A glyphosate-tolerant tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) variety in one form known as Matador GT (experimental code PST-5TU0), seed used to produce the grass, and methods of using the grass plant and the seed are provided. This grass is suitable for use in lawns, athletic fields, golf courses, sod, and other turfs where weeds are a problem. Weed control in areas planted with the disclosed grasses can be achieved by direct application of glyphosate herbicides, for example at a rate of at least 4 ounces per acre, such as at least 8 ounces per acre.

Fescue grasses (Festuca species) are widely used as turf in a variety of applications, including home lawns, golf courses, athletic fields, parks, pasture and along roadsides. Two types of fescue grasses are most commonly grown: tall fescues and fine fescues. Tall fescue grasses (such as F. arundinacea) have excellent drought and wear resistance. Tall fescue is adapted to a wide range of climactic conditions and is the most predominant cool-season, perennial grass in the United States. (See Tall Fescue, Edited by Buckner and Bush, Published by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America. ASA Monograph Number 20. 1979. ISBN 0-89118-057-5). The term fine fescue encompasses several sub-types including hard fescue grasses (F. longifolia); these grasses are low maintenance and shade tolerant, but lack the durability of tall fescue grasses.
Glyphosate (N-(phosphonomethyl) glycine) is the active ingredient in glyphosate herbicides, such as ROUNDUP® herbicide produced by Monsanto, St. Louis, Mo., Credit® herbicide produced by Nufarm, Inc. (Australia), and Razor® herbicide produced by Nufarm Turf and Specialty (Burr Ridge, Ill.). Typically, glyphosate is formulated as a water-soluble salt such as an ammonium, alkylamine, alkali metal or trimethylsulfonium salt. One of the most common formulations is the isopropylamine salt of glyphosate, which is the form employed in ROUNDUP® herbicide.
Glyphosate is a broad spectrum herbicide that inhibits the enzyme enolpyruvylshikimate-phosphate synthase (ESPS). It is conventionally applied as an aqueous solution to the foliage of plants, where it is taken up into the leaves and transported throughout the plant. Commercial formulations of glyphosate may also include one or more surfactants to facilitate penetration of the active ingredient into the plant leaves, as well as compounds to enhance rainfastness. Numerous U.S. patents disclose various formulations of glyphosate, including U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,405,531; 5,118,338; 5,196,044; 5,639,711; 5,652,197; 5,679,621; and 5,750,468.
Therefore, it is desirable to identify plants, such as grass turfs, that are naturally tolerant to glyphosate herbicides. Such tolerant plants can be planted in areas treated with glyphosate herbicides.


A screw terminal with creep compensation comprises a pressure device enabling a clamping energy of the terminal to be stored. According to the invention, means for detecting the tightening torque enable the user to identify the force required for connection and to check that the creep is in fact compensated. The means for detecting comprise an element securedly affixed to the pressure device and an element securedly affixed to a wall of the housing in which the terminal is fitted, the distance between the two elements being determined by means enabling indicating means to be actuated when the distance is smaller than a threshold corresponding to a predetermined tightening torque.

The invention relates to a screw terminal for connecting at least one electrical conductor to a conducting strip of an electrical equipment unit. The object of the invention is more precisely to guarantee effective clamping of a terminal with creep compensation. In particular, the invention relates to a terminal comprising a device for indicating the tightening torque of the screw.

Connection system enabling the tightening torque of a screw terminal to be indicated


Embodiments disclosed herein provide systems and methods for selective use of a packet voice trigger in a wireless access network. In a particular embodiment, a method provides receiving a call request for a call from a wireless device. The method further provides determining a location of the wireless device and processing an identifier for the wireless device to retrieve a device profile for the wireless device. If the device profile indicates that a trigger should be used for packet voice communications, then the method provides determining whether the trigger should be disarmed based on a quantity of the plurality of different access networks available to the wireless device at the location. If the trigger is armed, transfer the call request for delivery to the packet voice server to set up the call and, if not, process the call request in the wireless access network to set up the call.

