In a coin sorter of the kind in which coins of mixed denomination are sorted between a rotating resilient disc and a sorting head, stacked coins are broken up and the excess coins recirculated prior to referencing a single-file stream of coins to a fixed radial position and recirculating excess coins that are not properly referenced. By recirculating the coins in these two different circumstances, the breaking up of the stacked coins does not hinder the referencing of the coins, and consequently the possibility of miss-sorting due to stacked coins is reduced and the sorting speed is increased, especially when sorting predominately small thin coins such as dimes. To increase the sorting speed when small thin coins are mixed with large thick coins, the large thick coins are preselected before being referenced together with the coins of other denominations. Preferably, thick coins which are not initially referenced to an extreme outward radial position are recirculated prior to reaching the deflecting wall which breaks up double coins, since such thick coins would otherwise hinder the flow of thin coins.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to coin sorting devices and, more particularly, to coin sorters of the type which use a resilient rotating disc and a stationary sorting head for sorting coins of mixed denominations.
2. Description of the Related Art
In coin sorters of the foregoing type, coins are pressed into a resilient disc for positive control throughout referencing, sorting and ejection movements. Such positive control permits the coin sorter to be quickly stopped by braking of the rotation of the resilient disc when a preselected number of coins of a selected denomination have been ejected from the sorter. Positive control also permits the sorter to be relatively compact yet operate at high speed.
A disadvantage of obtaining positive control of coins by pressing the coins into engagement with a sorting head is the possibility of stacked or "double coins" impeding the flow of unstacked or "single coins" through the sorter. A "double coin" condition occurs when two thin coins are engaged one on top of the other between the resilient disc and the sorting head. Although means have been provided for breaking up the "double coins" before the coins are referenced, such means have been unreliable for cases when the "double coin" has the same thickness as a "single coin" of another denomination, and a failure to break a "double coin" before referencing causes the chance of miss-sorting to become significant. The means for breaking up the stacked or double coins has also unduly limited the speed of the sorter by causing, in many instances, more than just one of the two coins in each "double coin" to be recirculated, and these recirculated coins have interfered with the feeding of single coins to the referencing means.


A topic guidance method, system, and computer program product for suggesting, via a processor on a computer, a conversation topic for the agent to engage the customer based on a learned conversation topic model, the conversation model being a static model.

The present invention relates generally to a topic guidance method, and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a system, method, and computer program product for providing dynamic topic guidance to an agent during a multi-round conversation to assist the agent to make a successful sale.
Conventionally, in call-centers, out-bound call agents try to sell the products to customers through multi-round conversation. Typically, a new agent does not have much skill to choose proper topics during the conversation to make the conversation smoothly moving forward and handle customer in different situation. That is, the conventional techniques and agent assistance tools focus on helping an agent to answer questions rather than actively choosing topics and making the conversation continue smoothly to lead to a successful sale.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Dynamic topic guidance in the context of multi-round conversation

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


A pilot valve (40) for a control valve (14) has a separate auxiliary source of high pressure fluid (106) for the operation of the pilot valve (40). The dome chamber (36) of the control valve (14), the inlet fluid chamber (72), and the intermediate fluid chamber (104) are exposed only to the auxiliary source of fluid (106). Thus, process fluid from the sensing line (62) does not contaminate the spool valve (76) or the dome chamber (36).

This invention relates to a pilot valve for a control valve in a main flow line, and more particularly to such a pilot valve and method of operation utilizing a fluid source separate from the process fluid in the main flow line.
Heretofore, it has been common to utilize only the process fluid in the main flow line being sensed for the operation of the pilot valve for the main control valve. Oftentimes, the process fluid in the main flow line contains foreign matter which may clog or restrict flow passages, and bind or space opposed sealing and sliding surfaces. While pilot valves may be successfully used in such applications, an adequate maintenance and cleaning of the pilot valve is required in order to ensure that the pilot valve is fully functional. Continuous and frequent maintenance of such pilot valves is an undesirable feature.

Pilot valve for control valves and method of operation


Methods and systems are disclosed for maintaining a delivery list having a plurality of stop locations, for monitoring travel data associated with a vehicle in relation to the delivery list, and for, when the vehicle approaches, is at, or leaves a stop location, sending a communication to a party associated with a subsequent stop location to notify the party of impending arrival at the subsequent stop location.

