The present application provides an insulation detection circuit, a method and a battery management system. The circuit includes: a first voltage dividing module, where, one end of the first voltage dividing module is connected to a positive electrode of a power battery to be detected, and the other end of the first voltage dividing module is connected to a first isolation module and a second voltage dividing module respectively; the second voltage dividing module, connected to a negative electrode of the power battery to be detected; the first isolation module, connected to one end of a sampling module; the sampling module, where, the other end of the sampling module is connected to one end of a signal generating module; the signal generating module, where, the other end of the signal generating module is connected to power ground; and the processing module.

The use of electric vehicles to replace fossil-fueled vehicles has become a trend in the development of the automotive industry. The mileage, service life, and safety of use of battery packs are particularly important for electric vehicles. The battery pack is one of key parts of an electric vehicle, the safety of high-voltage electricity of the battery pack must be put into one of the first considerations of a power battery system. Therefore, the detection of insulation performance of the electric vehicle is an essential part of the design.
Currently, the main methods for detecting insulation resistance include high-frequency signal injection method and resistance voltage division method. When a detection system using the high-frequency injection method is adopted, the detection result of the insulation resistance value is likely to be affected by the distributed capacitance of the detection system, and the high-frequency signal causes interference to the direct current system, which results in a large error in the insulation resistance value. When the resistance voltage division method is adopted, the resistors connected in series reduce the insulation performance, and the high-voltage circuit will cause interference to the low-voltage circuit, which would also reduce the detection precision of the insulation resistance value. Therefore, improving the detection precision of the insulation resistance value is an urgent problem to be solved.

Insulation detection circuit, detection method and battery management system

Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited


According an aspect of the invention, there is provided a design support system of a semiconductor integrated circuit includes: a first unit configured to determine a wiring path by calculating wiring resource consuming information for carrying out a connection through a multi-cut via in case that the connection is carried out through the multi-cut via in a wiring region having a plurality of layers; and a second unit configured to replacing a single-cut via into the multi-cut via.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a design support system of a semiconductor integrated circuit, a method of designing a semiconductor integrated circuit, a design support program of a semiconductor integrated circuit, and a method of manufacturing a semiconductor integrated circuit.
2. Description of Related Art
In a design of a semiconductor integrated circuit, a cell or a block which has a logic function and a storing function is disposed in a chip, their input/output terminals are wired respectively and a pattern layout on a chip area is thus determined in order to obtain a desirable circuit operation. A semiconductor integrated circuit using a general gate array method is constituted by a region in which a cell is to be disposed, a region in which a wiring between the cells is provided and a region in which an input/output circuit provided on a periphery is disposed. A plurality of wiring layers can be utilized for the wiring on the chip and other layers can be assigned to wirings in horizontal and vertical directions, respectively. In a layout design of the semiconductor integrated circuit, an arrangement of a cell and a wiring between terminals are automatically optimized by using a calculator to determine a layout pattern over a whole surface of a chip area (for example, see JP-A-11-265940).
In recent years, a microfabrication of dimensions of a transistor and a wiring which are to be manufactured on a wafer has been advanced and it has been hard to execute a manufacturing process in accordance with a design pattern intended in the beginning. A technique for forming a fine hole on an interlayer insulating film over a semiconductor substrate and processing a via for connecting wirings of upper and lower layers has also become increasingly hard. For this reason, a circuit pattern on a wafer which is actually manufactured is greatly influenced by a factor for a fluctuation in a manufacture, resulting in a poor reliability of an electrical connection so that a deterioration in a yield is caused. In a technology after the generation of a gate length of 130 nm, particularly, a rate of defects caused by a connecting failure of a via hole has been increased. By using a multi-cut via having a plurality of holes for a connection between wiring layers, therefore, it has been devised to decrease a probability of a failure as greatly as possible.
In a related-art automatic layout method, however, it is first supposed that a single via (a single cut via) is provided over a whole chip and a detailed wiring is provided, and a replacement with a multi-cut via is then carried out only in the case in which a permission can be made in consideration of a peripheral layout situation. More specifically, in the conventional automatic layout method, there is not considered a consumption of an adjacent wiring region which is caused by the provision of the multi-cut via in a wiring path search stage. For this reason, it is impossible to carry out a global optimization of a wiring processing on the assumption of the provision of the multi-cut via. Even if a wiring interval is increased by using a wire spreading function, it is hard to carry out a replacement of the multi-cut via in a place in which the bend of a wiring segment at a minimum interval between adjacent wirings defined in a predetermined process and a crank of a parallel wiring locally concentrate. Thus, there is a limit to optimize a layout pattern having a bad influence on the manufacture of a semiconductor integrated circuit after the wiring processing.

Replacing single-cut via into multi-cut via in semiconductor integrated circuit design


The microphone and pressure sensor package comprises a carrier (1) with an opening (16), a microphone device (20) including a diaphragm (21) and a perforated back plate (22) arranged above the opening (16), an ASIC device (6), and a cover (9) forming a cavity (17) between the carrier (1) and the cover (9). The ASIC device (6) and the microphone device (20) are arranged in the cavity (17). A sensor element (7) provided for a pressure sensor is integrated in the ASIC device (6). The pressure outside the cavity (17) is transferred to the sensor element (7) through the opening (16), the diaphragm (21), and the back plate (22).

The present invention relates to a compact package suitable for an integration of a pressure sensor for the detection of the ambient average pressure and a microelectromechanical system used as a microphone for the detection of fast pressure variations like sound waves. The package allows a mechanical decoupling of the pressure sensor from stress caused by external forces acting on the package.
WO 2002/048668 A2 discloses an integrated CMOS capacitive pressure sensor.
US 2016/0142829 A1 discloses an MEMS microphone including a package substrate having a port disposed through the package substrate, wherein the port is configured to receive acoustic waves; a lid mounted to the package substrate and forming a package. The MEMS microphone also includes an acoustic sensor disposed in the package and coupled to the package substrate, wherein the MEMS acoustic sensor is positioned such that the acoustic waves receivable at the port are incident on the MEMS acoustic sensor. The MEMS acoustic sensor includes: a back plate positioned over the port at a first location within the package; and a diaphragm positioned at a second location within the package, wherein a distance between the first location and the second location forms a defined sense gap, and wherein the MEMS microphone is designed to withstand a bias voltage between the diaphragm and the back plate greater than or equal to about 15 volts.

Microphone and pressure sensor package and method of producing the microphone and pressure sensor package


Determining a number of secondary tracking attempts avoided by blocking a primary tracking domain from loading in a host web page. In particular, a set of rules that identify numbers of secondary tracking domains that are loaded into web browsers through host web pages by external domain and primary tracking domain combinations may be identified. The set of rules may be created based on loading patterns, resource patterns, parameter patterns, and header patterns exhibited by the external domain and primary tracking domain combinations. The rules may be applied to determine a number of secondary tracking attempts avoided by blocking a primary tracking domain from loading in a host web page.

Many host web pages that are accessible on the Internet today include content that is provided to the host web page from one or more external domains. Some external domains are configured to load one or more other external domains, which are also configured to load one or more additional external domains. This "domino effect" of external domains loading other external domains can have a variety of negative consequences to host web pages and to the users that visit these web pages. To begin, as more and more external domains are loaded, the load rate of the host web page may decrease significantly. Further, many external domains perform tracking activities, which violate the privacy of users that visit the host web pages where these domains are loaded.
Therefore, blocking applications exist to block certain external domains from loading in host web pages. Most blocking policies do not block all external domains from loading in a web page, as some external domains provide functionality to web pages that, in the absence of the content provided by these external domain, would cause a breakage in the web page. Thus, some blocking policies allow external domains that provide some functionality to host web pages to load, while blocking external domains that perform tracking activities from loading.
Blocking policies may also be configured to count and display a number of tracking domains blocked on each web page visited by a user. Identifying a number of tracking domains blocked is an important metric used to gauge how well a blocking application is working.
Once a tracking domain is blocked, any additional external domains that would have been loaded through the blocked tracking domain are also avoided. The domino effect is terminated and these additional external domains are not loaded. However, while the tracking attempts by these additional external domains are avoided, they are often not included within the number of external domains blocked, since blocking policies do not determine a number of additional tracking domains that a blocked domain is configured to load.
The subject matter claimed herein is not limited to embodiments that solve any disadvantages or that operate only in environments such as those described above. Rather, this background is only provided to illustrate one example technology area where some embodiments described herein may be practiced.


A phase control circuit comprises a plurality of fixed delay circuits (200-0 through 200-5) which assign different predetermined delay times to a first clock signal (BDA1) respectively, a detection circuit (201) which receives clock signals outputted from the plurality of fixed delay circuits and a second clock signal (PCLK) different in phase from the first clock signal therein and generates detected signals (202) represented in a plurality of bits each corresponding to the difference in phase between the first clock signal and the second clock signal, and a variable delay circuit (200-6) which gives a delay in the phase difference corresponding to each of the detected signals to a third clock signal (BDA2).

