, such as turbines, a fluid is used to produce rotational motion. In a gas turbine, for example, a gas is compressed through successive stages in a compressor and mixed with fuel in a combustor. The combination of gas and fuel is then ignited for generating combustion gases that are directed to turbine stages to produce the rotational motion. The turbine stages and compressor stages typically have stationary or non-rotary components, e.g., vanes, that cooperate with rotatable components, e.g., rotor blades, for compressing and expanding the operational gases.
Any fluid leakage between stages reduces overall gas turbine engine performance and efficiency and therefore, interstage seals in seal housings are provided to reduce such leakage. In general, fluid leakage is reduced when the gap between the seal and a rotor assembly is minimized. Labyrinth seals have been used to effect a seal between stages at different pressures in gas turbine engines. Such seals generally comprise two principal elements, i.e., a rotating seal and a static seal. The static seal, as viewed in cross section parallel to the axial length of the engine, frequently has rows of thin labyrinth fingers or teeth, typically formed of stainless steel, extending radially from a relatively thicker base. The teeth of the static seal extend radially to a location adjacent the rotating seal. If contact occurs between the labyrinth teeth and the rotating seal, the stainless steel teeth may harden, and wire-like strips of the tooth material may be liberated from the labyrinth teeth. These so called “seal wires” enter the flow path and may cause significant damage to diaphragm airfoils, often resulting in forced outages to repair the damage. Accordingly, labyrinth seals have generally been designed to allow sufficient clearance to avoid problems associated with contact between the labyrinth teeth and the adjacent seal surfaces, allowing a certain amount of leakage with an associated loss of performance.
It is also known to form the static seal or stator with a honeycomb configuration for cooperating with a rotating seal component, such as a rotary seal arm having a plurality of sharp seal teeth. These principal elements are positioned with a small radial gap therebetween to permit assembly of the rotating and static components. When the gas turbine engine is operated, the rotating seal expands radially more than the static seal and rubs into the static seal. The thin honeycomb construction of the static seal reduces the surface area on which the seal teeth rub and thus helps to minimize the heat transferred into the rotating seal.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a seal construction for a multistage rotary machine that does not require teeth to form a seal between stationary and rotating seal components. It is a further object of the invention to provide such a seal construction in which a gap between seal components may be reduced, and in which heat produced by abrading contact between such components may be minimized.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a receiver for a digital HDTV signal having successive data frames each of which has successive data segments, each segment including a series of data symbols, successive data symbols in each segment being interleaved and trellis encoded in accordance with a multi-level constellation of permissible code values. More particularly, the invention relates to a trellis decoder for decoding trellis encoded interleaved data symbols in a received data stream.
Such a trellis encoded interleaved format has recently been adopted by the Federal Communications Commission as an HDTV broadcasting standard in the United States.
2. Description of the Related Art
After years of intensive cooperative effort by the television industry, as represented by the Digital HDTV Grand Alliance (GA) of leading manufacturing and research organizations in that field, the GA developed and submitted to the FCC Advisory Committee on Advanced Television Service a proposed standard documenting a digital HDTV system. Such standard (the "GA standard"), with little change, has now become the official FCC broadcasting standard for HDTV.
It calls for 2-bit data symbols of the HDTV signal to be trellis encoded in accordance with an 8-level (3 bit) one-dimensional constellation. One bit of each data symbol is precoded, and the other is subjected to a 1/2 encoding rate which produces two coded bits in accordance with a 4-state trellis code. For purposes of interleaving, twelve identical encoders and precoders operate successively on every twelve successive data symbols. Symbols 0, 12, 24, 36 . . . are encoded as one series; symbols 1, 13, 25, 27 . . . as a second series; symbols 2, 14, 26, 38 . . . as a third series; and so on for a total of 12 series. It is suggested, therefore, in the GA standard, that 12 trellis decoders will also be required in the receiver for the 12 series of time division interleaved data symbols in the signal, each decoder decoding every 12th in the stream of coded data symbols.
Each of the decoders for the 4-state trellis code will operate in accordance with the well-known Viterbi decoding algorithm and so typically involves three separate units: a branch metric calculator unit, an add-compare-select unit, and a path-memory unit. See, for example, "Trellis-coded Modulation With Redundant Signal Set, Part I; Introduction, Part II: State of the Art", G. Ungerboeck, IEEE Communications Magazine, Vol. 25, pp. 5-21, February 1987. However, if twelve decoders are to be provided the resulting complete decoder circuitry is quite extensive and would occupy considerable space on an integrated circuit chip.
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1. Field of the Invention
Aspects of the present invention relate to extensible hypertext markup language (XHTML)-Print printing data that is printing data in the XHTML-Print language, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus to generate XHTML-Print printing data in which XHTML-Print extension data is generated corresponding to contents set by a user by inserting the generated XHTML-Printing extension data into XHTML-Print basic data prepared in advance, thus generating the XHTML-Print printing data adaptively according to an intention of the user.
2. Description of the Related Art
There exists a need for a method of generating XHTML-Print printing data to print a variety of standardized data items stored in a terminal.
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Systems, such as computer systems, often manage a set of resources. The resources in the set may be limited in number, or of a fixed or predetermined number. Different components in the system may vie to access a certain number of these resources on an exclusive basis, and for at least a period of time. If a particular component cannot obtain such access to the specified number of resources at the time they are requested, the operation of that component may disadvantageously slow down or even stall, while it is waiting for the resources to be made available to it. This results in a reduction in system throughput, and may also adversely affect the operation of other components in the system as well. Taken to the extreme, system operation may come to a halt.
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The present invention relates to a pulse oximeter for continuously measuring the oxygen saturation of the arterial blood of a subject in a bloodless manner by taking advantage of the difference in the characteristics of absorption by the organism of red light and infrared light emitting at different wavelengths. More particularly, the present invention relates to a pulse oximeter that permits simple correction of variations in the emission wavelength of the red LED that is provided in a probe.
A pulse oximeter is conventionally used to measure the oxygen saturation of arterial blood in a continuous and noninvasive manner. In actual measurement, the probe of the pulse oximeter is attached to the tip of a subject's finger or one of his earlobes and the living body of the subject is illuminated with red and infrared light at different wavelengths that are emitted from the probe at time intervals, and the oxygen saturation S of arterial blood is determined from the ratio .phi. between components of pulsation in absorbance as obtained from transmitted or reflected light for the two different wavelengths. A reference wavelength, say, 660 nm, is used for red light whereas a wavelength of 940 nm is typically used for infrared light. The probe contains in it two light-emitting diodes that emit at those two wavelengths and a single photodiode for light reception.
Suppose here that the absorbance of red light has a pulsating component .DELTA.A1 whereas the absorbance of infrared light has a pulsating component .DELTA.A2. The absorbance ratio .phi. for the two different wavelengths can be expressed by the following equation using .DELTA.A1 and .DELTA.A2: EQU .phi.=.DELTA.A1/.DELTA.A2 (A)
The oxygen saturation S is a function f of the absorbance ratio .phi. and is expressed as follows: EQU S=f(.phi.) (B)
The function f which correlates the oxygen saturation S to the absorbance ratio .phi. depends particularly on the wavelength of red light and the value of .phi. for the same value of oxygen saturation S varies with the wavelength of red light. FIG. 4 shows three characteristic curves for .phi. vs S at different wavelengths; curve U1 depicts the relationship at a wavelength of 660 nm; curve U2 plots the result obtained when the wavelength of red light is shifted to 650 nm; and curve U3 refers to the case where the wavelength is at 670 nm.