The present invention generally relates to data communications and information systems and, more particularly, to advance notification systems and methods for notifying users in advance of the impending arrival of a vehicle or user, for example but not limited to, a bus, train, delivery van, plane, fishing vessel, or other vessel, or user walking or riding, to or at a particular stop.
There are many situations when it is desirable for people to know of the approximate arrival time of a particular vehicle, the distance of a particular vehicle approaching, when a vehicle crosses particular location points, and when a particular vehicle is leaving its last stop, all shortly before the vehicle is to arrive at a particular destination. With such information, passengers, users, and companies can adjust their schedules accordingly and avoid having to wait on a particular vehicle to reach a particular destination. For example, a user having to pick up a friend or relative at a commercial bus station either has to call the bus station to find out the approximate arrival time (information which is oftentimes unavailable) or plan on arriving at the bus station prior to the scheduled arrival time of the bus and hope the bus is not delayed.
Another example includes a user walking and carrying a device such as a mobile phone or communication device with a location device, such as global positioning system (GPS) receiver, connected for sending location information to a control unit. This control unit can broadcast a user impending arrival time, distance to be traveled before arriving, specific location points and/or the time when leaving their last stop. This information may be broadcast to an employer, spouse, parent, or other user, when the vehicle/user reaches a predetermined location.
Another example involves school children that ride school buses. School children who ride buses to school often have to wait at their bus stops for extended lengths of time because school buses arrive at particular bus stops at substantially different times from one day to the next. The reason is that school buses are not always the best-maintained vehicles on the roads, frequently operate during rush hour traffic, and must contend with congested urban/suburban conditions. As a result, school children are forced to wait at their bus stops for long periods of time, oftentimes in adverse weather conditions, on unlit street corners, or in hazardous conditions near busy or secluded streets. If it is raining, snowing, windy and cold, and/or even dark, such conditions can be unhealthy and unsafe for children.
Yet another example is in the commercial overnight package delivery industry, wherein packages are delivered on a tight schedule.
It is desirable to notify a user at a delivery stop for better customer preparation as the vehicle approaches. By the customer becoming better prepared and a delivery driver being able to deliver more packages per day, an overnight package delivery company can increase profits by requiring fewer vehicles to deliver more packages in a business day. Additionally, individuals already try to project the arrival of a vehicle or package by online package tracking services provided by commercial delivery companies, such as the United Parcel Service (UPS), Federal Express (FED-X), and others. Although traditional methods used in determining when a vehicle is to arrive at a stop is effective in some cases, a more precise method using a pre-warning message can be more helpful in providing accurate information. Currently, such vehicles, in order to ensure being able to deliver all packages in the same day, keep loads at a lower capacity and often predetermine the need for excessive waiting times at a percentage of vehicle stops when customers react slowly to their arrival.
Thus, generally, it would be desirable for a user to know when a vehicle (such as a bus, truck, train, plane, user, or the like) is (a) a particular time period (for example, number of minutes or seconds) away from arriving at a destination, (b) a particular distance (for example, number of miles or height) away from the destination, or (c) at a particular location among a set of location points, so that the user can adjust his/her schedule and avoid arriving too early or too late.
In the past, in order to combat the arrival time problem in the context of school buses, student notification systems have been employed that use a transmitter on each bus and a receiver inside each student home. U.S. Pat. No. 4,713,661 to Boone et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,350,969 describe systems of this type. When the school bus and its on-board transmitter come within range of a particular home receiver, the transmitter sends a signal to notify the student that his/her school bus is nearby. While such notification systems work satisfactorily under certain circumstances, nevertheless, these systems are limited by the range of the transmitters and require the purchase of relatively expensive receivers for each student. In addition, such systems provide little flexibility for providing additional information to the students, such as notifying them of the delayed arrival of a bus, alternative bus route information, or information regarding important school events.
Briefly described, the present invention provides for, among other things, methods and systems for maintaining a delivery list having a plurality of stop locations, for monitoring travel data associated with a vehicle in relation to the delivery list, and for, when the vehicle approaches, is at, or leaves a stop location, sending a communication to a party associated with a subsequent stop location to notify the party of impending arrival at the subsequent stop location.
The present invention is suited for many applications. As nonlimiting examples, the present invention could be employed in connection with overnight delivery services, commercial buses, trains, planes, pickup vehicles, fishing or shipping vessels, delivery vehicles, individuals carrying location devices and/or delivery sensors and/or other sensors for determining location, etc.

Notification systems and methods with notifications based upon prior stop locations


The present invention relates to a synthetic method of optically active starting materials for various medicaments, which are represented by Formula (I): ##STR1## wherein R.sup.1 is hydrogen or hydroxy protecting group; * is an asymmetric carbon; R.sup.2 ' is hydrogen or an optionally substituted lower alkyl; and Q is --CH.dbd.P(Ph).sub.3, --CH.sub.2 P(O)(OMe).sub.2, or --CH.sub.2 S(O)Me, in high optical purity on a large scale.. In more detail, the present invention provides intermediates and a method for the production thereof for synthesizing optically active compounds which are able to inhibit activities of HMG-CoA reductase and are, therefore, useful for inhibition of cholesterol biosynthesis.

It is generally known that the above-mentioned type of optically active compounds are obtainable through optical resolution of racemate or an asymmetric synthetic route. Conventional routes require, however, some special reagents or enzymes, or sometimes cumbersome steps. Furthermore, only a few methods for optical resolution of this type of compounds can give high optical purity enough for practical use.
Therefore, obtaining compounds of high optical purity is extremely important for synthesizing various compounds e.g., medicaments.