The present invention relates to a phase control technique, and a semiconductor device and a semiconductor memory activated in synchronism with a clock signal, and particularly to a phase control technique capable of controlling the phase of an internal clock signal synchronized with an externally-input clock signal so as to match an external output operation with the phase of the external clock signal. The present invention relates to a technique effective for application to a clock synchronous memory like an SDRAM (Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory), for example.
An SDRAM performs the input/output of data in synchronism with a clock signal inputted from the outside. When the operating frequency of the SDRAM is improved or made upward to shorten a clock cycle time, an access time required to read data according to its clock cycle must be shortened. Therefore, a phase control circuit or a clock reproducing circuit for reducing a clock skew between the external clock signal and an internal clock signal for data output control regardless of the frequency of the external clock signal, in other words, constantly matching the phase of the external clock signal with that of the internal clock signal for data output control has been adopted.
As conventional clock reproducing circuits, there are known those using PLL (Phase Locked Loop) and DLL (Delay Locked Loop). Since, however, they are feedback circuits, even a few hundred cycles are required to match the phase with a predetermined one, time is required to return them from a standby state to an operable state. Further, they must be always activated even during standby in order to avoid it, so that stand-by power increases.
Therefore, SMD (Synchronous Mirror Delay) has been proposed in International Solid-State Circuit Conference Digest of Technical Papers, pp. 374-375, February 1996 as a clock reproducing circuit capable of stopping its operation on standby. The SMD has a series of two delay circuits, i.e., a traveling-direction or forward delay circuit, a reverse or backward delay circuit, a mirror image control circuit and a delay monitor. The forward delay circuit and the backward delay circuit are placed in such a manner that signal transfer paths are opposite to each other. The outputs of respective delay stages of the forward delay circuit are respectively connected to the inputs of their corresponding delay stages of the backward delay circuit through the mirror image control circuit. The delay monitor is a dummy circuit for a delay time of a clock input buffer and a delay time of a clock driver. The operation of the SMD will be described in the above-described reference as will be described below. An nth clock first passes through the delay monitor and proceeds within the forward delay circuit up to the entrance of an n+1th clock into the mirror image control circuit. When the n+1th clock is inputted to the mirror image control circuit, the nth clock is transferred from the forward delay circuit to the backward delay circuit. The nth clock passes through the backward delay circuit substantially in the same time as when it has passed through the forward delay circuit, and is then inputted to the clock driver. As a result, the output of the clock driver supplied with the nth clock is different from an n+2th external clock in phase. That is, the time between the nth clock having passed through the delay monitor and the n+1th clock is measured as the number of stages of delay circuits, and they are further caused to pass through the delay circuits by the number of the stages, whereby an internal clock matched with the n+2th external clock in phase is generated. Accordingly, the SMD is capable of generating an internal clock matched with an external clock in phase in two clock cycles since the commencement of its operation.
The following is known as a reference in which another conventional clock reproducing circuit with no feedback circuit has been described. SMDs are disclosed even in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. Hei 10(1998)-126254 and 8(1996)-223031. In addition to these, T. Yamada, et al., 1996 Symposium on VLSI Circuits Digest of Technical Papers, pp. 112-113, and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 7(1995)-106956 are known.
In the SMD referred to above, the maximum error in phase synchronization between the external clock and the internal clock is equivalent to a delay time corresponding to one delay stage in each of the forward delay circuit and the backward delay circuit. Therefore, a clock reproducing circuit to which a fine-adjustment or -control circuit is added to minimize such an error, is known. Clock reproducing circuits each using SMD even for fine adjustment or control are disclosed in, for example, J. Han, et al., 1996 Symposium on VLSI Circuits Digest of Technical Papers, pp. 192-193, and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 10(1998)-13395.
Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 11(1999)-24785 discloses a circuit wherein lattice or grid-like delay circuits (SQUAD) in which logic gates whose two input terminals are respectively coupled to one another with capacitance, are placed in array form to thereby delay a clock signal, are provided for fine control or adjustment of each delay time, and other delay elements for achieving the enlargement of the delay control or adjustment are inserted in a previous stage, whereby an internal clock synchronism with an external clock can be formed. Its premise technique has been disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 8(1996)-78951.

Phase control circuit, semiconductor device and semiconductor memory


In the case of a filter for an air-conditioning or heating system for a motor vehicle, it is provided that the filter body is formed of a material which is arranged in several layers and is coated with an adsorption agent and, at least on its air outlet side, is covered with an air-permeable textile flat shaped structure.

This invention relates to a filter for an air-conditioning or heating system for a motor vehicle, having a filter body made of a material arranged in several layers with open pores which are coated with a granular adsorption agent, particularly activated-carbon granules.
In the case of a known filter of the initially mentioned type (German Patent Document DE-U 87 17 296.8), the filter body, which is formed of three layers, is placed in a frame.
In the case of another construction of a multi-layer filter (European Patent Document EO-A 0 162 922), it is provided that the filter elements are arranged in a housing made of cardboard or plastic which is arranged in an air duct or the like with the insertion of an elastic sealing material.
It is also known (German Patent Document DE-C 34 41 918) to provide a plate-shaped filter insert with a frame which has an improved sealing to a filter housing. For this purpose, the frame is surrounded by an edge bordering made of a foamed elastic plastic material which reaches around the filter insert in the edge area. The plastic material, which foams during the manufacturing process, assumes the desired shape into the area of the web-shaped filter cloth.
It is also known (German Patent Document DE-A 38 39 352) to mold a frame to the multi-layer filter body in such a manner that the material of the edge penetrates into the edge of the filter body down to a predetermined depth. This results in a very good sealing with respect to the frame so that a filter is created which is used as an odor filter and which is suitable for an air-conditioning system of motor vehicles.
It is an object of the invention to improve a filter of the initially mentioned type.
This object is achieved in that the filter body, at least on its air outlet side, is covered by an air-permeable textile flat shaped structure in which the distances between the yarns are smaller than the outer dimensions of the granular adsorption agent.
The textile flat shaped structure, which may be a woven or knitted fabric, on the one hand, has the result that the multi-layered filter body is further stabilized while, on the other hand, the important advantage is obtained that this textile flat shaped structure retains adsorption agent which may possibly separate from the multi-layered filter body because of vibrations or the like. As a result, it is avoided that this granular adsorption agent, particularly activated-carbon granules, can reach the vehicle interior and cause dirt there and/or otherwise annoy the vehicle occupants.
In a further development of the invention, it is provided that the textile flat shaped structure surrounds the filter body in the manner of a stocking. This ensures that any adsorption agent is held back inside the filter while the textile flat shaped structure at the same time holds the whole filter body together so that it exists as a preformed constructional unit.
In a further development of the invention, it is provided that the edges of the textile flat shaped structure are shaped into a frame molded onto the filter body.
In another embodiment, it is provided that the edges of the filter body, together with the textile flat shaped structure, are clamped into a frame or shaft which is preferably formed by a housing. During this clamping-in, the edges of the filter body are pressed together so that here also a secure sealing is obtained which has the result that the filter may be used as a large-sized filter.
In a further development of the invention, it is provided that the reinforcing mesh is manufactured from a plastically deformable material, particularly metal. As a result, it is possible to adapt the filter body made of several layers of filter material and the reinforcing mesh to given spatial conditions by means of a plastic deformation.
In a further development of the invention, it is provided that the reinforcing mesh is arranged in parallel to the layers and is provided with spikes penetrating into at least the connecting layers. The reinforcing mesh with the spikes and the additional covering with the woven or knitted fabric has the result that the filter body has a relatively high rigidity so that it can be handled in a simple manner and mainly also without any danger of damage and/or any danger of a shifting of the layers with respect to one another.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Filter for an air-conditioning or heating system for a motor vehicle


A subpopulation of cancer stem cells expressing elevated levels of uPAR have been identified among a population of cancer cells. Methods are provided for treating proliferative disorders such as cancer by administering one or more uPAR inhibitors. Methods are likewise provided for predicting the likelihood of recurrence of a cancer, preventing recurrence of a cancer, and identifying the likelihood of a cancer to respond to a particular cancer therapy.