As is clear from those characteristic curves, if variations occur in the emission wavelength of the red LED contained in the probe, a certain correction must be made in order to measure the correct value of oxygen saturation S. This necessity presents no problem if the measurement is performed using the probe with which the pulse oximeter of interest is available since the necessary calibration has been completed for the oximeter. However, a problem arises if a different probe is to be attached to the main body of the oximeter for determining the oxygen saturation S.
Under the circumstances, there has been proposed an improved pulse oximeter of the type described in Unexamined Published Japanese Patent Application No. 64031/1984; the oximeter is so adapted that information on the emission wavelength of the red LED provided in the probe can be delivered from the probe to an external circuit to insure that the oxygen saturation S can be corrected by the main body of the oximeter on the basis of that wavelength information. Stated more specifically, the value of a certain wavelength is encoded and a resistor equivalent to the wavelength information for the red LED is mounted in the probe. The main body of the oximeter is so adapted that it is capable of reading the value of the resistor in terms of voltage, decoding the wavelength value, selecting an appropriate correction coefficient from a table that stores the values of red wavelength present for the main body and the correction coefficients necessary for calculating the oxygen saturation, and finally computing the correct value of oxygen saturation S.
FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a common pulse oximeter that uses the above-described prior art method of correction. A computing circuit 16 which is supplied with pulsating components of absorbances .DELTA.A1 and .DELTA.A2 for two wavelengths that have been detected with two detectors 13 and 14 and, using the values of .DELTA.A1 and .DELTA.A2, the absorbance ratio .phi. is computed in the computing circuit 16. The computed value of .phi. is sent to a computing circuit 17 in the next stage.
A probe 1 has a built-in resistor 20 that has encoded the information on the emission wavelength of a red LED 2. The value of the resistor 20 is read by a decoding portion 21 of the main body of the oximeter and converted to a value of wavelength, whereupon a correction coefficient corresponding to that value of wavelength is read out of a table 22 connected to the decoding portion 21. The table 22 is written in a ROM (read-only memory). The readout of the correction coefficient is set to the computing circuit 17, which uses both the value of absorbance ratio .phi. from the computing circuit 16 and the coefficient of correction to compute the oxygen saturation S that has been corrected for any variations in the emission wavelength of the red LED 2.
As described above, the conventional pulse oximeter which has the red LED 2 built in the probe 1 has seen it necessary to correct for any variations in the emission wavelength of that LED by equipping the probe 1 with the resistor 20 which encodes the value of said wavelength and which is equivalent to the wavelength information for the red LED. Another need has been to perform a decoding operation which consists of reading the value of the resistor 20 in the main body of the oximeter, thereby obtaining the value of the emission wavelength of the red LED. It has also been necessary to equip the main body with the table 22 storing those correction coefficients which are in one-to-one correspondence with the respective readout values of wavelength. All these factors have contributed to increasing the structural complexity of the pulse oximeter.
As for the table 22, a plurality of correction coefficients must be stored in consideration of the variations in the emission wavelength of the red LED 2 which is commercially available and, in a certain case, even those correction coefficients which are rarely used must be made available, thereby leading to complexity in the procedure for carrying out the decoding operation.
A further problem with the prior art pulse oximeter is that after an appropriate correction coefficient is selected on the basis of the wavelength information obtained from the probe 1, the correct value of oxygen saturation S must be determined using the selected coefficient but this only leads to complexity in the procedure for determining the oxygen saturation S.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of identifying proteins which are differentially expressed in a plurality of biological samples. An important component of the inventive method is digesting the proteins contained in the samples to produce peptides, followed by labeling of the peptides. The labeled peptides are then separated, and those peptides that are differentially present in the samples are identified. The identity of the peptides that are differentially present in the samples may be used to determine which protein(s) in the original biological samples were differentially expressed.
2. Background of the Invention
Of the many genes in the genome, some are expressed in virtually all cells, whereas others are expressed in cell- and tissue-specific patterns. Cancer cells express different genes as compared to normal cells. These genes encode proteins that, in turn, regulate all aspects of cell function, including those that give rise to neoplastic characteristics. In principle, analyses of expressed genes in tumor cells versus normal cells should indicate which genes and gene products are characteristic of the neoplastic phenotype. DNA microarrays and related techniques have revolutionized the approach to this problem. Indeed, this approach is expected to yield profound insights into not only into the induction of neoplasia, but also the responses of neoplastic cells to therapeutic agents. Nevertheless, the correspondence between what genes are expressed and what proteins are produced is uncertain. Recent studies indicate that the correlation between mRNA induction and elevation in protein content for several enzymes is relatively poor. Variations in protein expression may be due not only to variations in gene expression, but also to variability in mRNA stability, translational efficiency, protein stability and turnover. Thus, analyzes of genomic expression patterns will not necessarily provide an accurate picture of the status of the truly functional cellular machineryxe2x80x94the proteins.
The term proteome was introduced by Wilkins and colleagues to describe the protein complement of the genome. It is estimated that human cells contain between 50,000 and 100,000 expressed proteins. Proteomics has emerged as a buzzword complement to genomics. Proteomics describes the study of the proteome and changes in its status. In its simplest form, proteomics is simply an exercise in xe2x80x9cminingxe2x80x9d samples to identify the proteins present. However, the main attraction of applied proteomics in cancer research is that it can reveal key differences between the proteomes of normal and neoplastic cells. In addition, applied proteomics will reveal unique proteins or protein expression patterns of neoplastic cells, both of which can serve the task of molecular diagnosis of cancer.
Previous work describing changes in the expression of single genes or changes in the status of single proteins provided very specific information that could be interpreted in a limited biochemical context. Although the impact of many specific changes in gene and protein regulation is understood, we now realize that the factors regulating cell growth and differentiation act in complex, interlocking pathways. Accordingly, changes in biochemical signaling pathways, networks, and regulatory cascades, rather than in single enzymes describe how cells grow, differentiate and die. By collectively describing complex, multicomponent systems, both genomics and proteomics promise a quantum leap in our level of understanding of the biology of cancer. A crucial task of the new biology is to make mechanistic sense of these changes. First, however, it is necessary to reliably detect and describe them. DNA microarray techniques now make this possible in the context of gene expression. However, no equivalent methodology yet exists to reliably compare, characterize and define patterns of protein expression between cells and tissues.
Investigators studying proteomics are at an enormous disadvantage compared to their genome scientist colleagues. First, unlike nucleic acids, proteins do not hybridize to complementary sequences. Second, there is no protein equivalent of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Proteomics thus requires other means of separating proteins in complex mixtures and identifying both low-and high-abundance species. The most powerful method currently available to resolve complex protein mixtures is 2D gel electrophoresis. In this technique, proteins are resolved on the basis of some physical property (e.g., isoelectric point) in a first dimension separation, and then by molecular weight in the second dimension. Many individual proteins from complex cell extracts can be resolved on 2D gels. Although 2D gels are currently the most widely used separation tool in proteomics, it is worth noting that reverse phase HPLC, capillary electrophoresis, isoelectric focusing and related hybrid techniques also provide powerful means of resolving complex protein mixtures.
Regardless of the means by which they are resolved, proteins must next be identified, primarily on the basis of sequence information. N-terminal Edman sequencing provides useful information in many cases, except where N-terminal modifications block analysis. The state-of-the-art approach to protein identification is mass spectrometry (MS). Spots containing the proteins of interest typically are excised from gels and subjected to proteolytic digestion. The resulting peptides may be analyzed by electrospray (ESI) or matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) MS. Sequence information is obtained with triple quadruple or ion trap mass analyzers by collision induced dissociation (CID) or on time of flight (TOF) mass analyzers by post-source decay. In either case, the ability of MS instruments to perform MS-MS experiments allows unambiguous assignment of peptide sequence. This information then may be used with sophisticated database search programs, such as SEQUEST, to identify proteins in World Wide Web protein and nucleic acid databases from the MS-MS spectra of their peptides. This combination of separation technology, MS analysis, and database searching makes the high-throughput identification of proteins in complex mixtures possible and has been the driving force behind the recent explosive growth of the proteomics field. With the continued growth of databases, it will possible to identify virtually all proteins from any 2D gel with these approaches. Indeed, investigators studying proteins of S. cerviseae, in which the entire genome has been sequenced, have made excellent progress in characterizing the yeast proteome.
