A method for controlling propulsion in motor vehicles is described which detects when the vehicle approaches the limiting value for lateral acceleration independently of the condition of the load, the tires, the roadway and so forth in that a measurement value for the lateral acceleration, the yaw velocity or the difference of the front wheel speeds of rotation is compared with a mathematical value determined by the use of a mathematical formula, in which method this mathematical value is phase-delayed in a filter and corrected in a first correction unit and the mathematical formula used is corrected in a second correction unit.

The invention relates to a device and method for controlling propulsion in motor vehicles of the type generally disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,794,539, which corresponds to German Published Unexamined Application (DOS) 3,545,715. In this patent, an arrangement is described in which a measurement value for the lateral vehicle acceleration, the yaw velocity or the speed difference between the front wheel speeds of rotation is compared with a mathematical value for this variable which is calculated from vehicle speed and steering angle, and if the values do not correspond, control signals are formed for the brakes of the wheels and/or for a power actuator of the vehicle engine. To obtain the most accurate possible values, adaptation electronics are provided which adjust the sensors needed for determining the input variables in the steady-state range of the roll steer characteristic of the vehicle so that identical speeds of rotation at all wheels and a steering angle of 0.degree. are measured in straight driving and so forth.
Since, however, the formula used and thus the mathematical value rarely corresponds precisely to the actual situations and thus to the mathematical value, a tolerance range around the mathematical value is there provided which can be varied with the vehicle speed and the steering angle and within which the measurement value should be located so that no intervention in the brakes or the vehicle engine is caused. The narrower this tolerances range can be kept the more effective the control system can operate.
However, the accuracy of the result of the calculation does not only depend on accurately adjusted sensors and a correct formula, it is also determined by other factors.
Due to inertia, the build-up of, for example, a lateral acceleration occurs as response to a change in steering angle with delay. The mathematical formula is designed for steady-state driving conditions and uses the new steering angle as a basis for calculating a value of lateral acceleration which actually only occurs with a certain delay. In addition, for example, lateral accelerations can also be measured in the case of straight driving with accurately adjusted sensors if driving occurs, for example, on a laterally inclined roadway or with non-uniformly distributed load.
Wrong results can both be measured and also calculated due to dynamic driving conditions such as strong acceleration, fast changes in steering angle, due to different quantities and distributions of the load, tire condition, tire air pressure, roadway conditions and its slope and lateral inclination, but also due to inaccurate mounting of the sensors. As a result, either the tolerance range for the mathematical value must be greatly increased, which prevents effective control, or the results of measurements and calculations must become more accurate, that is to say freed of distorting influences.
The invention therefore has the object of specifying a method which takes into consideration and eliminates all above possibilities of distortion in the measurement and mathematical value and in this manner provides the possibility of obtaining an accurately operating propulsion control system.
The invention also has the object of creating an arrangement or device for carrying out this method.
According to the invention, this object is achieved by providing a method wherein controlling propulsion in motor vehicles in the sense of maintaining stable driving conditions, in which method a variable characterizing the steady-state driving condition is measured and a mathematical value which adequately represents this variable is calculated by means of the vehicle speed and the steering angle, and in which method measurement value and mathematical value are compared with one another and control signals for the brakes and/or for a power actuator of the vehicle engine are generated in accordance with the result of the comparison, characterized in that the mathematical value (R.sub.R) is phase-delayed in dependence on at least one measurement variable (v) related to the dynamics of vehicle movement, that the difference between the phase-delayed mathematical value (R.sub.R) and the measurement value (M) is subjected to an averaging over a predeterminable period and this averaged value is added to the phase-delayed mathematical value and that the mathematical value (R.sub.S) corrected in this manner is compared with the measurement value, and that the difference (D) between the differences, produced in a particular time interval, of successive measurement values and phase-delayed mathematical values is formed and a particular parameter (EG) for calculating the mathematical value (R.sub.R) is changed in accordance with the value of this difference. According to this method, the invention is based on a multiple evaluation of the difference between measurement value and mathematical value and on a subsequent influencing of the mathematical value or at least of a parameter of the mathematical formula used. Instead of influencing the mathematical value, influencing the measurement value for reducing the difference is also within the scope of the invention even if this possibility is not expressly described.
The method according to the invention is used in a device according to the invention which comprises an arrangement for carrying out the method referred to above, comprising sensors for determining the vehicle speed, the steering angle and a measurement value for a variable characterizing the steady-state driving condition, particularly the lateral vehicle acceleration, the yaw velocity or the speed difference of the steered wheels of one axle associated with the steering angle, comprising adaptation electronics for adjusting the sensors, comprising a computing unit for calculating a mathematical value which adequately corresponds to the measurement value and is associated with the vehicle speed and the steering angle or a tolerance range around this mathematical value by means of a predetermined mathematical formula, and comprising a comparison unit in which the measurement value is compared with the mathematical value or its tolerance range and the output signals of which are control signals for the brakes and/or for a power actuator of the vehicle engine, characterized in that an electric filter (F) is provided, the filter parameters of which (A, B, C, D) can be predetermined in dependence on at least the vehicle speed (v) and which can be supplied with the output signal (R.sub.R of the computing unit (R), that a first correction unit (S) is provided which is supplied with the output signal (R.sub.F) of the filter (F) and the measurement value (M) as input variables and which forms the difference between those two values, subjects this difference to an averaging over a predetermined period and adds the result to the output signal (RF) of the filter (F), and that the mathematical value (Rs) corrected in this manner, together with the measurement value (M), are supplied as input variables to the comparison unit (K);
and that a second correction unit (L) is provided which is supplied with the output signal (R.sub.F) of the filter (F) and the measurement value (M) as input variables and which forms the difference .DELTA.M-.DELTA.R.sub.F) between the differences (.DELTA.M;.DELTA.R.sub.F), produced in a certain time interval (.DELTA.t) of successive measurement values (M.sub.1 ; M.sub.2) and filer output signals (R.sub.F1 ; R.sub.F2),
that a particular parameter (EG) of the mathematical formula used in the computing unit (R) can be changed in accordance with this difference (.DELTA.M-.DELTA.R).
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.

Method and device for controlling propulsion in motor vehicles


A retractable turret rotatable on a platform, including an active system orientable in vertically extendable elevation, and in azimuth, a protective cowling for the active system and for closing a caisson, wherein the turret includes, for vertically extendable deployment and rotation of the active system, first and second arms forming a deformable quadrilateral on either side of the active system, a first manual means for controlling deployment of the active system by activating the first arm, and a second manual means for controlling the orientation in vertically extended elevation and in horizontal azimuth of the active system by moving the second arm.

1. Field of the Invention
The scope of the present invention is that of light turrets mounted on a platform.
2. Description of the Related Art
Light turrets are known which equip a platform (vehicle, building, . . . ) and which are intended to support an active system constituted by offensive or defensive weapons and/or offset viewing means such as sights or a camera. Devices are also known of the cannon type that have several barrels mounted in alignment. These are not orientable and have a substantial rigid structure able to withstand the loads. Deployable weapon systems are also known, but these weapon systems may not be reloaded from inside a vehicle.


Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for reinforcement learning in the field of hygiene. Specifically, the features described relate to selecting actions in a context to be performed by an agent that interacts with an environment by receiving observations, in response, performing actions from a set of actions, wherein the context comprises a bacterial product to be prescribed, wherein the observations comprise data from the mapping of applied bacteria, and wherein the actions comprise data for the prescription of the bacterial product.

The present disclosure relates to reinforcement learning in the field of hygiene. More particularly, the disclosure relates to hygienic control of microbes on surface.
Generally, hygiene refers to techniques and procedures with the aim to control targeted microbes on the surface of living and non-living objects. The focus is on bacteria and viruses, which are the most common source of infection.
The term "subtractive hygiene" is defined as the use of antimicrobial techniques or products, for example, disinfectants, to control targeted microbes, comprising bacteria and viruses, on the surface. Subtractive hygiene aims to reduce or inhibit targeted microbes by using antimicrobial techniques or products that are biocidal or biostatic.
The term "additive hygiene" is defined as the use of bacterial products with harmless or beneficial character, for example, probiotics, to control targeted bacteria on the surface. Additive hygiene aims to reduce or inhibit targeted bacteria by using bacterial products that lead to competitive coexistence or exclusion.
The quantity of targeted bacteria, comprising pathogens, is the difference between the quantity of applied bacteria and the total quantity of bacteria on surface. The direct control of the quantity of applied bacteria allows the indirect control of the quantity of targeted bacteria, thus constrains the pathogen load on the surface.
While antimicrobial techniques or products represent a broad market, the potential of bacterial products for hygiene is increasingly recognized. Subtractive and additive hygiene both attempt to reduce or inhibit targeted bacteria on the surface.
Subtractive hygiene has the following advantage: The effect on the microflora is quantitative and qualitative since the number as well as the type of the reduced or inhibited microbes, comprising bacteria and viruses, can be influenced. However, this approach has the following disadvantage: The re-colonization of targeted bacteria on the surface between the successive application of antimicrobial techniques or products can only slightly be influenced. Generally, the used antimicrobial techniques or products may not take the risk of bacterial resistance to biocides, and potential cross-resistance to antibiotics, into consideration.
Additive hygiene has the following advantage: The applied bacteria on the surface permanently prevent the colonization of targeted bacteria. However, this approach has the following disadvantage: The effect on the microflora is mostly quantitative since the type of the reduced or inhibited bacteria can only slightly be influenced. Generally, the used bacterial products may not take the human microbiota, especially the skin flora, into consideration.
It is desirable to control the microflora, comprising bacteria and viruses, both quantitative and qualitative. Further, it is desirable to permanently prevent the colonization of targeted bacteria on the surface. The present disclosure addresses the aforementioned deficiencies of additive versus subtractive hygiene and advantageously fills these and other needs for improved hygiene, in particular for the control of targeted microbes on the surface.