Optically active intermediate and method for production thereof


Data processing apparatus comprises a server device and a client device connected for data communication by a data communication path. The server device comprises a server graphics processing unit (GPU) to receive and process graphics processing commands to generate processed graphics data. The client device comprises a client data processing unit; and a client GPU interface to receive graphics processing commands from the client data processing unit, to transmit graphics processing commands to the server GPU, to receive processed graphics data from the server GPU and to provide processed graphics data to the client data processing unit.

This disclosure relates to data processing.
ARM Fast Model™ system represents an example of a software modelling system for simulating multiple systems IP cores or blocks integrated in a system or subsystem. Here such an "IP" core or block may be, for example, a reusable unit of circuitry layout, typically for use in an integrated circuit, having a design which is the intellectual property (IP) of one party. But the term may be used more generally, for example, for blocks of integrated circuitry layout which can be assembled together to provide a composite function.
The Fast Model system allows a customer (for example, a manufacturer which intends to fabricate a physical circuit according to the design being modelled) to run a simulation involving a whole software stack as early as system IPs' specification is just ready. An example relates to the modelling of graphics processing units (GPUs) modelling and verification, which has previously been difficult because 3D (three dimensional) graphical rendering simulation for GPU verification can be very slow.
With the Fast Model or similar systems, hardware IP interfaces can be defined by code such as so-called "LISA+" code and easily visualized and combined to generate a complete subsystem. GPU architecture is evolving quickly, and it tends to use large numbers of unified scalar cores to solve parallel data stream processing problems. Compared with GPU, typically a CPU (central processing unit) has fewer cores, but a single CPU core can be more complicated than a single GPU core, for example having a deeper pipeline and/or bigger caches. For historical reasons, the GPU can tend to be treated as a peripheral device in a computer architecture based around a CPU. Therefore, in whole system simulation, typically a CPU is used to simulate all devices including 3D rendering using a GPU, but the significant architecture level difference between CPUs and GPUs makes fast GPU simulation difficult. Also, the increasing display resolution in mobile systems (as an example of the use of such a modelled GPU) is demanding even higher computation resources for a simulation environment.


A method for minimizing the area of a binary orthogonality checker implemented in static CMOS circuits for minimizing the gate count and area needed for checker implementation. The method is adaptable to various libraries of logical gates to implement the circuit and the area for each gate in the library. The optimal mix of hierarchical levels and stages is determined such that the orthogonality checker achieves the minimized circuit area. An orthogonality checker is employed in a scalable selector system for controlling data transfers and routing in a data processing system to allow. Combining orthogonality checking with existing selector hierarchically allows for the maximum reuse of circuits, signals, and proximity; thus potentially reducing wiring as well. Multiple hierarchical checks are used in favor of one large. This structure is extended to multiple hierarchical levels and works with orthogonality checks of any size or implementation. The invention also determines the optimal hierarchical structure for a given technology library and a given number of inputs to check. It can also be used within a flat hierarchy or macro as a technique to reduce circuits.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to minimizing the area of a binary orthogonality checker implemented in static CMOS circuits.
2. Description of Background
This invention relates to minimizing the area of a binary orthogonality checker implemented in static CMOS circuits. Binary orthogonality checkers are used in static CMOS logic to check the control inputs to an orthogonal selector, ensuring there is no data collision between inputs. The checker guarantees that no more than one input to the checker has a true logical value during any comparison cycle. Since the primary purpose of the circuit is a checker, the primary concern for the circuit is to reduce the area the checker uses to complete the function. Within IBM, orthogonality checkers compared each combination of inputs with an AND gate, and then ORed all the outputs (see FIG. 1.) Thus as described in IBM Patent U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,996,040 and 6,038,626 an orthogonality checker was employed in a scalable selector system for controlling data transfers and routing in a data processing system, comprising a plurality of input data buses coupled to a multiple-bit, multiple bus selector having data, data valid, and an orthogonality check outputs and having multiple data input bus ports coupled for receipt of signal from said plurality of input data buses. The system of U.S. Pat. No. 5,996,040 used a multiplicity of said input data buses provide input controls to said multiple-bit, a multiple bus selector to produce a single output data bus signal on a data output bus, and a data valid signal as a control output. The orthogonality check signal controlled data routing logic to allow dataflow to be connected and reconnected without change to control logic. As will be described, for a generalized N input checker completed with a library of gates the solution grows by the squared number for N gates, and thus takes N squared area to implement. As the size of a prior art orthogonality checker grows with the square of the number of inputs, orthogonality checkers with a small number of inputs have a small size. It would be desirable to have a hierarchical checking structure that could be implemented with a smaller area, as well as one which had a smaller logic growth rate as the number of gates increased.