With few exceptions, 2D gel approaches dominate the proteomics field today. Not surprisingly, a great deal of effort has been directed at overcoming the major technical limitations of 2D gel electrophoresis. Briefly, these limitations are:
(1) difficulties in solubilizing and achieving isoelectric focusing (i.e. 1st dimension) separations with proteins of a wide range of isoelectric points and solubility,
(2) difficulties in achieving run-to-run and laboratory-to-laboratory reproducibility in 2D gel profiles,
(3) problems in resolving the many proteins typically present in the 30-100 kDa MW range, and
(4) difficulty in detecting low abundance proteins.
While progress has been made in addressing all of these problems, 2D gel technology is ultimately limited by the diversity of proteins to be analyzed, both in physical properties and abundance. Continued improvements certainly can be expected, but the 2D gel approach for proteins will ultimately prove inadequate to the demands of proteomics.
Accordingly, there remains a need for improved methods of assaying for differential expression of proteins in biological samples.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method to identify proteins that are differentially expressed in different biological samples, e.g., cell or tissue samples.
It is another object of the invention to provide a method to identify peptides derived from proteins which are differentially expressed in different biological samples.
The present invention exploits the fact that relatively short peptide sequences (e.g., 6-mer or larger; equivalent to an 18-mer oligo) are largely unique in proteins. This means that sequence identification of one or more such peptides in a protein digest is sufficient to establish the presence of the precursor protein in a sample with a high degree of confidence. Thus, if one identifies, for example, an 8-mer peptide, a search of a protein or nucleotide sequence database will permit the sequence to be localized to a specific protein.
The present invention is based, in part, on detecting the differential expression of the same protein in two examples, or the presence of protein(s) in some, but not all, samples by analysis of peptide fragments from each sample. To that end, the method of the present invention includes digesting the proteins in two samples to a mixture of peptides and then comparing the abundances of specific peptides. A protein that is abundantly expressed in one sample will give rise to greater amounts of product peptides upon digestion than the same protein expressed in another sample at trace amounts. Thus, the task of identifying differentially expressed proteins between two samples involves 1) digestion of two samples, 2) detection and selection of peptides that are present in different amounts in the two samples, and 3) sequence analysis of the selected peptides and identification of the protein precursors.
The objects of the present invention, and others, may be accomplished with a method of detecting peptide fragments of protein(s) that are differentially present in biological samples, by
digesting the proteins in a plurality of biological samples to produce peptides in each sample;
separating the peptides in the samples; and
identifying the peptides that are differentially present in the samples.
The objects of the present invention, and others, may also be accomplished with a method of identifying protein(s) that are differentially present in biological samples, by
detecting peptide fragments of protein(s) that are differentially present in biological samples as described above;
determining the amino acid sequence of at least a portion of the peptide fragments; and
correlating the amino acid sequences of the peptide fragments with the identity of the protein(s) that are differentially present in the samples.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an optical system, and more particularly to an optical system including multiple lens groups having a reduced volume.
2. Description of the Related Art
An optical imaging system includes imaging elements such as CCD imaging elements (charged coupled devices) or CMOS imaging elements (complimentary metal oxide semiconductors) and at least one lens group for use in various types of consumer products such as digital and monitoring cameras, personal computers, and the like.
The lens group typically includes at least one lens having undesirable aberration characteristics. These undesirable aberration characteristics are intrinsic to the lens and are generated due to the shape of the lens. The aberration characteristics can cause distortion of images in certain circumstances. Among the different type of aberrations, the spherical and coma aberrations, in particular, cannot be easily corrected and can cause image flares and other undesirable visual effects.
In order to solve problems caused by such lens aberrations, it has been previously proposed in the prior art to utilize a lens group including an aspheric lens for correcting the aberrations, or a thin film filter or an optical filter having a sharp surface which can restrict a portion of the light.
Further, recent developments in image devices for miniaturization and portability, for use in miniaturized optical imaging systems require mounting in the image devices.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have an improved optical imaging system that is miniaturized and whose optical characteristics exhibit minimal deterioration over time.
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A typical medicament dispenser includes a body defining a storage chamber, a fill opening in fluid communication with the body, and a stopper or cap for sealing the fill opening after filling the storage chamber to hermetically seal the medicament within the dispenser. In order to fill such prior art dispensers with a sterile fluid or other substance, such as a medicament, it is typically necessary to sterilize the unassembled components of the dispenser, such as by autoclaving the components and/or exposing the components to gamma radiation. The sterilized components then must be filled and assembled in an aseptic isolator of a sterile filling machine. In some cases, the sterilized components are contained within multiple sealed bags or other sterile enclosures for transportation to the sterile filling machine. In other cases, the sterilization equipment is located within the isolator of the sterile filling machine. In the isolator, the storage chamber is filled with the fluid or other substance, and then the sterilized stopper is assembled to the dispenser to plug the fill opening and hermetically seal the fluid or other substance in the dispenser.
One of the drawbacks of such prior art dispensers, and processes and equipment for filling such dispensers, is that the filling process is time consuming, and the processes and equipment are expensive. Further, the relatively complex nature of the filling processes and equipment can lead to more defectively filled dispensers than otherwise desired.
The present inventor has recognized the advantages of sterilizing a sealed, empty dispenser, and then filling the sterilized, sealed, empty dispenser under a laminar flow to maintain aseptic conditions during filling. For example, co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/781,846, filed Nov. 25, 2002, entitled “Medicament Vial Having a Heat-Sealable Cap, and Apparatus and Method for Filling the Vial”, and U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/442,526, filed Jan. 28, 2003, entitled “Medicament Vial Having A Heat-Sealable Cap, And Apparatus And Method For Filling The Vial”, each of which is assigned to the Assignee of the present invention and is hereby expressly incorporated by reference as part of the present disclosure, disclose a vial including a resealable stopper. The resealable stopper is first sealed to the empty vial, and then the empty vial/stopper assembly is sterilized, such as by applying gamma radiation thereto. The sterilized, sealed, empty vial/stopper assembly is then filled by piercing the resealable stopper with a needle, and introducing the fluid or other substance through the needle and into the chamber of the vial. Then, the needle is withdrawn, and laser radiation is transmitted onto the penetrated region or a cover is arranged over the penetrated region of the stopper to seal the needle hole and hermetically seal the sterile fluid or other substance within the vial/stopper assembly.
Although this resealable stopper, apparatus and method overcome many of the drawbacks and disadvantages associated with prior art equipment and processes for sterile filling, in certain applications it may be desirable to further avoid the possibility of contaminating the container between sterilization and filling of the container.
Accordingly, it is an object of the currently preferred embodiments of the present invention to overcome one or more of the above-described drawbacks and/or disadvantages and to provide an apparatus and method for needle filling a container including a resealable stopper in an e-beam chamber.
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A method is known for photodynamic therapy of pathological surface areas, comprising applicative sensitization of the surface of the pathological area by superposing an applicator on the base of a layer of liquid ointment comprising 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA), with an optically opaque coating on top of that layer, removing the layer of ointment after a predetermined time, carrying out a laser-fluorescent check of the concentration of a sensitizer (derivatives of porphyrin) in the tissues of the pathological area, and carrying out irradiation of that area with optical radiation in the spectral range of 625-700 nm [publication—PCT application WO 95/07077, published 16 Mar. 1995, IPC A 61 K 31/195]/1/.