The cancer stem cell hypothesis suggests that neoplastic clones are maintained by a small sub-population of tumor cells with stem cell-like properties, and that these cells are responsible for tumor growth and invasiveness (Al-Hajj 2003; Dick 2003; Galli 2004; Hope 2004; Kondo 2004; Singh 2004; Gao 2005). Recently, the concept of "cancer stem cells" has gained more prominence, with increasing evidence to suggest the presence of a distinct subset of cells within the tumor mass that possess high potential for tumorigenicity and invasiveness (Bjerkvig 2005; Lahad 2005). The term "cancer stem cell" has been described operationally as a cancer cell that has the ability to self-renew by asymmetric cell division. Asymmetric cell division results in a second generation malignant stem cell and a cell that gives rise to the phenotypically diverse tumor cell population (Bjerkvig 2005). Tumor cells that combine the traits of stemness and mobility hold important clues for malignant progression (Brabletz 2005a; Brabletz 2005b). Tumor stem cells also have certain features that are common to normal stem cells, such as longer lifespan, higher proliferative potential and ability to migrate.
The abundance of cancer stem cells may vary within different tumors. Studies of myeloid leukemia, breast cancer, and brain cancers have described the defining characteristics of cancer stem cells (Al-Hajj 2003; Dick 2003; Hope 2004; Singh 2004). Cancer stem cells may be responsible for maintaining the malignant potential of a tumor, and may serve as the underlying cause of tumor recurrence. Current treatment strategies may miss targeting this distinct sub-population, and could explain initial therapeutic response and subsequent recurrence. Therefore, there is a need for methods of identifying and characterizing cancer stem cells, which will allow for the development of treatment methods that reduce or eliminate this critical cell population and thereby increase the effectiveness of various cancer therapies.

Identification and characterization of cancer stem cells and methods of use


A weatherable composition comprising an upper layer that comprises a polymer system consisting essentially of a cycloaliphatic polyester resin, and an additive composition comprising an hindered amine light stabilizer and a low volatility, hydroxyphenyl triazine or pyrimidine UV absorber; an intermediate layer that comprises a polymer system consisting essentially of a cycloaliphatic polyester, and optionally, an additive composition comprising TiO2, dyes, pigments, and special effects additives; and a polymeric substrate, wherein the intermediate layer is disposed between and in intimate contact with the upper layer and the substrate. The composition finds utility in articles such as automotive parts.

There is substantial commercial interest in the use of multilayer, weatherable polymeric materials in various product forms such as sheets, films, shaped products, thermoformed articles, packaging, and architectural products, as well as coatings. Many different plastics are used as the base layer, or substrate, in these products in order to take advantage of particular physical, chemical, and mechanical properties. The upper layer, often referred to as the topcoat, often functions to protect the base layer or layers, for example to maintain gloss and shine. However, curing and aging of the layers can result in a color shift, often described as yellowing. This color shift may be observed immediately upon manufacture, or gradually over time. When a white or light colored finish is desired, yellowing of the upper layer is aesthetically undesirable to consumers. Accordingly, there remains a need in the art for weatherable compositions, particularly upper coats, that provide protection to an underlying substrate, and that do not appreciably yellow during use.

Multilayer, weatherable compositions and method of manufacture thereof


Disclosed are human antibodies that specifically inhibit VEGF binding to only one (VEGFR2) of the two primary VEGF receptors. The antibodies effectively inhibit angiogenesis and induce tumor regression, and yet have improved safety due to their specificity. The present invention thus provides new human antibody-based compositions, methods and combined protocols for treating cancer and other angiogenic diseases. Advantageous immunoconjugate compositions and methods using the new VEGF-specific human antibodies are also provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the fields of antibodies, angiogenesis and tumor treatment. More particularly, it provides human anti-VEGF antibodies that specifically inhibit VEGF binding to only one (VEGFR2) of the two VEGF receptors. Such antibodies are designed to inhibit angiogenesis and induce tumor regression, and yet have improved safety due to their specific blocking properties. The antibody-based compositions and methods of the invention also extend to the use of immunoconjugates and other therapeutic combinations, kits and methods.
2. Description of the Related Art
Tumor cell resistance to chemotherapeutic agents represents a significant problem in clinical oncology. In fact, this is one of the main reasons why many of the most prevalent forms of human cancer still resist effective chemotherapeutic intervention, despite certain advances in this field.
Another tumor treatment strategy is the use of an "immunotoxin", in which an anti-tumor cell antibody is used to deliver a toxin to the tumor cells. However, in common with chemotherapeutic approaches, immunotoxin therapy also suffers from significant drawbacks when applied to solid tumors. For example, antigen-negative or antigen-deficient cells can survive and repopulate the tumor or lead to further metastases.
A further reason for solid tumor resistance to antibody-based therapies is that the tumor mass is generally impermeable to macromolecular agents such as antibodies and immunotoxins (Burrows et al., 1992; Dvorak et al., 1991a; Baxter and Jain, 1991). Both the physical diffusion distances and the interstitial pressure within the tumor are significant limitations to this type of therapy. Therefore, solid tumors, which make up over 90% of all human cancers, have thus far proven resistant to antibody and immunotoxin treatment.
A more recent strategy has been to target the vasculature of solid tumors. Targeting the blood vessels of the tumors, rather than the tumor cells themselves, has certain advantages in that it is not likely to lead to the development of resistant tumor cells, and that the targeted cells are readily accessible. Moreover, destruction of the blood vessels leads to an amplification of the anti-tumor effect, as many tumor cells rely on a single vessel for their oxygen and nutrients (Burrows and Thorpe, 1993; 1994). Exemplary vascular targeting strategies are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,855,866 and 5,965,132, which particularly describe the targeted delivery of anti-cellular agents and toxins to markers of tumor vasculature.
Another effective version of the vascular targeting approach is to target a coagulation factor to a marker expressed or adsorbed within the tumor vasculature (Huang et al., 1997; U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,877,289, 6,004,555, and 6,093,399). The delivery of coagulants, rather than toxins, to tumor vasculature has the further advantages of reduced immunogenicity and even lower risk of toxic side effects. As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,877,289, a preferred coagulation factor for use in such tumor-specific "coaguligands" is a truncated version of the human coagulation-inducing protein, Tissue Factor (TF), the major initiator of blood coagulation.
Although the specific delivery of toxins and coagulation factors to tumor blood vessels represents a significant advance in tumor treatment, certain peripheral tumor cells can survive the intratumoral destruction caused by such therapies. Anti-angiogenic strategies would therefore be of use in combination with the tumor destruction methods of U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,855,866 and 6,004,555.
Anti-angiogenic tumor treatment strategies are based upon inhibiting the proliferation of budding vessels, generally at the periphery of a solid tumor. These therapies are particularly effective in reducing the risk of micrometastasis and inhibiting growth of a solid tumor after, or in conjunction with, more conventional intervention (such as surgery or chemotherapy).
Angiogenesis is the development of new vasculature from preexisting blood vessels and/or circulating endothelial stem cells (Asahara et al., 1997; Springer et al., 1998; Folkman and Shing, 1992). Angiogenesis plays a vital role in many physiological processes, such as embryogenesis, wound healing and menstruation. Angiogenesis is also important in certain pathological events. In addition to a role in solid tumor growth and metastasis, other notable conditions with an angiogenic component are arthritis, psoriasis and diabetic retinopathy (Hanahan and Folkman, 1996; Fidler and Ellis, 1994).
Angiogenesis is regulated in normal and malignant tissues by the balance of angiogenic stimuli and angiogenic inhibitors that are produced in the target tissue and at distant sites (Fidler et al., 1998; McNamara et al., 1998). Vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF, also known as vascular permeability factor, VPF) is a primary stimulant of angiogenesis. VEGF is a multifunctional cytokine that is induced by hypoxia and oncogenic mutations and can be produced by a wide variety of tissues (Kerbel et al., 1998; Mazure et al., 1996).
The recognition of VEGF as a primary stimulus of angiogenesis in pathological conditions has led to various attempts to block VEGF activity. Inhibitory anti-VEGF receptor antibodies, soluble receptor constructs, antisense strategies, RNA aptamers against VEGF and low molecular weight VEGF receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) inhibitors have all been proposed for use in interfering with VEGF signaling (Siemeister et al., 1998). Following the inhibition of tumor growth in mice using a murine antibody, (Kim et al., 1993; Asano et al., 1998; Mesiano et al., 1998; Luo et al., 1998a; 1998b; Borgstrom et al., 1996; 1998), a humanized anti-VEGF antibody termed Avastin (bevacizumab) (Presta et al., 1997) has been approved for clinical use (Hurwitz et al., 2004).
Other murine antibodies that recognize VEGF and inhibit VEGF-induced functions have been reported. These include the murine antibody termed 2C3, which has the advantage of inhibiting VEGF binding to only one of the two primary VEGF receptors (Brekken et al., 2000). By blocking VEGF binding to VEGFR2, but not VEGFR1, the murine 2C3 antibody has an improved safety profile, maintaining beneficial effects mediated via VEGFR1 (Brekken et al., 2000; U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,342,219, 6,524,583, 6,342,221).
The inventors have recognized, however, that the identification of additional agents that recognize VEGF and inhibit VEGF-induced angiogenesis would be of benefit in expanding the number of therapeutic options. For example, the murine 2C3 antibody, although promising, has certain limitations. In particular, the 2C3 antibody does not bind to mouse VEGF, meaning that it cannot be used in preclinical studies using mouse syngeneic tumors. The most effective translation from preclinical studies to clinical use would thus benefit from the development of a new antibody that binds to both mouse and human VEGF.
In addition, the inventors have recognized that the development of therapeutic agents for the treatment of humans that are better tolerated from an immunological perspective would be advantageous. In this regard, human antibodies generally have at least three potential advantages for use in human therapy. First, the human immune system should not recognize the antibody as foreign. Second, the half-life in the human circulation will be similar to naturally occurring human antibodies, allowing smaller and less frequent doses to be given. Third, because the effector portion is human, it will interact better with the other parts of the human immune system, e.g., to destroy target cells more efficiently by complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC) or antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC).
However, although human antibodies are generally recognized to display these advantages, it is known that the development of human antibodies that have high enough affinities and appropriate functional properties to make them candidates for successful human therapy is by no means straightforward. The art therefore still lacks agents that inhibit VEGF-induced angiogenesis for the safe and effective treatment of humans, and poses challenges to the development of such agents.