Method for providing an area optimized binary orthogonality checker

International Business Machines Corporation


A method and a device for determining a usage log are provided. The method includes: filtering evaluation information with respect to a target software submitted by an application recommendation software of each of at least one mobile terminal, to obtain target evaluation information; receiving usage logs with respect to the target software sent by at least one mobile terminal; and determining a usage log matching with the target evaluation information according to a preset matching rule.

With development of mobile terminal technology, more and more software is applied in the mobile terminal.
In general, a user may evaluate the software and feedback various problems encountered in a process of using the software through an information feedback platform provided by an application recommendation software.
However, it is difficult for a programmer to locate a problem according to description of the problem fed back by the user and the programmer has to communicate with the user for many times to locate the problem because of various types of software and too many problems fed back by the user. Thus, speed for solving the problem is slow, and the efficiency is low.

Method and device for determining usage log

BEIJING KINGSOFT INTERNET SECURITY SOFTWARE CO., LTD.


A fuel injector for fuel injection system of an internal combustion engine includes a solenoid coil, an armature acted upon in a closing direction by a return spring, and a valve-closure member frictionally connected to the armature. The valve-closure member, together with a valve-seat surface, forms a sealing seat, the armature striking with an armature stop face against a magnetic-pole surface of a magnet body. The armature stop face includes a first annular, inner edge zone that adjoins an inner edge and is inclined inwardly with respect to a plane perpendicular to longitudinal axis of the armature, and has a second annular, outside edge zone that adjoins an outer edge and is inclined outwardly with respect to a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the armature.

The present invention relates to a fuel injector.
In German Published Patent Application No. 35 35 438 is discussed an electromagnetically operable fuel injector which has, in a housing, a solenoid coil surrounding a ferromagnetic core. A flat armature is arranged between a valve-seat support permanently joined to the housing, and the end face of the housing. The flat armature cooperates with the housing and core via two air gap insurances (or working air gaps), and is guided radially by a guidance membrane which is mounted to the housing and embraces a valve-closure member. The connection between the flat armature and the valve-closure member is produced via a ring that surrounds the valve-closure member and is welded to the flat armature. A helical spring applies closing pressure to the valve-closure member. Fuel channels, as well as the geometry of the flat armature, particularly the depression of the regions adjacent to the fuel channels, allow fuel to circumflow the armature.
It is believed that a disadvantage of such a fuel injector is the high cavitation tendency through the large cavities, traversed by the fuel, in which fluxes and swirl effects develop. Because of the high resistance to flow, the displacement of the fuel upon pull-up of the armature may take place in a delayed manner, and therefore may have disadvantageous effects on the opening time of the fuel injector. In addition, the cavitation is intensified due to the position of the flow-through openings which are placed not at the apex, but rather in the flank of the flat armature.
In German Published Patent Application No. 31 43 849, a similarly formed flat armature is used in a fuel injector. It may be that in this case, the flow-through openings are placed at the apexes of the flat armature; however, due to the armature edge which is still raised, is aligned parallel to the armature stop face and makes displacement of the fuel into the edge areas of the armature impossible, it is believed that the hydrodynamic properties are not essentially improved.
In European Patent No. 0 683 862 is discussed an electromagnetically operable fuel injector whose armature is characterized in that the armature stop face facing the internal pole is slightly wedge-shaped in order to minimize or completely eliminate the hydraulic damping upon opening the fuel injector and the hydraulic adhesion force after switching off the current energizing the solenoid coil. In addition, owing to suitable measures such as vapor deposition and nitration, the stop face of the armature is wear-resistant, so that the stop face has the same size during the entire service life of the fuel injector, and the functioning method of the fuel injector is not impaired.
Disadvantageous in such a fuel injector is that, in spite of the optimized armature stop face, primarily the hydraulic damping force still exists in the working gap upon pull-up of the armature. If an excitation current is applied to the solenoid coil, the armature moves in the direction of the internal pole and, in so doing, displaces the fuel present between the internal pole and the armature. Because of frictional and inertia effects, a local pressure field builds up which produces on the armature stop face a hydraulic force that acts counter to the moving direction of the armature. The opening and fuel-metering times of the fuel injector are thereby prolonged.
The exemplary fuel injector of the present invention is believed to have the advantage that, by suitable geometric design of the armature, the hydraulic damping force is considerably reduced and thus the fuel injector can be opened more quickly, resulting in more precise metering times and quantities.
A favorable geometry of the armature stop face is achieved by the opposing slope of the edge areas of the armature stop face. The armature possesses two annular edge zones, the inner edge zone being inclined inwardly toward the inside radius, while the outer of the edge zones is inclined outwardly toward the outside radius. The armature stop face is therefore bounded by sloped surfaces. The slope angle of the boundary surfaces influences the flow behavior of the fuel in the working gap. The armature stop face is reduced in size by the geometric design, which means the area subject to wear is smaller.
It is also believed that an advantage is provided by the placement of axial channels in the armature which provide the fuel present in the working gap the possibility of flowing off through them upon actuation of the armature. The channels are arranged in depressions, the flow behavior thereby further improving, since the fuel can escape without delay through the armature.
The same effect can also be attained by cutouts which are spaced evenly at the outer edge of the armature. In this case, due to the outwardly beveled shape of the armature stop face, the fuel is displaced to the outer edge of a central fuel-injector opening accommodating the armature and can flow off through the cutouts in the armature.
The depressions can be bounded by one sloping and one perpendicular surface. Another exemplary embodiment provides for a different height for the raised annular apexes formed by the inclined surfaces, so that only a minimal surface is used as the armature stop face.
An annular cutout at the magnetic surface in the region of the solenoid coil brings about a positive influence on the hydraulic damping due to a local enlargement of the working gap.