The known applicator described in /1/ comprises a carrier in the form of an ointment having a fluid, gel-like suspension or emulsion form, and 5-ALA dissolved or dispersed in the carrier.
Drawbacks of the known method for PDT and the known applicator /1/ are the absence of the possibility of carrying out therapeutic irradiation of the surface of the pathological area and control of the accumulation of the sensitizer in its tissues during the process of sensitization, the complexity of precise dosage of 5-ALA over the surface of the pathological area, a large non-productive expenditure of 5-ALA because of the necessity to remove the ointment prior to irradiation, the possibility for the accidental removal of the ointment, especially when substantial pathological formations in need of sensitization are positioned on areas of a patient's body which are hidden by clothes. All of these reduce the therapeutic efficacy of PDT.
The drawbacks of the method for photodynamic therapy of the pathological surface areas and the applicator, taught in /1/, which are related to the possibility for the accidental removal of the ointment and the complexity of precise dosage of the 5-ALA over the surface of the area and are due to the consistency of the ointment, are partially removed in the method for dynamic therapy of pathological surfaces of areas and in the applicator that are taught in the PCT publication of application WO 95/05813, published Mar. 2, 1995 [IPC A 61 K 31/195]/2/. These are the analogues most similar to the proposed invention. The applicator taught in /2/ contains a base of bioinert material and a sensitizing layer including a polymer carrier and 5-ALA dissolved or dispersed in the carrier. The applicator of /2/ is optically opaque, since metal foil, polyester, rubber sponge, frothed polymers or other materials, which are not transparent in respect to optical radiation (for which they are absorbers or dispersals), are used as the base of bioinert material therein. This does not make it possible in the known method to carry out either therapeutic irradiation of the surface of the pathological area or a fluorescent check of the concentration of the sensitizer in the process of sensitization, since these operations are only carried out with the applicator removed. All this, as in /1/, reduces the therapeutic efficacy of PDT.
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{
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Desiccant based air conditioning systems have been finding increased usage during recent years. These systems have been used to solve certain HVAC problems that conventional vapor compression refrigeration systems are ill-equipped to handle. For example, desiccant based air conditioning systems have been used in applications where better humidity control is required. This is due to the fact that desiccant systems are capable of drying the air to a lower relative humidity than conventional system without frost development.
In addition, desiccant systems have been used where microbiological growth is a concern. Desiccant systems do not require the "wet surface" evaporator coil which is common to conventional systems. This coil, along with its associated condensate collection basin, can create a prime biological breeding ground. Also, tests have shown that some desiccant systems can effectively remove bacteria from the air stream with which the desiccant is brought in contact.
Desiccants can be solid, liquid, or gaseous substances which have as a basic characteristic the ability to attract and hold relatively large quantities of water. If, in attracting and holding moisture the desiccant undergoes a chemical change, the process is called absorption. If, in attracting and holding moisture the desiccant undergoes a physical change only, the process is called adsorption. In general, most absorbents are in liquid form and most adsorbents are in solid form.
In many commercial air-conditioning applications where desiccants are used, the desiccant is in solid form and adsorbs moisture from the air to be conditioned. Examples of these types of desiccants are silica gel, activated alumina, molecular sieves, or hygroscopic salts. In some cases, these desiccants are contained in "beds" over which the air to be conditioned is passed. Many times, however, the desiccant is contained in what is known as a "Desiccant Wheel".
A desiccant wheel is an apparatus typically comprising a plurality of closely spaced, very thin sheets of plastic or metal which are coated with a desiccant material. The wheel is contained in a duct system that is divided into two sections. The wheel is rotated slowly on its axis such that a given portion of the wheel is sequentially exposed to the two sections. In the first section, the desiccant is contacted by the process air, or the air to be cooled and dehumidified. In this section, the desiccant dehumidifies the process air by adsorbing moisture from this air.
In the second section of the desiccant wheel, the desiccant is contacted with the regeneration air. The regeneration air evaporates the moisture from the desiccant that the desiccant adsorbed from the process air, thereby regenerating the desiccant. By the wheel rotating through these two air streams, the adsorbing/desorbing operation of the wheel is continuous and occurs simultaneously.
Generally, the typical system, as shown in Prior Art FIG. 4, operates by passing the air to be conditioned, or process air, through the dehumidification section of the desiccant wheel wherein the air is dehumidified and warmed. This warming occurs from the latent heat of the water adsorbed onto the desiccant and from the heat of adsorption generated by this process. Upon exiting the desiccant wheel, the process air passes through one side of an air-to-air heat exchanger. In this heat exchanger, the process air gives up some of the heat it picked up in the desiccant wheel to the air stream which is to be used to regenerate the desiccant wheel. After passing through the air-to-air heat exchanger, the process air is cooled by passing it through the dry side of an indirect evaporative cooler and then is humidified and further cooled by passing it through a direct evaporative cooler. The cool, moist air exiting the direct evaporative cooler is then supplied to the space to be conditioned. Part of the air leaving the space to be cooled is exhausted and makes up a portion of the regenerative air stream. The remaining exhaust air is recirculated and mixed with ambient air to make up the process air.
The desiccant used to dehumidify the process air must be periodically regenerated in order for it to remain effective at drying the process air. This regeneration is accomplished by passing warm or hot air through the wheel in order to evaporate the water from the desiccant into the air stream. In the typical system, this warm or hot air is made up of ambient air which is first passed through the air-to-air heat exchanger where it picks up some of the heat from the process air. The regenerative air stream is then passed through a heating apparatus to further heat the air before it enters the desiccant wheel. After heating, the regeneration air stream is passed through the regenerative section of the desiccant wheel in which it evaporates moisture from the wheel. The regenerative air stream is exhausted after it passes through the desiccant wheel.
Two general problems are associated with the typical desiccant based air conditioning systems. First, the air-to-air heat exchanger, which is used to transfer the heat energy from the dried process air leaving the desiccant wheel to the regeneration air stream, is costly. This drives up the first cost of the desiccant based air conditioning systems thereby limiting their application. In addition, the amount of heat recovered from the process air and transferred to the regeneration air stream typically only accounts for 30-35% of the total heat energy required for this regeneration air stream. Accordingly, the second problem associated with the typical desiccant system is that these systems require a significant amount of energy to sufficiently heat the regeneration air stream to allow it to effectively dry the desiccant. In some applications where there is a local supply of inexpensive fuel or if there is a supply of waste heat, this is not a problem. However, in the vast majority of applications this will be a significant disadvantage to the use of desiccant based air conditioning systems. A system which required less energy to regenerate the desiccant wheel would reduce the operating cost of desiccant based air conditioning systems thereby making them cost effective in a greater number of applications.
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{
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to security and encoding techniques and, more particularly, to an authentication device for various types of goods, including papers, inks, plastics, metals, ceramics and the like.
2. The Prior Art
Authentication of stolen or lost items, including paintings as by the masters, has always represented a tedious process, requiring painstaking examination by experts. And even the experts have been proven incorrect at times. Authentication of legitimate paper currency from counterfeit also is not within the purview of most people required to handle the same. And authentication of stock and bond certificates, particularly of bearer bonds of high denominations, can cause troublesome delays to all concerned. Despite the time and effort expended during a thorough examination, the experts nevertheless have proved to be wrong at times, with attendant loss to some and embarrassment to others. With the advent and widespread use of security badges required to gain access to classified areas, the telling of the real from the fake, particularly on-the-spot and without undue delay, has become a challenge indeed. For, long delays in authentication serve to defeat one purpose of a security badge, namely the admission of authorized personnel only, but quickly and without delay.