Anti-VEGF antibody compositions and methods


A glass run includes a glass run section, a trim section and a molding section. The glass run section is formed of a soft material, the trim section is formed of a hard material and the molding section is formed of a hard material by injection molding. The molding section includes a head part and a leg part, and has a generally T-shaped cross-section. A bottom wall of the trim section and an outer side wall of the glass run section are integrally joined to an interior surface of the head part of the molding section, while sandwiching the leg part of the molding section. A side wall of the trim section, is integrally joined to one of side surfaces of the leg part, whereas a bottom wall of the glass run section is integrally joined to the other side surface of the leg part.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a glass run adapted to be attached to a door frame of a motor vehicle to provide a seal between a door opening portion and a vehicle door.
2. Description of Related Art
In order to provide a seal between a door opening portion and a vehicle door having a door sash, in one example of conventional seal structures, an opening trim weather strip is attached to a flange provided in the door opening portion, and a door weather strip is attached to an outer periphery of the door sash. When the vehicle door is closed, a tubular seal portion of the opening trim weather strip contacts a protrusion of the door sash, and a tubular seal portion and a seal lip of the door weather strip contact an outer panel of the door opening portion to seal a gap between the door opening portion and the vehicle door.
In this case, an end edge of the door glass is held with a glass run that is attached along an inner periphery of the door sash, and the door glass is raised and lowered in a channel provided in the glass run to have a generally U-shaped cross-section. This glass run effects a seal between the door glass and the door sash.
With this arrangement, the glass run, the door sash, and a center pillar are exposed around the door glass of a vehicle to degrade the external appearance of a side body of the vehicle so that it has been required to improve the design thereof. In addition, the glass run exists between the door sash and the door glass, and between the center pillar and the door glass so that gaps exist in an exterior surface between the door sash and the door glass, whereby the design of the side body is less preferable.
Under the above-described circumstances, as shown in FIG. 1, in a sashless door-type vehicle body, an exterior part of a door sash is removed so that only a door glass 10 is freely raised and lowered above the door belt line of a vehicle door 12. With this arrangement, in the side body of the motor vehicle, only the door glass 10 is visible above the door belt line of the vehicle door 12.
As shown in FIG. 2, a glass run 14 includes a glass run section 16 adapted to provide a seal between the door glass 10 and a door frame 18, and a trim section 20 adapted to attach the glass run 14 to a flange 22 extending along an end edge of the door frame 18 (see Japanese patent application laid-open No. 2005-247294, for example). The glass run section 16 has a main body with a generally U-shaped cross-section, which includes an outer side wall 24, an inner side wall 26 and a bottom wall 28. And an outer seal lip 30 and an inner seal lip 32 respectively extend from ends of the outer side wall 24 and the inner side wall 26 obliquely in an interior space of the main body. The outer seal lip 30 and the inner seal lip 32 provide a seal against the door glass 10.
The trim section 20 has a generally U-shaped cross-section, which includes a side wall 34 formed integrally with the bottom wall 28 of the glass run section 16, a side wall 36 formed on the side of a vehicle body, and a bottom wall 38. Seal lips 40 and 42 extend from the side wall 36 for contacting and sealing a door opening portion 44 when the vehicle door 12 is closed. A metal insert 45 having a generally U-shaped cross-section is embedded in the side walls 34 and 36 along with the bottom wall 38.
The glass run 14 thus arranged is formed linearly by extruding the glass run section 16 and the trim section 20 along with the metal insert 45 simultaneously.
Since the glass run 14 includes the metal insert 45, the weight thereof is great, thereby increasing the entire rigidity of the glass run 14. When the glass run 14 is attached along a curved outer periphery of an upper side of the door frame 18, it has been required to cut the extruded glass run 14 to have a short length, bend it to conform to curved surfaces of the door frame 18 and join it to another one.
And, when the glass run 14 is bent to conform to the curved surfaces of the door frame 18, wrinkles and waviness may occur in the surface of the glass run 14.
FIG. 3 illustrates another example of a conventional glass run. A glass run 46 includes a glass run section 48 adapted to provide a seal between the door glass 10 and the door frame 18, and a trim section 50 adapted to attach the glass run 46 to the flange 22 provided in the door frame 18, similarly to the case of the glass run 14 (FIG. 2). The glass run section 48 has a main body with a generally U-shaped cross-section, which includes an outer side wall 52, an inner side wall 54 and a bottom wall 56. An outer seal lip 58 and an inner seal lip 60, respectively extend from ends of the outer side wall 52 and the inner side wall 54 obliquely in an interior space of the main body. And the outer seal lip 58 and the inner seal lip 60 provide a seal against the door glass 10.
The trim section 50 has a generally U-shaped cross-section, and includes a side wall 62 formed integrally with the bottom wall 56 of the glass run section 48, a side wall 64 formed on the side of a vehicle body, and a bottom wall 66. A seal lip 68 extends from the side wall 64 for contacting and sealing the door opening portion 44 when the vehicle door 12 is closed. Since no metal insert is used, the outer side wall 52, the bottom wall 56, the side walls 62, 64 and the bottom wall 66 are composed of a hard synthetic resin. And in order to improve the appearance, a shining film may be bonded to the outer side wall 52, the side wall 64 and the bottom wall 66 (see Japanese patent application laid-open No. 2010-18130, for example).
In this case, the glass run 46, however, exhibits a great rigidity in portions composed of a hard synthetic resin so that, upon the bending of the glass run 46 along curved surfaces of an upper side of the door frame 18, wrinkles, waviness or other defects may occur in the shining film on greatly curved areas thereof.


Provided is a wireless pressure detector. The wireless pressure detector includes: a support substrate; a plurality of pressure sensors arranged on the support substrate, each of the plurality of pressure sensors being configured to output a signal in response to a pressure applied thereto; and a transmitter configured to perform wireless transmission based on signals input from the plurality of pressure sensors.

As consumer demand for glass substrates with high surface quality has increased and glass substrates having larger area are used more and more, the possibility of occurrence of particle defects during a process of manufacturing a glass substrate has increased.
Regarding a glass substrate manufacturing process, there is few equipment for an objective and quantitative test or evaluation of a cleaning process, and thus, reducing the occurrence of particle defects is difficult. Also, it is required to reduce non-uniformity in substrate quality which is caused by deviation between workers in the cleaning process.

Wireless pressure detector, wireless pressure measuring system, and pressure measuring method


A navigation system includes a speech-recognition unit for performing speech-recognition processing on input speech. The system also includes a language-determining unit for determining the language of a speaker based on the contents of the input speech as recognized by the speech-recognition unit. The system further includes a navigation-processing unit for performing a vehicle-installed-type navigation operation corresponding to the language as determined by the language-determining unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a navigation system for displaying a map showing the vicinity of a user's vehicle and guiding the user along a traveling route through spoken instructions.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, navigation systems in vehicles determine the current position of the vehicle and read map data of the vehicle's vicinity from a data storage medium such as a CD or a DVD and then display the data on a screen. A vehicle position mark indicating the position of the vehicle is displayed on the screen. The map data of the vehicle's vicinity is scrolled during traveling of the vehicle. This allows for the vehicle position mark to always be at the center of the screen and for map information showing the vicinity of the vehicle to be understood.
Most of the latest vehicle-installed-type navigation systems are provided with a route-guiding function that enables users to travel to desired destinations without getting lost. According to this route-guiding function, the preferred (or least-cost) route between a starting position and a destination position is automatically determined using map data. This is accomplished using a simulation, such as a breadth-first search (BFS) method or Dijkstra's algorithm. The preferred route is stored as a guiding route. During driving, the screen displays the guiding route by bold lines of a different color than the colors used for the other roads. The next intersection the vehicle will approach is enlarged, and the users are guided to their destination by speech-guiding output.
Since the language used in the above-described conventional navigation system is fixed at the time of purchase, when the languages used by the user and the navigation system are different, the user may be unable to understand the contents of the displayed map and the output guiding speech. For example, when a foreigner who speaks English uses a Japanese-specification navigation system purchased in Japan, the characters contained in the map and the speech guiding are Japanese. When the user crosses borders of countries in Europe or the like when using the navigation system, the user finds it difficult to understand the contents because the map uses the local language of each country. For example, FIG. 14 shows how a synonym for the word "GERMAN" is different for each country.