Packet communications are becoming the prevalent form of exchanging voice information between communication devices. In particular, wireless communication devices are now capable of exchanging voice information using wireless packet communications. Many of these wireless communication devices are capable of exchanging wireless packet communications over multiple different wireless communication networks. This ability to switch wireless communication networks adds complexity to the provision of packet voice services to wireless communication devices. As a remedy, voice communication servers have been deployed to manage packet voice services over multiple different wireless networks for a select set of the wireless communication devices.
When a packet voice service is configured for one of these select wireless communication devices, a voice server trigger is loaded into that wireless communication device's registration profile. When the wireless communication device registers with its wireless communication network, the trigger directs the wireless communication network to use a voice communication server for voice communications. In effect, the wireless communication network now becomes a simple transport path between the wireless communication device and the voice communication server for voice communications. Although the voice communication server manages packet voice services over multiple networks for the select wireless communication device, the addition of the voice communication server also creates an ancillary overhead and messaging load on the wireless communication network.
Overview
Embodiments disclosed herein provide systems and methods for selective use of a packet voice trigger in a wireless access network, wherein the wireless access network comprises one of a plurality of different wireless access networks and wherein a packet voice server interoperates with the plurality of different wireless access networks. In a particular embodiment, a method provides receiving a call request for a call from a wireless communication device that is capable of exchanging packet voice communications over the different access networks. The method further provides determining a geographic location of the wireless communication device and processing an identifier for the wireless communication device to retrieve a device profile for the wireless communication device. If the device profile indicates that the wireless communication device should use a trigger for packet voice communications to be serviced through the packet voice server, then the method provides determining whether the trigger should be disarmed based on a quantity of the plurality of different access networks available to the wireless communication device at the geographic location of the wireless communication device. If the trigger is armed, the method provides transferring the call request for delivery to the packet voice server to set up the call. If the trigger is disarmed, the method provides processing the call request in the wireless access network to set up the call.

Selective packet voice trigger use in a wireless communication network


An ignition system is disclosed that is capable of configuring the development or pattern of the ignition spark in a freely pre-selectable manner. The system has an ignition coil that is supplied on the primary side by a high frequency source (HF Source) that is pulse width modulated. The pulse width is regulated based upon the measured actual value of the current on the secondary side of the ignition coil and upon a pre-selected reference value development of the current amplitude during an ignition spark.

The present invention relates to an ignition system with an ignition coil that is supplied at the primary side by a high frequency source (HF source), wherein the voltage provided by the HF source is pulse width modulated and a means for picking up the secondary side current (actual value) is provided.
In EP 0 547 258 A1 the peak value of the current flowing in the spark plug or secondary electrical circuit at the time of ignition or shortly thereafter is compared with a reference value by regulating the closing time. If, for any reasonxe2x80x94transformation ratio or condition of the ignition coil, plug or cable etcxe2x80x94the peak value is greater or less than the pre-determined reference value, the closing time of the primary electric circuit is correspondingly shortened or lengthened.
Modern ignition systems are therefore no longer content with producing an ignition spark, but instead want to configure the development or pattern of the ignition spark for each individual ignition spark in order to obtain optimum combustion. It is already known to use a high frequency source as the primary side supply for an ignition coil and to pulse width modulate the voltage provided by the high frequency.
From documents JP 55060664 A, JP 53090531 A and JP 01008357 A moreover, ignition control means are known wherein the primary side feed signal is controlled dependent upon the secondary side measurement signals. In JP 55060664 A, control takes place on the primary side when the secondary side current is less than a previously defined threshold value. In JP 5309031 A, the secondary side current strength and combustion time is enlisted as a control value. In JP 01008357 A, a pulse width control system is provided to control the primary side switching on the basis of an output signal picked up on the secondary side.
According to the invention, the aim is now to afford an opportunity to configure the development or pattern of the ignition spark in a freely pre-selectable manner.
It is thus provided according to the invention that a regulating means is provided that regulates the pulse width depending on the picked-up actual value of the current on the secondary side of the ignition coil and on a pre-selected reference value development of the current amplitude during an ignition spark. In this way a reference value development or pattern for the ignition current during an ignition spark can be pre-selected. The regulating means picks up the actual value of the current during the ignition spark, and then, by means of the pulse width modulation, influences the current output such as to substantially retain the reference value development in terms of current amplitude.
In addition, or alternatively it can be provided that the voltage regulation is such that the secondary side ignition voltage is limited to a maximum value. With such regulation, it is possible in particular to obtain a voltage limit for the secondary side ignition voltage.
Finally, it should be noted that a variant in the abovementioned embodiments exists wherein the frequency of the high frequency source is matched to the resonance frequency of the ignition circuit.