Present day security and encoding techniques employ, among others, the use of fluorescent materials. When applied to a flat object, these materials are excitable, hence readable, at their respective characteristic wavelengths. Sophisticated thieves of high value paintings and bearer bonds, as well as espionage experts, have managed to overcome and thus "fool" even these safeguards.
Hence, there is a continuing need constantly to improve security and encoding techniques and design a more foolproof system, one which nevertheless allows quick, on-the-spot verification, yet with a high degree of reliability.
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{
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The invention relates to a municipal waste incinerator and more particularly to an improved attachment between a rotary waterwall combustor and the tires upon which it rotates.
Metal plates are presently utilized to attach the rotary combustor barrel to support tires upon which it rotates. There is a tire near each end of the combustor The tires rest on rollers. The weight of the combustor, including the water in the water tubes and the solid fuel within the combustor is carried through the attachments plates to the tires and to the rollers. The combustor is caused to rotate by a drive system, which causes the solid fuel within to tumble and travel along the length of the combustor while burning Rollers support the tires and enable the combustor to rotate. During normal operation, the combustor barrel, which is made of steel boiler tubes interconnected with steel webs, is at elevated temperature of approximately 500.degree. F.. When idle the temperature will drop to ambient, 0 to 100.degree. F. The combustor thus undergoes significant thermal expansion between idle and normal operating conditions. The attachments of the combustor to the tire must accommodate this expansion The metal plates that make the attachment accommodate the expansion by bending in the direction of the radius of the combustor, which is perpendicular to the plane of the plates. The support plates are made thin enough to accommodate the bending without experiencing excessive stress, in the manner of flat springs and are customarily referred to as support springs. It is important for the axis of the combustor to remain in essentially the same position whether it is idle or operating in order to avoid excessive stresses on the piping and fittings that convey circulating water between the rotating combustor and the stationary boiler and pumps that are connected to the combustor.
The problem with the spring support design is it results in an indeterminate structure that cannot be readily analyzed, and a structure that may be subject to fatigue failure that would shorten it useful life. Thermal expansion of the support springs themselves and deformation of the tire under load puts the springs in compression, and this compression together with the load due to bending of the support spring and the weight of the combustor and waste being burned can result in very high stresses, which would be partially cyclic. The analysis of this support system is difficult and unreliable and thus the system is subject to premature failure.
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{
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Radio devices such as, for example, two-way radios, land mobile radios, and the like are often subjected to contact with water. The radio devices, including their external housings, are assembled and sealed and then tested after final assembly to ensure that they are fully functional, and that they are appropriately sealed to prevent ingress and damage from water. Any customization of the radio devices and their housings after assembly thus requires disassembly, and breaking of the water-sealed structure of the device. Accordingly, there is a need for an improved radio external housing.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.
The apparatus and method components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.
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{
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The present invention relates to a new and distinct hybrid tea rose variety (Rosa hybrida) which was originated by my crossing as seed parent the variety known as `Lambada` (also known as `Lambada`, U.S. Plant Pat. No. 9,116) and as pollen parent the variety known as `Texas`. The varietal denomination of this new rose is `Sunluck`.
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{
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Lipoteichoic acids (LTAs) are a group of amphipathic substances found in the cell wall of gram-positive bacterial extending from the outer cell membrane through the cell wall to the surface. The main group of LTAs consists of a hydrophilic poly(glycerophosphate) backbone and a hydrophobic glycolipid moiety. The hydrophilic backbone may be substituted with alanine, hexoses and hexosamines. The glycolipids described so far were mainly dihexosylglycerols and some trihexosylglycerols. Lipoteichoic acids show genus and species variation in the degree of polymerization of the hydrophilic chain, in the nature and degree of glycosidic substitution, in the extent of D-alanyl ester substitution, and in the structure of the lipid moiety (A. J. Wicken et al., Science, 187, 1161-1167, (1975), and Microbiology, 360-365, (1977); Fischer W., Physiology of lipoteichoic acids in bacteria. Adv. Microb. Physiol., 29(233): 233-302 (1988), Fischer W., Mannsfeld T., Hagen G., On the basic structure of poly-(glycerophosphate) lipoteichoic acids, Biochem. Cell Biol., 68(1): 33-43, (1990).
LTAs have been reported as having antitumor activity (EP 135 820; U.S. Pat. No. 4,678,773; A. Yamamoto et. al. 1985, Br. J. Cancer, 51, 739-742; and H. Usami et. al., Br. J. Cancer, 1988, 57, 70-73).
LTAs were isolated from e. g. Lactobacillus helveticus (NCIB 8025), Lactobacillus fermenti (NCTC 6991), Streptococcus faecalis, 39, Streptococcus lactis (ATCC 9936), Streptococcus mutans, AHT (A. J. Wicken et al, 1975), and Streptococcus pyogenes SV strain (ATCC 21059) (EP 135 820, U.S. Pat. No. 4,678,773, H. Usami et. al. 1985).
A streptococcal acid glycoprotein (SAGP) with antitumor activity was isolated by M. Kanaoka et. al., Jp. J. Cancer Res. (Gann), 78, 1409-1414, (1987) from the low virulent strain Streptococcus pyogenes Su ATCC 21060. OK-432, a cell preparation from said strain, has found clinically use as an antitumor agent. However, in the meantime it was withdrawn from the market.
The LTAs described up to now carried more than one monosaccharide in the glycceroglycolipid anchor. Different glycolipid structures have been described by Fischer et al. 1988 and 1990.
An LTA with a monohexosylidiacylglyceroglycolipid as lipid anchor has not been described so far.
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{
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An endoscope is a medical instrument for visualizing the interior of a patient's body. Endoscopes can be used for a variety of different diagnostic and interventional procedures, including colonoscopy, bronchoscopy, thoracoscopy, laparoscopy and video endoscopy.
Colonoscopy is a medical procedure in which a flexible endoscope, or colonoscope, is inserted into a patient's colon for diagnostic examination and/or surgical treatment of the colon. A standard colonoscope is typically 135-185 mm in length and 12-13 mm in diameter, and includes a fiberoptic imaging bundle, illumination fibers and one or two instrument channels that may also be used for insufflation or irrigation. The colonoscope is inserted via the patient's anus and is advanced through the colon, allowing direct visual examination of the colon, the ileocecal valve and portions of the terminal ileum. Insertion of the colonoscope is complicated by the fact that the colon represents a tortuous and convoluted path. Considerable manipulation of the colonoscope is often necessary to advance the colonoscope through the colon, making the procedure more difficult and time consuming and adding to the potential for complications, such as intestinal perforation. Steerable colonoscopes have been devised to facilitate selection of the correct path through the curves of the colon. However, as the colonoscope is inserted farther and farther into the colon, it becomes more difficult to advance the colonoscope along the selected path. At each turn, the wall of the colon must maintain the curve in the colonoscope. The colonoscope rubs against the mucosal surface of the colon along the outside of each turn. Friction and slack in the colonoscope build up at each turn, making it more and more difficult to advance and withdraw the colonoscope. In addition, the force against the wall of the colon increases with the buildup of friction. In cases of extreme tortuosity, it may become impossible to advance the colonoscope all of the way through the colon.
Steerable endoscopes, catheters and insertion devices for medical examination or treatment of internal body structures are described in the following U.S. patents, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety: U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,753,223; 5,337,732; 5,662,587; 4,543,090; 5,383,852; 5,487,757 and 5,337,733.
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{
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A driver's experience in a vehicle, including communication between the vehicle and the driver, affects how well the driver operates the vehicle. Often vehicle systems and subsystems are programmed such that a driver can operate the systems through the use of applications, which can be pre-integrated to an onboard computer by manufacturers or downloaded through a human-machine interface (HMI).