A method for improving underground fluid collection and removal. The method includes drilling one well with a vertical section and a horizontal section having main bores and branches. All of the branches are substantially in one horizontal plane except one branch for each main bore. That one branch for each main bore is slope downward towards a common place, where a second vertical well is drilled for collecting fluid. A system resulting from the method is also claimed.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to underground fluid (liquid and/or gas) collection and production, particularly to coal seam methane gas production and water drainage, and to an improved drainage pattern for gas and liquid collection.
2. Description of the Related Art
Subterranean deposits of coal may contain substantial quantities of entrained fluid, such as methane gas, oil and water. The entrained gas and liquid can be safety hazards for coal mining, especially the methane gas. The removal of entrained gas and liquid can make the coal mining safer and more productive. Although methane gas poses safety concerns in coal mining operations, it is actually one of the cleanest fuels available. Its demand has been increasing steadily. In recent years, methane gas removed from coal deposits has become a useful product in it own right or even a main product. Substantial obstacles, however, have frustrated more extensive development and use of methane gas deposits in coal seams. The foremost problem in producing methane gas from coal seams is that while coal seams may extend over large areas of up to several thousand acres, the coal seams are fairly thin, varying from a few inches to several meters. Thus, while the coal seams are often relatively near the surface, vertical wells drilled into the coal deposits for obtaining methane gas can only drain a fairly small radius around the coal deposits. Further, coal deposits are not amendable to pressure fracturing and other methods often used for increasing methane gas production from rock formations. As a result, once the gas easily drained from a vertical well bore in a coal seam is produced further production is limited.
Additionally, coal seams are often associated with subterranean water, which must be drained from the coal seam at the time the methane is mined. The separation of gas (mostly methane) and liquid (mostly water) is necessary for efficient production or removal of either one.
Horizontal drilling patterns have been tried in order to extend the amount of coal seams exposed to a drill bore for gas extraction. A root type or a pinnate type pattern is generally used. A vertical well located at the center of the pattern, with main bores/branches radiating outwards. Each main bore may in turn have branches to fill the space in between the main bores.
Gases in coal seam may be produced or removed prior to coal mining operation. Vertical well and horizontal bores are drilled. Many of the existing drilling patterns require drilling of several vertical wells in cooperation with horizontal bores in addition of main vertical well. Many of the patterns in the art are not flexible enough to be useful for various field conditions.
It is desirable to have a method and a system to improve the drainage pattern such that the number of vertical wells for a particular field is reduced and the drainage from such field is improved.

Method for drilling with improved fluid collection pattern


An improved integral flow-through injectate delivery system comprises fluid flow means having a proximal and a distal end. The proximal end comprises a first port having fluid inlet means for connecting the flow means to a source of fluid injectate and a second port adapted to be connected to a syringe means. The distal end of the fluid flow means is adapted to be connected to a fluid delivery means for delivering the injectate to the patient and the syringe means is adapted to direct injectate fluid from the injectate source through the fluid inlet and the fluid flow means to the fluid delivery means. A first check valve is in fluid-flow communication with the fluid inlet means and the fluid flow means and a second check valve means is in fluid-flow communication with the fluid flow means and the fluid delivery means. A sensing means is disposed within the fluid flow means at its distal end for sensing a characteristic of fluid flowing therethrough, usually temperature. A fluid flow regulating means is placed within the fluid flow means between the fluid inlet means and the sensing means to delay or limit injectate from flowing therethrough except when being directed by the syringe means.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to fluid delivery systems. In particular, the invention relates to new and useful improvements in an apparatus for delivering injectate to patients in medical applications.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
In various medical contexts, it is important to be able to control the delivery of an injectate fluid to a patient. In one particular medical procedure, known as bolus thermodilution, it is particularly important to accurately monitor the temperature of the injectate as it enters the patient in order to accurately calculate the patient's cardiac output. This well known technique for measuring cardiac output is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,508,123, to Wyatt et al., which has been assigned to the predecessor of the current assignee, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by this reference.
As discussed in the prior art system of Wyatt et al., a thermodilution injectate assembly includes a length of flexible tubing with a catheter attached thereto for introducing fluid to the patient, an insulated container for cooling the fluid, a temperature probe at the proximal end of the catheter, a temperature probe at the distal end of the catheter, a syringe, and a three-ported stopcock in fluid communication with the fluid container, the flexible tubing and the syringe. The syringe is utilized to draw cooled fluid from the container and inject the fluid through the flexible tubing into the patient. The stopcock is utilized to create a flow through path either between the syringe and the container, or between the syringe and the flexible tubing. The first temperature probe is used to measure the temperature of the injectate as it enters the patient and the second temperature probe is used to measure downstream temperature. The change in fluid temperature is used to calculate cardiac output according to well known principles, as described in Wyatt et al.
One disadvantage of the system of Wyatt et al., is the need for the three-way stopcock. The operator of the system must first manually turn the stopcock to a first position to permit fluid to fill the syringe and then manually turn the stopcock to a second position to permit fluid flow from the syringe into the patient.
In an improved prior art system utilized by the applicant's assignee, Baxter International Inc., a dual directional check valve assembly is utilized in place of the stopcock of Wyatt et al. Such a check valve assembly is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,210,173, to Choksi et al., which has been assigned to the predecessor of the current assignee, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by this reference. As disclosed therein, flexible, resilient discs are placed on opposite ends of flexible tubing between the fluid inlet and the fluid outlet respectively.
The use of the Choksi et al. assembly with the Wyatt et al. system permits the syringe to withdraw injectate from the container during its withdrawal stroke and inject it into the patient during its injectate stroke, without the need for a stopcock. During the syringe withdrawal stroke, the check valve between the fluid container and the syringe is opened and the check valve between the syringe and the outlet is closed. During the syringe injection stroke, the check valves are in the opposite configuration.
In this improved system, the check valve assembly is an integral unit which is connectable at its distal end, via a flow-through fitting, to the proximal end of the catheter. The proximal end of the assembly has two ports, one which is connectable to the injectate source and one which is connectable to the syringe. In this system, the temperature probe is placed just distal to the flow-through fitting at the proximal end of the catheter tubing.
The aforementioned system has many disadvantages, among which are the number of tubing connections, the number of fluid connections, the difficulty in handling, and the increased manufacturing cost.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide an efficiently designed integral flow through injectate assembly.
Further objects of the invention are to provide a flow through injectate assembly that is easy and inexpensive to manufacture, that is easy to handle and that has less flow path connections.
Yet a further object of the invention is to provide a flow through injectate assembly that permits accurate sensing of the injectate flowing therethrough.


A heat pump apparatus includes: a compressor including a cylindrical shell, the compressor being configured to compress a refrigerant; and a shell heat exchanger including a helical conduit wound around the outer circumference of the shell, the shell heat exchanger being configured to transfer heat of the shell to a heating medium flowing through the conduit. The shell heat exchanger includes: a plurality of segments; and joining portions configured to connect end portions of adjacent segments to each other. The segments each at least partially have an arc-like shape along the outer circumference of the shell when viewed from the axial direction of the shell. The segments are removable in the radial direction of the shell when the joining portions are separated.

A heat pump apparatus as below is disclosed in FIG. 14 of PTL 1. A shell heat exchanger (8) that heats water is mounted on a cylindrical shell included in a compressor that compresses a refrigerant. The shell heat exchanger (8) is a jacket heat exchanger. The shell heat exchanger (8) is divided into two parts in the circumferential direction.


A permanent magnet motor has a rotor and a stator. The rotor has a shaft, a rotor core and commutator fixed to the shaft, and rotor windings wound about poles of the rotor core and electrically connected to the commutator. The stator has an axially extending round housing, a ring magnet member fixed to an inner surface of the round housing, an endcap, and at least one pair of brushes in sliding contact with the commutator. A chamber is formed by the housing and the endcap. The commutator is disposed in the chamber. A window lift device incorporating the motor is also provided.