Precision hygiene using reinforcement learning


A local fat destroying method of the present invention includes: preparing a hypotonic solution; injecting the hypotonic solution into a local fat tissue using a multi-needle; expanding the fat cells while the hypotonic solution injected into the fat tissue is injected into the fat cells by an osmotic pressure phenomenon; and destroying the expanded fat cells by ultrasonic waves by applying the ultrasonic waves to the fat tissue.

In general, obesity is known to be the cause of all diseases. There are many causes of the obesity, but the most significant factor is the excess fat accumulated in the body. As this fat becomes obesity, the fat collects in the liver, blood vessels, and blood, resulting in symptoms such as fatty liver, arteriosclerosis, and hyperlipemia. Furthermore, the obesity is not apparently good, and social phobia and the like may occur.
There are various dieting methods and surgical treatment methods such as surgery to alleviate the obesity. However, dieting is not easy to succeed, and surgical methods are risky.
As a non-invasive method to reduce subcutaneous fat layers or fat tissues introduced up to now, there is cryolipolysis which induces fat cells to become spontaneous necrosis by a principle of selectively destroying only fat cells without damaging tissues such as epidermis and nerves through direct cooling, that is, an apoptosis principle.
However, in such cryolipolysis may, there is a problem that side effects such as frostbite or necrosis occur by cooling to the skin of the treatment site as well as the subcutaneous fat at about −9° C.

Localized fat destroying method and hypotonic solution for destroying localized fat


A method of predicting whether a subject is predisposed to developing early-onset menopause is provided. The method involves genotyping a patient at the IL-1 gene loci.