A technique is described for maintaining consistent filename conventions between multiple hosts and workstations by providing a table of default parameters for various hosts and workstations and the corresponding filetypes that are accessed to determine the default parameters and filetypes for a given file. A display is also provided to display the name or names of files to be transferred and their destination. The programs which produce these screens also obtain and display default information concerning the files, such as, the file names and the data structures for the files on the destination host computer or workstation. The user can either accept the default information or change it.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to file transfers between a workstation and a host computer and, more particularly, to the maintenance of consistent filename conventions between multiple hosts and intelligent workstations. Files are received from and sent to the host computer by workstations. An additional feature is the use of default file transfer options based on the file name which relieves the user from explicitly defining each of the parameters associated with a particular file.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The past several years have seen the growth of online workstations such as personal computers (PCs), the evolution of distributed processing, and the acceleration of information technology in many new application areas. The result has been an increase in the use of PCs as intelligent workstations in host environments and the need to manage files that exist on a PC workstation attached to a host.
One of the fundamental file management concerns is the transferring of files between systems. File transfer from one computing system to another has been accomplished by the user manually asking for the individual file to be transferred and specifying the required options for the transfer to be accomplished successfully. However, the options had to be remembered by the operator which often led to confusion, improperly translated files and poor utilization of disk space. In addition, there was very little standardization of file naming conventions.
The concept of standardizing filenames has been used in systems such as the Customer Information Control System/Operating System/Virtual Storage (CICS/OS/VS) Performance Analysis Reporting System/MVS product of the IBM Corp. This system uses an installation technique common to most IBM systems that run on the Multiple Virtual Sessions (MVS) operating system. The technique involves defaulting the filenames and file organizations of the files that are used by the Program Product. The Job Control Language (JCL) used to create the data sets and accommodate the program product have default names and other parameters defining the files. The JCL transfers data sets from tape to disk and maintains consistent filename conventions. Sample JCL is provided on the tape to relieve the user of the burden of defining each parameter associated with a file. However, this is a one time installation process and does not accommodate file transfers between workstations and host computers.
Techniques for managing a processor's disk storage system are also common. A good example of one such system is the IBM Systems Modification Program Extended (SMP/E) 5668-949 which is a tool for managing programs installed as described above. The tool is a Program Product that IBM's customers use to manage the installation and program updates of Program Products. The installation tasks involve defaulting many parameters and relieving the user of the change management burden. The SMP/E program does not provide any tools for managing additional copies of the programs for workstations or multiple hosts.
The Smartcom II product from Hayes Microcomputer Products provides a communication initialization menu that defaults all the parameters of a communications line to specific values based on common parameters used by many users. The parameters can be overridden by the user by typing over the entry. This technique relieves the user of the burden of remembering all of the parameters commonly used to support a communications session. The parameters are not coordinated with the particular workstation or host computer with which the user is trying to communicate. Therefore, the user must have enough familiarity with the communications environment to override the default parameters with the correct parameters, such as baud rate, parity, stop bits and so forth, that correspond with the particular device with which communications is to be established.
Ways of assuring the integrity of two files on the same processor are also known in the art. Two techniques are described in "System-Supplied Data Integrity" by J. A. Mortenson et al IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, vol. 25, no. 7B, December 1982, pages 3718 to 3721, and in "Data Base Security/Authorization Mechanisms" by A. M. Herzik et al., vol. 28, no. 3, August 1985, pages 942 to 947. These publications disclose ways of assuring consistency between stored data and the descriptive information associated with the data and management tools for securing data files and file descriptions. The article by J. A. Mortenson et al. describes a system that distributes any change in one file to all copies of the file under the control of the system. The article by A. M. Herzik et al. discloses a method for creating logical views of a file for updating and changing multiple copies of a file simultaneously.
None of these methods provides a method for managing data transferred back and forth between multiple hosts and workstations that relieves the user of the burden of specifically describing the data characteristics. There are host file transfer programs that allow a user to construct a list of files to be transferred, but there is no support for file transfer to dissimilar systems that are available to the user. There is no satisfactory solution in the prior art to the problem of transferring files between host computers and workstations.