A traditional permanent magnet motor for a device which raises and lowers window of automobiles comprises a stator and a rotor rotatably mounted to the stator. The rotor has a shaft, a rotor core and a commutator fixed onto the shaft, and rotor windings wound on the rotor core and electrically connected to the commutator. The stator comprises a housing and two separate permanent magnets fixed to the inner surface of the housing.
There is a desire to minimize noise from the window lift motor to avoid the driver and passengers being annoyed. The present invention aims to provide a low noise permanent magnet motor which is particularly suitable for use in a window lift device.


Provided is a contact pin comprising: a hollow first plunger that includes a first contact portion provided on one end side in a first direction and a first enlarged portion which is enlarged in a second direction intersecting the first direction; a second plunger, the one end of which is inserted into the first plunger and that includes a second contact portion provided on the other end side in the first direction and a second enlarged portion provided in a protruding portion protruding from the first plunger so as to be enlarged in the second direction; and a spring provided between the first and second plungers so as to surround the first and second plungers, wherein the first enlarged portion forms a curve shape to bulge outward.

Sockets have been used for inspecting electrical components such as IC packages as described in, for example, Patent Literature (hereinafter, referred to as "PTL") 1. Such a socket is provided with a plurality of contact pins that electrically connect an electrical component and a board for inspection (hereinafter also referred to as "inspection board"), which is a board on the inspection device side.
Each contact pin includes a first movable member that comes into contact with a terminal of the electrical component, a second movable member that comes into contact with a terminal of the inspection board, and a coil spring, which is disposed between the first movable member and the second movable member and causes repulsion to separate the first movable member and the second movable member from each other.
An exemplary configuration of a conventional socket will be described with reference to FIGS. 5A and 5B. FIGS. 5A and 5B are schematic cross-sectional views each illustrating the configuration of exemplary conventional contact pin and socket.
Contact pin 101 is inserted through a through hole 130 formed in housing 103 of the socket.
Contact pin 101 is provided with first plunger 111, second plunger 112, and coil spring 113.
First plunger 111 is a hollow member having a substantially cylindrical shape. Second plunger 112 is a member having a substantially columnar shape. Second plunger 112 is inserted into first plunger 111 from below, and is movable forward and backward relative to first plunger 111 along axial line L (or substantially along axial line L) of first plunger 111.
First plunger 111 includes cylindrical enlarged diameter portion 111a whose width along axial line L is increased. Second plunger 112 includes an enlarged diameter portion (not illustrated) at a position protruding from first plunger 111. Coil spring 113 is provided between enlarged diameter portion 111a of first plunger 111 and the enlarged diameter portion of second plunger 112.
The upper end of first plunger 111 comes into electrical contact with a solder ball of an IC package (not illustrated). The lower end of second plunger 112 comes into electrical contact with a terminal of an inspection board (not illustrated).
Housing 103 is provided with through hole 130 whose cross-sectional surface cut by a horizontal plane is circular. Through hole 130 is composed of small diameter portion 130a located on the upper side, a small diameter portion located on the lower side (not illustrated), and large diameter portion 130b formed between these small diameter portions.
Enlarged diameter portion 111a of first plunger 111 and the enlarged diameter portion of second plunger 112 are each formed to have a diameter larger than the inner diameters of upper small diameter portion 130a and lower small diameter portion of through hole 130. This configuration enables contact pin 101 to be held in through hole 130.
For an inspection by using such a socket, the socket is set on an inspection board (not illustrated) as a first step. From the state illustrated in FIG. 5A, the solder ball of the IC package is pressed against the upper end of first plunger 111. As illustrated in FIG. 5B, second plunger 112 is thus relatively inserted into first plunger 111, and coil spring 113 is compressed by the pressure.
A force caused by the repulsive force of coil spring 113, namely a so-called preload, is applied between second plunger 112 and the terminal of the inspection board during the pressing. The preload contributes to stable contact between second plunger 112 and the terminal of the inspection board, and thus to reduction and stabilization of contact resistance therebetween.


The present disclosure relates to a decorative panel with a carrier plate comprising a multi-laminate plastic carrier material with a plurality N of layer sequences of the A-B-A type, wherein layer A comprises a first thermoplastic resin and layer B a second thermoplastic resin different from the thermoplastic resin of layer A and wherein N lies between ≥3 and ≤250.

This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Decorated panels are known per se, wherein the term wall panel is also to be understood to mean panels which are suitable for ceiling or door cladding. They usually comprise a carrier or core made of a solid material, for example a wood-based material, such as for example a medium-density fibreboard (MDF) or a high-density fibreboard (HDF, a wood-plastic composite material (WPC) or a mineral-plastic composite material (MPC), which is provided on at least one side with a decorative layer and a cover layer and, optionally, with further layers, for example a wear layer arranged between the decorative and cover layer. In the case of MDF or HDF carriers, the decorative layer is the usually applied on a print material arranged on the carrier, which for example can be formed by a paper layer. It is known to print the decorative layer on the paper layer even before the application of the paper layer on the carrier or also to apply an initially unprinted paper layer on the carrier and then to apply the decorative layer on the paper layer by means of so-called direct printing processes. In the case of carriers based on plastic-composite materials, it is known to provide the latter with a decoration in the direct printing process, optionally after application of the print material.
A drawback with carriers based on wood materials is often the only limited moisture resistance of the resultant decorative panels, as a result of which the area of application of these panels is limited. In recent years, therefore, plastic-based carriers have increasingly been developed in order to extend the area of application of corresponding decorative panels. Precisely in the area of plastic-based carriers, however, there is still potential for development with a view to improving the latter from the ecological and economic standpoint.

Decorative panel having a multi-laminate plastic carrier plate and method for the production thereof


An eyeball information detection device includes: an acquisition unit configured to acquire a captured image obtained by imaging a region in which there is a probability that a face of an occupant is present in a vehicle by an imaging device provided in proximity to an illumination device that emits light to the region; and a detection unit configured to output eyeball information that corresponds to the captured image by receiving the captured image acquired by the acquisition unit as an input based on a learned model generated by learning a learning image including information similar to the captured image acquired by the acquisition unit and a correct value of the eyeball information on an eyeball of the occupant appearing in the learning image, by machine learning.

In the related art, techniques for detecting eyeball information on the eyeballs of an occupant, such as a pupil position of the occupant, based on a captured image obtained by imaging a face of the occupant of a vehicle with an imaging device, have been studied.
In general, in the captured image, the eyes appear as red eyes or appear in other forms in accordance with the condition of light. Here, JP 2009-254691A (Reference 1) discloses a method for detecting eyeball information regardless of variation in how the eyes appear in the captured image, using two types of illumination including illumination for emitting light toward the face (eyes) of an occupant from a direction the same as an imaging direction and illumination for emitting light toward the face (eyes) of the occupant from a direction different from the imaging direction, based on a difference between two types of captured images including a captured image acquired when the light is emitted by the former illumination and a captured image acquired when the light is emitted by the latter illumination.
However, in the related art described above, in order to emit the light from different directions to the same position, it is necessary to dispose the two types of illumination at positions separated from each other to some extent, and thus, the degree of freedom in design and layout of a vehicle interior deteriorates while detection accuracy of eyeball information is ensured.
Thus, a need exists for an eyeball information detection device, an eyeball information detection method, and an occupant monitoring device which are not susceptible to the drawback mentioned above.

Eyeball information detection device, eyeball information detection method, and occupant monitoring device


The firearm storage receptacle for mount on a wall in a public environment with a loaded firearm encased inside is disclosed. When an active shooter or potential life or death situation should arise, an approved/authorized individual can access safely the firearm through biometric data recognition system while simultaneously contacting the local authorities in the area to alert that there is an active shooter in the facility. The firearm storage receptacle would also include a florescent colored spray applied to the personnel when opening the firearm storage receptacle to identify who is the protector and who is the assailant, thus eliminating the risk of an accidental shooting of the protector.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of locking storage receptacles. In particular, to the field of storage receptacle for preventing unauthorized access to or use of a firearm.
2. Description of the Known Art
The present invention relates to locking storage receptacles and locking or disabling mechanisms and controls for firearms and other devices requiring secured access and, more particularly, to methods and apparatus for preventing unauthorized access to or use of a firearm or other article by securing the firearm or article in a safe box.

Firearm storage receptacle with alert notification for emergency personnel


A component lead cutting apparatus for tape-fed radial lead electrical components is disclosed. The taped components are driven through the machine by a rotary index wheel, with the cutting station element adjacent the wheel periphery. Clamping and cutting die elements are placed at the cutting station, and are actuated by a pneumatic cylinder to clamp and cut the lead components. The apparatus includes adjustment elements readily accessible from the top of the machine to raise or lower the index wheel and thereby adjust for different lead cut lengths, and to position the wheel to accommodate different tape sprocket opening configurations. The machine has a compact, narrow footprint, so that the machine is space-efficient.