Menopause is defined as the permanent cessation of menstruation caused by failure of ovarian follicular development in the presence of elevated gonadotrophin levels. Comprehensive Gynecology (eds. Mishell et al 1997). A hallmark of menopause is the decrease in ovarian follicular estrogen synthesis, although this is only one aspect of the array of physiological events that accompanies the climacteric. Symptoms accompanying menopause vary from woman to woman, but usually include some component of vasomotor instability or hot flashes, often accompanied by psychological symptoms like mood swings and irritability. The loss of estrogen predisposes to coronary artery disease. Loss of estrogen further results in loss of overall bone mineral content caused by an increased resorption of bone without a correlative increase in bone formation. Unabated net loss of bone structural integrity following menopause can culminate in clinically significant osteoporosis. The severity of these climacteric symptoms can be substantially reduced with estrogen replacement therapy. These symptoms represent formidable challenges to the health care system. Recognizing that the current average life expectancy for a woman in the U.S. is 78 years, one can readily calculate that a substantial portion of a woman""s lifespan will be post-menopausal. In 1990, for example, there were more than 50 million women in the U.S. over 50 years of age.
The mean age of physiological menopause in the U.S. is between 51 and 52 years of age, with a range between 45 and 55 years old distributed along a normal curve. Stanford et al., J. Chron. Dis 40:995, 1987. About 10% of women in the U.S. undergo menopause before age 46; 1% of U.S. women enter menopause before age 40. If a woman becomes menopausal before age 40, the condition is termed premature ovarian failure. A variety of factors have been identified that correlate weakly with age of menopause, including number of pregnancies, use of oral contraceptives, duration of lactation, age at menarche, age at last pregnancy, race, height, weight, education or occupational history. Cassou et al., Maturitas 26:165-74, 1997. Cigarette smoking, however, has been observed to decrease the age of onset of menopause by about two years. Menopause may also be therapeutically induced, either chemically, surgically or via radiation (e.g. to reduce the risk of developing breast cancer associated with exposure to estrogens).
Diagnosis of menopause may be made clinically by observing the absence of menses for a year. Most women experience progressive menstrual irregularity that presages menopause. The time between the onset of menstrual irregularity and menopause is called the perimenopause. The median age at onset of perimenopause is 47.5 years; its median length is 4 years. McKinlay et al., Maturitas 14:103, 1992. Prior to the onset of the perimenopause, the length of the menstrual cycle tends to decrease in length, due to the decreased duration of follicular functioning. Munster et al., Br. J. Obstet./Gynaecol. 99:422, 1992. About 10% of women do not enter a perimenopausal phase, rather continuing to have regular cycles until menses suddenly stop.
Hormonal changes often precede changes in menstrual patterns, and early diagnosis for menopause and perimenopause has traditionally involved the measurement of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) levels. A significant increase in both FSH and LH levels occurs about 5 years before menopause, with the FSH increase more prominent than the LH increase. Levels of these gonadotrophins peak about one year postmenopausally for LH and two to three years after menopause for FSH. The incidence of ovulatory cycles, measured by elevated luteal phase progesterone levels, decreases from 60% during the 5-6 years before menopause to 5% in the 6 months before menopause. Estrogen levels fall as the number of ovulatory cycles decreases, particularly during the 6-12 months before menopause. FSH release, mainly controlled by inhibin, remains elevated even in the presence of post-menopausal hormone replacement. An initial fall in inhibin level is an early indication of diminishing ovarian function. FSH level rises accordingly, suggesting the woman""s entry into the perimenopausal stage of reproductive function. Initial changes in FSH and inhibin are often transitory. It is therefore important to demonstrate a sustained increase in FSH. This value, combined with low estradiol levels, is used to diagnose the onset of permanent ovarian failure.
Diagnosis of menopause and perimenopause thus tends to be possible only after major changes in the endocrine system have already occurred. A younger woman without premonitory perimenopausal symptoms may have no reason to have her hormone levels measured; she may thus enter early onset menopause (EOM) without any warning. In such a patient, hormonal analysis may not yield a diagnosis until after EOM has taken place. Hormone assays in a younger patient may only be transiently abnormal prior to the onset of permanent ovarian failure. The younger patient destined for EOM is a particularly appropriate subject for early medical intervention (e.g. estrogen replacement therapy). Family planning needs to be considered if early loss of reproductive function is anticipated. Decisions about childbearing and preservation of fertilized ova should be undertaken at an early age in such a patient. Further medical advice is important about the value of hormone replacement therapy for a young woman who faces prolonged post-menopausal levels of estrogen. The relative contribution of estrogen replacement to bone strength and cardiovascular health must be balanced against the possibility of breast cancer development, in response to hormone replacement therapy (HRT).
A complex set of endocrine mechanisms regulates the female reproductive system. Understanding the interrelationship of these mechanisms provides the basis for discerning the factors involved in physiological menopause and EOM. No single organ secretes all the hormones responsible for these processes. The hypothalamus, the pituitary gland, and the ovaries, are primary organs, although adrenal and thyroid hormones also play roles. Feedback mechanisms enable the various hormones to affect the production of other hormones within the reproductive system.
The central nervous system controls reproductive hormone production through its release of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH). This hormone, produced by the hypothalamus, in turn affects gonadotropin secretion by the pituitary. GnRH secretion is responsive to levels of brain neurotransmitters, in particular the two catecholamines dopamine and norepinephrine. Opioids and prostaglandins in the hypothalamus have also been identified as regulators of GnRH release. The neurotransmitter serotonin has not been associated with GnRH release, but it does stimulate the release of prolactin by the hypothalamus. Other peptides have been identified in the brain that act as neurotransmitters. For example, the peptides activin and inhibin, members of TGF-beta superfamily, have been identified within the brain. These substances have opposite effects on pituitary gonadotropin secretion: inhibin diminishes FSH production but does not affect the release of LH; activin stimulates FSH but not LH.
GnRH, when it reaches the anterior lobe of the pituitary, stimulates the production of LH and FSH from the gonadotrophs in the pituitary gland. GnRH only acts to stimulate the production of the gonadotropic hormones. The periodic release of LH and FSH by the pituitary is responsive not only to GnRH but also to feedback systems involving the target organ of these hormones, the ovary. LH acts primarily on the thecal cells of the ovary to induce the synthesis of steroids, while FSH acts primarily on the granulosa cells of the ovary to stimulate the growth of the ovarian follicles. Both types of ovarian cells are thought to be involved in estrogen production. LH acts on the thecal cells to produce the androgens androstenedione and testosterone, which in turn are transported to the granulosa cells where they are aromatized to form the estrogens estrone and estradiol. Before puberty, FSH release is greater than LH. With the onset of the menstrual cycle, LH secretion is greater than FSH secretion. Increased levels of estradiol and inhibin during the years of menstruation act to inhibit FSH release. After menopause, FSH release again exceeds LH release.
Growth factors produced in the ovary provide means for regulating the hormonal behavior of this gland. Inhibin and activin in particular are related to FSH release. Inhibin is regulated positively by FSH levels. Inhibin preferentially affects FSH release over LH release. Levels of inhibin are observed to decrease dramatically during perimenopause, suggesting that this substance has a permissive role in the elevation of FSH before menopause. Activin is observed to stimulate FSH release. Other growth factors have been identified as having hormonal, autocrine, and paracrine effects within the ovary. Comprehensive Gynecology (eds. Mishell et al. 1997).
Cytokines are involved in the production of reproductive hormones via their activities within the brain and in the ovary. Interleukin-1 (IL-1) is a multifunctional cytokine implicated in a number of aspects of ovarian biology. IL-1 has been implicated in follicular development and atresia, ovulation, steroidogenesis and corpus luteum function. Terranova et al., Am. J. Reprod. Immunol. 37:50-63, 1997. IL-1, when found within the ovary, may be produced by immune and non-immune cells. Machelon et al., Hum. Reprod. 10:2198-03, 1995. IL-1 is involved in rescuing ovarian follicles from apoptosis. Kaipia et al., Annu. Rev. Physiol. 59:349-63, 1997. Conversely, the IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1RA) has been shown to block ovulation in vivo and in vitro. Tsafriri, Adv. Exp. Med. Biol. 377:121-40, 1995. Furthermore, IL-1 has been identified as a neurotransmitter, active in releasing norepinephrine, dopamine and serotonin, and affected by their intrahypothalamic levels. Tringali et al., Pharmacol. Res. 36:269-73, 1997. IL-1RA exerts a blocking effect by competitively inhibiting the binding of IL-1 to its receptors. Shintani et al., Mol. Neurobiol. 10:47-71, 1995. Through both central and end-organ mechanisms, cytokines and growth factors have been shown to be implicated in the regulation of reproductive endocrinology.
The age of physiological menopause is understood to have a genetic component. Cramer et al., Fertil. Steril. 64:740-45, 1995; Snieder et al., J. Clin. Endocrinol. and Metab. 83:1875-80, 1998. Because management of menopausal symptoms, prevention of post-menopausal health problems, and diagnosis of early post-menopausal illness form an important part of primary medical care, the ability to determine a genetic predisposition to EOM and to identify causative mutations would be valuable.
In one aspect, the present invention provides a novel method for identifying whether a woman is predisposed to developing early-onset menopause (EOM). In one embodiment, the method comprises determining whether an EOM associated allele is present in a nucleic acid sample obtained from a woman. In a preferred embodiment, the EOM associated allele is IL-1RN (+2018) allele 2 or an allele of the IL-1 (44112332) haplotype.
In certain embodiments, detection of an EOM associated allele may be accomplished directly, e.g. by analyzing the DNA, or indirectly, e.g. by analyzing the RNA or protein products of the DNA. Where the marker in question results in the translation of a mutant protein, the protein can be detected by any of a variety of protein detection methods. Such methods include immunodetection and biochemical tests, such as an activity assay, or size fractionation, where the protein has a change in apparent molecular weight either through truncation, elongation, altered folding or altered post-translational modifications.
In a preferred embodiment, the EOM associated allele can be detected by any of a variety of available techniques, including: 1) performing a hybridization reaction between a nucleic acid sample and a probe that is capable of hybridizing to the allele; 2) sequencing at least a portion of the allele; or 3) determining the electrophoretic mobility of the allele or fragments thereof (e.g., fragments generated by endonuclease digestion). The allele can optionally be subjected to an amplification step prior to performance of the detection step. Preferred amplification methods are selected from the group consisting of: the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), the ligase chain reaction (LCR), strand displacement amplification (SDA), cloning, and variations of the above (e.g. RT-PCR and allele specific amplification). Oligonucleotides necessary for amplification may be selected from anywhere in the IL-1 gene loci, either flanking the marker of interest (as required for PCR amplification) or directly overlapping the marker (as in allele-specific oligonuceotide hybridization). The DNA in the human IL-1 region has been mapped, and oligonucleotides for primers can easily be selected with a commercially available primer selection program. In a particularly preferred embodiment, the sample is hybridized with a set of primers, which hybridize 5xe2x80x2 and 3xe2x80x2 in a sense or antisense sequence to the EOM associated allele, and is subjected to a PCR amplification.
In another aspect, the invention features kits for performing the above-described assays. The kit can include nucleic acid sample collection means and a means for determining whether a subject carries an EOM associated allele. The kit may also comprise control samples, either negative or positive, or standards and/or an algorithmic device for assessing the results, and addition reagents and components, including DNA amplification reagents, DNA polymerases, nucleic acid purification reagents, restriction enzymes, buffers, a nucleic acid sampling device, deoxynucleotides, etc. Information obtained using the assays and kits described herein is useful for example for family planning and for treating or preventing the development of symptoms, which are associated with menopause (e.g. osteoporosis and coronary artery disease). In addition, the information can allow a more customized approach to delaying the onset of or treating the symptoms associated with EOM. For example, this information can enable a doctor to: 1) more effectively prescribe a drug that will address the molecular basis of EOM in the subject; and/or 2) better determine the appropriate dosage of a particular drug for the particular patient.
In another aspect, the invention provides in vitro and in vivo methods for identifying is biomarkers that are useful in monitoring a subject""s progress towards and through menopause. In preferred embodiments, such biomarkers vary depending on a subject""s IL-1 genotype. In certain embodiments, such biomarkers maybe identified by comparing said biomarkers in subjects with an EOM-associated genotype to those in subjects with a genotype not associated with EOM. In certain embodiments, biomarkers may be used to monitor a subject""s progress towards and through menopause.
In another embodiment, the invention features transgenic non-human animals and their uses in identifying biomarkers that are useful in monitoring a subject""s progress towards and through menopause. In yet another embodiment, the transgenic animals may be used to screen for EOM therapeutics. In a preferred variation, such animals may be used to identify agonists and antagonists of IL-1 xcex1 and/or xcex2 activity or agonists and antagonists of IL-1RA activity.
In still another aspect, the invention provides in vitro and in vivo assays for screening test substances to identify EOM therapeutics. In one embodiment, the screening assay comprises contacting a cell or subject comprising an EOM associated IL-1 allele with a test substance. One or more biomarker is observed and changes in one or more biomarker from an EOM-associated phenotype to a non-EOM-associated phenotype indicates that the test substance is likely to be effective as an EOM therapeutic. In preferred embodiments, the one or more biomarker is an IL-1 bioactivity. In yet a further aspect, the invention features methods for treating or preventing the development of early onset menopause in a woman, by administering to the woman, a pharmaceutically effective amount of an EOM therapeutic of the invention.
Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description and claims.

Methods of diagnosing early-onset menopause


An adaptive digital filter including a non-recursive part and a recursive part, and which can be updated in a simple and reliable manner. The recursive part of the filter has a plurality of separate, permanently set recursive filters (13-16) with different impulse responses, and a linear combination is formed with adaptive weighting factors (W0-W3) from the output signals of the recursive filters (13-16). The filter is updated by a single (e(n)) being utilized for updating the non-recursive part (11) of the filter and the adaptive weighting factors (W0-W3) in the recursive part of the filter.

The impulse response from a filter which is used for echo cancellation in telecommunication equipment shall as closely as possible immitate the impulse response of the transmission line in question. Included in the transmission line in such a case are two-wire to four-wire junctions, analogue-digital converters etc, which affect the impulse response. The latter generally has relatively long extension in time. It is therefore difficult to achieve a suitable impulse response with a filter which only has a finite impulse response. Such filters are called non-recursive filters or FIR filters (finite impulse response). For achieving a suitable impulse response, a filter for echo cancellation should comprise both a non-recursive part and a recursive part. Recursive filters are also called IIR filters (infinite impulse response).
There are known, reliable methods for updating adaptive FIR filters, i.e. adjusting the coefficients of such filters. They can be updated by minimizing the square of an error signal, which constitutes the difference between a so-called desired signal and the output signal of the filter. In such a case the desired signal may be a signal occurring on the receiver side in communication equipment where the filter is included. The square of the error signal can be minimized, e.g. according to the so-called LMS method (least mean square). The LMS method is described inter alia in the book: Widrow and Stearns, "Adaptive signal processing", pp 99-101.
Minimizing the square of an error signal according to the above is a so-called least square problem, due to the square of the error signal being a quadratic function of the filter coefficient values. This means that this square can be represented by a quadratic error surface, in an N-dimensional space where N is the number of coefficients, the optimum filter setting corresponding to the minimum point on this surface.
The corresponding square for an IIR filter is not represented by a quadratic error surface according to the above, however, and the error surface can have local minimum points instead. Known updating algorithms can fasten in such a local minimum point, resulting in that the optimum setting is never obtained.
Recursive filters can also be instable, as a result of that the poles in the Z transform of the transfer function can at least temporarily be moved outside the unit circle. For an IIR filter of the first degree, this means that the filter coefficient can be an amount greater than one, which makes the filter instable.
It is known to use a so-called "equation error" structure to avoid the problem with local minimii. In such a case two FIR filters are used, inter alia, of which one is connected to a transmitter side and the other to a receiver side in the same telecommunication equipment. An error signal is formed by the output signal of one filter being subtracted from the output signal of the other. The square of this error signal has a quadratic error surface, but a structure of this kind has the disadvantage that the minimized error signal does not represent the actual error. This is so, inter alia, when disturbances occur and when speech signals occur on the transmitter and receiver sides simultaneously. It has also been found difficult to adjust two filters which are connected in this way, due to the filters affecting each other. The equation error method is described, e.g. in the above-mentioned book "Adaptive signal processing", pp 250-253.