A gas adsorption material has a three-dimensional structure wherein a ligand (p-hydroxybenzoic acid) having an aromatic ring as a principal skeleton containing, a carboxyl group and a functional group capable of forming a coordinate bond, the functional group being other than the carboxyl group, and a metal nucleus (Zn) are bonded to each other at a ratio of 1:1. The ligand contains a functional hydroxyl group other than the carboxyl group, and the carboxyl group and the functional group other than the carboxyl group are bonded in at least one position to the metal nucleus. The gas adsorption material is produced by drying a precursor obtained by reacting the ligand and the metal nucleus, dissolving the dried precursor in an organic solvent, heating and stirring a resultant solution to form a three-dimensional structure that includes the organic solvent as a crystal solvent, and removing the crystal solvent.

Hitherto, Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) prepared by three-dimensionally organizing transition metal ions and organic molecules so as to form nano-pores having an ordered size and array have been reported as gas adsorption materials (see, e.g., Non-Patent Documents 1 and 2). Also, a technique of synthesizing one type of MOFs, i.e., Zn4O(2,6-naphthalene dicarboxylate anion)3, in diethylformamide (DEF) and introducing the synthesized MOF to a pressure-tight vessel is proposed (see, e.g., Patent Document 1). Patent Document 1 proposes a method of, after introducing the synthesized MOF to the pressure-tight vessel together with the DEF, replacing the DEF with a solvent (chloroform) which has higher volatility than the DEF and which does not cause phase dissociation with respect to the DEF, and expelling the chloroform from the pressure-tight vessel. With the proposed method, Zn4O(2,6-naphthalene dicarboxylate anion)3 can be filled in the pressure-tight vessel without being exposed to the atmosphere, and the hydrogen-gas adsorption capacity of the MOF can be increased by preventing adsorption of undesired gases (e.g., water vapor) before use. Further, another technique of, after synthesizing the MOF, forming a coating that allows adsorbed gas (e.g., hydrogen) to pass therethrough, but that does not allow undesired gases (e.g., water vapor) to pass therethrough, is proposed to be able to prevent adsorption of the undesired gases (e.g., water vapor) before use and to increase the hydrogen-gas adsorption capacity of the MOF (see, e.g., Patent Document 2).
[Non-Patent Document 1] J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2006, 128, 3494-3495
[Non-Patent Document 2] J. Mater. Chem., 2006, 16, 626-636
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-220168
[Patent Document 2] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-218349

Gas adsorption material, precursor of same, and method of producing gas adsorption material


Health equipment for dragging the lumber with the trunk of the human body securely supported is provided. The trunk support 2 is bendable only inwardly, and holds and supports the trunk of the human body. Since the trunk support 2 is placed around the human body and enfolds from the area below the costae to above the pelvis, the human body is securely supported, whereby lumbago treatment can be carried out with the patient suspended in the air. Since the lumber is dragged with the weight of the lower part of the patient's body, there is no possibility that the lumber is dragged with the excessive weight. The leg hanging unit 4 is a device to hang the legs of the patient. By using this leg hanging unit 4, so called mobilization may be carried out with the lower back portion suspended in the air, thereby increasing effectiveness of lumbago treatment.

In general, a bed for lumbago treatment comprising a bed for letting the patient lie, a fixing belt for fixing the patient on the bed, ankle belts for attaching around the ankles of the patient, and a weight being hanged from the ankle belts is known. In a bed for lumbago treatment of this type, the crooked spinal column is straightened while dragging the lower part of the back with a weight to treat lumbago.
However, in a bed of this type, since the lower part of the back is dragged with the patient lain, the movement of the patient under treatment is limited, and the patient needs an assist from somebody else to attach the belt, thereby requiring significant labor costs. Although the dragging weight is adjusted based on the experience of the doctor or the physical therapist, it could be too heavy or too light, and thus it is troublesome to adjust. In addition, it has been necessary to allocate a significant space for installing the bed.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide health equipment that can overcome all the problems in the related art described above, in other words, to provide epoch-making health equipment that can stably secure the trunk of the human body in the seated posture and drag the lumber by the weight of the lower part of the body.