The disclosed invention generally relates to apparatus for forming the leads of taped electrical components, and is more particularly directed to apparatus for cutting the leads of taped components having radial leads.
For utilization in the fabrication of electrical circuits, electronic components such as transistors, capacitors, and resistors are provided by component manufacturers with their leads secured to an elongated tape which includes generally equally spaced feed holes. A particular type of component configuration, generally known as radial lead components, have leads which emerge from generally the same side or portion of the component.
For utilization, taped electronic components are separated from the tape by cutting the leads; for some component types, the cut leads are appropriately formed for insertion. The cutting and forming has generally been performed with different types of machinery. For example, dedicated machines cut and form leads, and also insert the components. However, such dedicated machinery generally are capable of processing only a specific component, require a large amount of space, and not readily utilized with robotic component insertion.
Another example of taped component lead cutting machinery are machines which deposit or place the processed components in a container for manual retrieval and insertion. Such machinery are also not readily utilized with robotic component insertion, and may require a large amount of space.
A further example of taped component lead cutting machinery are machines originally designed for manual component retrieval and insertion, and which are modified for use with robotic component insertion. Such machinery, however, tend to be compromises since they are being forced to operate in a manner not contemplated by their original designs.
A radial lead electrical component feeder is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,757,600, issued to Gregory W. Holcomb, one of the applicants herein. The apparatus disclosed therein cuts and forms the leads. A commercial embodiment of a feeder mechanism embodying the invention of U.S. Pat. No. 4,757,600 has been marketed by Chad Industries,, Orange, Calif., as its model "RC" and "RCO" feeders. This feeder mechanism is adjustable to different component phasing on the tape by adjusting the stop position of the piston rod 153 of air cylinder 151. Adjustments for lead lengths are made by changing shim heights supporting the tape ratchet. While the apparatus disclosed in this patent works well and has many desirable features, it is relatively expensive to manufacture.

Radial lead component feeder having a narrow footprint


A cover assembly for an internal combustion engine includes sleeves that are connected with a cover member by rubber bodies. The rubber bodies decouple the cover member from structure-borne sound from the engine. Depending on its configuration, the cover assembly may be used as an oil pan or a valve hood. The cover assembly is made from a cover blank which includes the cover member, the sleeves, and webs which connect the sleeves to the cover member. The cover blank is placed in a mold. The webs break and the sleeves are axially displaced with respect to the cover member as the mold is closed. An elastomer material is then injected into the mold to form the rubber bodies.

The present invention relates to a cover assembly, particularly a cover assembly for an internal combustion engine, with the cover assembly including a flange, openings for the passage of fastening screws, and sound insulating elastomer bodies provided in the openings.
Due to its complex structure and mode of operation, an internal combustion engine generates noise, some of which is caused by components that are connected with the engine but are not power transmitting components. Examples include valve covers and oil pans. In an attempt to reduce noise it has been found to be an effective measure to fasten these components so that they are insulated against structure-borne sound.
DE-OS (German Unexamined Published Patent Application) 2,723,459 discloses an internal combustion engine in which an oil pan is connected to the crankcase in a manner insulated against structure-borne sound- The fastening screws for the oil pan are embedded in elastomer bodies having guide rings which extend into the openings for the fastening screws. In order to protect the elastomer bodies against excess stresses, fixed abutments are provided at the oil pan and at the housing of the internal combustion engine.
One drawback of this structure is that during installation of the oil pan, the biasing force of the seal and of the elastomer bodies is set by way of the fastening screws, in that the screws are screwed into the housing to the end of their threads. Since the rigidity of the individual elastomer bodies may differ it is not possible to set them all optimally, particularly if there are a plurality of elastomer bodies distributed over the periphery of the housing but the threaded portions of the screws are always of the same length. Moreover, the individual elastomer bodies must all be produced as separate components in a vulcanization mold and must also be installed individually. If there are vertical vibrations, the abutments may hit against one another, thus enabling the transmission of structure-borne sound.
In a cylinder head cover for an internal combustion engine as disclosed in German Patent 3,639,218 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 4,819,953), elastomer bodies are pressed into the openings for the fastening screws in order to provide for insulation against structure-borne sound. In this arrangement as well, the elastomer bodies are manufactured separately and pressed into the openings in an additional process step. The thread-free section of the fastening screw serves as a path-limiting member for setting the biasing force of the seal.

Method for making a cover assembly for use on an internal combustion engine


A system, apparatus, or method for controlling access to a network and to the associated network resources or services. The invention may be used to provide a user authentication or authorization process for a computer network, a telecommunications network, or other suitable system, apparatus, device, process, operation, etc. In some embodiments, the present invention uses a combination of device identification data (such as a device identifier or other form of token) and user-specific biometric data (such as a physical characteristic associated with the user or data generated as a result of a signal being altered by a physical characteristic of a user) to identify a user and permit the user to access the network or network resources or services.

Embodiments of the present invention are directed to systems, apparatuses, and methods for controlling access to network services and connected devices by requiring proof of authorization to use such systems, devices and services, and specifically, to a method and associated system and apparatus for authenticating a person desiring to access a network and its associated services and devices using a combination of device data and biometric data.
Restricting access to a network, a device, or services connected to a network is a common way of implementing a security function to prevent unauthorized use of the network or improper access to sensitive data stored within the network. The restriction or control of user access is often implemented in whole or in part by a user authentication process. In this regard, a number of authentication methods for identifying a user and authorizing a user's access to network systems and services have been developed: for example, the use of a username and password to login to a computer network, the use of a fingerprint detector to authorize access to a networked computer, or the use of an electronically-readable identification badge and access gates to authorize access to a building or area.
Some authentication or authorization systems require a degree of user involvement as part of the process. The amount of user involvement may vary between systems, from being relatively minor and unobtrusive, to being significant and placing an undesired burden on the user. For example, a username and password login requires the user to remember their username and password and to enter that data into an input device. Similarly, the use of a badge requires a user to remember to carry their badge and to proceed through a particular area or to present the badge to an access control device. Other access control systems may require a user to answer a question, or to provide some other type of information in order to authenticate themselves.
However, while effective, such systems have a number of shortcomings. These include their relative cost, complexity, level of security and availability. For example, in systems where the user needs to remember a username and password, the user may choose a relatively weak (and hence guessable) password, or if using a sufficiently strong password, may write the password down nearby to the login point, and thus potentially compromise security. Further, a relatively strong password may be more difficult for a user to remember (or may require regular changing), thus reducing its value since a password or other access control method that is difficult for a user to apply has a negative impact on the user's ability to access the system. Systems that use a badge to authorize a user can require a relatively expensive installed infrastructure (for example badge readers and gates that limit access) and are not suitable where such infrastructure cannot be installed, for example for a user logging on to a corporate network from home.
The need for user involvement in some authentication or authorization processes that are part of an access control system may also be a burden, resulting in the authentication operations being performed less frequently or with less care than would be desired for optimal security. For example, users typically log onto their computer at the start of a work session, but are not required to log on again unless the system is left unattended for a sufficient period of time. As a result, a user leaving their desk for a couple of minutes typically leaves their system unattended and insecure, during which period of time a security breach may occur.
What is desired are a system, apparatus, and method for controlling access to a network and to associated network services and network connected devices by authorizing or authenticating a user in a manner that overcomes the disadvantages of present approaches to controlling access to networks and network connected resources. It is further desired that the system, apparatus, or method for controlling access to a network and to associated network services and network connected devices be implemented in a manner that requires minimal user input, operates to reauthorize the user on a regular or ongoing basis, is capable of de-authorizing the user if they leave the proximity of the secured system, and requires minimal infrastructure or cost to implement, while maintaining a sufficiently high degree of network security. Embodiments of the present invention address these and other disadvantages of the present approaches to controlling access to networks, network services, and network connected devices both individually and collectively.

System and method for controlling access to network services using biometric authentication


Techniques are disclosed for managing and allocating resources based on resource policies in response to user requests. A resource management system can receive a request for a service. A request may indicate preferences for allocation resources (e.g., a resource definition) to enable the service. A resource definition may indicate a topology of the computing resources to allocate for the user. The topology may indicate what computing resources to allocate and how to allocate those computing resource. Based on the information indicated by a request, the resource management system may determine a placement policy for allocation of computing resources indicated by the request. A placement policy may indicate a placement of one or more computing resources requested by a user. The placement policy may indicate where and how computing resources are to be placed once allocated. The computing resources may be allocated based on the placement policy and the resource definition.