Managing host to workstation file transfer

International Business Machines Corporation


A method for processing local information acquired by a virtual representation and a device having an inertial unit and an image sensor. At least one image of a real environment of the device is captured. The localization of the device in the virtual representation, corresponding to the localization of the device in the real environment, is obtained by correlating the portions of the captured image and portions of the virtual representation, The inertial unit determines the displacement of the device. The localization of the device in the virtual representation is modified as a function of the displacement so that the real position of the device corresponds, during the displacement, to the localization of the device in the virtual representation.

Augmented reality in an industrial setting requires a very high level of robustness from localization methods. At present, the estimation of the position of the device used is performed using markers. This technique means that it is possible to have a certain level of robustness only when a marker is visible. Moreover, the located device is localized in the frame of reference of the marker.
Furthermore, there are few devices that allow localization without using a marker. In order to have robust localization of the device, existing methods require a calibration step that is long and not very intuitive. This calibration step does not allow rapid use of the device and requires certain skills for the users.
Moreover, some positioning techniques reconstruct the environment, for example the SLAM (or Simultaneous Localization And Mapping), in real time. Localization in relation to a reconstructed environment is therefore obtained. This has several disadvantages. First of all, it is not possible to detect differences between what has been constructed and what has been drawn. In addition, the reconstructed environment may have element detection errors, for example. Thus, this technique lacks reliability especially in the field of maintenance or when a high level of precision is desired.
The devices that use augmented reality are, most often, devices that allow the display of information superimposed on an image or video.
In the prior art, the European Patent application EP 2201532 is known, which describes a local positioning device configured to determine the relative position of the device in relation to a target object. The device is mounted on a guided and graduated ball joint fixed to a tripod. The ball joint allows the azimuth and the angle of elevation to be determined, which need to be entered manually in order to define the position of the device. This device is therefore difficult to position and to displace in an industrial setting.


An anomalous battery operating detection device, which includes a sensing unit capable of measuring mechanical properties of a battery, coupled to a processor for determining whether anomalous behavior has been detected. These devices measure a mechanical property, identifying a difference in the property, and based on that difference, making a determination of anomalous behavior. Non-mechanical properties may also be utilized when making the determination. Responsive actions can be taken once the anomalous behavior is detected. The battery can be intercalated, and may be a lithium-ion battery cell. Alternatively, the sensing unit may measure strain. In addition, more than one sensing unit may be utilized, or a separate light source may be introduced. The system may be configured to allow the processor to determine the potential for failure before the battery fails.

There is a strong technological need for the ability to preemptively identify and prevent catastrophic battery failure events, as evidenced by relatively recent publicized high-profile battery fires. Such battery failures are commonly thought of as being unpredictable, arising from unexpected sources such as internal defects, adverse environmental conditions, and faulty controllers. The cost of battery failure—including the cost of recalling hazardous products—can be significant. In an October 14 statement, one manufacturer estimated that the recall of its smartphones with problematic batteries would cost the company as much as $3 billion over the next several quarters.
Conventional battery management systems can identify the occurrence of failure events by detecting anomalous battery cell behavior using non-mechanical measurements of parameters such as voltage, current, and temperature. However, these conventional measurements lack the ability to reliably predict an impending failure event with sufficient time for preventative action—the electrochemical data may not be sensitive enough to pick up the signal from the anomaly at the early stage—instead concomitantly detecting the event as it occurs.
Thus, there is a need for a device capable of predicting failures in batteries, such that the system can respond in time to prevent a catastrophic failure.

Device and method for mechanically detecting anomalous battery operation


A dental post comprising a rod fabricated of fiber-reinforced composite material. The rod comprises a plurality of frustoconical sections arranged coaxially along the longitudinal axis of the rod. Preferably the rod has consistent width along the longitudinal axis wherein the frustoconical sections each have the same tapered width and same length. The number of frustoconical units per rod can vary. The frustoconical sections may vary in shape. Moreover, the rod may include a channel therein extending along the longitudinal axis thereof. The rod may also include one or more grooves extending along the surface thereof.