Adaptive digital filter having non-recursive and recursive filter elements


A forklift includes forks, cylinders for causing the forks to perform an ascending/descending operation in accordance with the flow rate of hydraulic oil, a first valve for controlling the flow rate of the hydraulic oil in accordance with an energizing current, a second valve 6 for regulating the flow rate of the hydraulic oil in accordance with cylinder pressure, and a control portion that calculates the flow rate to be regulated by the second valve, on the basis of cylinder pressure detected by a pressure sensor, calculates a current command value for the energizing current, with the flow rate to be controlled by the first valve being set equal to the regulated flow rate, and changes the energizing current in two stages, with the current command value as the upper limit of the energizing current, thereby decelerating the forks in two stages when stopping the ascending/descending operation.

FIG. 7 illustrates a conventional forklift 1C. The forklift 1C includes forks 3 for holding a load 2, cylinders 4 for causing the forks 3 to ascend or descend at a speed corresponding to the flow rate of hydraulic oil, a first valve (e.g., electromagnetic proportional control valve) 5 for controlling the flow rate of hydraulic oil, a second valve (e.g., flow regulator valve) 6 for regulating the flow rate of hydraulic oil between the cylinders 4 and the first valve 5 in accordance with cylinder pressure (the weight of the load 2), a control portion 27 for controlling the first valve 5, and a lift lever 8 for starting/stopping the ascending/descending operation of the forks 3.
The cylinders 4 are connected to a hydraulic portion 10 of the forklift 1C via the second valve 6 and the first valve 5, as shown in FIG. 8. The hydraulic portion 10 includes a tank 10A containing the hydraulic oil, a pump 10B for supplying the hydraulic oil in the tank 10A to the first valve 5, a motor 10C for driving the pump 10B, a hydraulic oil supply path, and a hydraulic oil discharge path.
The control portion 27 includes a current calculation portion 27A for calculating a current command value on the basis of an angle of the lift lever 8, and a current supply portion 27B for supplying the first valve 5 with an energizing current in accordance with the current command value. The lever angle is zero when the lift lever 8 is in neutral position. For example, the forks 3 descend when the lever angle is positive, ascend when the lever angle is negative, and stop when the lever angle is zero.
Incidentally, the forklift 1C has a problem in that the load 2 is vertically vibrated when the ascending/descending operation of the forks 3 is started or stopped. A known solution to this problem is an approach to changing the ascending/descending speed of the forks 3 in two stages. This approach cancels out a vibration caused by the first speed change with a vibration caused by the second speed change, and therefore, the load 2 is inhibited from vibrating (e.g., see Patent Document 1).
This will be described below taking as an example the case where the descending operation of the forks 3 is stopped. As shown in FIG. 9(A), at time t0, the angle of the lift lever 8 is X (where X>0), and the forks 3 are descending at a speed corresponding to the lever angle X.
Once the angle of the lift lever 8 changes from X to 0 at time t1, the current calculation portion 27A decreases the current command value in two stages. Assuming that the current command value is B3 mA when the lever angle is X, the current calculation portion 27A decreases the current command value by half from B3 mA to B4 mA over a period from time t1 to time t1′, and further decreases the current command value from B4 mA to 0 mA over a period from time t2 to time t2′ (see FIG. 9(B)).
The current supply portion 27B decreases the energizing current by half from B3 mA to B4 mA over a period from time t1 to time t1′ and further decreases the energizing current from B4 mA to 0 mA over a period from time t2 to time t2′.
At the center of gravity G of the load 2, a first vibration occurs at time t1 at which the descending speed of the forks 3 is changed for the first time, and a second vibration, which is 180° out of phase from the first vibration and has the same amplitude as the first vibration (strictly, a smaller amplitude due to attenuation), occurs at time t2 at which the descending speed of the forks 3 is changed for the second time (see FIG. 9(C)). Accordingly, the first vibration is cancelled out by the second vibration, with the result that the load 2 is inhibited from vibrating.


A method and apparatus is disclosed for adaptively sampling an analogue signal to increase the sampling rate in the presence of high frequency content within the signal, for example, QRS complex of an ECG signal. In one aspect, a change in a derivative of the analogue signal is used to control a voltage-controlled oscillator to provide a clock signal for an analogue-to-digital converter. The change in the derivative is compared to an automatically controlled threshold value. The clock signal controls the sampling rate of the analogue-to-digital converter so that the sampling rate is increased from one level, where only P and T waves are present to another higher level when the QRS complex has been detected.

1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to adaptive sampling and is more particularly, although not exclusively concerned with the adaptive sampling of biopotential signals.
2. Description of the Related Technology
Power efficiency of readout circuits for ambulatory monitoring of biopotential signals has been significantly improved during recent years, leaving digital signal processing and wireless transmission dominating the system power. One of the key problems of the current wireless biomedical systems is the vast amount of data that needs to be processed by a digital signal processor (DSP) and/or that needs to be transmitted over the wireless link. Such a vast amount of data considerably limits the power autonomy of these systems. Therefore, the compression of data is gaining more attention for reducing the amount of processing and the data transmitted over the wireless link.
The sampling rate of biopotential signals and, more in particular, those of ECG signals, is conventionally selected according to the bandwidth of the signal, which is defined by the QRS complex part of the ECG trace In addition, some diagnostic tools such as heart rate variability (HRV) analysis, may require even higher sampling rate due to the required time resolution to precisely find the R point in the QRS complex. However, such high and constant sampling rate over the entire ECG signal significantly increases the data rate and leads to increasing power dissipation.
Commonly portable biopotential monitoring systems follow one of two approaches:                1. The signals are processed in the system and the results are transmitted; or        2. The signals are continuously streamed and the processing takes place at the receiver side.
The first type of system can make use of data compression to reduce DSP work load. The second type of system can benefit from data compression by transmitting significantly less data.


In a method for producing an optical recording medium by forming a recording film on a substrate by means of vapor deposition of a pigment material in a high vacuum condition, the temperature (.degree. C.) of an evaporation vessel for heating and evaporating the pigment material is not more than 2.5 times as high as the evaporation starting temperature of the pigment material.

As an optical recording medium as described above, an optical disk (the so-called CD-R disk) of "write-once" type is practically available into which a user can write (or record) data only once. This optical recording medium Attachment A includes a recording film made of a pigment material, for example, an organic pigment material such as a cyanine based compound, a phthalocyanine based compound and so on.
In order to form the recording film on a substrate in the production of the optical disk as described above, a spin coating method is generally employed in which a pigment material is dissolved in a solvent to obtain a solution, which is applied onto the substrate by means of a spin coater and dried.
The recording film formed as described above generally has a thickness of 0.1 to 0.3 .mu.m, and uniformity of thickness over the entire surface of the substrate is required. In order to meet this requirement, various measures are proposed such as developments of techniques for applying the pigment material including selection of solvents and precise control of a rotating table of the spin coater as well as thorough management of a surrounding atmosphere for performing the coating process and surface conditions of the substrate.
However, with the spin coating method as mentioned above, it is not easy to control thickness variation of the recording film among individual disks and/or thickness variation of the recording film within a single disk within a given degree by means of the conventional technique for forming the recording film or the management of the surrounding atmosphere for forming the recording film as described above when the thickness of the recording film to be formed is smaller, for example, near 0.1 .mu.m.
Also, the spin coating method has an inherent problem that the thickness of the recording film changes along a radial direction of the disk, namely that the thickness of the recording film to be formed tends to be larger on an outer peripheral side than on an inner peripheral side of the disk. This renders it extremely difficult to stably form a recording film having a thickness which is uniform among individual disks or within a single disk.
Further, instead of the above-mentioned spin coating method, there is known a method of producing the optical recording medium characterized by forming the recording film on the substrate by means of a vacuum deposition method which is one of the so-called dry processes. It is expected that this method would improve the uniformity of the thickness of the recording film to be formed. However, this method involves other problems such as low productivity and dust adhesion. Therefore, in order to efficiently perform the vacuum deposition method, it is desired that these problems are at least suppressed or preferably substantially solved.