The present disclosure relates generally to computing infrastructure systems, and more particularly to managing and allocating resources based on resource policies in response to user requests.
In a distributed-computing environment such as a cloud computing environment is a model of service delivery for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of computing resources (e.g. networks, network bandwidth, servers, PODs, processing, memory, storage, applications, virtual machines, services, etc.) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or interaction with a provider of the service. The provider may provide a variety of services via the distributed computing environment. These services may include one or more services provided under Software as a Service (SaaS) category, Platform as a Service (PaaS) category, Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) category, or other categories of services including hybrid services.
A user (e.g., a customer or client), via an order or service subscription, may order one or more of the services provided by the distributed computing environment. The distributed computing environment then performs processing (e.g., provisioning, managing, and tracking) to provide the services requested within the user's subscription order. Typically, when the provider (e.g., a cloud service provider) receives an order or service subscription subscribing to the one or more services, the distributed computing environment provisions or allocates the computing resources for the one or more services to the requesting user. However, the requesting user does not have control over how the computing resources are provisioned. These challenges may present automation, performance, and usability issues, which cannot be readily addressed by existing distributed computing environments that provision or allocate computing resources.
In the case of IaaS services providers, requests may be received for computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) from clients and returns corresponding computing resources to the requestor from a pool of computing resources. However, users do not have control over the location of the computing resources or how computing resources are grouped (e.g., based on geography or at the machine-level). These challenges may present security, performance, and isolation issues, which cannot be readily addressed by existing systems that provide resources.
Some IaaS providers may pre-create resources that are commonly used together and provision resources in groups whenever any one of those resources are requested and cleaned up (e.g., returned to the resource pool). However, these groups are statically defined and may not adapt to changing demand for resources and may lead to the provisioning and cleaning-up of resources that have not been used.

Placement policy-based allocation of computing resources


A circulation apparatus with a compact construction and high reliability comprising a ring-shaped support frame which has a joint which can be connected in the vascular system and turbine blades mounted on the support frame which can be rotated by a drive source, thereby attaining an easy installation thereof on the heart without exerting pressure on other organs and without causing thrombus.

1. Field of the invention
This invention relates to a circulation apparatus and, more particularly, relates to a circulation apparatus which is capable of compensating for or supplementing the function of a heart to circulate the blood.
2. Description of the prior art
In the area of artificial organs, especially artificial hearts, various proposals have been made or put into practical use in recent years.
As a circulation apparatus which supplements the blood circulating function of a heart with deteriorated blood circulating abilities, for example, an apparatus which utilizes an air compressor coupled to a diaphragm pump, pusher plate pump or the like has become commercially available.
However, in a conventional circulation apparatus which uses a diaphragm pump as shown in FIG. 5, a compressor must be installed outside the body to supply air (indicated by arrow A in the drawing) in the casing a or exhaust the air (indicated by arrow A' in the drawing) from the casing a in order to drive a diaphragm b (directions of the movements are indicated by B and B' in the drawing), and the pump and the compressor must be connected. Installation of such a circulation apparatus on a patient's body causes substantial restriction on the patient's body movement.
On the other hand, in another conventional apparatus which comprises a pusher plate c as shown in FIG. 6, a compliance chamber is required to accommodate the changes of the inner volume of the casing e accompanying the vertical movement of the piston d (directions of the movements are indicated by D and D' in the drawing) which drives the pusher plate c (directions of the movements are indicated by C and C' in the drawing). If a circulation apparatus of such a constitution as described above is to be planted in a human body, a space must be made in the body to accommodate the pump h and the compliance chamber i, each having a bypass passage g made of an artificial blood vessel, with the bypass passage g sutured to the heart j, for example, as shown in FIG. 7. This results in a problem of the pump h and the compliance chamber i exerting pressure on other organs.
In both FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, the reference numeral f denotes a valve.
These conventional circulation apparatuses have other problems such that the bypass blood passages required in every case makes the surgery of connecting the apparatus to the heart extremely difficult and that complexity of the apparatus construction results in poor reliability of the apparatus and that large area of contact with blood leads to great probability of causing thrombus.


A security material for documents comprises a first layer of material, such as a polymeric film or laminate, having first and second sides. A pearlescent material is applied to at least one of the first and second sides. The pearlescent material defines a pattern comprising at least two different colors that are at least partially interlocked in the pattern, and the pattern permits printed information that is overlaid by the pattern to be effectively perceived.

As the world moves relentlessly toward a cashless society, the venerable credit card has become a staple. So, too, in the corporate arena, where secret modes or methods are closely guarded and industrial espionage is seemingly on the rise, the ability to identify authorized personnel and distinguish them from interlopers has become an art form.
The foregoing examples are but two among a myriad of circumstances which call for the implementation of a system of secure identification by means of cards and badges. Drivers licenses, which are no longer simply evidence of payment of a fee, but have become a primary means of personal identification, are yet another category of use for secure instruments. The credit card issuers seem to be in competition to create the most decorative, yet secure instruments, and consumers seem to be attracted to issuers who provide more than just low introductory interest.
The security instrument industry seems to have taken on a life of its own and considerable research is being conducted into ways of producing an aesthetically pleasing identification card, or badge, which is incapable of being counterfeited and will destruct upon attempted alteration. The counterfeiting of identification documents involving as it does the alteration, fabrication, issuance and ultimately, use of such cards by persons not authorized to do so presents continual, and multiple security problems for legitimate issuers.
Perhaps the most effective, yet impractical, way to prevent counterfeiting would involve strict control over the possession of the materials and equipment involved in the fabrication of identification documents. For example, too many of the materials involved are commercially available and used in other, less sensitive, applications. To date, the more popular response to the counterfeiting problem involves the integration of several verification features to evidence authenticity. The best known of these "verification features" involve signatures such as the signature of the one authorized to issue the document, or the signature of the bearer. Other popular verification features have involved the use of watermarks, fluorescent materials, validation patterns or markings and polarizing stripes. These verification features and perhaps others, are integrated in various ways and may provide visual verification, or in some instances, invisible evidence of authenticity, in the finished card. If invisible, of course, authenticity is verifiable by viewing the instrument under conditions that render the invisible feature, visible.
The present invention is operative within this broad field, to teach a novel printing process using multiple colors to provide an interlocking design which is capable of producing an optically variable visual image, resulting in an instrument with enhanced security.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Use of pearlescent and other pigments to create a security document


A device for producing a reproducible identification pattern of a polished gemstone includes light directing means for directing a focused beam of light onto a gemstone orientated in a particular known manner to produce an output of the internal refraction and reflection characteristics of the gemstone including reflected light beams having particular locations, sizes and intensities. The device also includes automated means for changing a position of the gemstone relative to the focused beam of light; and also a means for recording the output in a manner to record the relative size and location of the reflected light beams.

Gemstones have their own unique optical response and this optical response can be used for accurate identification of the gemstones. In this regard, U.S. Pat. No. 3,947,120 discloses an arrangement for providing an optical fingerprint of a gemstone where a laser beam is focused on a gemstone and the optical response of the gemstone is recorded on a recording medium, preferably a photographic medium. This arrangement provides a fingerprint of the gemstone which is reproducible and has been held by the courts to be sufficient evidence to prove that the gemstone under consideration having a certain optical response is the same as a previously identified gemstone having essentially the same optical response.
This prior art structure used a photographic medium and the actual record was sensitive to the exposure period as well as the power of the laser.
European Application No. 0 042 361 discloses a device for producing a reproducible identification pattern of a polished gemstone in which collimated light is directed onto the gemstone and the directions of the refracted and reflected light beams are determined.
Applicant's own PCT application No. PCT/CA91/00424 discloses improvements to systems for recording the optical fingerprint of gemstones.
Applicant's previous systems were largely manual based systems and there is a need for a more automated system that provides a number of new features that both make the gem registration process more reliable and simpler.


In an audiovisual system, in which video is displayed on a screen that does not permit sound to pass through the screen, such as a light emitting diode panel, a high-frequency speaker positioned above an audience seating area can direct sound toward the screen, so that the screen can reflect the sound toward the audience seating area. The high-frequency speaker can be used with one or more low-frequency speakers positioned at or near the height of the audience seating area. The low-frequency and high-frequency sounds can appear to originate from close to the same height, thereby creating a realistic audio image at the audience seating area. A spectral filter can negate the spectral effects of propagation to and reflection from the screen. Suitable time delays can synchronize the high-frequency sound with the low-frequency sound and with video displayed on the screen.

Historically, audiovisual systems in a theater or auditorium setting used a screen that reflected video, but was essentially transparent to audio. In these systems, speakers could be placed behind the screen, and sound from the speakers would pass through the screen to an audience seating area.
As video technology evolved, it became practical to use large panels that emit light directly to the audience seating area, such as light emitting diode panels. These panels produced superior video, but were no longer transparent to audio. Speakers could no longer be placed behind these large video panels.
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views. Elements in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. The configurations shown in the drawings are merely examples, and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention in any manner.

Reflecting sound from acoustically reflective video screen