Described are the amino acid sequence of natriuretic peptide receptor B (NPRB) and DNA encoding NPRB. Also disclosed are expression vectors and cells transformed to express the NPRB, DNA encoding NPRB and diagnostic and therapeutic uses for the NPRB and the DNA encoding NPRB.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to natriuretic peptides A(atrial), B(brain), and type C; and a novel natiuretic peptide receptor B (NPRB) having binding affinity for these peptides. The invention further relates to the synthesis and use of mammalian natriuretic peptide receptor B produced by recombinant means.
2. Description of the Background Art
Cardiovascular homeostasis is controlled by several distinct but interrelated regulatory pathways that modulate blood pressure, fluid volume and electrolyte composition. One component of this control system is a atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), a 28 amino acid endocrine hormone that is released by ventricular cardiocytes in response to elevated arterial blood pressure and increased intravascular fluid volume..sup.2
Alpha atrial natriuretic peptide (aANP) or (ANP) and brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and type C natriuretic peptide (CNP) are homologous polypeptide hormones involved in the regulation of fluid and electrolyte homeostasis (reviewed in 1, 2, and 31). These three natriuretic peptides apparently share common receptors and stimulate the intracellular production of cGMP as a second messenger.sup.1. Molecular cloning has defined two types of natriuretic peptide receptors. A 60-70 kd ANP-C receptor (NPRC) is not coupled to cGMP production and may function in the clearance of ANP.sup.3,4. A 120-140 kd NPRA receptor is a membrane form of guanylyl cyclase (GC) in which ligand binding to the extracellular domain activates the cytoplasmic GC domain.sup.5,6. Previous biochemical evidence (reviewed in ref. 24) had not suggested the presence of natriuretic peptide receptor-GC subtypes. The identification of an additional receptor which would bind to the two natriuretic peptide ligands, would indicate a hitherto unappreciated complexity to this system. If such a subtype existed, it would then be possible to determine the role of each of the possible receptor-GC/ligand combinations in cardiovascular regulation. Knowledge of the DNA encoding an additional ANP receptor would allow the recombinant production of novel receptor protein and could be used in diagnostic hybridization procedures for the detection of novel mammalian receptor encoding genes. The novel receptor could be used to detect additional unique natriuretic peptides or other ligands which bind.
It is an object of the present invention to provide in commercially useful quantities, novel mammalian NPRB from a therapeutically acceptable source, most preferably human NPRB. It is an additional object to prepare amino acid sequence and other variants of mammalian NPRB. Yet another object is to produce a DNA sequence encoding mammalian NPRB which will hybridize with naturally occurring DNA sequences encoding a mammalian NPRB. Still another object is to produce antibody specific for NPRB.
These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from the specification as a whole.

Compositions and methods for the synthesis of natriuretic protein receptor B and methods of use


The invention relates to a roof structure which can be formed from a reduced number of components with respect to a conventional structure. The structure is typically pitched or sloped and comprises a series of spaced apart trusses which are spanned by roof panels which form the external face of the roof. The panels are interlinked or engaged and may in one embodiment be provided with an inner face of insulating material. In one embodiment the panels and/or other components, such as the trusses, may be formed from plastics material.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention to which this application relates is an improved roof system for a building, such as, but not exclusively, a roof of a domestic premises.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are many different types of roof systems currently used and the type of system to which this invention is directed, is that which comprises a series of trusses which are joined together to form a double or single pitched roof. The external roof surface is then defined by a series of tiles which are interlocked to form a roof which allows the drainage of rainwater therefrom into gutters.
While there are many different variations of this type of conventional roof system, they all typically comprise roof trusses which are made from wood, wall panels which can be made from wood or other fibre sheet material such as MDF, and tiles which can be manufactured from stone, such as slate, or composite materials such as, for example, clay and, in which case, the composite material is formed into a particular shape to aid interlocking and/or drainage.
Conventionally, wooden trusses are provided to run along a vertical axis from the top of the pitched roof to the bottom of the same and the wooden battens are provided to run along a horizontal axis spanning across the trusses. The tiles are provided with support means or engagement means which pass through the same so that each tile is provided to be located on at least one batten. Typically the tiles are of a width such that a number of the same are required to be placed side by side along the horizontal axis to span the distance between the trusses. It will therefore be appreciated that a large number of tiles are required to form the roof and that each of the tiles is required to be individually fitted in position.
A problem which is experienced with the materials used for conventional systems, is that the raw materials are increasingly expensive and also, on occasion, it can be difficult to manufacture the products to the required consistency and quality.
A further problem with the conventional roofing systems is that the same are constructed from components which are typically required to be sourced and supplied from a number of different organisations and locations. This can lead to incorrect ordering, time delays and general frustration during the construction process.
A further problem which exists with conventional roof systems is that they are heavy and therefore represent a significant part of the overall weight of the building. This is in turn means that the foundations required to support the building are required to be of significant depth which increases the cost of the building in terms of materials used and labour costs.
A yet further problem is the increasing requirement to be able to provide increased insulation materials in buildings in an efficient manner so as improve the efficiency of the building.


A center pull tissue dispenser having an openable enclosure, and a base member located within the enclosure to support a coreless roll of towel material. The end face of the roll is placed on the same base member, and an opening in a wall of the openable enclosure defining member allows dispensing of the towel material. Downstream of the support of the roll by the base there is provided a dispensing adjustment mechanism. This includes, a passageway through which the towel can pass, and a passageway restriction controlling member that is movable relative to the passageway.

With the advent of paper companies supplying tissue such as paper towels, toilet paper and the like in the form where there is no separate core provided (such as a cardboard core) developments have been occurring in relation to devices for convenient dispensing of the tissue material from the roll.
The dispensing of tissue material from a coreless roll can occur from both the perimeter thereof or from the centre of the coreless roll.
Several manufacturers exist which provide paper tissue in the form of coreless rolls and each manufacturer provides tissue material of different qualities, grades and gauges. For such different materials, different characteristics of strength and tearability exist. There is hence a need for a dispenser with a mechanism which allows for such variation in characteristics to be taken into consideration and allow for an adjustment to occur to ensure that convenient dispensing of the tissue material is achieved regardless of the characteristics of the material.

Center pull tissue dispenser and related mechanism


A damper device has a fixed member and a movable member, one being inside of the other. An electroviscous fluid is sealed between these two members, and opposed electrodes are arranged at respective positions of the two members to allow relative flow of the electroviscous fluid. The portions of the movable and fixed members that are in sliding contact are shielded against the electroviscous fluid by a flexible member between these two members. In an apparatus for manufacturing semiconductors according to the invention, an arm is provided on the movable member to move along the axial direction of the guide bar when the movable member moves. A flexible member is provided between respective ends of the fixed guide bar and respective ends of the arm to maintain the internal space liquid-tight, and an electroviscous fluid is sealed inside the flexible member and between the arm and the guide bar. A positive electrode and a negative electrode are formed utilizing two opposed members such as the arm and the guide bar, to which a voltage is applied to the electrodes while the voltage application is suspended when the movable member is to be moved.

The present invention relates to a damper device which can vary the damping force, and more particularly, to a damper device which can effectively prevent leakage of electroviscous fluid or mixing of air in the fluid, and a method of its use. It also relates to a device for manufacturing semiconductors using the damper device.
As an example of a prior art damper device capable of varying the damping force by utilizing an electroviscous fluid and electrodes, the published specification of UK No. 2,111,171 discloses a device comprising a cylinder that houses a piston and encloses electroviscous fluid.
The prior art device is defective in that as the electroviscous fluid directly contacts the portions where the cylinder and the piston or the piston rod are in sliding contact with each other, the electroviscous fluid is likely to leak from such portions. It is further defective in that outside air may enter the cylinder through the portions. In either cases, the damping characteristics of the device deteriorates.
In the prior art, when the movable member stops moving, it generates damped vibrations due to its inertia, substantially prolonging the time required for the member to come to a complete stop at a predetermined position. This poses a grave problem particularly when the mass and/or speed of the movable member are great. Efficiency in the positioning decreases as the operator must wait until the movable member comes to a complete stop; otherwise, precision in positioning itself significantly decreases. Although it has been proposed to dispose a damper having a higher damping capacity between the stationary member and the movable member to more quickly bring the movable member to a complete stop at a given position, this entails a different problem that energy required to drive the movable member increases greatly.
Further, when such damper device is used in an apparatus for manufacturing semiconductors with movable members such as a stepper, defects similar to those encountered in the damper device also arise.