Optical recording medium and method of its manufacture

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A payment terminal using a mobile communication device, such as a mobile phone, is located on a removable memory card (1) which is adjusted in such a way so it can be inserted into an additional hardware slot which is used to add functionalities that surpasses the basic functions of the mobile communication device. (4). A payment POS terminal application runs on a removable memory card (1), which also contains at least one payment card. The configuration data of the terminal's selected identity and the payment card's data are located in the separate parts of the secure element (3, 31, 32) or in completely independent secure elements (3, 31, 32). The payment card's unit (7) with the card's payment application is located in the secured part of the memory, separately from the terminal's configuration data unit (6). The memory card (1) is of SD type or miniSD or microSD card or an M2 card. The memory card (1) is capable of operating operate as a multi-identity terminal and it can also cooperate with several payment cards. In preferable configuration it is equipped with a contactless communication element. (13).

The payment terminals, POS (Point of Sale) terminals that are located permanently in commercial premises are known. The POS terminal works in such a way, that the transfer of money from the purchaser's account to the shop operator's account is secured within an agreed system. Up till now, the payment over POS terminal was characterized as a payment, in which the payment's recipient has a POS terminal and the paying customer uses a corresponding card as a payment device. In the first phase, a check, verification of the card holder is run. This process should be highly secured and should be realized without unreasonable effort on the side of both the merchant and the paying customer. Subsequently, a process in which the paid amount is automatically credited to the shop operator's account is run. Originally, cards equipped only with a magnetic stripe were used for the run of payment-terminal application. However, with respect to the technical restrictions, the magnetic stripe with loaded data presented a security risk, since the magnetic stripe could be copied or changed with the use of simple technical devices. Reading of internal data from magnetic stripe is low-tech.
Therefore, an agreement on creation of EMV standard using microchip located on the payment card was made between the card issuers Europay International, MasterCard and VISA in the second half of the nineties. EMV (Europay MasterCard Visa) standard describes interaction between the payment card chip and POS terminal for the purpose of ensuring worldwide interoperability. The usage of microchip enables to protect data located on it in such a way that it is not possible to access them from the outside without a PIN. The usage of chip on the card also enables the Cardholder Verification to be realized even without online connection to the processor centre. While magnetic stripe represented a passive data carrier, the chip on the card is basically a small computer with its own computing capacity, with secured parts of the memory and with a data encryption unit. Despite the mentioned technical characteristics of the current POS terminals, it was discovered that in case of fraudulent adjustments and manipulations in the insides of the POS terminal or in case of inserting an intermediary link to the reading device, the data from the card and the PIN code can be disclosed. It usually happens without the knowledge of the owner of the shop with the POS terminal and even then usually in case of insufficient control by the attending personnel or by other fraudulent way.
However until now, there are not known such technical tools that would enable converting the mobile phone into that kind of payment terminal, which would be owned by the paying customer and which would have the security required by the individual participants of the entire business relationship (payment card issuer, processing centre, bank, merchant).
The solution under the CN101351819 patent indicates the possibility of using a mobile phone as a POS terminal; however it does not deal with specific organization of individual essential elements of the system. Many solutions, such as the ones under the patents CN101339685, CN101329801, US2008270246 (A1), SI22595 (A), US2008059375 describe the mobile phone's involvement in direct debit payments, notwithstanding there are no independent POS terminal elements directly in the phone. Or, as it is in the US20077241180 (A1) file, there are solutions in which a mobile phone and a static POS terminal interact.
There is a need for such a technical solution which will have the high security of EMV payment application and which will produce final payment cryptograms exactly in the form of EMV standards and all that even in case of internet payments or other payments realized outside the normal stores, e.g. in case of paying for download of programs that are stored at the mobile handset makers' websites. These kinds of solutions are either not known at the moment or they have security risks that reside in the fact there might come to be disclosed or misused the communication during the data transfer from the paying customer's payment card to the merchant's POS terminal or virtual POS terminal e.g. over internet or in case of NFC or GPRS communication. In case the original close contact between the POS terminal and the payment card in a normal store is lengthened to the communication over internet environment, then the security risks are increased.
The existing POS terminals are distinguished by a stable structure, which besides other things includes a communication channel connected to the payment processing centre, a printer, an encryption key, a card reader, which is mainly a reader of different format cards, and also a keyboard for PIN code entering. This kind of technical configuration requires certain space and it is relatively expensive. The currently known POS terminals are intended for stable sale locations in physical shops, where high costs of purchase, installation and operation of POS terminals are offset by reasonable turnovers of payments for purchases.
The solution according to the published patent WO2008063990 describes a system in which the POS terminal does not have a communication channel with the payment processing center and uses a mediated connection over the customer's mobile phone for it. This solution has lower security because the payment terminal application itself runs on a remote computer and the mobile phone is only a mediator of communication. Other published patents describe divided POS terminal in such a way in which directly on the payment location there is only its managing part that is connected to the remaining part located in some other part of the shop. The existing solutions and published patents do not offer simple instruction of how to create a cheap, non-complicated and eventually also portable POS payment terminal, which would create payment cryptograms according to the current standards, above all the EMV standards.
All solutions currently existing require relatively complicated installation and encompass many input and output devices, which increases their price. Until now, there are no such devices known that would be characterized by both simplicity, high security and that would be portable and usable even in small shops such as in newspaper kiosks or in mobile counters selling fast food.

Payment terminal using a mobile communication device, such as a mobile phone; a method of direct debit payment transaction


A cutting insert for chip cutting machining, preferably for plane milling operations, has a generally square geometry and comprises a chip face and a number of clearance faces. A portion of the chip face is beveled and extends along a cutting edge from one cutting corner toward an adjacent cutting corner. The beveled portion is angularly oriented such that the insert obtains a more negative cutting geometry near the cutting corner than at a distance therefrom in order to achieve increased strength of the insert.

The present invention relates to a cutting insert for chip cutting machining, preferably for plane milling operations. The insert has a generally polygonal shape comprising a chip face and clearance faces, with two of the clearance faces intersecting each other in a cutting corner. The chip face is mainly oriented in one plane. The clearance faces are oriented such as to form an inner acute angle with the plane. The periphery of the insert is provided with cutting edges.
A prior art insert of the afore-mentioned type (e.g., see U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,632,607 and 4,681,488) comprises a planar chip face which is oriented at a relatively pronounced acute inner angle to the adjacent clearance face. When milling is carried out, that insert edge has incurred damage and undesirable wear.
It is a purpose of the present invention to provide a cutting insert having improved strength.