Conventional endodontic posts are typically fabricated of metals or metal alloys. The metallic posts fabricated of less noble alloys can cause electro-chemical corrosion and weaken the restoration. In the natural tooth, the elastic modulus of dentin in the crown portion is about 20 GPa, and at root portion is about 9 to 10 GPa. The mismatch of the elastic moduli of metallic post and dentin very often initiates dentine fracture, especially at the apex of the root. Additionally, many conventional dowel pins are threaded and must be screwed into dentin. This can also increase the potential for weakening and eventual fracture of the tooth.
There is a need to provide aesthetically pleasing posts and pins. It is desirable that the posts and pins are rigid and strong to support the stresses occurring in the mouth. It is important that the posts and pins are compatible with the properties of the endodontic materials in the mouth.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A docking station ejection apparatus includes a housing having a movably mounted actuator. A first member is mounted in the housing and movable from a first position to a second position in response to movement of the actuator. An ejector is moved to an eject position in response to movement by the first member to the second position. A second member is movably mounted in the housing for movement between the first and second positions in response to movement of the first member to the second position. A catch member is mounted in the housing and is movable between a catch position and a release position. The catch member is moved in response to movement by the second member to the second position. A first resilient member urges the first and second members to the first position, and a second resilient member urges the catch member to the catch position.

The disclosures herein relate generally to information handling systems and more particularly to an ejection device for docking stations used in such systems.
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Desktop computers include a monitor which is usually supported on a monitor stand. The stand typically is supported by legs and a space is provided under the stand for a docking station and a notebook computer. Typically, the docking connector is positioned at the back of the notebook.
One manufacturer currently provides an advanced port replicator (APR) and dock that uses a bottom docking arrangement rather than docking at the back of the notebook. This system uses an ejection mechanism that involves many sliding components which require a special grease to operate properly.
In a bottom docking arrangement, the portion of the full dock and the APR that fits beneath the notebook must be of minimal height to keep the notebook as near to horizontal as possible and to make the system work well within the limited height beneath the monitor stand.
Another consideration for the eject mechanism is the force the user must apply to actuate the mechanism. This force should be minimal. Therefore, the mechanism needs to take full advantage of the available space to maximize leverage. The friction in the mechanism must be minimized so that leverage that is generated isn""t lost as a result of overcoming friction.
Therefore, what is needed is an eject mechanism which operates satisfactorily in a compact environment.
One embodiment, accordingly, provides an eject mechanism which is sufficiently compact. To this end, a docking station ejection apparatus includes a housing and an actuator movably mounted on the housing. A first member is mounted in the housing for movement between a first position and a second position in response to movement of the actuator. An ejector member is movable to an eject position in response to movement by the first member to the second position. A second member is mounted in the housing for movement between the first position and the second position in response to movement of the first member to the second position. A catch member is mounted in the housing and is movable between a catch position and a release position. A first resilient member urges the first and second members to the first position, and a second resilient member urges the catch member to the catch position.

Compact, low friction ejection mechanism for notebook docking station


Electric interconnecting cables fitted with sealed electric connectors resistant to pressure are most often used to connect electrically together various equipments (1) distant from one another and immersed in a conducting liquid such as may be encountered in wellbores. To avoid this relatively costly solution, a process is proposed, wherein the various equipments (1) are linked together through sealed and empty hydraulic pipes or cables (22), so as to form a common space insulated from the external environment, and the electric linking conductors (25) are passed inside the hydraulic cable circuit constituted thereby.

Seismic prospecting operations in wells or wellbores imply the setting of an array of sensors such as geophones and the acoustic coupling thereof with the formations surrounding the well. The sensors are preferably arranged at various successive depths and linked to a surface installation through cables. The acoustic or seismic signals received by the sensors in response to the emission of seismic waves in the ground, following reflections on the subsoil discontinuities, are transmitted through the cables to a surface recording station. French patent applications FR-2,593,292 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,775,009) and 2,642,849 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,986,350) mention a well-known technique for setting stationary sensors in a well fitted with a casing held up by cementing. The sensors are fixed to the outside of the casing before it is lowered into the well, the linking cables running along the outer wall thereof, and the whole of the reception device with the cables is embedded in the cement that is then injected into the annular space between the well and the casing. An electronic preamplifying and filtering module may be associated with the sensors of a single level. The sensors and the modules thereof may be included in protection boxes arranged along casing sections or included in fittings between the successive casing sections, as described in patent application FR 91/11,536.
A well-known solution for connecting electrically together several boxes such as those mentioned above consists of using sealed electric connecting elements. These connecting elements generally comprise a connecting sleeve fitted with mechanical fastening means for a linking cable, a single- or multi-pin electric connector to connect all the lines of the cable, comprising sealed crossings for the various lines, and mechanical connecting means fitted with seal gaskets for fastening the sleeves to each box. An example of a connecting element, both mechanical and electric, between a well sonde and a multicore cable, is described for example in patent FR-2,615,044 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,874,328). Because of the relative complexity thereof, these elements can hardly be used to interconnect a large number of reception units such as those mentioned above. Difficulties and operating costs grow rapidly as the number of units increases because the number of sealed interfaces has to be increased at the level of the interconnections between them and the cable elements, in order to keep the inner space of each reception unit closed and electrically insulated.