Damper device and method of its use, and a device for manufacturing semiconductors using the damper device


A tilt apparatus for tilting a container from a first position, preferably horizontal, to a position skewed to the first position, the tilt apparatus comprising a stationary frame having two sides and disposed proximate the first position, the stationary frame having detent means disposed therewith, a movable frame moveable from the first position being substantially parallel in extension to the stationary frame to a position skewed to the first position and the stationary frame, the movable frame being moveably affixed proximate one side of the stationary frame, the movable frame having locking means and release means disposed therewith, the locking means being actuated by gravity to cooperatively lock with respect to the detent means of the stationary frame when the moveable frame is tilted to allow the locking means to so actuate thus locking a container in a tilted position, the release means being actuated by a remote device, such as a fork of a fork truck, to disengage the locking means of the moveable frame from the detent of the stationary frame whereby the moveable frame is repositioned from a position skewed to the first position and the stationary frame to a position substantially parallel in extension to the first position and the stationary frame.

A great deal of handling is involved in a stamping process for randomly shaped metal parts. Often the parts are fabricated from presses and must be set aside as work in progress requiring further finishing steps prior to final shipping of the manufactured product. The nature of metal stampings when stacked upon one another is to use up considerable amount of space in a shipping container if they are not carefully inserted within the shipping container. Often the shipping container is bulky especially if the stamped parts are relatively large requiring an operator to stretch beyond the abilities of the human frame. Unfortunately an number of injuries have occurred to those individuals assigned to stacking finished stamped articles in a shipping tote. Not only is there pain and suffering for the individual, but from an economic standpoint to the budget of a company a compensation case is not welcome.
The totes normally used in stacking finished parts are made from metal or in the case of finished goods made from cardboard. The cardboard totes are generally 4 ft cubed. The metal totes currently used in this process are 7 ft long and 3.5 ft wide and 3 ft deep. As can be readily seen from the dimensions of both the disposable and the recyclable totes they are not easy to load without some sort of assist to the operator.
In order to try and develop an assist for the operator the totes have been placed on a permanent rack developed with one end higher than the other. A fork truck would then place the tote on the rack generally set at an angle of 30.degree. to 45.degree.. This would permit the operator of a metal die stamping machine to insert the finished or in progress materials into the tote easily. However, there was a consider amount of handling of these totes by a fork truck operator. Further there is no adjustability in the angle at which the tote is set. It would be advantageous to an operator to be able to adjust this angle as the tote becomes fuller and fuller.
In one example, the flow of materials through a stamping operation would be as follows. Blanks are prepared for the presses and stacked within a bedstead as it is known in the industry or tote. The tote is then carried to the presses and set beside the presses where an operator accesses the materials in the bedstead, now located on a tilt stand, the operator then inserting the blank in the metal press forming the randomly shaped article and then placing that item in an outgoing tote which, depending on the number of processes left to be accomplished on the metal stamping, may be stacked roughly in an open tote or place in a tote or tilt stand. If further processes such as welding for example, are required the tote is then transported to the welding area where the parts are removed for spot welding and are loaded by an operator into the finished box which would be on a tilt stand. The operator is able to access the tote in part, but is not able to adjust the angle at which the tote is set at any time.
Within the prior art there exists U.S. Pat. No. 4,315,711 in which is described a tilt support packing apparatus specifically designed for glass. The apparatus is of generally rectangular form and has a stationary frame and a moveable frame. The moveable frame having a rocking portion with pins therein which engage with holes on the stationary frame when the frame is tilted. The apparatus when tilted is locked in position by an upstanding strut. However, the tilting apparatus is not adjustable in position. The strut must be manually moved into position as stated at column 4, line 45 of the disclosure. There is no mention within the teachings of U.S. Pat. No. 4,315,711 as to the automatic engagement of the strut 56 when the fork truck operator positions the tilt stand correctly. Affixed portions 59 and 60 are provided which allow for the tilting of the stand by a fork truck as described at column 4, line 13. However, once the tilting apparatus is positioned by the fork truck the operator secures the rack to the frame and manually tilts the frame 11 and the rack 17 rearwardly by raising the front of the frame 11 until the rack 17 rests against the rail 54. This is clearly stated at column 4, line 37 through 47. Then as it continues at line 48 the empty rack is positioned adjacent the fabricating line for manual loading within the convenient reach of the operator for inserting sheets of glass therein. U.S. Pat. No. 4,293,264 is another example of such a tilting apparatus.
It may not be practical to manually lift the tote from a horizontal to a tilted position and would be more advantageous if the fork truck bringing the tote to its stand would be able to tilt the stand for the operator and be able to release the stand for the operator as well. If the operator of the U.S. Pat. No. 4,315,711 must also tilt the packed tote back to the horizontal it would be both cumbersome and time consuming. There is no mention of it being tilted otherwise in the disclosure.
It is therefore a primary object of this invention to provide an improvement to tilt stands such as those found in the prior art wherein a fork truck will tilt the stand to the desired position without the need to dismount from the fork truck or to have an assistant to set the strut and thereby lock the tilt stand in its tilted position.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a tilt stand which is releasable when in its tilted position to a position parallel with the horizontal without an operator's assistance, having a release mechanism built therein which is enabled by the positioning of a fork truck fork against the release mechanism thereby releasing the tilt stand to a horizontal position.
Further and other objects of the invention will become apparent to a man skilled in the art when considering the following summary of the invention and the more detailed description of the preferred embodiments illustrated herein.


A light generator includes a generator housing, an axle, a magnet, a coil device, a lamp unit, and a resistance unit. The generator housing is adapted to be secured to a rotatable object for co-rotation therewith, and is formed with an axle hole. The axle is mounted rotatably in the axle hole, and has a coupling end that extends out of the axle hole. The magnet is disposed in the generator housing, and is mounted co-rotatably on the axle. The coil device is mounted in the generator housing, and surrounds the magnet. The lamp unit is connected electrically to the coil device. The resistance unit is mounted on the coupling end of the axle to resist axial rotation of the axle. Rotation of the generator housing with the rotatable object induces electrical currents to enable the lamp unit to generate a light output.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a light generator, more particularly to a light generator for a rotatable object.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional hubcap is shown to include a cap body 10 formed with a plurality of vent holes 101, an impeller 11 formed with a plurality of blades 111, a permanent magnet 12, a coil device 13 and a lamp set 14 connected electrically to the coil device 13. When the cap body 10 rotates with a vehicle wheel (not shown), air passes through the vent holes 101 and pushes the blades 111 of the impeller 11 so as to drive the impeller 11 and the magnet 12 to rotate relative to the coil device 13, thereby inducing electrical currents in the coil device 13 that are provided to the lamp set 14 so as to enable the lamp set 14 to generate a light output. However, since the impeller 11 is driven by the air that passes through the vent holes 101, when the cap body 10 rotates slowly or when the vent holes 101 are blocked, the air flow will be insufficient to rotate the impeller 11, thereby resulting in a poor light generating effect.
Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide a light generator for a rotatable object that can overcome the aforesaid drawback associated with the prior art.
According to the present invention, a light generator comprises:
a generator housing adapted to be secured to a rotatable object for co-rotation therewith, the generator housing having a front housing part, a rear housing part, and an axle hole that extends from the front housing part through the rear housing part;
an axle mounted rotatably in the axle hole and having a coupling end that extends out of the axle hole at the rear housing part;
a magnet disposed in the generator housing and mounted co-rotatably on the axle;
a coil device mounted in the generator housing and including a spool that surrounds the magnet, a coil wound around the spool, and a pair of conductive caps capped on an assembly of the spool and the coil, each of the conductive caps being connected electrically to a respective end of the coil;
a lamp unit mounted on the generator housing and connected electrically to the conductive caps of the coil device; and
a resistance unit mounted on the coupling end of the axle to resist axial rotation of the axle.
Rotation of the generator housing with the rotatable object results in rotation of the coil device relative to the magnet, thereby inducing electrical currents in the coil device that are provided to the lamp unit so as to enable the lamp unit to generate a light output.