In many vehicles, HMI systems are designed to promote user interaction at a center stack of a vehicle where controls include a variety of input components including hard buttons and knobs and/or soft buttons on a touch-sensitive screen. The controls provided for HMI interactions provide the driver a way of conveying a desire for a change in the vehicle conditions—e.g., change of air conditioning or radio station—to the HMI system.
However, current HMI systems include predesigned programming that is generally universal amongst a wide array of vehicles. Often these universally designed HMI systems do not logically anticipate the driver's way of thinking and interacting. As a result, these conventional systems perceive user input differently than the user's intentions. The variance leads to user frustration and inefficient and otherwise ineffective use of the systems.
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{
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This invention relates to trailer covers, and more particularly to a mechanism to control the opening/closing of doors for covering a refuse trailer.
Refuse trailers are used in an environment that requires a highly reliable mechanism that will operate under rugged conditions. The use of chain drives or gear driven mechanisms are susceptible to failure since debris can be caught in chain links and gear teeth. Additionally, premature wear of chains and gear teeth may occur due to the environment encountered and provision of an adjustment means is generally required in such mechanism.
The use of dual mechanisms located at both ends of a trailer increases the potential for mechanism failure since such a design is inherently more complex. Trailer covers in most existing systems also have a limited range of motion that they can be moved through. Additionally, failure to fully control trailer covers throughout their entire range of motion allows covers to bang against the trailer resulting in damage to the trailer and the door opening/closing mechanism.
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{
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It is commonly known that virtualization technologies are utilized as relevant technologies for adapting use environments of a portable device (or mobile device) to multi-use environments. Operating system (OS) virtualization technologies configure virtual environments on a portable device to provide different use environments, and application program virtualization technologies virtualize memory areas to ensure independent execution of application programs.
Recently, it is on a gradually rising trend to utilize a portable device for corporate business, and as a way of implementing the foregoing, it is mostly used to separate business environments from non-business environments in a portable device using virtualization technologies.
That is, conventional virtualizations for use in corporate business are mainly focused on generating multiple OS objects in a portable device and distinguishing the objects for business use from those for non-business use. To this end, virtualization layers are established in a portable device, OS for business use and OS for non-business use are installed together on the established virtualization layers, and management technologies for separating OS objects are applied.
Further, a data access (connection) of an application program configured in a form of sandbox can be made only to the data area allocated to the program with an authority, for example, as illustrated in FIG. 1.
That is, the application program APP1 loaded to and executed on operating system (OS) is permitted to access (connect) only to data area 102, while the application program APP2 is permitted to access (connect) only to data area 104.
Accordingly, conventional techniques utilizes a technique of allocating multiple data areas to one application program using memory virtualization technologies.
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{
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A computer aided design (“CAD”) tool is used to create circuit designs for complex electronic products consisting of two or more interconnected circuit boards, such as personal computers and servers. The circuit designs for each printed circuit board are often created by different design engineers. The design engineers agree upon interconnectivity, and then each printed circuit board design is independently created with one or more connectors to accommodate signal connections between the printed circuit boards (and optionally between the printed circuit boards and other components of the electronic product). Physical pins of the connectors are identified by their corresponding pin numbers and are assigned to signal names of connecting signals for printed circuit board interconnectivity.
During development of the product, the printed circuit board interconnectivity is verified by the design engineers for correct geometry, orientation and pin-to-signal assignment: the geometry and orientation verifications involve the physical attributes of the printed circuit boards and parts; the pin assignment verification involves manual tracing of signal pathways through the pins of the connectors and through the underlying printed circuit boards. Since signal names often vary from one printed circuit board to another, and since the connections to any given board may be very dense and complex, the signal and pin assignment verification process has become increasingly difficult.
Design changes are typically communicated between the design engineers, each design engineer being responsible for making appropriate changes to the printed circuit boards within their responsibility. Such changes are easily missed or made erroneously. Further, errors in pin assignment, or in signal associations to pins, are easily missed in schematic reviews, particularly as printed circuit board connectors increase in density and size. In the development of large systems that include many interconnected boards, one of the most common problems involves misconnected signals between printed circuit boards.
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{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Recently, with the spread of smartphones and tablet PCs and activation of high-capacity multimedia communication, mobile traffic has significantly increased. Mobile traffic is expected to double every year. Since most mobile traffic is transmitted through a base station (BS), communication service operators are being confronted with serious network load. To process increasing traffic, communication operators have installed networks and accelerated commercialization of next-generation mobile communication standards, such as mobile WiMAX or long term evolution (LTE), capable of efficiently processing large amounts of traffic. However, another solution is required to cope with greater amounts of traffic in the future.
D2D communication refers to decentralized communication technology for directly transmitting traffic between contiguous nodes without using infrastructure such as a BS. In a D2D communication environment, each node of a portable device, etc. searches for physically adjacent devices, configures a communication session, and transmits traffic. Since such D2D communication is being spotlighted as the technological basis of next-generation mobile communication after 4G due to ability thereof to cope with traffic overload by distributing traffic converging upon the BS. For this reason, a standardization institute such as 3rd generation partnership (3GPP) or institute of electrical and electronics engineers (IEEE) is establishing D2D communication standards based on LTE-advanced (LTE-A) or Wi-Fi and Qualcomm etc. have developed independent D2D communication technology.
D2D communication is expected not only to contribute to increased performance of a mobile communication system but also to create a new communication service. Further, an adjacency based social network service or a network game service can be supported. A connectivity problem of a device in a shadow area can be overcome using a D2D link as a relay. Thus, D2D technology is expected to provide new services in various fields.
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{
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to bicycles. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system configured to reduce vibrations transmitted to a rider of the bicycle.
2. Description of the Related Art
Bicycle riding and racing often take place on less than ideal terrain conditions. For example, bicycle touring and racing may often take place on country roads, which may be unpaved or where the pavement may be rough and irregular, even when new. In more populated areas, a significant portion of paved roads may be damaged and in need of repair. When traversed by the bicycle, these irregular surfaces transmit vibrations to the bicycle. Furthermore, the surface of even relatively new pavement, while acceptable for motor vehicles, may be rough enough to transmit significant vibration to a bicycle. Accordingly, most bicyclists spend at least a significant portion of their riding time traversing rough or irregular surfaces. Vibrations induced by such terrain, if not sufficiently dampened, may be transmitted to the rider of the bicycle. When transmitted to the rider, these vibrations often cause discomfort and fatigue.
Several methods for damping terrain-induced vibrations have been utilized. For example, the bicycle may be equipped with front and/or rear suspension assemblies, which permit the suspended wheel to move against a biasing force relative to the bicycle frame. Although highly favored in some applications, such as bicycles intended primarily for off-road use, such suspension assemblies have generally been unsuccessful in connection with bicycles primarily intended for use on paved surfaces (i.e., road bicycles), where low weight and aerodynamics are considered highly important. Furthermore, such suspension assemblies are intended to absorb large bumps and may not be effective at isolating vibrations due to inherent friction within the assembly, which may prevent movement of the suspension assembly in response to small forces.
In road bicycle applications, it has recently become popular to utilize materials having improved damping properties in comparison to metals to form a portion or all of the bicycle between the wheels and the rider. For example, a composite material of carbon fiber fabric within a resin matrix (“carbon fiber”) is often used in an attempt to isolate road-induced vibrations from the rider of the bicycle. In some instances, the entire frame of the bicycle may be comprised of a carbon fiber material.
Such an arrangement has been more successful in isolating terrain-induced vibrations from reaching the rider of the bicycle in comparison with bicycle frames and components comprised entirely of metal. However, although carbon fiber is lightweight and exhibits improved vibration damping characteristics in comparison to metal, a significant amount of vibration may nonetheless be transferred through components made from carbon fiber.