Process and device for the electrical interconnecting of equipments such as well tools


A method of determining whether a virtual address corresponds to a physical address in a translation lookaside buffer (TLB) includes receiving a virtual address, setting the page type of the virtual address according to a rank of the page types, picking index bits and tag compared address from the virtual address and comparing the index bits and the tag compared bits with the page types and the tag addresses in TLB. After these addresses and bits match, the page types are ranked according to the compared results.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of determining whether a virtual address corresponds to a physical address in a translation lookaside buffer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Memory has become an essential device in computer systems. How to access data stored in memory efficiently and quickly is an important problem that concerns those skilled in the art. When a CPU accesses data stored in the memory, it must send a memory address for pointing out what part of the memory stores the data that is to be accessed. It seems that the memory is assumed to be composed of a plurality of memory units which have their own addresses. These addresses in the memory are called physical addresses. However, when the CPU of a normal computer accesses the memory, the CPU sends the virtual address instead of physical address for representing the address of the memory where the data is stored. The virtual address is translated into the physical address through a specific method, which is accomplished by a translation lookaside buffer (TLB). Translating the virtual address into the physical address for accessing the memory can make the memory in the computer system more elastic and more efficient.
The translation lookaside buffer can be regarded as a big comparing table. One side of the comparing table comprises the virtual addresses of the CPU, the other side of the comparing table comprises the physical addresses, and the translation lookaside buffer determines the corresponding relationship between the physical addresses and the virtual addresses. When the CPU accesses the data of a specific address of a memory, the CPU first compares the specific address with the virtual addresses in the comparing table, and then finds out the corresponding physical address for accessing the data. The translation lookaside buffer is usually set up in a cache memory for quickly mapping. The mapping method of the translation lookaside buffer is shown in FIG. 1, which is a diagram of a mapping method of a translation lookaside buffer with various page sizes according to the prior art. The method can be divided into three parts. The first part is "comparing bits", the second part is "decoding bits", and the third part is referred to as "Page". The mapping method of the translation lookaside buffer utilizes a page as a unit instead of a single memory. A page is composed of a series of memories, and the addresses of the memories in the same page have the same leading bits. The comparing bits can be regarded as the page number of different pages. The decoding bits are the index of a certain related entry. In the procedure of comparing, the decoding bits are first utilized for finding out the entries of the corresponding relationships stored in the translation lookaside buffer and determining an entry, and then the comparing bits are utilized for comparing and finding out the page number so that the corresponding page is determined. The translation lookaside buffer only has to handle the comparing bits and decoding bits, and the memories of the page can be appropriately executed through the direct accessing method.
However, for a translation lookaside buffer which has various page sizes, the page sizes are not fixed. For example, the page sizes can be 1 k bits, 4 k bits, 64 k bits, 1M bits, or the like. In FIG. 1, a 32-bit translation lookaside buffer and the distribution of the bits in the translation lookaside buffer with four different page sizes are shown. A page of a 1 k-bit page size has 10 bits that are respectively from the 0th bit to the 9th bit. If the corresponding relationship that is to be determined by the decoding bits has 64 different entries, 4 bits are needed so that from the 12th bit to the 15th bit are the decoding bits. The 18 bits left are therefore comparing bits. Besides, the page of a 64 k-bit page size has 16 bits that are respectively from the 0th bit to the 15th bit. The decoding bits are from the 16th bit to 19th bit, and the comparing bits are from the 20th bit to 31st bit. Other sizes may be deduced by analogy.
Please refer to FIG. 2, which is a block diagram of the translation lookaside buffer 10 according to the prior art. The translation lookaside buffer 10 comprises four related memory blocks 12, four data memory blocks 14, and a multiplexer 16. The decoding bits and the comparing bits of the virtual address are inputted into the related memory blocks 12. The comparing bits are compared with a memory content selected by the decoding bits in the related memory blocks 12, and then the comparing results are inputted into the multiplexer 16. At the same time, the decoding bits also selects the physical address in the data memory blocks 14 that corresponds to the virtual address and outputs the results into the multiplexer 16.
Although the prior art translation lookaside buffer can efficiently complete the mapping between the virtual addresses and the physical addresses, the hardware equipment is complicated and the cost is high because of the method of parallel processing for comparing bits of different entries. Furthermore, a memory with many ports is needed to implement the above-mentioned structure so that the complexity of the design is higher. And then, when the prior art compares different page sizes, each page capacity needs a translation lookaside buffer shown in FIG. 2. This means that four page sizes need four translation lookaside buffers. Apparently, for the translation lookaside buffer used for different page sizes, the prior art hardware required is increased in a direct proportion so that the hardware can not be efficiently utilized for completing the translation between the virtual address and the physical address.