The semiconductor memory device of the present invention has:. a memory cell array including a plurality of memory cell groups and a redundant cell group having a plurality of redundant cells arranged in parallel with the memory cell groups; PA1 a cell selection circuit for allowing one of a plurality of cell selection lines to select a specific memory cell group; PA1 a defective cell designation section for outputting defective cell designation signals designating a predetected defective cell out of the plurality of memory cells; PA1 and a connection change circuit for electrically disconnecting the cell selection line. selecting the memory cell group including the defective cell from the cell selection circuit and outputting an output signal from the cell selection circuit to the redundant cell group. The defective cell designation section includes: a plurality of defective cell designation circuits for outputting designation signals capable of designating the plurality of cell selection lines; and a defective cell designation signal generation circuit for generating and outputting the defective cell designation signals based on the designation signals output from the plurality of defective cell designation circuits. The number of the plurality of defective cell designation circuits is smaller than the number of the plurality of cell selection lines.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor memory device providing redundant remedy for a defective cell by use of fuse elements or the like
In general, in a semiconductor memory device having a plurality of memory cells arranged in an array on a semiconductor substrate made of silicon or the like, data read or write operation is performed in the following manner. A word line is selected by decoding an externally input row address signal, and a column line is selected by decoding an externally input column address signal. By the selected word line and column line, a memory cell is determined, and desired data is written on or read from the selected memory cell. The number of memory cells formed in an array is so enormous that a defective memory cell failing to operate normally may sometimes be included in the array of memory cells due to entering of a foreign substance in the fabrication process, generation of a defect in the substrate itself, or the like.
In consideration of the above situation, the design itself is made to provide redundant cells having the same function as the normal memory cells, together with a fuse circuit storing row address and column address information corresponding to a defective cell out of the plurality of memory cells. Once a defective cell is detected by probing or the like, a fuse element corresponding to the defective address is blown so as to replace the word line or column line corresponding to the defective cell with a spare (redundant) word line or column line. In this way, high yield is secured.
In a conventional dynamic redundancy circuit, determination on whether or not a redundancy circuit is used (redundancy determination) is necessary every active cycle. This lowers the operation speed. As one of circuitry techniques for solving this problem, provided is a shift redundancy circuit where a word line or column line corresponding to a defective cell is shifted to an adjacent word line or column line to effect redundant remedy.
Hereinbelow, a conventional semiconductor memory device having a shift redundancy circuit will be described with reference to FIG. 11.
FIG. 11 schematically shows a conventional semiconductor memory device having a shift redundancy circuit. The conventional semiconductor memory device includes a memory cell array 101 having a plurality of memory cells arranged in an array and n+1 word lines (n is a positive integer) running across the memory cell array. The semiconductor memory device also includes a row decoder 102 placed on one of the sides of the memory cell array 101 where terminals of the word lines WL are located. The row decoder 102 decodes m row address signals AX (m is a positive integer) input thereto externally so as to select one of the n word lines.
The word line WL(n+1) is a spare (redundant) word line connected with a redundant cell section 101a in the memory cell array 101.
A selector circuit 104 is placed between the memory cell array 101 and the row decoder 102. The selector circuit 104 receives n output signals from the row decoder 102 and n defective cell designation signals SEL from a fuse circuit 103, and switches the connection between output lines of the row decoder 102 and the word lines WL based on the defective cell designation signals SEL.
FIG. 12 shows the fuse circuit 103 and the selector circuit 104 in detail. As shown in FIG. 12, the fuse circuit 103 has a serial configuration of n serially connected fuse elements FS (FS(1) to FS(n)) that respectively correspond to the n decode output signals PX(1) to PX(n) output from the row decoder 102 shown in FIG. 11. The terminal external of the first fuse element FS(1) in the serial configuration is connected with the power supply, and the terminal external of the n-th fuse element FS(n) in the serial configuration is grounded via a resistor R having a sufficiently large resistance value.
The selector circuit 104 includes n first switch circuits 104a and n second switch circuits 104c. The first switch circuits 104a open/close the connection between the output signals PX(n; n=1 to n) from the row decoder 102 and the corresponding word lines WL(n; n=1 to n) based on the defective cell designation signals SEL(n; n=1 to n). The second switch circuits 104c open/close the connection between the output signals PX(n; n=1 to n) from the row decoder 102 and the word lines WL(n+1; n=1 to n) adjacent to the corresponding word lines WL based on a signal inverted from the defective cell designation signal SEL(n; n=1 to n) by respective inverters 104b.
The first switch circuits 104a and the second switch circuits 104c in n pairs have the same circuit configuration. For example, if the first switch circuit 104a is turned ON when the defective cell designation signal SEL is in the HIGH level, the second switch circuit 104a that receives the LOW-level defective cell designation signal SEL is turned OFF. This enables the output signal PX(n) from the row decoder 102 to be selectively output to either one of the adjacent word lines WL(n) and WL(n+1).
Hereinbelow, how to use and operate the fuse circuit 103 and the selector circuit 104 with the above configuration will be described.
For example, assume that no defective cell has been detected in the memory cell array 101 shown in FIG. 11. In this case, no fuse element FS in the fuse circuit 103 is blown. Therefore, the potentials at all nodes SEL(n; n=1 to n) between the adjacent fuse elements FS are HIGH due to the high-resistance resistor-R. The potentials at the nodes SEL(n; n=1 to n) are input into the selector circuit 104 as the defective cell designation signals SEL(n; n=1 to n). This turns ON all the first switch circuits 104a so that the decode output signals PX(n; n=1 to n) are output to the corresponding word lines WL(n; n=1 to n).
Next, assume that any of the memory cells connected to the third word line WL(3) has been found defective. In this case, the third fuse element FS(3) is blown. Therefore, while the first defective cell designation signal SEL(1) and the second defective cell designation signal SEL(2) are kept in the HIGH level, the third to n-th defective cell designation signals SEL(3) to SEL(n) are turned to the LOW level. As a result, in the third circuit pair of the selector circuit 104 receiving the third output signal PX(3), while the first switch circuit 104a is turned OFF, the second switch circuit 104c is turned ON. This allows the third output signal PX(3) from the row decoder 102 to be output to the fourth word line WL(4). Likewise, the fourth to n-th output signals PX(4) to PX(n) from the row decoder 102 are output to the word lines WL downstream adjacent to the corresponding word lines WL. In other words, the word lines WL to which the output signals are output are shifted to those having a one-incremented numerical subscript.
In short, when a defective cell connected with the third word line WL(3) is to be remedied, the fuse element FS(3) corresponding to the third word line WL(3) is blown so that the connection between the third output signal PX(3) from the row decoder 102 and the third word line WL(3) is cut off. The connection of the third output signal PX(3) and the subsequent output signals with the word lines WL is then shifted by one in the order of the placement of the word lines WL. This remedy of a defective cell ensures high yield.
In addition, the defective cell designation signals SEL for determining the connection between the output signals PX from the row decoder 102 and the word lines WL are DC voltages that are determined right after powering based on the blown states of the fuse elements PS. This eliminates the necessity of performing the redundancy determination every active cycle as is required for the dynamic redundancy circuit, thereby realizing high-speed operation.
However, the above conventional semiconductor memory device has the following problems. The shift redundancy circuit includes the fuse circuit 103 of the serial configuration composed of n fuse elements FS(n). If the number of word lines WL(n) extending across the memory cell array 101 is doubled to 2n, the number of fuse elements FS needs to be 2n. The signal line carrying the signal SEL(n) input into the selector circuit 104 from the fuse circuit 103 also needs to be 2n. This greatly increases the layout area required on the substrate.
In view of the above prior art problem, an object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor memory device employing the shift redundancy circuit scheme where the area occupied by the redundancy circuit is comparatively small with respect to the entire area of the device.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


An electrically driven brake controlled skateboard employing an electric motor and associated battery mounted on the bottom of its foot supporting board employs a pulley arrangement whereby the initial slipping of its belt acts as a clutch for transferring rotational power from the motor to a U-grooved drive wheel of the skateboard. The U-groove is low cut so that the drive belt is partially exposed to the road surface. A dual purpose tether mounted brake control and on/off switch is used to control the braking of the skateboard and the energization of the drive motor.

This invention relates to skateboards and more particularly to a clean, efficient, noiseless, electrically driven skateboard which may be controlled in a predictable manner.
A motorized skateboard basically comprises an elongated board, a pair of spaced truck (four wheels) one attached to the board under opposite ends thereof for supporting the board above the ground, a motor and a belt driven mechanism coupled to the motor for driving one or more of the four wheels of the board in response to the operation of the motor. The board is of sufficient dimension and strength to support a person riding thereon.
Typically, a gasoline motor has been attached to the truck at the rear end of the skateboard and is coupled to one of the rear skateboard wheels through a clutch mechanism so that power ca be disengaged when it is not desired to drive the board. In other models, a drive wheel is directly driven by the motor; but the motor is then restricted to high compression, small displacement engines which have to be push started, since there is no way of removing the driven wheel from the ground. Further, the gasoline engines are excessively noisy and hazardous to the environment and the storage of gasoline in such a small engine presents a heat and fire hazard to the operator and his or her surroundings. Due to the inherently small size and simple carburetion systems, these engines are difficult to start and dangerous to control without some dependable way to slow and stop the skateboard.

Electric motor powered skateboard with integral brakes


A flow sensor assembly includes a housing that defines an inlet port, an outlet port, a main channel and a bypass channel. An inlet flow channel fluidly connects the inlet port of the flow sensor assembly to the main channel and an outlet flow channel fluidly connects the main channel to the outlet port. A bypass feeder input channel fluidly connects the main channel to the bypass channel and a bypass feeder output channel fluidly connect the bypass channel to the main channel. In some instances, at least 40 percent of an input pressure differential applied between the inlet port and the outlet port of the flow sensor assembly drops across the inlet flow channel and the outlet flow channel collectively. A sensor is exposed to a fluid in the bypass channel and senses a measure related to a flow rate of the fluid flowing through the bypass channel.