One proposed solution to carbon fibers undesirable transmission of vibrations is to incorporate an additional material into the carbon fiber fabric that is used to make the final carbon fiber product. For example, a weave of titanium filaments has been incorporated into carbon fiber fabric in an attempt to reduce the amount of vibration that is transmitted through components made of carbon fiber. However, such a solution necessitates a complex manufacturing process and, thus, increases the cost of the final product.
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{
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The present invention relates to boat lift structures for raising and supporting boats, and more particularly to boat lift structures which are carried onboard during use of the boat. Examples of such prior art onboard boat lift structures are provided in U.S. Pat. No. 5,042,417 to Raymond, U.S. Pat. No. 5,558,034 to Hodapp, and in a series of patents (U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,907,835, 6,983,707, 7,051,665, 7,156,030, 7,267,066 and 7,318,385) to Derner et al. All these mentioned patents are incorporated by reference.
In general terms, these existing onboard lift structures involve a plurality of legs which are pivotable relative to the boat, from a stowed position wherein the legs are generally parallel to the deck of the boat or horizontal water surface, to a downwardly extended support position wherein the legs are relatively upright, i.e., significantly more upright than in the stowed position. A pad is provided on the free end of the legs which once contacting the ground is intended to provide a stationary foot location. The legs can be independently operable, as disclosed in the Derner et al. patents, or be operable jointly in pairs, as disclosed in the Raymond and Hodapp patents.
While these prior art onboard boat lift structures provide benefits, they also have some shortcomings. With the Raymond structure, the stowed position of the legs and the pads is on the outside of the sides of the boat. This permits easy viewing of the legs and pads during deployment. This location also provides a wide base, with the pads separated by a distance wider than the width of the boat. At the same time, however, the stowed position detracts aesthetically from the appearance of the boat during use, and increases wind resistance during use of the boat. The stowed position of the legs and pads can also interfere with people climbing in and out of the side of the boat.
In contrast to the Raymond structure, the Hodapp and Derner structures are mounted underneath the deck of the boat and interior to the position of pontoons on the bottom of the boat. This location is concealed during the stowed position, does not significantly affect wind resistance during use of the boat, and does not interfere with ingress and egress from the boat. However, the narrow base creates a potentially unstable stand for the pontoon boat when raised, and a stiff wind, particularly if coupled with angled placement or loading of the boat, could create a potentially dangerous or damaging possibility of tipping or flipping the boat off of the narrow base. The legs and pads cannot be viewed during deployment, making deployment more difficult. The drive systems for the legs, and particularly the independent, screw drives of the Derner system, increase the cost of the system. Better structures and methods of lifting boats are needed.
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{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to peptides, proteins, nucleic acids and cells for use in immunotherapeutic methods. In particular, the present invention relates to the immunotherapy of cancer. The present invention furthermore relates to tumor-associated T-cell peptide epitopes, alone or in combination with other tumor-associated peptides that can for example serve as active pharmaceutical ingredients of vaccine compositions that stimulate anti-tumor immune responses, or to stimulate T cells ex vivo and transfer into patients. Peptides bound to molecules of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), or peptides as such, can also be targets of antibodies, soluble T-cell receptors, and other binding molecules. In particular, the present invention relates to several novel peptide sequences and their variants derived from HLA class I and class II molecules of human tumor cells that can be used in vaccine compositions for eliciting anti-tumor immune responses or as targets for the development of pharmaceutically/immunologically active compounds and cells.
Description of Related Art
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common tumors in the world and accounts for about 6% of all new cancer cases diagnosed worldwide. In 2012 about 782,000 new cases of HCC occurred in the world, making it the fifth most common cancer in men (554,000 cases) and the ninth in women (228,000 cases) (http://globocan.iarc.fr). HCC is the most common primary liver malignancy accounting for over 80% of all adult primary liver cancers.
The distribution of HCC varies geographically, and rates of incidence depend on gender. The age-standardized incidence rate (ASR) of HCC in men is highest in Eastern Asia (31.9) and South-Eastern Asia (22.2), intermediate in Southern Europe (9.5) and Northern America (9.3) and lowest in Northern Europe (4.6) and South-Central Asia (3.7). Incident rates of HCC in women are lower than male ASRs. The highest ASR in women occurs in Eastern Asia (10.2) and Western Africa (8.1), the lowest in Northern Europe (1.9) and Micronesia (1.6).
The overall prognosis for patients with HCC is poor. The 5-year relative survival rate (5Y-RSR) from HCC is about 15%, depending on the stage at the time of diagnosis. For localized HCC, where the cancer is still confined to the liver, the 5Y-RSR is about 28%. For regional and distant HCC, were the cancer has grown into nearby or distant organs, 5Y-RSRs are 7% and 2%, respectively.
The incidence of HCC is related to several risk factors, cirrhosis being the most important one. Cirrhosis often occurs alongside alcohol abuse or HBV or HCV infections, but can also be caused by metabolic diseases like type II diabetes. As a result, healthy liver tissue gets replaced by scar tissue, which increases the risk of cancer development.
Disease management depends on the tumor stage at the time of diagnosis and the overall condition of the liver. If possible, parts of the liver (partial hepatectomy) or the whole organ (liver resection) is removed by surgery. Especially patients with small or completely resectable tumors are qualified to receive a liver transplant.
If surgery is not a treatment option, different other therapies are available at hand. For tumor ablation, a probe is injected into the liver and the tumor is destroyed by radio or microwaves or cryotherapy. In embolization procedures, the blood supply of the tumor is blocked by mechanical or chemical means. High energy radio waves can be used to destroy the tumor in radiation therapy.
Chemotherapy against HCC includes combinations of doxorubicin, 5-fluorouracil and cisplatin for systemic therapy and doxorubicin, floxuridine and mitomycin C for hepatic artery infusions. However, most HCC show a high resistance to chemotherapeutics (Enguita-German and Fortes, 2014).
Therapeutic options in advanced non-resectable HCC are limited to Sorafenib, a multi-tyrosine kinase inhibitor (Chang et al., 2007; Wilhelm et al., 2004). Sorafenib is the only systemic drug confirmed to increase survival by about 3 months and currently represents the only experimental treatment option for such patients (Chapiro et al., 2014; Llovet et al., 2008).
Lately, a limited number of immunotherapy trials for HCC have been conducted. Cytokines have been used to activate subsets of immune cells and/or increase the tumor immunogenicity (Reinisch et al., 2002; Sangro et al., 2004). Other trials have focused on the infusion of Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes or activated peripheral blood lymphocytes (Shi et al., 2004a; Takayama et al., 1991; Takayama et al., 2000).
So far, a small number of therapeutic vaccination trials have been executed. Butterfield et al. conducted two trials using peptides derived from alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) as a vaccine or DCs loaded with AFP peptides ex vivo (Butterfield et al., 2003; Butterfield et al., 2006). In two different studies, autologous dendritic cells (DCs) were pulsed ex vivo with autologous tumor lysate (Lee et al., 2005) or lysate of the hepatoblastoma cell line HepG2 (Palmer et al., 2009). So far, vaccination trials have only shown limited improvements in clinical outcomes.
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{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
Conventionally, it has been demonstrated that a neural network apparatus formed in order to realize functions similar to those of a biological neural network has excellent data processing functions such as pattern recognition and the like and, in connection with this, various studies have been under way from the points of both hardware and software. In particular, as to the hardware, there have been available one using electric circuit and one using light. Among the former, one in which the biological neural tissue is simulated to prepare a synapse or cell by using silicon MOS, or one in which they are prepared by using a superconductive circuit including Josephson junction has been experimentally made or proposed.