A new class of high water-soluble compound based upon the Hovenia plant, or its herbal extract form known as DHM, and the methods for synthesizing same, to produce anti-alcohol intoxication treatment to alleviate the symptoms of hangover and other over-drinking, binge-drinking related ailments. Such compounds, known as TDHM and PDHM, can reduce the alcohol concentration in the blood, lengthen the waking time, and shorten the period of drowsiness induced after drinking alcohol; they also are proved to have high water solubility and thus are suitable for immediate protection and treatment to persons with alcohol intoxication or hangover and over-drinking.

The Hovenia plant, and its herbal extract form, has been used as anti-alcohol intoxication treatment to alleviate the symptoms of hangover and other over-drinking, binge-drinking related ailments. It can reduce the alcohol concentration in the blood by enhancing the alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and acetaldehyde dehydrogenase (ALHD) activities as well as promoting the protection of liver functions against free radicals.
Studies have shown that the major effective compound of Hovenia extracts is dihydromyricetin (DHM), which can promote EtOH elimination via enhancement of alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and acetaldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity. Recent study showed that at cellular level, DHM antagonized both acute EtOH-induced potentiation of GABAARs and EtOH exposure/withdrawal-induced GABAAR plasticity.
In addition to counteracting alcohol intoxication and hepatoprotective property, DHM also possess other properties such as anti-cancer, decreasing blood sugar, anti-inflammation and anti-oxidative.
Despite its therapeutic power, DHM has low water solubility and thus it is not convenient for easy administration of DHM to people in need of immediate anti-intoxication treatment, as well as other ailments that would benefit from the application of DHM, due to its lack of easy water solubility nature.
To overcome the water-solubility issue, present invention synthesized a new class of water-soluble ammonium 2,3-dihydroxy-5-((2R,3R)-3,5,7-trihydroxy-4-oxochroman-2-yl) phenolates; these compounds are named triethylammonium 2,3-dihydroxy-5-((2R,3R)-3,5,7-trihydroxy-4-oxochroman-2-yl)phenolate (TDHM) and piperidinium 2,3-dihydroxy-5-((2R,3R)-3,5,7-trihydroxy-4-oxochroman-2-yl)phenolate (PDHM) respectively, and are proved to have high water solubility and thus are suitable for immediate application and treatment to intoxicated patients.
These compounds were identified by Proton nuclear magnetic resonance and Mass spectroscopy. The PDHM solubility in water reached 5000 mg/L and that of TDHM reached 6500 mg/L.
Compared to the precursor dihydromyricetin (DHM), where the water solubility is no more than 263.54 mg/L, the TDHM and PDHM exhibited an excellent solubility.
The LD50 and MTD of PDHM are 901.57 mg/kg and 3750 mg/kg, respectively; the data figures of TDHM are 748.69 mg/kg and 748.69 mg/kg, respectively. No degeneration and necrosis pathology changes were found in livers, kidneys, hearts and lungs of the mice used in the experiments.
The results indicated that PDHM and TDHM had no significant effect on dietary and body weight in mice. Comparing with control group treated with saline, the results indicated that PDHM and TDHM could significantly decrease the blood alcohol concentration in mice by using a model of the introgastric administration of PDHM and TDHM with 2.0 mg/kg body weight.
Table 1 shows the mortality rate of mice by groups with varied concentration of TDHM.
Table 2 shows average body weight of mice changes by day on variety of concentration of TDHM
Table 3 shows dietary changes by day on variety of TDHM concentration.
Table 4 shows dietary change by day at MTD (Maximum Tolerance Dosage) of TDHM.
Table 5 shows average body weight of mice changes by day at MDT of TDHM.
Table 6 shows the mortality rate by groups with varied concentration of PDHM.
Table 7 shows average body weight of mice changes by day on variety of concentration of PDHM.
Table 8 shows dietary changes by day on variety of PDHM concentration.
Table 9 shows dietary change by day at MTD of PDHM.
Table 10 shows average body weight of mice changes by day at MDT of PDHM.
Table 11 shows the relative de-intoxication effect of DHM, TDHM and PDHM.
Table 12 shows the relative anti-alcoholism effect of DHM, TDHM and PDHM.
Table 13 shows the climbing tests result, in groups administered by DHM, TDHM and PDHM, respectively.
Table 14 shows the Dose-Effect relationship of anti-alcoholism and climbing ability of TDHM.

Preparation of a new class of water-soluble ammonium 2,3-dihydroxy-5-((2


The glass fiber for an optical amplifier has a matrix glass core, a first glass cladding, and a second glass cladding. The matrix glass core has a composition, in mol %, of Bi2O3, 30-60; SiO2, 0.5-40; B2O3, 0.5-40; Al2O3, 0-30; Ga2O3, 0-20; Ge2O3, 0-25 ; La2O3, 0-15; Nb2O5, 0-10; SnO2, 0-30; alkali metal oxides, 0-40; and Er2O3, 0.05-8. The glass claddings have the same composition as the core, except that a transition metal compound is included as an absorbent. The refraction index of the matrix glass is > about 1.85, the refraction index of the first glass cladding is less than that of the core, and the refraction index of the second glass cladding is higher than that of the first.