Sensors are used in a wide variety of applications including residential, industrial, automotive, military, medical, aeronautical, space, as well as countless other applications. One particularly type of sensor is a flow sensor for measuring a flow rate of a fluid. What would be desirable is a flow sensor that can operate across a relatively large pressure drop while retaining a small footprint.


A device for determining the viscosity of a liquid has a temperature sensor and a heater disposed in spaced relation within a channel. When the device is immersed in a liquid, the heater heats the liquid and the temperature sensor detects the change in temperature of the liquid in response to heating of the liquid by the heater. A controller coupled with the temperature sensor receives a signal corresponding to the temperature of the liquid and determines an index value corresponding to the change in temperature with respect to time. The index value may be compared with a stored value to evaluate the relative change in viscosity, or it may be used to determine an actual value of viscosity of the liquid.

This invention relates to a viscosity measurement and more particularly, to an in-situ oil viscosity measurement for an internal combustion engine.
Internal combustion engine designs have been continually improved to reduce weight, increase fuel economy, increase power output, and at the same time meet environmental emission guidelines. Long term, reliable engine operation requires high quality lubricants, for example, an engine oil, transmission fluid, etc., that are able to meet the strenuous demands of the newer, more efficient engines. In general, an engine oil must be thin enough when first starting the engine to allow for sufficient cranking speed, and the oil must then be able to flow immediately to lubricate vital engine components. Most of the engine wear occurs at start-up before the oil can reach all the engine parts. After the engine has reached its desired operating temperature, the oil must not become too thin as to be unable to provide adequate engine lubrication. After the engine is running, the oil is circulated to the engine components and functions to prevent metal-to-metal contact between the various moving parts.
Thus, the engine oil must be sufficiently thin that it can readily flow to all of the areas of the engine requiring lubrication and sufficiently thick that it is able to form a film of oil over the parts being lubricated to prevent metal-to-metal contact. The viscosity of the oil is a measure of its resistance to flow. The viscosity of the oil should be high enough to maintain the desired oil film, however, if the oil viscosity is too high, it can impede the flow of the oil and also, add excess fluid friction.
The viscosity of engine oil remains relatively constant while exposed to relatively constant environmental conditions, however, an internal combustion engine presents a constantly changing environment in which the engine oil must function. First, the engine experiences a wide range of operating temperatures, and the viscosity of engine oil changes with wide fluctuations of temperature. Further, the viscosity of the engine oil changes as it becomes contaminated. Dirt, oxidation and sludge increase the viscosity of the oil while fuel dilution reduces the viscosity. Oil with too low of a viscosity may breakdown and lose strength at higher engine temperatures. Oils with too high a viscosity may not pump through the engine quick enough to lubricate engine components properly at lower engine temperatures.
To ensure high-performance of modern engines, it is important to change the oil of an engine when the quality of the oil has become degraded. Automobile manufacturers generally provide schedules for changing oil based on estimated service conditions and hours or miles of vehicle use. These schedules are generally not very accurate, due to the wide range of service conditions experienced by individual vehicles. At best, the schedules are very conservative and their inaccuracy may result in engine oil being changed either too soon or too late, with regard to the actual quality of the oil. If changed too soon, the discarded oil is unnecessarily wasted. If changed too late, excessive wear or damage to the engine may result.
One way to monitor the quality of an oil is to measure its viscosity, whereby a change in viscosity provides an indication of when the oil should be changed. In this regard, an increase in viscosity indicates a thickening of the oil, such as may be due to the accumulation of contaminants. Likewise, a decrease in viscosity indicates viscosity breakdown. Prior systems which have been used to measure viscosity have required complicated devices that are best suited to use in a laboratory. Accordingly, obtaining a measurement of viscosity required that a sample of the oil be withdrawn and taken to the lab for measurement with the device. Such systems are thus cumbersome and impractical for determination of viscosity on a regular basis.
Other known devices and techniques that are designed for field measurements are either too expensive or lack the ruggedness to be used in-situ with an internal combustion engine.
Thus, there is a need for an economical, real time, in-situ device and process for measuring engine oil viscosity to detect potentially adverse engine operating conditions.
The present invention provides a device that may be used to determine the viscosity of a liquid while immersed directly in the liquid. The device has particular utility for use in determining the viscosity of lubricants in an automobile, such as engine oil and transmission fluid, however the device may be used to determine the viscosity of other liquids in other environments as well. The device operates by measuring or sensing the rate of temperature change of the liquid in response to heat added to the liquid (i.e. the speed at which heat travels through the liquid). Specifically, the device takes advantage of the relationship of the viscosity of a liquid with the convective component of heat. Because heating of a liquid generally produces both convective and conductive heating components, accuracy of the viscosity measurement will be improved if the influence of the conductive components of heat can be minimized.
In accordance with the present invention, a device is provided having a heater for heating a liquid and a temperature sensor for detecting a change in temperature of the liquid in response to heating by the heater. The change in temperature with time is used to determine the viscosity of the liquid. In an exemplary embodiment, the device further includes a housing having a channel section and the heater and temperature sensor are disposed within the channel section and are spaced apart a distance which minimizes conductive flow effects from the heater on the temperature sensor. The channel section is sized to optimize the response time of the temperature sensor with respect to sensing temperature change of the liquid due to heating by the heater. In another aspect of the invention, the channel section is sized to minimize turbulent flow of the liquid near the temperature sensor.
In another exemplary embodiment, the device further includes a controller in communication with the temperature sensor whereby the controller may receive a signal from the temperature sensor corresponding to a measured temperature of the liquid. The controller may be integral with the device or it may be a part of a system with which the device is used, such as an automobile. The controller may be configured to calculate an index value corresponding to the change in temperature with time. The index value may either be compared to a previously stored value for evaluation of the relative change in viscosity, or it may be used to determine an instantaneous value of viscosity for the liquid. Thus, in one aspect, the device may be used to detect a relative change in the viscosity of a liquid, to provide an indication when the quality of a liquid has changed to a point that the liquid should be replaced. In another aspect, the device may be used in conjunction with known viscosity values which have been correlated to the rate of temperature change of the liquid to thereby determine an actual viscosity of the liquid.
In yet another aspect of the invention, a method for determining the viscosity of a liquid includes the steps of heating the liquid, sensing the temperature of the liquid at a first time, sensing the temperature of the liquid at a second time, and integrating the change in sensed temperature with time.


An aramid paper which has high porosity while exhibiting the usual tensile properties is disclosed. The paper has good saturability and a smooth surface while retaining high break strength.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an improved aramid paper which has high porosity while maintaining good tensile properties. The invention provides for adjustment of the porosity by compositional changes while yielding a paper with a smooth surface suitable for automatic processing where excessive surface roughness cannot be tolerated. The invention also relates to a process for making the improved high porosity paper.
This invention provides an improved aramid paper having good saturability and a smooth surface while retaining break strength.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,999,788 and 3,756,908, issued Sept. 12, 1961 and Sept. 4, 1973, respectively, describe nonwoven sheet structures utilizing aramid fibrids and aramid floc. Those patents describe the preparation of aramid fibrids and the use of such fibrids in making synthetic papers.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,920,428, issued Nov. 18, 1975, discloses preparation of filter media using a mixture of glass fibers and disintegrated synthetic papers of aramid fibrids and aramid floc. Glass fibers are required and only disintegrated paper is used.
British Patent No. 1,336,691, published Nov. 7, 1973, discloses nonwoven sheets utilizing aramid fibrids and floc of aramid or polyester.

Aramid papers containing aramid paper pulp


An oral administration device having a nipple member and a frangible seal is disclosed. An oral administration system having a nipple member and a syringe to fill the nipple member is disclosed. An oral administration device having a vacuum package surrounding the oral administration device is also disclosed.

Administering oral therapeutics to juveniles, particularly neonates is problematic. Juveniles and neonates often squirm and are uncooperative when adults attempt to administer oral therapeutics. This can cause therapeutics to be spilled or wasted. Additionally, when a therapeutic is spilled or wasted it becomes difficult to determine the quantity of therapeutic that a juvenile or neonate has ingested. Moreover, when therapeutics that are to be administered in certain quantities are spilled before the juvenile or neonate ingests the therapeutic, a medical practitioner or parent may be unsure that the child has received the correct dose, making the treatment less effective.
Additionally, it is important that the device does not become contaminated when used multiple times. For example, when a practitioner gives sweetener to calm a neonate before a painful procedure, many practitioners dip the pacifier into a container of sweetener. This container generally becomes contaminated when the pacifier has to be dipped several time.
Some prior art administration devices require the practitioner to manipulate the package of the oral administration device in order to cover the administration device with a therapeutic. This manipulation can be tedious because the practitioner must make sure that enough therapeutic has coated the oral administration device. Moreover, this prior art device could be messy if the practitioner tries to coat the oral administration device more than one time. Another prior art method requires a practitioner to fill the oral administration device prior to administering to the neonate. This can be tedious if the therapeutic is spilled when poured into the device. These prior art methods also make it difficult to determine whether the juvenile or neonate received the correct dose of a particular therapeutic. Therefore, what is needed is an oral administration device where the therapeutic is contained in the oral administration device and force applied by the neonate's mouth will cause the sweetener to be expelled. Additionally, it would be beneficial to have an oral administration system that allows a practitioner to easily fill the device prior to administration.