It is true that a neural network can be realized and is considered realizable according to the conventional proposal, but its number of neuron devices is still small. Therefore, in order to allow a practical extensive application, it is necessary to further improve the degree of integration. A problem with this integration is that the number of connections between the devices amounts to a vast one. According to the conventionally proposed ones, the circuit forming the synapse becomes too large and, accordingly, the operation delay time at the synapse portion also becomes great resulting in a large computing time and trouble.
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{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
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1. Technical Field
The present device relates generally to horticultural lighting fixture used for growing plants in controlled environments.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Indoor gardens, green houses, hydroponics systems, and isolated carbon dioxide growing chambers demand careful regulation of temperature, light, hydration, nutrients, and humidity. In these controlled environments, one of the major challenges is providing adequate light intensity, while efficiently and effectively removing the heat generated by the light source. A second major challenge relates to the manufacturing of the horticulture fixture in an economical way, utilizing inexpensive materials and manufacturing processes. Horticulture lighting systems depend on grow lamps as a primary light source. Commonly used grow lamps are high pressure sodium and metal halide. These grow lamps get exceptionally hot when confined in a horticulture lighting fixture. The heat generated may curl new growth on plants, dry out the soil or planting medium, and if the heat is not dissipated, the grow lamp will have a reduced life span. These undesirable effects reduce yields and increase operational costs.
Several air cooled horticulture light fixture designs incorporate sheet metal enclosures in combination with a transparent shield or glass between the grow lamp and the developing plants, sealing the heat generated from the lamp while allowing the desired light to pass. Some fixtures even benefit from forced air cooling wherein a fan blows cooling atmosphere through the fixture exhausting the heated air out of the growing environment, and away from plants.
This problem of energy being absorbed and then radiated was addressed by U.S. Pat. No. 6,595,662 issued in July 2003 to Wardenburg disclosing an air cooled double walled fixture wherein cooling air was introduced via conduit on one end and exhausted out the other side, and a transparent portion was located between the grow lamp and the plants allowing for light to pass while isolating the lamp and it's heat from the growing environment. Wardenburg did not disclose or teach the fixture having glass retention rails for removably engaging and sealing glass to the bottom of the fixture allowing for easy cleaning and maintenance.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,267,483 issued in July 2001 to Hembery discloses a straight and continuous channel of air flow through a transparent tube. The Hembery device isolates the grow lamp from the growing plants by centering the grow lamp within the transparent tube. Free flowing air enters one end of the fixture and free flows out the other side. The Hembery device absolutely depends on a transparent tube, and the transparent material of choice is borosilicate glass that is heavy and expensive. Hembery fails to teach construction from low cost material or manufacturing method such as sheet metal and the efficient process of forming and shaping sheet metal.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,247,830 issued in June 2001 to Winnett et al. discloses a forced air transparent tube fixture that senses the temperature of the fixture and shuts the grow lamp down if the temperature exceeds a predetermined maximum safe operating level. The Winnett device also relies on a transparent tube that must withstand high temperatures which is expensive and fails to teach the use of inexpensive sheet metal and sheet metal processes.
Not one of the above discussed inventions, taken either singularly or in combination, teach the instant invention as claimed. What is desired is a horticulture light fixture primarily constructed from inexpensive sheet metal formed by efficient sheet metal processes, having a glass retention structure that provides easy glass removal for cleaning and fixture maintenance, while said glass retention structure provides positive compressive force sealing the glass to the fixture via gasket, thus isolating the growing plants from the generation of grow lamp heat.
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{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
This invention relates to a starting and ending platform for a roof seaming machine.
Buildings having roofs formed from panels which are joined edgewise by standing seams are common. The seams typically run down the slope from the ridge of the roof to each eave, perpendicular to the eave.
The panels of a such a roof are normally joined by a machine which folds and crimps vertical flanges of preformed panels, forming a seam which stands up above the plane of the roof One such machine is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,989,308. The machine has to be placed over the flanges by hand initially, and is removed manually at the end of the seam. Having to lift the machine at the edge of the roof poses dangers for workers. This danger was reduced by prior starting platforms which supported the weight of the machine at the edge of the roof.
Prior patents generally pertinent to this invention include U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,412,060, 4,102,285, 4,195,586, 4,334,662 and 4,918,797.
The prior art platforms pose some problems. For example, a known prior device grips the very seam being worked on, which presents a difficulty when the seam is just being started, since workers have to remove the clamp as the seamer is moving up the seam.
With the Butler MR-24(copyright) Roof System, a seaming machine called a Roof Runner(copyright), which is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,120,828, is used to seam the corrugations. To start the Roof Runner(copyright), it is necessary that it be placed beyond the eave of the roof The seaming machine has been supported at this point by a platform that extends beyond the eave. The platform is secured, by clamping, to the very corrugation being seamed.
The normal seaming process is to install the panels down one side of the building roof and then proceed back on the other side. There are projects, however, where both sides of the roof are installed at once. In these situations, either the panels must be seamed from eave to ridge on one side and from ridge to eave on the other slope, or a left hand machine must be used on one slope. Catching and removing the Roof Runner at the end of a down slope run can be dangerous.
An object of the invention is to provide a starting and ending platform for a roof seaming machine which will safely support loads over the eave of a roof, and which attaches to seams other than the seam being created.
These and other objects are attained by a starting and ending platform for a roof seaming machine as described below.
The new platform provides a way of attaching the platform to adjacent corrugations that eliminates the need for a gate, as currently used, and the vertical frame provides some additional security to the operator of the seamer.
The new platform adjusts to accommodate 12xe2x80x3 through 24xe2x80x3 wide panels.
It provides redundant attachment points, thus greater security in retaining the platform during seaming operations, and uses twice the number of clamps.
The invention also enables the operator to straighten the Roof Runner machine when placing it on the panel seam for starting the seaming operation.
The platform folds up when not in use to minimize storage volume and shipment-packaging requirements.
The platform may be used at the gable trim of the roof, and supports the leading edge on the roof panel, rather than from the gable trim (which may or may not be attached when it is seamed in).
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{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
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Typically, respiratory therapy is delivered in the form of a mask system positioned between a patient and apparatus providing a supply of pressurized air or breathing gas. Mask systems in the field of the invention differ from mask systems used in other applications such as aviation and safety in particular because of their emphasis on comfort. This high level of comfort is desired because patients must sleep wearing the masks for hours, possibly each night for the rest of their lives. In addition, therapy compliance can be improved if the patient's bed partner is not adversely affected by the patient's therapy and wearing of the mask generally.
Mask systems typically, although not always, comprise (i) a rigid or semi-rigid portion often referred to as a shell or frame, (ii) a soft, patient contacting portion often referred to as a cushion, and (iii) some form of headgear to hold the frame and cushion in position. If the mask system does in fact include multiple components, at least some assembly and adjustment may be required, which can be difficult for patients who may suffer from lack of dexterity, etc. Further, mask systems often include a mechanism for connecting an air delivery conduit. The air delivery conduit is usually connected to a blower or flow generator.
A range of mask systems are known including nasal masks, nose & mouth masks, full face masks and nasal prongs, pillows, nozzles & cannulae. Masks typically cover more of the face than nasal prongs, pillows, nozzles and cannulae. Nasal prongs, nasal pillows, nozzles and cannulae all will be collectively referred to as nasal prongs.
There is a continuous need in the art to provide mask systems with a high level of comfort and usability.
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{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
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The present invention relates to switches, and more specifically to magnetic switches for use in common or specialised applications.
In conventional electric switches, especially those used in power circuits, the contacts are exposed to air, whether the contacts are of the knife or magnetic type. These kinds of switches are not fit for use in a dusty, moist, easily explosive or combustible environment. Several different types of switches for preventing explosions have been developed, such as oil switches, safety switches, and so forth. However, due to the complex constructions of these switches, they are not practical from a manufacturing or economic point of view.
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{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
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