The present invention relates to a glass fiber which comprises a core, the matrix glass of which contains at least one heavy metal oxide and at least one rare earth compound, the core being surrounded by at least two glass claddings. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a process for producing a glass fiber according to the invention, to an optical amplifier which comprises at least one glass fiber according to the invention, and to the use of the glass fiber according to the invention.
Optical amplifiers are one of the most important key components of optical communication technology. If a purely optical telecommunications signal is transmitted in a glass fiber, it is inevitable that intrinsic signal attenuation will occur. To compensate for this attenuation, it is necessary to use highly efficient optical amplifiers which are able to amplify a signal without the optical signal having to be converted into an electronic signal and then back into an optical signal. Optical amplifiers can also increase the speed of amplification, and the deterioration in the signal/noise ratio is significantly lower on account of the elimination of the conversion into electronic signals and back.
In this context, the technical demands imposed on optical amplifiers are increasing in particular on account of the continuously rising demand for ever greater bandwidths. Currently, broadband data transmission is realized using WDM (WDM "wavelength division multiplexing") technology. Most amplifiers of the prior art operate in the C band (approx. 1528 nm to 1560 nm) and have only a limited broadband capacity, since optical amplifiers of this type have hitherto been based on Er3+-doped SiO2 glasses. Therefore, the demand for greater bandwidths has required the development of multicomponent glasses, for example heavy metal oxide glasses (HMO glasses). As manifested by their intrinsically very high refractive index (at 1.3 μm) of n>approx. 1.85, heavy metal oxide glasses have high internal electrical fields and therefore, on account of greater Stark splitting, lead to broad-band emission from the rare earth ions. However, the high refractive index of HMO glasses also leads to new problems which have to be overcome.
Various mechanisms in optical amplifier fibers can give rise to scattered light, which can lead to a deterioration in the signal/noise ratio and should therefore be removed or avoided as fully as possible.
In amplifier fibers based on SiO2, scattered light is removed by a polymer coating applied to the glass fiber. Since absorbent polymer coatings with a refractive index of n≧1.4 are available, it is readily possible for noise which is caused by reflected signals and/or scattered light from outside the fiber to be absorbed by a polymer coating of this type on the SiO2 glass fiber.
Heavy metal oxide glasses which are suitable for use as fiber amplifiers usually have a refractive index of approximately n=1.9. Polymer coatings which have hitherto been available have always had a lower refractive index than heavy metal oxide glasses. Therefore, coating with polymers of this type for absorption of scattered light causes problems, since it is only possible to provide a polymer cladding with a lower refractive index. Any coating with a cladding made from a material with a lower refractive index then leads to strong, undesired reflection at the interface between this material and the core regions or an inner cladding.
Furthermore, in conventional SiO2 amplifier fibers, there is substantially no change in refractive index at a contact location between a standard telecommunications fiber and a glass fiber of an optical amplifier, and consequently the reflection which occurs at the transition from an SiO2 glass fiber amplifier to a standard communications glass fiber is negligible.
By contrast, the high refractive index of HMO fibers means that any contact location with a standard SiO2 telecommunications glass fiber leads to strong reflection at the interface between SiO2 standard fiber and heavy metal oxide glass fiber of the optical amplifier. Since an optical amplifier is at both outputs connected to SiO2 telecommunications glass fibers or transition fibers based on SiO2 with a high numerical aperture, there is a considerable tendency for a laser resonator with standing lightwaves to form in the optical amplifier. To prevent the latter phenomenon, it is recommended for the contact locations in relation to the glass fibers to be designed at a defined or finite angle. However, this in turn leads to considerable or significant reflection which is scattered into the cladding of the fiber. Therefore, scattered light which migrates through the cladding of the fiber is reflected back and forth and it is impossible to prevent scattered light from reaching the central core region and penetrating into the latter. This scattered light will influence the inversion of the state of the rare earth ions and leads to amplification of the noise and a drop in the signal power(s) of the amplifier.
Outer, absorbent claddings for various glass systems are known from the prior art (for example K. Itoh et al., J. Non-Cryst. Sol, 256-257, 1 (1999)).
EP 1 127 858 describes a light-amplifying glass, the matrix glass of which is doped with 0.01 to 10 mol % of Er, with the matrix glass necessarily containing 20 to 80 mol % of Bi2O3, 0.01 to 10 mol % of CeO2, and at least one of B2O3 or SiO2. However, the glass fibers described in this document are only provided with standard polymer coatings. The same is true of the glasses with a high antimony oxide content described in WO 99/51537.
JP 11274613 A describes a glass fiber comprising glasses with a high refractive index, which has two glass claddings. According to this document, 10 000 ppm of absorbent material are required. However, such high levels of absorbent material influence the properties of the glass and are therefore disadvantageous.