Method of determining whether a virtual address corresponds to a physical address in a translation lookaside buffer


A frame-sequential color video system and color-selective filters for use in the same. The color-selective filters of the invention have fast response, and can be switched between the three primary colors of red, green, and blue. Switching between the three primary colors is achieved by selective absorption, or by selective interference, which is controlled by the switching of specific device combinations. A frame-sequential color display system is achieved by combining such a color-selective filter with a fast-switching black and white video display, which can be either emissive or reflective. A frame-sequential color camera system is achieved by combining such a color-selective filter with a fast-responding black and white video camera.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is in the field of frame-sequential color video systems, which are systems for sensing or displaying color video images wherein the system senses or displays images in one of the three primary colors after another. Such systems can be realized using color-selective filters, by which we mean any optical filter which transmits or reflects a certain portion of the visible spectrum and can be switched between any number of predetermined colors. Our invention teaches filters which have the ability to switch discretely between the three primary colors of red, green, and blue by employing the electro-optic properties of the Surface Stabilized Ferroelectric Liquid Crystal (SSFLC) device. Such color-selective filters employing SSFLC devices have the required response time for use in frame-sequential color video, where an arbitrary color is "mixed" from appropriate intensities of each of the three primary colors; each color being presented as a time-sequential image frame. The frame-sequential color scheme can equally-well be used for video cameras or video displays.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Color-selective filters useful for frame-sequential color video systems are known in the prior art. Such devices have relied usually on a mechanical, electro-mechanical, or electro-optical tuning means. The simplest example of the former comprises a rotating wheel with various color filters which can be passed in front of an aperture. A Lyot filter, described by John W. Evans, "The Birefringent Filter," J. Opt. Soc. Am.39, 229 (1949), which is well known in the literature, has been demonstrated by Billings, (Bruce H. Billings, "A Tunable Narrow-Band Optical Filter," J. Opt. Soc. Am. 37, 738 (1947)), which can be mechanically tuned through a color range by altering the thickness of stretchable polymer layers which serve to modulate the optical thickness of the filter stages. More recently, Title et al., (A. M. Title and W. J. Rosenberg, "Tunable birefringent networks," Active Optical Devices, Proc. SPIE 202, 48 (1979)), have developed an electro-mechanical method of continuously tuning the Lyot filter by means of rotating half wave-plates inside each filter stage. They have also applied the same means, later refined by Buhrer et al., (C. F. Buhrer, "Four waveplate dual tuner for birefringent filters and multiplexers," Appl. Opt., 26, 3628 (1987)), for color tuning of a Solc filter, (I. Solc, "Birefringent Chain Filters," J. Opt. Soc. Am., 55, 621 (1965); John W. Evans, "Solc Birefringence Filter," J. Opt. Soc. Am. 48, 142 (1958)), also well known in the literature. Such mechanical or electro-mechanical tuning methods are unsuitable for display applications because of their slow response, even when driven electrically, and because of the bulkiness of a device which relies on the above tuning means.
Billings (Billings, op tit.) has suggested a means of electro-optically tuning a Lyot filter by employing Kerr cells in each stage of the filter. An electric field applied to the Kerr cells causes an induced birefringence which alters the optical thickness of the filter stages and the resultant peak transmission is shifted in wavelength. This device is fast enough to be suitable for display applications, even for frame-sequential color displays which require at least a 10 ms response time per frame. Billings proposed a design giving the three primary colors of red, green, and blue with the above system. A Solc type filter has been demonstrated by Harris et al. (S. E. Harris, and R. W. Wallace, "Acousto-Optic Tunable Filter," J. Opt. Soc. Am., 59, 744 (1969)), which is tuned from 