A mixture of isomers of cypermethrin or cyfluthrin enriched in the more insecticidally active c.sub.2 or t.sub.2 isomer, or both, is prepared by adding .alpha.-hydroxy-3-phenoxyphenylacetonitrile or its 4-fluoro analog to a refluxing solution of 3-(2,2-dichloroethenyl)-2-2-dimethylcyclopropanecarbonyl chloride in a hydrocarbon solvent boiling in the range of about 75.degree. to 115.degree. C. in an inert atmosphers, without an acid acceptor being present in the reaction mixture. The product is recovered by washing the reaction mixture with aqueous base.

Both cypermethrin (U.S. Pat. No. 4,024,163) and cyfluthrin (U.S. Pat. No. 4,218,469) are well-known pyrethroid insecticides and are articles of commerce in many countries. Each may contain eight isomers.
For racemic cypermethrin the eight isomers are designated I-VIII as follows:
______________________________________ cis isomers I = ( .sub.-- S)-(cyano)(3-phenoxyphenyl)methyl -1 .sub.-- R,cis-3-(2, 2-di- chloroethenyl)-2,2-dimethylcyclopropanecarboxylate (abbreviated -1 .sub.-- R,cis S) II = ( .sub.-- R)-(cyano)(3-phenoxyphenyl)methyl --1S,cis-3-(2,2-di- chloroethenyl)-2,2-dimethylcyclopropanecarboxylate (abbreviated --1S,cis .sub.-- R) III = ( .sub.-- S)-(cyano)(3-phenoxyphenyl)methyl --1S,cis-3-(2,2-di- chloroethenyl)-2,2-dimethylcyclopropanecarboxylate (abbreviated --1S,cis .sub.-- S) IV = ( .sub.-- R)-(cyano)(3-phenoxyphenyl)methyl -1 .sub.-- R,cis-3-(2, 2-di- chloroethenyl)-2,2-dimethylcyclopropanecarboxylate (abbreviated 1R,cis .sub.-- R) trans isomers V = ( -1 .sub.-- R,trans .sub.-- S), the trans isomer of I VI = ( --1S,trans .sub.-- R), the trans isomer of II VII = ( --1S,trans .sub.-- S), the trans isomer of III VIII = ( -1 .sub.-- R,trans .sub.-- R), the trans isomer of ______________________________________ IV
The designations 1R,cis; 1R,trans; 1S,cis: and 1S,trans refer to the spatial relationship of the hydrogen atoms at the 1 and 3 positions of the cyclopropane ring, and the single letter designations R and S refer to the spatial configuration of the cyano group on the alpha carbon of the alcohol portion of the molecule.
The same designations are applied to the corresponding isomers of cyfluthrin.
It is well known that the most insecticidally active isomers are I and V. It is also well known that the enantiomer pairs I/II, referred to as the c.sub.2 enantiomer pair, and V/VI, referred to as the t.sub.2 enantiomer pair, are more insecticidally active than the enantiomer pairs, III/IV, referred to as the c.sub.1 enantiomer pair, and VII/VIII, referred to as the t.sub.1 enantiomer pair.
It is extremely difficult and commercially impractical to separate the more active isomers from the complex mixture of isomers produced in the usual synthesis of pyrethroids. Consequently, substantial effort has been devoted to methods for increasing the proportion of active isomers in products consisting of mixtures of isomers, e.g., by converting less active isomers in such mixtures to more active isomers. Such processes are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,427,598 and 4,782,174, inter alia.
While the increased processing costs incurred in such isomer enrichment techniques may be justified for some pesticidal applications, an esterification process which would lead directly to a mixture enriched in the more active isomers would be highly desirable, both for the increased insecticidal activity of the esterification product itself and as an enhanced feed stock for conversion.

Preparation of mixtures of cypermethrin or cyfluthrin isomers enriched in more active species


An method of providing defect enhanced CoSi2 formation and improved silicided junctions in deep submicron MOSFETs. A silicon wafer having a diffusion window is first precleaned with hydrofluoric acid. After the HF precleaning, the silicon wafer is transferred to a conventional cobalt sputtering tool where it is sputter cleaned by bombardment with low energy Ar+ ions so as to form an ultra-shallow damage region. After the sputter cleaning, and without removing the wafer from the sputtering tool, Cobalt metal is deposited on the silicon wafer at room temperature and a CoSi2 layer is formed in the diffusion window.

A. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an improved method of forming semiconductor integrated circuit devices and more particularly to an improved method of forming silicided junctions as part of such devices.
B. Related Art
Silicides provide low sheet and contact resistance in deep sub-micron MOSFETs (MOSFETS having junction depths smaller than 1500 Angstroms). Self-aligned silicide processes are useful in deep sub-micron MOSFETS. The drive-in of dopants from silicides also lowers the generation of defect induced junction leakage current.
The silicide formation at the silicon surface is determined by the properties of the metal silicon interface. The deposition of highly pure metal and a clean surface are required for silicide reaction. Any residues or contaminants lead to non-uniform and rough silicide layers.
The process of integration requires the formation of a stable silicide phase. Metastable silicide layers may interfere with adjacent layers and influence the performance of the devices. The mechanism of the silicide formation and the thermal budget of the integrated process determine the grain size of the Cobalt silicides. A high surface energy of Cobalt silicide grains leads to an agglomeration of large silicide grains during the annealing process. The grains may even penetrate the diffusion layer. Eventually, an epitaxial regrowth of Silicon between the silicide grains degrades the silicide layers. Leakage currents of such silicided junctions are increased by some orders of magnitude.
Conventionally, the cleaning of the silicon surface is performed with hydro fluoric acid (HF) prior to the metal deposition. The thermodynamically stable CoSi2 phase is formed at an annealing temperature of 750 degrees Celsius (30 seconds, rapid thermal annealing RTA) via the Co2Si and CoSi phases. This results in a rough silicide/silicon interface. Further processing, such as ion implantation into the silicide, can lead to damage of the silicon crystal if the silicide film is pulled of the corner of the diffusion windows. The large grains agglomerate at higher annealing temperatures, i.e. during the drive in of the dopants.
Neither an HF dip, and HF bath or HF spraying procedure guarantee a uniformly clean silicon surface in diffusion windows (adhesion, surface energy). Cleaning the corners of diffusion windows efficiently is especially problematic. The disadvantages are rough silicide/silicon interfaces and highly stressed silicide layers which will often lead to heavy agglomeration, layer degradation and leaky junctions.

Formation of silicided junctions in deep sub-micron MOSFETs by defect enhanced CoSi2 formation


A process and reactor for recovering energy and chemicals from spent liquor obtained in pulp production by thermal decomposing the spent liquor are described, said decomposing being carried out in a reactor at a pressure of from atmospheric pressure up to 150 bar and at a temperature of 500.degree.-1500.degree. C. so that a gas and solid and/or molten inorganic material are formed, said gas being rich in energy to be used as fuel or being useful as raw material for chemical production. According to the invention the thermal decomposition of the spent liquor is carried out during exposure to low frequency sound and without or with simultaneously supply of oxygen or a gas containing oxygen in an amount below that stoichiometrically required for complete oxidation of the substances formed at the thermal decomposition. The reactor comprises at least one sound generator arranged to generate low frequency sound in the reactor.