Glass fibre with at least two glass layers


A network content message placement management process is directed to the processing and management of messages in content displayed at a client computing device. A client computing device provides message placement configuration information to a network computing and storage provider. The network computing and storage transmits message placement requests to a content provider based on the message placement configuration information. The client computing device may subsequently directly or indirectly request content from the content provider. The content provided from the content provider may include one or more of the alternative messages provided in the message placement configuration information. Illustratively, the alternative messages may be included in place of other messages, such as advertisements, from third party message providers.

Generally described, computing devices and communication networks can be utilized to exchange information. In a common application, a computing device can request content from another computing device via the communication network. For example, a user at a computing device, such as a personal computer, can utilize a software browser application, typically referred to as a browser, to request a Web page from a server computing device via the Internet. In such embodiments, the requesting computing device can be referred to as a client computing device and the server computing device can be referred to as a content provider. Generally, the user may request, obtain, and interact with a number of requested Web pages or other content simultaneously, or in sequence, through the software browser application. The collection of content accessed by a client computing device via the software browser application over a period of time may be referred to as a browse session.
Content accessed by a browsing software application, such as Web pages, typically include a number of parts, which can include text, images, videos, etc. Often the collection of parts are integrated to provide a specific look and feel to the Web page. Because content providers typically incur significant expenses in the presentation of content, content providers often include advertising messages as part the content provided to the client computing device. Such advertising messages may either be for the benefit of an advertiser other than the content provider, or may promote products or services sold by the content provider. For example, a shopping Web site may include on its Web pages for advertisements products or services sold by the shopping Web site to promote additional sales. In another example, a content provider may utilize an third party service that provides the content provider financial compensation based on the number of advertisements displayed to users or in the event that a displayed advertisement results in desired interaction with users (e.g., a purchase of an advertised product).
It is common for a content provider to reserve a number of areas, or "slots," in a Web page for displaying advertising message when the content is displayed at the client computing device. Additionally, a content provider or third-party advertising provider may select from a number of eligible advertising messages to include in the display of the content. In many cases, third parties who wish to advertise through a content provider may purchase placements for their advertising messages in one or more slots of content provided by the content provider. The purchase of an advertising message is often based on a bidding paradigm in which the advertisement associated with a highest bidder is selected.

Network content message placement management


Disclosed is a polysilane having a repeating unit represented by general formula (1) given below. Also disclosed is a polysilane composition, comprising a polysilane having a repeating unit represented by general formula (2) given below and a cross linking agent: ##STR1## where, each of R.sup.1 and R.sup.3 is hydrogen, a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group having 1 to 24 carbon atoms or a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group having 6 to 24 carbon atoms; R.sup.2 is a divalent hydrocarbon group having to 24 carbon atoms which can be substituted; R.sup.4 is a covalent bond, or a substituted or unsubstituted alkylene group having 1 to carbon atoms, or a substituted or unsubstituted arylene group having 6 to 24 carbon atoms; each of R.sup.5 to R.sup.9 is hydrogen, a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group having 1 to 24 carbon atoms, a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group having 6 to 24 carbon atoms, or hydroxyl group, at least one of R.sup.5 to R.sup.9 being hydroxyl group; and X is a monovalent organic group having a reactive group capable of crosslinking upon exposure to light or by heating. If any of the polysilane and the polysilane composition of the present invention is exposed to light or heated, the polysilane molecules are crosslinked so as to provide a two or three dimensional polymer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a polysilane capable of crosslinking to form a two dimensional or three dimensional polymer. The invention also relates to a composition which contains a polysilane incapable of crosslinking by itself, but is capable of forming such a polymer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Vigorous researches are being made on the application of a polysilane in various fields such as a precursor of a ceramic material, an electrically conductive material, a photoconductive material, a semiconductor material and a non-linear optical material. Of course, the polysilane is a highly interesting material in the industry.
The polysilane which has attracted attentions in the past has in general hydrophobic side chains such as an alkyl group and a phenyl group bonded to the Si--Si backbone, that is to say, the Si--Si main chain. On the other hand, polysilanes having a polar group in the side chain are also disclosed in, for example, "Macromolecule, 22 (1989), page 293", "Macromolecule, 21 (1988), page 304", and Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application No. 1-311102. Polysilanes having a polar group in the side chain exhibit an excellent affinity with an organic solvent and, thus, can be dissolved in the organic solvent to form a solution. It follows that the polysilanes having a polar group in the side chain can be processed easily to various materials exemplied above. For example, a thin film of such a polysilane can be formed by means of a rotary coating method.
However, the polysilane which attracted attentions in the past has a substantially one dimensional molecular structure, i.e., a linear structure. It follows that, when formed into, for example, a thin film, the bond strength between the polysilane thin film and the substrate is low. Also, the conventional polysilane has in general a low glass transition point Tg. It follows that the polysilane is insufficient in its heat resistance. Besides, the conventional polysilane is poor in its wear resistance. Therefore, it is necessary to solve various problems before the conventional polysllane is put to a practical use.