Cutting insert for chip removing machining


According to the present invention, there is provided a white organic light emitting diode (W-OLED) display device for effectively blocking outgas generated from a color filter using silicon nitride having a low water vapor transmission rate as a passivation layer instead of a planarization layer which is an organic insulating layer, and a method of fabricating the same.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a white organic light emitting diode (W-OLED) display device and a method of fabricating the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, with rising interests in information displays and increasing demands to use portable information media, researches and commercialization of light-weight and thin-profile flat panel displays (FPDs) for substituting traditional displays such as cathode ray tubes (CRTs) have been actively carried out.
In the flat panel display field, light weight and low power consumption liquid crystal display (LCD) devices have received well-deserved attention until the present time, but the liquid crystal display device is not a light emitting device but a light receiving device and also has drawbacks in brightness, contrast ratio, viewing angle, and the like, and thus the development of new display devices has been actively carried out to overcome such drawbacks.
An organic light emitting diode display device among new display devices is a self-emission type, which has excellent characteristics in viewing angle, contrast ratio, and the like compared to the liquid crystal display device. Moreover, the organic light emitting diode device does not require a backlight unit, thereby allowing light-weight and thin-profile as well as having an advantage in the aspect of power consumption. In addition, the organic light emitting diode device may have an advantage of allowing direct current low voltage driving and fast response speed, and particularly have a beneficial advantage in the aspect of fabrication cost.
Contrary to liquid crystal display devices or plasma display panels, the process of fabricating an organic light emitting diode display device may be very simple since only deposition and encapsulation processes are necessary for the fabrication process. Further, if the organic light emitting diode display device is driven with an active matrix scheme having a thin-film transistor, which is a switching element, for each pixel, then it may be possible to obtain the same brightness level even when a low current is applied, thereby having an advantage of low power consumption, fine pitch, and large-sized screen.
Hereinafter, basic structure and operation characteristic of the organic light emitting diode display device will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the light emitting principle of a typical organic light emitting diode display device.
A typical organic light emitting diode display device may include an organic light emitting diode as illustrated in FIG. 1. The organic light emitting diode may include organic chemical layers 30a, 30b, 30c, 30d, 30e formed between an anode 18 which is a pixel electrode and a cathode 28 which is a common electrode.
In this case, the organic chemical layers 30a, 30b, 30c, 30d, 30e may include a hole injection layer 30a, a hole transport layer 30b, an emission layer 30c, an electron transport layer 30d, and an electron injection layer 30e.
If a drive voltage is applied to the anode 18 and cathode 28, then holes passed through the hole transport layer 30b and electrons passed through the electron transport layer 30d move to the emission layer 30c to form excitons, and as a result the emission layer 30c emits visible light.
In the organic light emitting diode display device, pixels made of organic light emitting diodes having the foregoing structure are arranged in a matrix form and such pixels are selectively controlled by using a data voltage and a scan voltage to display an image.
The organic light emitting diode display device can be classified into a passive matrix display device and an active matrix display device using TFT as a switching element. Between them, according to the active matrix scheme, TFT which is an active element is selectively turned on to select a pixel, and the light emission of the pixel is maintained by a voltage maintained at a storage capacitor.
FIG. 2 is an equivalent circuit diagram for one pixel in a typical organic light emitting diode display device, illustrating an equivalent circuit diagram for a typical pixel with 2T1C (including two transistors and one capacitor) in an organic light emitting diode display device using an active matrix scheme.
Referring to FIG. 2, a pixel of the organic light emitting diode display device using an active matrix scheme may include an organic light emitting diode (OLED), a data line (DL) and a gate line (GL) crossed with each other, a switching TFT (SW), a driving TFT (DR) and a storage capacitor (Cst).
Here, the switching TFT (SW) is turned on in response to a scan pulse supplied from the gate line (GL) to turn on a current path between its own source electrode and drain electrode. A data voltage supplied from the data line (DL) during the on-time period of the switching TFT (SW) passes through the source electrode and drain electrode of the switching TFT (SW) and applied to a gate electrode and a storage capacitor (Cst) of the driving TFT (DR).
At this time, the driving TFT (DR) controls a current flowing through the organic light emitting diode (OLED) according to a data voltage applied to its own drain electrode. Further, the storage capacitor (Cst) stores a voltage between the data voltage and the low-level power voltage (Vss), and then constantly maintains for a frame period.
In recent years, getting out of small-sized display panels for portable devices, interests have been concentrated on the medium to large-sized display market, and white organic light emitting diodes (W-OLEDs) have received a lot of attention as a technology for satisfying the market demand. The W-OLEDs may use a color filter for implementing the red, green and blue colors, and also use a planarization layer to compensate a step of the color filter.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating the structure of a white organic light emitting diode display device.
Referring to FIG. 3, a typical W-OLED display device may implement the red, green and blue colors using a color filter 6G, 6W, 6R, 6B. The color filter 6G, 6W, 6R, 6B may be patterned on the substrate 10, and then a photo acryl material may be used as a planarization layer 15c to compensate a step of the color filter 6G, 6W, 6R, 6B.
In this case, the color filter 6G, 6W, 6R, 6B may be formed with a thickness of about 1-2 μm to implement the color characteristics, and the planarization layer 15c may be formed with a thickness of about 2-3 μm to compensate the step.
An anode 18 may be formed by using indium tin oxide (ITO) subsequent to forming the planarization layer 15c.
In this case, a bank layer 25 may be formed to be overlapped with the anode 18, but outgas may be generated from the color filter 6G, 6W, 6R, 6B and planarization layer 15c during the degradation process and moved through a boundary surface of the anode 18, thereby generating pixel shrinkage in which an image is shrunk from the pixel edge. The outgas may have an effect on the reliability of the white organic emission layer 30, thus generating pixel shrinkage.
In addition, the planarization layer 15c may serve as a wave guide at an upper portion and a lower end portion of the pixel such that light generated from the white organic emission layer 30 is transmitted to generate fine light beams in a non-emission region.
For example, though vacuum annealing is carried out subsequent to depositing the organic emission layer 30, it is seen that pixel shrinkage occurs after 240 hours has passed at 80° C.
In other words, materials for the color filter 6G, 6W, 6R, 6B used in W-OLED may include dye, pigment, dispersing agent, and the like, but they may be a cause of outgas emission, thereby having an effect on the reliability of the organic emission layer 30 to generate pixel shrinkage.

White organic light emitting diode display device and method of fabricating the same


A system for controlling power consumption of a network includes at least one terminal to receive a plurality of requests to route data from a plurality of data sources to a plurality of data sinks, where the data sources and the data sinks are connected to each other through a plurality of network nodes forming the network, and a network configuration unit. The network configuration unit includes a selection module configured to select a configuration of the network nodes that allows the network to have a lowest overall power consumption of the network among a plurality of configurations of the network, and an output module configured to output a plurality of instruction signals to the network nodes to perform the network configuration. A network path for transmitting a network flow is selected that does not allow the network flow to be split and flow through another network path.

A data center is typically made of a network of nodes that communicate data between data sources and data sinks. In communicating data, a network node is generally not power-proportional in that power consumed by the network node is not proportional to the amount of data transferred by the network node. For instance, a switch that has a communication channel on may consume almost the same amount of power in keeping the communication channel on regardless of how much data that the switch transfers. While reliance of a network may be improved by having available communication channels of the network nodes switched on and evenly distributing data traffic across the open communication channels, such a network configuration is often not energy-efficient. Thus, a network configuration that manages network nodes to conserve power while satisfying requests for routing data from data sources and other requirements may be useful.

System for controlling power consumption of a network

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L. P.


A child proof container and safety closure comprising a container, a cap for closing the open end of the container storing a hazardous product and a safety closure placed over the cap and threaded to the container. An extending tab on the top of the cap, extending through a hole in the center of the top of the closure, is manually held stationary during removal of the closure. An extending neck portion of the container and a peripheral wall of the cap, positioned over the extending neck portion, both have an offset axis displaced about the same distance from a central axis of the mating threads on the closure and the container. The offset axes of the container and the cap are positioned in alignment to permit closure removal when an alignment lug, on the outside of the extending neck portion of the container, is in contact with a shoulder of an annular slot on the inside of the peripheral wall of the cap. Serrations on the outside serrated surface of the cap and the inside serrated surface of the closure, are concentric with the threads on the closure and the container when the offset axes are in alignment. The serrations grip lock together when the offset axes go out of alignment, which occurs when the closure removal is attempted by holding the container in one hand and trying to remove the closure with the other hand. In order for a person to remove the safety closure, a proper procedure of holding the extending tab stationary to maintain proper positioning of the alignment lug in the annular slot, will allow unthreading and removal of the closure.

A variety of child proof safety closures have been designed and marketed which are intended to prevent young children from opening containers of medicine and other potentially dangerous products. Most of these safety closures prevent accidental opening by children in accordance with their design features, but have a common problem of being difficult for adults to open, particularly the elderly and people who are physically handicapped.
For example, many child proof container systems for aspirin and other medicines utilize arrows or other marks on the closure and container which must be aligned before the closure can be pryed off. These systems appear to work well to prevent accidental opening by children but are not considered to be adult easy, since the alignment marks are hard to see and/or feel, the closure is very tight on the container and difficult to rotate to the exact alignment point, and is also hard to pry off even after proper alignment. The push down and twist safety closure systems now on the market, are apparently good to prevent opening by children hut because of the relatively high push and twist forces needed for opening, are not considered adult easy and are a real problem for the elderly and the handicapped. The above and other child proof closure systems which by design require relatively high forces in one direction or another are difficult for adults to open.
Many safety closures utilizing flexible skirts, thumb tabs and lugs, and tricky locking systems are not successfully marketed due to their design complexity and resulting high cost to manufacture.

Child proof container and safety closure


Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for grouping users are provided. One embodiment of the methods includes: dividing a plurality of users targeted by the an advertisement candidate into a plurality of user buckets, wherein each of the plurality of user buckets is associated with a first conversion score; obtaining a trained prediction model corresponding to the advertisement, wherein the trained prediction model is able to predict a conversion score based at least on the first conversion score associated with a user bucket and a second conversion score associated with a group of user buckets comprising the user bucket; and constructing an optimization model using the trained prediction model, wherein an objective function of the optimization problem is to maximize a total conversion score with a grouping strategy determined by solving the optimization problem.

Online advertising is a form of marketing and advertising that uses the internet to deliver promotional marketing messages (e.g., advertisement, promotion, coupon) to users. Usually one advertisement may be directed towards users with certain traits, based on the product and/or the person the advertiser is promoting.
When determining which advertisements to be displayed to a user, the host (e.g., a search engine, a website) may first determine the advertisement candidates that target this user, and then select one or more of them to display to the user (e.g., depending on the number of available advertisement slots).
Traditionally, the users targeted by an advertisement are divided into a few groups according to the users' conversion rates. Usually the users are ordered by their conversion rates in a descending order, and only the users on the top of the list may have a chance to be selected to receive the advertisement. Although displaying the advertisement only to the few users with high conversion rates may provide short-term benefit, it limits the user base (e.g., number of users receiving the advertisement) and may lead to a comprised overall user exposures. It is thus desirable to optimize the consumer grouping method for advertisement, in order to improve the fairness and overall effectiveness for online advertising.

Method and system for optimizing user grouping for advertisement

ALIPAY (HANGZHOU) INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


A connector includes a first housing, a second housing and a fitting assuring member. The second housing includes a first locking protrusion portion having a first slope. The fitting assuring member includes a first assuring locking portion that gets over the first locking protrusion portion to be thereby locked to the first locking protrusion portion when the first housing and the second housing are fitted to each other. The first assuring locking portion begins to slide on the first slope before completion of the fitting, and stays on the first slope until the completion of the fitting.