The present invention relates to a process for recovering energy and chemicals from spent liquor obtained in pulp production and to a reactor for carrying out this process.
Burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas constitutes an alternative to nuclear power for producing heat. The alternatives also include biomass fuels, in particular the combustion of spent liquors obtained from the cellulose industry. Two objectives are aimed at when burning spent liquors from the sulphate pulp industry, the first being that the organic wood substance is combusted so that its heat of combustion is converted to useful thermal energy, and the second being that the inorganic chemicals in the spent liquor are recovered and converted to active form. Under-stoichiometric condition is required when the sulphur is to be recovered in sulphide form, while at the same time the recovery of energy requires over-stoichiometric condition. Two opposing processes are thus required to take place simultaneously within a common space, which results in optimization problems when using traditional soda recovery boiler technique. Hitherto one has tried to solve the problem by using various process levels in the soda recovery boiler in which under-stoichiometric condition prevail in the bottom and over-stoichiometric condition in the upper part. Optimization problems of the soda recovery boiler include inter alia that the chemicals recovered from e.g. sulphate pulp production contain a certain amount of oxidized sulphur in the form of sodium sulphate, sodium sulphite and sodium thiosulphate. This is due to difficulties in maintaining controlled conditions in the bottom region of the boiler. Besides this, a certain amount of dust is also emitted from the bottom region of the boiler. The dust contains sodium and sulphur which are oxidized higher up in the soda recovery boiler, forming sodium sulphate which is separated out and returned to the chemical cycle. The oxidized sulphur is chemically inactive in the pulping process and thus constitutes a ballast in the chemical cycle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,808,264 (corresponding to SE 448 173) describes a process constituting an alternative to the soda recovery boiler process and based on a gasification technique. The organic substances of the black liquor are gasified in a first step to produce substantially CO, CO.sub.2, H.sub.2 and H.sub.2 S in a pressurized reactor by means of so called "flash-pyrolysis", whereby the remainder obtained consists substantially of the inorganic components of the spent liquor in solid or molten form. In such a gasification of organic material a portion of residual carbon is normally obtained, the quantity of residual carbon being dependent upon several factors such as the reaction temperature, air/fuel-ratio and fuel injection technique. The gas obtained from gasification is conveyed further for cleaning and can then be used as fuel. Since the gasification is carried out during addition of oxidation air, nitrogen is also supplied. Nitrogen constitutes ballast and the amount of oxidation air should therefore be minimized. However, if gasification is carried out at under-stoichiometric conditions a carbon residue ("char") is very easily formed. Technically, the design of the apparatus and process for the known reactor is essential in particular with respect to thermodynamic conditions such as reaction time, temperature, turbulence and material atomization so that as large a reaction surface as possible is formed. The low air/fuel-ratio also causes particular difficulties in maintaining high turbulence in the reaction zone as compared with a complete combustion process. Flow conditions with formation of laminar films of oxidation air around the particles easily occur and optimization of the parameters mentioned above becomes a very difficult task. At higher pressure in the gasification chamber the density of the gas increases, thus causing further limitations of the turbulence in the gasification chamber. Temperature and the oxidation or reaction processes will therefore vary.
The conditions for optimizing a combustion process and those for optimizing a gasification process are thus significantly different. This is particularly so when the gasification process comprises several steps, i.e. chemical recovery which is very difficult to optimize, besides the actual gasification of organic material.
SE 458 799 describes combustion of fluid fuels dispersed in combustion air and subjected to low frequency sound. Combustion of fuel occurs necessarily in excess of air and thus differs essentially from a thermal decomposition process in which the material is thermally decomposed with a limited supply of air (gasification) or without supply of air (pyrolysis). This patent specification neither reveals nor suggests the use of low frequency sound in such a substantially different technique as the recovery of energy and chemicals by means of such a substantially different process as an endothermal decomposition process with its specific optimization problems.

Process for recovering energy and chemicals from spent liquor using low frequency sound


Compounds of formula (I) and compositions comprising a compound of formula (I) for treating disorders related to TRPA1 are described herein.

The invention relates to compounds and compositions useful for treating disorders related to TRPA1.
A variety of ion channel proteins exist to mediate ion flux across cellular membranes. The proper expression and function of ion channel proteins is essential for the maintenance of cell function and intracellular communication. Numerous diseases are the result of misregulation of membrane potential or aberrant calcium handling. Given the central importance of ion channels in modulating membrane potential and ion flux in cells, identification of agents that can promote or inhibit particular ion channels are of great interest, both as research tools and as therapeutic agents.

Compositions useful for treating disorders related to TRPA1


The present invention provides a display method for a medical image, comprising: acquiring a medical image of an imaging object by means of scanning; obtaining, from the medical image, a list containing one or more objects of interest, and object information including positions of the objects of interest; acquiring, according to the positions of the objects of interest and at different imaging positions, a plurality of images that cover the objects of interest; and synthesizing the plurality of images that cover the objects of interest into a dynamic graph and dynamically displaying the dynamic graph.

In the process of analysis and diagnosis for a medical image, for example, in a detection in which computer tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) are used, it is generally necessary to detect a plurality of lesion sites. Taking a pulmonary nodule as an example, a doctor usually needs to detect a plurality of images of the nodule in order to discover a lesion and determine the property of the nodule. The image is usually a sectional image of a part or an organ of a human body, and for each lesion, the doctor often needs to view a plurality of images on a display screen of an imaging system to determine the property of a lesion region, such as the size, the shape and the relationship with the surrounding tissues.
FIG. 1 shows a sectional position view commonly used in medical imaging, and direction settings of X, Y and Z axes. A traditional operation interface can display images of the position of the lesion in three different directions (for example, a horizontal plane, a coronal plane and a sagittal plane), as shown in FIG. 2, wherein the central position of the lesion is identified at the cross point. The doctor can determine the shape and the property of the lesion or organ in a three-dimensional space by observing the images in the three different directions.
The doctor can also manually browse a plurality of images including the lesion region on the same axis to determine the benign and malignancy of the pulmonary nodule, and display, in the direction of the Z axis, a plurality of horizontal plane images at different Z coordinate positions through an operation in an interactive manner, such as a mouse, a keyboard (as shown in FIG. 3). In this case, the doctor needs to adjust the positions of the horizontal sectional images in FIG. 2 with a wheeled mouse, and manually select and observe 8 horizontal plane images of which the positions are between 52 mm and 59 mm in the direction of the Z axis so as to observe all of the nodules and then perform diagnosing.
When processing a multiple lesion, such as a pulmonary nodule, the doctor needs to determine a plurality of lesions on a one-by-one basis. In such a case, the doctor needs to repeatedly operate to determine the property of each lesion. This repeated mechanical operation often takes a large amount of time of the doctor in the case where a great number of images need to be read, which causes the fatigue of the doctor, thereby reducing the image-viewing quality.

Medical image display method and imaging apparatus


A bipolar secondary battery includes a power generating element in which a bipolar electrode and an electrolyte layer are stacked. The bipolar electrode includes a positive-electrode active material layer formed on one surface of a current collector and a negative-electrode active material layer formed on the opposing surface of the current collector. Peripheral edges of the bipolar electrode and electrolyte layer are bonded through a seal. Edges of the positive-electrode active material layer and the negative-electrode active material layer on opposite surfaces of a respective current collector are offset from each other. The edge of a seal portion facing an inner edge of the edges of the positive-electrode active material layer and the negative-electrode active material layer is positioned inside an outer edge of the edges of the positive-electrode active material layer and the negative-electrode active material layer.

There have been known bipolar secondary batteries each including a power generating element in which a plurality of bipolar electrodes are stacked with electrolyte layers and separators provided between the adjacent bipolar electrodes, the bipolar electrodes each including a positive-electrode active material layer formed on one of the surfaces of a current collector and a negative-electrode active material layer formed on the other surface. In other words, the bipolar secondary batteries have a structure in which the positive electrode active material layer, the electrolyte layer and the negative electrode active material layer form a unit cell layer, and a plurality of the unit cell layers are stacked with current collectors provided between adjacent unit cell layers.
In the bipolar secondary batteries, when an electrolyte containing an electrolyte solution such as a liquid electrolyte, a polymer gel electrolyte, or the like is used, a problem may occur in which the electrolyte solution leaks from one of the unit cell layers and comes in contact with the electrolyte solution of other unit cell layers, thereby causing liquid junction. In order to prevent the liquid junction, a technique of sealing each unit cell layer by disposing a seal portion to surround the periphery of each unit cell layer has been known (refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 9-232003).

Bipolar secondary battery with seal members


A cache management policy is provided, comprising a method for writing back to a memory (104) a data element set (122) stored in a cache (110). The method reduces the time some items stay in the cache, and thereby improves the utilization of the cache for some applications, especially for video applications. The method comprises determining that each one of the multiple data elements has been updated through at least one write request; marking the data element set as a write-back candidate, in dependency on said determination; and writing the write-back candidate to the memory.