The present invention relates to a connector and a connector unit.
In a connector formed by a pair of housings fitted to each other, one of the housings is inserted up to a fitting position of the other housing so that terminals received in the housings are electrically connected to each other and the housings are locked to each other. However, the fitting work is performed manually on such a connector. Therefore, there is a fear of terminating the fitting work without noticing a half-fitted (non-locked) state in which one of the housings has not been inserted to a regular fitting position, so that the housing may be unlocked later.
In order to prevent such a half-fitted state between housings, a connector provided with a fitting position assuring lock has been proposed.
The connector according to Patent Literature 1 has a cylindrical female housing in which a female terminal has been received, a cylindrical male housing in which a male terminal has been received and which is fitted to the female housing, a cylindrical fitting assuring member which is slidably attached to the outside of the female housing, a female lock which is supported like a cantilever on the female housing so as to extend toward the male housing, a fitting assuring lock which is supported like a cantilever on the fitting assuring member so as to extend toward the male housing, and a locking protrusion which protrudes from an external surface of the male housing so as to lock the female lock and the fitting assuring lock. The locking protrusion has a slope on which a locking portion on the front end side of the female lock and a locking claw on the front end side of the fitting assuring lock can ride.
In this configuration, when the male housing is inserted into the female housing to which the fitting assuring member has been attached, the locking portion of the female lock first gets over the slope of the locking protrusion so as to be locked to the locking protrusion. Successively, the locking claw of the fitting assuring lock gets over the slope of the locking protrusion and the locking portion of the female lock so as to be locked to the locking protrusion through the locking portion of the female lock. The fitting assuring lock is thus locked to the locking protrusion through the female lock so that fitting between the housings can be assured.
As for details of the above protector, refer to JP-A-2012-064461.


A magazine loader has an elongated bar shape with a top wall and four subtending side walls with a recessed portion in the top wall relative to the plane of the top wall. The recessed portion has an open top cartridge channel in a first portion with two opposed horizontal flanges that extend the length of two side walls, and an open top magazine cavity in a second portion with a bottom wall, three upstanding side walls, and a follower projecting member. The follower projecting member is positioned to fit between opposed retaining clips of a magazine to partially depress a follower. The cartridge channel at a first end has an inclined portion sloped from the top wall to a bottom wall. A strip of sticky tape material attached to a row of cartridges may be used to pull the cartridges through the cartridge channel and into the magazine.

This invention relates to devices and methods for loading cartridges into magazines for use with rifles. The new cartridge magazine loader allows loading of a magazine with multiple cartridges that are positioned side-by-side and retained by one or two strips of sticky tape material.
Various types of cartridge, round, or ammunition loaders are known in the art as is demonstrated in the prior art summary of U.S. Pat. No. 7,059,077, issued on Jun. 13, 2006. The loaders may be for rounds bound with a metal or plastic retainer strip or for loading of loose rounds such as disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 7,059,077 patent. However, there is a need for a simple, multi-cartridge loader that can be used to facilitate the loading of cartridges that may be individually packaged in bulk containers positioned in rows by stacking, positioned in rows in Styrofoam holders, laid in ammunition containers or ammo cans, or otherwise unbound cartridges generally positioned in rows side-by-side that require loading in a cartridge magazine for use with a firearm such as a rifle.


A hybrid thermoelectric-ejector active cooling system having an increased Coefficient of Performance (COP) when compared to typical thermoelectric cooling modules. A thermoelectric cooling module is integrated with an ejector cooling device so that heat from the thermoelectric cooling module is rejected to a high temperature evaporator of the ejector cooling device. This provides for a total COP greater than the sum of the COPs of the thermoelectric cooling module and ejector cooling device individually. For example, given 1 unit input power into the thermoelectric cooling module, the heat received by the cold side of the thermoelectric cooling module would be COPTEC×1; and the energy rejected by the hot side of the thermoelectric cooling module and to drive the ejector cooling device would be COPTEC+1. Thus, the cooling received by the low temperature evaporator of the ejector cooling device is COPEJ×(COPTEC+1); and therefore total COPTE-Ej-AC is COPEj+COPTEC+COPEj×COPTEC. In addition, the hybrid thermoelectric ejector active cooling system will be able to operate at higher temperature differentials than standalone thermoelectric cooling devices.

Thermoelectric cooling systems are useful in many applications because they can be relatively small (e.g., a plate) and have no moving parts. Thermoelectric coolers use the Peltier effect to create cooling on one side of a plate or the like. However, the efficiency of thermoelectric cooling systems is inadequate for many applications, particularly where it is required to have a large temperature differential across the plate. In that event heat transfer from the hot side of the plate back to the cold side reduces effectiveness of the cold side in absorbing heat from the object or space to be cooled. Ejector cooling devices enjoy some of the same advantages, including that they have or can have no moving parts and can be constructed on a small scale. However, ejector cooling devices also suffer from efficiency problems in certain applications.

Hybrid thermoelectric-ejector cooling system

The Curators of the University of Missouri


An approach is provided for providing intent-based monitoring using sensory information. The monitoring platform determines to detect, at a device, sensory information from an environment, the environment relating to a user of the device, one or more other users, or a combination thereof. Next, the monitoring platform processes and/or facilitates a processing of the sensory information to determine intent information associated with the user, the one or more other users, or a combination thereof.

Service providers and device manufacturers (e.g., wireless, cellular, etc.) are continually challenged to deliver value and convenience to consumers by, for example, providing compelling network services. One area of interest has been the development of services and technologies related to monitoring of social interactions. For example, in recent years, the monitoring of social network connections initiated by users have enabled social network providers to assist users in developing further connections with other users (e.g., by providing connection suggestions). Nonetheless, it may be advantageous to guide the interactions between users based on the respective user's intent derived from sensory information, for instance, to correct the level of the social network connections, to ensure that the interactions are in compliance with privacy or security policies, etc.

Method and apparatus for providing intent-based monitoring using sensory information


Systems, methods, and software to automatically detect print defects in printed matter. Some embodiments include receiving a reference image and a scanned image, wherein the reference image and the scanned image are of the same subject matter and generating a plurality of detail maps of the reference image and the scanned image at each one or more resolutions to derive one or more detail maps of each image at each resolution. The detail maps, in some embodiments, are generated by identifying differences between pixels in each of one or more directions. The embodiments further include dividing the detail maps of each image into blocks of equal image proportion and calculate an activity measure of each block in each of the detail maps. These embodiments further calculate similarity measures between the blocks of reference image detail maps and the respective blocks of the scanned image detail maps.

Detecting defects within printed material has generally been a manual process. In such a case, a person manually views a printed item to see if any defects are apparent. This can be a time consuming and expensive process.
Some methods exist for using scanning technology to detect print defects. However, these methods use precise spatial and intensity alignments and are sensitive to even small noise perturbations. This results in a high rate of false defect detections and detection of acceptable defects that would not be considered defects. Further, some such detected defects may not even be perceivable by a person.
Other methods exist to detect texture defects in prints or on surfaces. However, these methods do not work well with printed items containing various types of content, including pure line art works, natural images, text, and combined documents.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


An item of furniture includes at least one furniture element and at least one fitting for guiding a movable furniture part. The fitting is integrated into a plate-shaped composite element that is mounted parallel to a wall of the at least one furniture element and is mounted inside the furniture element.