The performance of a main memory can often be improved by providing the main memory with a cache. A cache is a type of memory, which is typically both faster and smaller than the main memory. When a data item is requested from a memory address of the main memory, i.e., in a read request, the data item, which is returned by the main memory, is also stored in the cache in a data element. Associated with the stored data item, the cache also stores a representation of the memory address corresponding to the data item. When, later, a request is made for the same memory address, the cache can return the data element without the need of consulting the main memory. Since the cache memory is faster than the main memory, this will improve the perceived response time of the memory system, formed by the combination of main memory and the cache.
One may also take advantage of a cache to improve the performance of a write request. Typically, when a request is made to the memory to store a data element at the memory address, i.e., a write request, the write request is intercepted by the cache. The cache stores the data element, together with the memory address. If later a read request or write request for the same memory address is made, the cache can respond without consulting the main memory. Again, the perceived response time for a read request is decreased, since the read-request can be handled from the cache without the need of consulting the main memory. Moreover, a cache decreases the number of read and write requests made on the main memory, as typically multiple requests are combined by the cache into a single large request, e.g., a request for an entire cache line. A modern main memory is more efficient in handling a request for an entire cache line in a burst, than single individual requests.
A cache is usually organized in a number of cache lines. Each cache line stores a number of data elements corresponding to a same number of main memory addresses. Typically, the main memory addresses are logically consecutive. Each time such a cache accesses the main memory for reading, a complete cache line is read, and consequently stored in the cache. Sometimes, this may result in the cache requesting data elements from the main memory that are not yet needed, i.e., which have not yet been requested.
Some basic operations on cache lines can be distinguished, typical in the design of a data cache.    fetch transfer data from the memory to the cache    invalidate mark the cache space as free, i.e., available for use; after invalidation, it does not contain valid data    copy-back transfer the data from the cache to the memory    pre-fetch transfer a cache line from memory to the cache before any part of the cache line is currently required by the processor to avoid stalling of the processor when the data is required
Typical status information which may be associated with a cache line includes:    in-use indication that the cache line contains valid data, set after fetch or after a write operation    dirty bit indication that the cache line is modified compared to the contents of the main memory, typically set at a write operation    dirty mask a mask indicating which data elements in the cache line are modified compared to the main memory
A problem with using the cache for write requests is that the main memory and the cache at some point in time store different data elements for the same memory address. A cache line is called 'dirty', if the cache line stores at least one data element and associated memory address such that the data element in main memory at the same associated memory address is different from the one in the cache. A dirty cache line may be 'cleaned' by copying the content of the cache line to main memory, thereby resolving the differences between the cache line and the corresponding content of the main memory.
Data is said, 'to be cached' when a copy of the data from the main memory resides in the cache, or when data in the cache is intended for later storage in the main memory.
An algorithm that determines the transfer of the data content of a cache line to main memory is called a write policy. A write policy typically decides which cache lines to write back to memory, and when to do so.
During use, caches may be 'full'. For example, after reading a large number of data elements from main memory, at some point all memory of the cache will be filled with cached copies of the large number of data elements. At that point no new data elements can be stored in the cache. To resolve this, at some point a cache line is reassigned to new main memory data elements. A cache line, which is so selected, is called a 'victim', or 'is victimized'. If a dirty cache line is victimized, it must, typically, first be cleaned before the cache line can be re-used for a new memory line. If the content of the main memory corresponding to a cache line is, e.g., as a result of the write-back, identical to the content of the cache line, then the data content of the cache-line can be discarded without losing the data. Such a cache line may be re-used immediately for caching of new data. Instead of immediate re-use, a cache line may also be marked as 'free', so that it is available later.
For efficiency reasons, when a free cache-line is needed, only a limited part of the cache may be searched for such a free cache-line. A cache with such a limited search strategy, is also called full if the limited search strategy cannot find a free cache-line among the limited part of the cache. Such a limited search strategy is, for example, applied in a so-called direct mapped cache, and also in an N-way set associative cache, such as a 2-way set associative cache. In an N-way set associative cache, the cache will only search through N cache lines before deciding if a cache line is available. If no cache line is available among those N cache lines, the cache is considered full, at least for the current operation.
An algorithm that determines when to victimize which cache lines is called a replacement policy or replacement strategy. A typical replacement policy is the 'least-recently-used policy', the LRU policy. The LRU policy selects the cache line for victimization which was used least recently. Some replacement policies aim to keep some pre-determined number of cache-lines free.
A write policy and a replacement policy will both be referred to as a 'cache management policy'.
The situation wherein a read or write request is made, but the corresponding data element is not in the cache, is called a 'cache miss'. If many cache misses occur the efficiency of the memory system is reduced. The write policy and the replacement policy are an important factor in the performance contribution of the cache. How well a cache management policy works depends on the access pattern to the main memory. For example, if the replacement policy victimizes a line, which is thereafter requested, a cache miss occurs. Other factors in the performance contribution of the cache include: the size of the cache, the size of the cache lines, the memory access pattern of an application using the cache, etc.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,327,643 describes a cache connected to a memory and a method of replacing a cache line in the cache with a new line from memory. The memory comprises multiple pages, each page comprising multiple banks. At any time one of the pages is 'current'. When a cache line must be replaced it is first determined if there exists cache lines which are not dirty. If so, the one which was least recently used is replaced. If all cache lines are dirty it is determined if there exists a cache line which corresponds to a part of the current page, and if so the one which was least recently used is replaced. Finally, if all cache lines are dirty and do not correspond to a part of the current page, then the oldest cache line is replaced.

Cache management policy and corresponding device


A data analysis device that analyzes data having a record including an objective variable and a plurality of explanatory variables includes a node generating unit that generates a node specified by a condition of the explanatory variable on the basis of the objective variable and the explanatory variable of the record and associating the record with the node, an evaluation value generating unit that generates a proportion of the number of records whose target value is the objective variable among a plurality of records associated with the node as an evaluation value, and a parameter extracting unit that selects a node on the basis of the evaluation value and extracts and outputs the condition of the explanatory variable related to the selected node.

There is a demand for analysis of states of various systems or outputs thereof including an interim result. There is a control system as an example of a system whose state is required to be analyzed, and it is necessary to analyze the system state in order to cope with a failure thereof, a control failure in which a control result is different from a predetermined control result, or the like. There is a sales management system as an example of a system whose output is required to be analyzed, and in order to revise or make a sales plane, it is necessary to analyze an output including an interim result such as a sales item or a sales amount thereof in association with a customer preference and a sales timing (a time, a day of week, a month, or the like). This demand includes accurate analysis.
As a technical background responding to such a demand, there are an improvement in CPU capabilities of computers and size reduction and capacity increase of storage devices. Further, size reduction and precision increase of various types of sensors are a technical background responding to such a demand as well.
Under the technical background, when various kinds of data obtained from systems are used as analysis targets, the accuracy of analysis of the states or the outputs of the system are expected to be improved. One of techniques for meeting this expectation is described in Patent Document 1.
Patent Document 1 discloses a technique of generating a decision tree corresponding to a classification rule inherent in data and adding data of a new attribute to a classification rule with a low classification accuracy to thereby improve the classification accuracy.

Data analysis device and analysis method


Various embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to seaming assembly for seaming a can lid onto a can body. In one example embodiment, a seaming assembly includes a chuck; and a knockout pad that is movable relative to said chuck in an axial direction of said chuck. The knockout pad includes a fastening element, and a holding element in a spring-loaded manner relative to the fastening element such that contact with the can lid is effected and established in a spring-loaded region.

For the reason that the nomenclature in the field of can closure from the English language is often also used in the German language, the respective corresponding English terms are also given in parentheses in the following or are used synonymously in the text.
When filling beverage cans, the cans pass through a can capper in the form of a seamer after having been filled, where the filled can bodies enter via one infeed path and can lids enter via a further infeed path. The seamer usually comprises several similar stations arranged in the form of a carousel, so-called seaming stations (also referred to below as seaming assembly), in each of which a can is closed with a lid. The lids are guided onto the cans and held thereon by a knockout pad of a seaming chuck. This knockout pad is designed such that a holding element (for example a plate) is formed in the region which comes into contact with the can lid. This holding also serves to secure the cans against breaking out from the circular path followed by the cans in the capper due to the centrifugal force. In the capper, the cans and the lid are seamed at the edge by way of capping rollers and thus closed. The can with the lid generally additionally rotates about its own axis of symmetry.
The knockout pads are disposed inside the chuck and are vertically movable relative to the chuck. When seaming a can lid onto a can body (also referred to as curling a lid onto a can body), the cans in the carousel-like machine region run around an axis of rotation. The assemblies made of the chuck (including the knockout pad) and two respective closing rollers are arranged at the circumference. Between four and twelve assemblies are typically arranged depending on the configuration of the capper. When the carousel revolves, the lid is placed on the can body, the filled can body with the lid is raised against the chuck, the curling is performed successively by the first and the second closing roller. At the end of the cycle, the filled can is lowered again and removed from the chuck. Depending on the operating speed, relatively high centrifugal forces arise which can hurl the can outwardly and possibly lead to interruptions in operation. To avoid this, the aforementioned knockout pads, which co-perform the lowering motion of the filled can, are used and during the lowering motion counteract the centrifugal forces with constant light pressure, for example, onto the central portion of the can lid. For smooth operation, however, a very accurate design and adjustment of the knockout pads is required.
The force exerted is there defined by a predetermined and preset stroke of the knockout pad (in interaction with the resilient properties of the lid and the can), which can lead to damage already when the can or the lid dimensions deviate slightly from the dimensions underlying the adjustment of the stroke, for example, if the pressure is too great, or disruptions of the closing device can arise due to poor localization of the can when the pressure is too low. If the stroke of the holding plate pressing onto the lid from above is too short, the can can be fixed into position only insufficiently. If the stroke is too long, the lid is bent, which is also undesirable. With certain types of lids, the opening devices arranged in the lid for opening the can can even be destroyed.
With larger deviations from a preset type of can due to different types of cans or lids to be seamed, a time-consuming conversion and/or adjustment work for adjusting the stroke of the knockout pads is necessary. As a result of product innovation, many different configurations of the can lids have meanwhile arisen, in particular with regard to the height level of the contact points or contact surfaces of the lid where the knockout pad engages.