Exemplary embodiments of the invention relate to an item of furniture having at least one furniture body and at least one fitting for guiding a movable furniture part.
Pieces of furniture, in particular kitchen furniture such as bottom, top, or hanging cabinets, generally have a furniture body open toward the front, on which furniture parts movably guided via one or more fittings are installed. The movably guided furniture parts can be, for example, drawers having a drawer front panel or doors or flaps, which can be used individually or in different combinations in an item of furniture. The present application relates in particular to furniture having fittings that guide doors or flaps as movable furniture parts. Doors and flaps can be in one piece or can consist of multiple individual elements in this case, for example, a folding flap in which various parts of the flap move in relation to one another in the movement sequence.
Door hinges, which are arranged on the side of the pivot axis between furniture body and door, are generally used for guiding doors. A comparable arrangement of hinges can also be used in principle in the case of flaps. These hinges are then arranged along an upper side edge of the flap. However, it is frequently desirable to open the flaps in a combined pivoting and sliding movement, for example, in the case of a hanging cabinet, to obtain the greatest possible access to the cabinet interior without the flap having to be pivoted up in a horizontal position, in which it is reachable not at all or only poorly by the user for closing. For this reason, special flap fittings have become established, which are not arranged along the pivot axis between the furniture body and the flap, but rather laterally on (in general both) side edges between the flap and the side wall of the furniture body.
Such door hinges or flap fittings for installation on an inner side of the side wall or the side walls of the furniture body are known. The fittings unavoidably protrude into the interior of the furniture body in this case, however, which reduces the usable storage space inside the furniture body, on the one hand, and also impairs a subdivision or structuring of the interior of the furniture body, on the other hand.
To install door hinges, milling a pocket into an end face of a side wall, into which the door hinge is insertable from the front, is known. The inner side of the side wall remains free in this manner. A hinge suitable for use in such a milled pocket is known, for example, from the document DE 1559963.
However, this procedure is only suitable for door hinges having a very small installation depth. This is because of the restricted milling depth, with which such a pocket can be milled from the end face into the side wall cost-effectively in the production process. The installation thickness of the door hinge inserted into such a milled pocket is also very limited, since side walls in the furniture field have a wall thickness of only 16-20 mm (millimeters). During the milling procedure, a certain minimum wall thickness has to remain laterally to the milled-out pockets, since an excessively thin wall would already crack or break in the milling procedure or would become so deformed that it no longer has a perfect surface.
The use of larger and more complex door hinges is already not possible in this manner. Flap hinges generally have a large installation depth in the range of more than 10 or 15 cm (centimeters), which is not to be achieved by milling from the end face.
In addition, the milling of a pocket into which the fitting can be inserted presumes a corresponding processing capability of the material of the furniture body and its walls. This is fundamentally provided in the case of wood as the material of the furniture body, for example, at least with sufficient wall thickness. However, if materials that can be processed by cutting less well or not at all are to be used for the furniture body, such pockets cannot be milled in or cannot be milled in cost-effectively. Such materials are, for example, glass, stone, or concrete.
Exemplary embodiments the present invention are directed to an item of furniture of the type mentioned at the outset in which flaps, doors, or other movable furniture parts can be arranged on a furniture body without the fittings used for this purpose obstructing a structuring of the interior of the furniture body and without the material selection for the furniture body being restricted.
An item of furniture according to the invention of the type mentioned at the outset is distinguished in that the fitting is integrated into a plate-shaped composite element, which is arranged inside the furniture body.
The fitting is thus neither attached directly on the furniture body nor is it integrated into a side wall of the furniture body. Instead, the fitting is part of a plate-shaped composite element, which is arranged inside the furniture body. The fitting integrated into the composite element is used to guide a movable furniture part, for example, a door or a flap. The furniture body itself can thus be manufactured independently of the fitting and can also be manufactured from materials that are difficult to process, such as glass or stone, or can be cast in one piece for example, from concrete or another castable material. Because the plate-shaped composite element comprises the fitting in integrated form and the fitting is not attached externally to the plate-shaped composite element, the composite element can in turn have a homogeneous surface. Such a composite element in the furniture body is a visually appealing element which does not impair the interior visually or with respect to the structuring options.
In the scope of the application, the wall of the furniture body on which the composite element is attached can be arranged on any side of the furniture body, independently of its alignment. In particular, the plate-shaped composite element can be arranged in arbitrary alignment inside the furniture body, in particular vertically, horizontally, or obliquely, for example, diagonally in the furniture body.
In one advantageous embodiment of the item of furniture, the plate-shaped composite element has lateral dimensions substantially corresponding to the dimensions of the wall of the furniture body. The composite element thus extends over the entire surface of the corresponding wall of the furniture body. The corresponding inner surface of the furniture body is thus formed over the entire area by the composite element. In spite of the fitting, the item of furniture has a uniform and thus visually appealing interior view.
In a further advantageous embodiment of the item of furniture, the composite element is arranged parallel to a wall of the furniture body. The wall can have any arbitrary alignment in this case, and can be, for example, a side wall or a top panel or bottom panel of the furniture body. In a first embodiment, the composite element abuts the wall of the furniture body. In this case, the composite element appears as part of the wall of the furniture body without impairing the interior. In particular if the composite element is provided with a continuous cover layer facing toward the interior, the arrangement of structuring and/or organization elements in the interior is also not obstructed by a protruding fitting.
In a further advantageous embodiment, the composite element is arranged parallel to one of the walls, but spaced apart from this wall, in the furniture body. The composite element thus provides the fittings required for guiding a door or flap and is simultaneously used in turn as an element for subdividing and thus structuring the interior of the furniture body. It is used in this meaning as an intermediate wall of the furniture body.
If the at least one plate-shaped composite element abuts the wall of the furniture body, it is preferably also connected to the wall, for example, by connecting means such as bolts or the like, which interact with grooves or recesses. Alternatively, or additionally, the plate-shaped composite element can be adhesively bonded to the wall of the furniture body, in particular over the entire area.
In a further advantageous embodiment of the item of furniture, the composite element has at least one core, which is arranged in a plane with the fitting, wherein the at least one core and the fitting are arranged between two continuous cover layers. A composite element constructed in this manner is distinguished by a continuous uniform appearance and haptics of its lateral surface. The core moreover offers a fastening option for the composite element on the furniture body in a simple manner. The core can be manufactured, for example, from wood or a wooden composite material such as MDF (medium-density fiberboard) or HDF (high-density fiberboard). Screws as fastening means can be screwed directly into this material, for example, through corresponding boreholes in the furniture body. Alternatively, inserts, for example, threaded inserts can be arranged in the core, into which the fastening screws can be screwed. To save weight, the core can also comprise a light construction material, for example, paperboard in a honeycomb structure, in portions.
The fitting is advantageously already integrated into the composite element during the assembly thereof. A large fitting having a large installation depth, which even extends, for example, substantially over the entire width of the composite element, can thus also be used. In particular, flap fittings can be used, the lever mechanism of which can be retracted completely (possibly except for installation elements on which the movable furniture part is fastened) into an opening in an end face of the composite element.
The two continuous cover layers are preferably connected in a planar manner to the at least one core and/or the fitting, for example, laminated on. The planar connection stabilizes the composite element and enables the use of relatively thin cover layers having thicknesses in the range of tenths of millimeters.
In a further advantageous embodiment of the item of furniture, at least one further composite element having an integrated fitting is arranged externally on at least one wall of the furniture body. The fitting integrated into the at least one further composite element is preferably positioned on a different side of the furniture body than the fitting integrated into the at least one composite element. In particular, in this case the furniture body has two opposing open sides, wherein the fitting integrated into the at least one further composite element is positioned on one open side of the furniture body, and the fitting integrated into the at least one composite element is positioned on the opposing other side. Thus, for example, a cabinet having an interior can be constructed, which is closed using flaps on opposing sides. Because of the large installation depth of flap fittings, two flap fittings facing toward opposing sides generally cannot be arranged in one plane. The construction having two composite elements, which are arranged on the interior and exterior of a side wall of the furniture body, represents a visually appealing solution.
In a further advantageous embodiment of the item of furniture, an installation element for fastening on a wall is integrated into the at least one composite element. In this embodiment, all functional elements are provided by the composite elements. The furniture body can accordingly be constructed in reduced form. The installation element is preferably fastened on the fitting inside the composite element so that forces which act on the fitting can be dissipated effectively directly via the installation element onto a building wall.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Item of furniture having an attachable plate-shaped composite element with integrated fitting


An automatic water heating and distilling apparatus is provided having a hot water reservoir, an evaporator tank, a condenser, a distilled water reservoir and a control mechanism. Water is boiled within the evaporator tank generating steam which is condensed in the condenser to form distilled water. The heat rejected during condensation is transferred into the hot water reservoir. The distilled water reservoir has an input coupled to the condenser, an output for distilled water, and an overflow so that excess distilled water is returned to the evaporator tank. The control mechanism automatically regulates the operation of a heater within the evaporator to maintain the water in the hot water reservoir within a selected operating range. Various alternative embodiments are also described including a hot water heating apparatus utilizing an enclosed heat transfer device partially filled with liquid having a boiling point above the selected temperature for the water to be heated. A heat transfer device is provided with a reservoir portion for accumulating liquid and a relatively higher condensive portion in cooperation with the hot water reservoir. A heater, a temperature sensor, and a control mechanism are likewise provided to automatically maintain the water in the hot water reservoir within a selected temperature range.

Residential water distillers have gained in popularity as a result of an increased concern about drinking water quality. By far, the most common type of residential distiller is the counter-top design generally shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,052,267 to McFee. Counter-top distillers, while inexpensive to purchase, consume large amounts of energy which is exhausted into the atmosphere. In the case of air conditioned homes, not only is the energy exhausted to the atmosphere wasted, but additional energy is also needed to cool the house. In order to minimize the energy dissipated into the room, there have been efforts to develop a water distiller which is cooled by tap water, which can then be poured down a drain. An example of such a water cooled distiller is shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,342,625 to Dennison and 4,861,435 to Sweet. Water distillers of both water and air cooled designs are relatively inefficient, since large amounts of waste heat are a necessary by-product of the distilling operation.
There have been efforts over the years to utilize waste heat generated from water distilling systems. U.S. Pat. No. 4,601,789 to Bjorklund discloses a combined water distiller/hot water heater, where the latent heat of evaporation released during the condensation process is used to heat hot water. U.S. Pat. No. 4,549,936 to Erickson discloses a rather complex distillation system which is attached to a hot water heater and uses a pair of pumps to generate a sub-atmospheric region to cause the heated hot water to boil in the distiller without supplemental heating. U.S. Pat. No. 4,687,550 to Wong discloses a multichamber water distiller which generates atmospheric pressure waste water which is dumped down the sink drain or used as hot water for washing purposes. U.S. Pat. No. 797,255 to Beers illustrates a water distilling apparatus provided with a condensing coil for transferring the heat rejected during distillation to a hot water tank.