The chuck assembly includes a chucking device having two pawls controlled by a press rod to move toward each other for loading a blade cartridge, a spring worked to return the pawl to its former position after the loading of the blade cartridge permitting the blade cartridge to be retained to the pawls, and a spring-supported balance rod on which the loaded blade cartridge is balanced.

The present invention relates to disposable razors, and more particularly relates to a blade cartridge chuck assembly for a disposable razor.
A normal disposable razor is generally comprised of a handle having a blade cartridge chuck controlled by two opposite press buttons to hold a blade cartridge. As the chuck is controlled by the two opposite buttons, it is not convenient to operate with a single hand. Further, this double-button chuck control mechanism is complicated, which greatly increases the cost of the razor.


Methods and systems for controlling current provided to one or more LEDs for a period of time after power supplied to the LED driver is shut down are described herein. By controlling current through the one or more LEDs after shutdown, the light emitted from the one or more LEDs transitions to zero at a predictable rate with a predictable lag time. An LED based illumination system includes an energy storage element and a controlled luminous drawdown module electrically coupled between one or more LEDs and an electrical power converter employed to control current provided to the one or more LEDs during normal operation. The controlled luminous drawdown module senses a reduction in voltage at the output of the electrical power converter and operates to control current flow through one or more LEDs of the LED string until electrical energy stored in the electrical storage element is depleted.

Light emitting diode (LED) based illumination devices have emerged as a preferred technology for general illumination. The high efficiency of LEDs reduces electrical power consumption, making LEDs an environmentally attractive lighting solution. In many examples, municipalities at the city, state, and national level have enacted regulations requiring a transition from the use of incandescent light bulbs to LED based lighting devices.
Traditionally, the light emitted from incandescent bulbs ceases almost immediately after shutdown of the electrical power supply. As the voltage supplied across the resistive filament drops, the current flow through the resistive filament drops in proportion to the voltage with practically no lag time. When the voltage supplied to the resistive element is suddenly dropped to zero, e.g., the power switch to the incandescent bulb is turned off, the current flow through the resistive element, and thus the light emitted from the incandescent also suddenly drops to zero.
LEDs are by nature a diode, rather than a resistor. The light emitted from a conventional LED depends on the current supplied to the LED or string of LEDs at a fixed voltage, i.e., the forward voltage of the LED or string of LEDs. In many practical applications, a power converter is employed to control the light output from an LED based illumination device. The power converter controls the current supplied to the LEDs and converts electrical power supply voltage to a forward voltage of the LED or string of LEDs.
As current supplied to the LED drops, the light emitted from the LED drops in proportion to the current with practically no lag time. However, in many cases, when the voltage supplied to the power converter is suddenly brought to zero, e.g., the power switch to the power converter is turned off, the current flow through the LED, and thus the light emitted from the LED does not drop instantaneously. Often, light emitted from the LED drops to zero at an unpredictable rate with an unpredictable lag time. In some examples, users of LED illumination devices are discomforted by the lack of predictability in shutdown of the LED illumination.
In summary, it is desirable to improve LED utilization and adoption by managing the illumination from LEDS after power supply shutdown to provide a more predictable and user friendly experience.

LED driver with controlled luminous drawdown capability


Techniques and tools described herein help manage memory efficiently during video decoding, especially when multiple video clips are concurrently decoded. For example, with clip-adaptive memory usage, a decoder determines first memory usage settings expected to be sufficient for decoding of a video clip. The decoder also determines second memory usage settings known to be sufficient for decoding of the clip. During decoding, memory usage is initially set according to the first settings. Memory usage is adaptively increased during decoding, subject to theoretical limits in the second settings. With adaptive early release of side information, the decoder can release side information memory for a picture earlier than the decoder releases image plane memory for the picture. The decoder can also adapt memory usage for decoded transform coefficients depending on whether the coefficients are for intra-coded blocks or inter-coded blocks, and also exploit the relative sparseness of non-zero coefficient values.

When video is streamed over the Internet and played back through a Web browser or media player, the video is delivered in digital form. Digital video is also used when video is delivered through many broadcast services, satellite services and cable television services. Real-time videoconferencing typically uses digital video, and digital video is used during video capture with most smartphones, Web cameras and other video capture devices.
Digital video can consume an extremely high amount of bits. Engineers use compression (also called source coding or source encoding) to reduce the bitrate of digital video. Compression decreases the cost of storing and transmitting video information by converting the information into a lower bitrate form. Decompression (also called decoding) reconstructs a version of the original information from the compressed form. A "codec" is an encoder/decoder system.
Over the last two decades, various video codec standards have been adopted, including the H.261, H.262 (MPEG-2 or ISO/IEC 13818-2), H.263 and H.264 (AVC or ISO/IEC 14496-10) standards and the MPEG-1 (ISO/IEC 11172-2), MPEG-4 Visual (ISO/IEC 14496-2) and SMPTE 421M standards. In particular, decoding according to the H.264 standard is widely used in game consoles and media players to play back encoded video. H.264 decoding is also widely used in set-top boxes, personal computers, smart phones and other mobile computing devices for playback of encoded video streamed over the Internet or other networks. A video codec standard typically defines options for the syntax of an encoded video bitstream, detailing parameters in the bitstream when particular features are used in encoding and decoding. In many cases, a video codec standard also provides details about the decoding operations a decoder should perform to achieve correct results in decoding. Often, however, the low-level details of the operations are not specified, or the decoder is able to vary certain implementation details such as memory utilization to improve performance, so long as the correct decoding results are still achieved.
Video decoding can be memory intensive. During decoding, some buffers store encoded video data. Other buffers store various types of side information used during decoding for pictures of a video sequence, and still other buffers store reconstructed versions of pictures, each of which can include millions of sample values. Further, in some application scenarios, a device concurrently plays back multiple video clips. This might occur, for example, when a Web page includes multiple video tags for video clips that are played back at the same time. Or, it might occur when a video editing tool opens multiple video clips for editing or playback. For such application scenarios, video decoding can be especially memory intensive.


A guide wire for magnetically navigating a medical device through in a subject's body comprising an elongate wire having a proximal and distal end, a portion adjacent the distal end that is more flexible than the more proximal portions of the elongate wire, and a first magnetically responsive element on the distal end of the elongate wire. The guide wire further comprises one or more magnetically responsive elements spaced apart from the first magnetically responsive element and disposed on the more flexible portion of the elongate wire. The guide wire provides for bending or deflecting the distal end of the stent, to provide easier navigation of the distal end of the guide wire and the stent through the vasculature of a subject body.

Guide wire and catheter devices are commonly used to deliver medical therapy, such as stents, through the vasculature of the body to a target region. Navigation of a conventional guide wire involves rotating or applying a torque to the proximal end of the guide wire repeatedly to rotate the distal tip while the wire is pushed. This action is repeated until, by trial and error, the tip enters the desired vessel branch. In navigating guide wires in the vasculature of the body, it is desirable that the tip of the guide wire be flexible enough to negotiate the sharp turns that are necessary to reach the target area for delivery of medical therapy. However, after the guide wire has made several bends, it becomes increasingly difficult to control, often requiring repeated attempts to enter or gain access to a desired vessel branch. This trial and error method can frustrate the physician and cause additional wall contact and potential trauma to the vessel.
In addition, once a guide wire has been positioned within the subject's body, it is necessary to deliver a therapeutic device for procedures such as balloon angioplasty, atherectomy, or coronary stents. Often, a guide wire can be guided to the target site but it becomes difficult or impossible to guide a therapeutic device to the same location. This failure commonly results from the inability of stiffer balloon catheters and stent delivery systems to conform to the bends and turns of the vasculature. This problem has become very relevant due to the increased success, in recent years, of guide wire navigation to remote locations via tortuous paths.
To address some of these difficulties, magnetically navigable guide wires and balloon catheters have been developed which can be controlled with the application of an external magnetic field. An example of a magnetically navigable tether wire is disclosed in Werp et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,931,818 (incorporated in its entirety herein by reference) and a magnetically navigable guide wire is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/337,236, filed Jan. 6, 2003, for Magnetically Navigable Medical Guidewire. When the distal end of the guide wire is proximal to the branch of interest, the user operates a magnetic system to apply a magnetic field (with the aid of a computerized user interface) to deflect the wire tip into the vessel branch. This magnet system can frequently direct the distal end of the guide wire into a vessel on a first effort, eliminating the trial and error of manually operated guide wires and thereby reducing or eliminating trauma to the vessel wall. While existing magnetic guidewires are much easier to navigate than conventional guide wires, when carrying a stent the added stiffness can make navigation more difficult.