400 nm to 700 nm by varying the frequency of an acoustic wave propagating collinearly with the optical signal along a crystal of LiNbO.sub.3. The passband of this filter is extremely narrow, being about 0.04 nm, and the angular aperture is also small, being about 15.degree.. The resulting low light levels and narrow viewing cone of such a filter make it unsuitable for display applications. A filter similar to the above, but in which a Solc type geometry is induced by means of an array of DC voltage levels along the length of a LiTaO.sub.3 crystal, was demonstrated by Lotspeich et al. (J. F. Lotspeich, R. R. Stephens, and D. M. Henderson, "Electro-Optic Tunable Filter," Opt. Eng., 20, 830 (1981)). Color tunability across the visible spectrum is achieved by varying the voltage levels.
Color-selective filters employing active liquid crystal elements (most of them nematic liquid crystals) are well known in the prior art. Such filters usually rely on the selective absorption or the selective interference of light as the basis for generating color. One such filter of the former type, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,770,500, employs liquid-crystal quarter-wave cells and a passive quarter wave-plate to rotate by 90.degree. orthogonally polarized green and red light from a pleochroic polarizer, and to transmit one of these colors, or a combination color through a linear polarizer. As this device is restricted to only two primary colors, it is clearly unsuitable for full color display applications. Another such device, called the "field sequential color converter," (M. G. Clark, and I. A. Shanks, Proc. SID Symp. Dig. 172 (1982)) again employs pleochroic polarizers to orthogonally polarize green and red light from a CRT (cathode-ray tube) and uses a twisted nematic (TN) liquid crystal cell to transmit either color through a linear polarizer. The above filter can also be extended to a three color system as is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,416,514. A variation on the above, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,582,396, uses a nematic liquid crystal "Pi-cell" in place of the TN cell and has the ability to switch between colors at a significantly faster rate (5 ms). This latter variation if extended to a full color system, could be employed in frame-sequential color displays, as described by Haven, (Thomas J. Haven, "Reinventing the color wheel," Information Display, 7, 11 (1991)). U.S. Pat. No. 4,867,536 teaches a color-selectable liquid-crystal display system which employs TN cells and pleochroic polarizers to transmit one of a selection of colors. The system operates much on the same principles as the field-sequential color converter with the addition of employing a display cell with patterned electrodes to enable colors to appear on a black or white background. Similar devices, again employing TN cells and pleochroic polarizers, are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,025,164, 4,497,543, and 4,416,514. A full-color filter employing three zero-twist nematic (ZTN) guest-host cells and a neutral polarizer, has been developed by Uchida et al., (T. Uchida, H. Seiki, C. Shishido, and M. Wada, Proc. SID 22, 41 (1981)). The device operates on the principal of subtractive color mixing, and each of the three ZTN cells is doped with a pleochroic dye suitable for this end.
The prior art shows many examples of using active liquid crystal elements in color-selective interference filters. Scheffer (T. J. Scheffer, "New multicolor liquid crystal displays that use a twisted nematic electro-optical cell," J. Appl. Phys., 44, 4799 (1973)), has developed a color-selective filter which consists of a twisted nematic electro-optical cell and birefringent plate, placed between parallel polarizers. The liquid crystal cell, upon application of an electric field, serves to modulate the spectral transmission of the filter. A two-color filter is obtained with the arrangement described, while four colors can be obtained if two such "filter stages" are cascaded together. Three of the four above colors demonstrated by Scheffer were the primaries of red, green, and blue. A color-selective filter with zero-twist nematic cells as voltage-controllable retarders in a Lyot filter arrangement is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,394,069. The device is similar to the one developed by Billings in that an electrically induced birefringence change in the ZTN cells changes the design wavelength of the filter thus allowing for continuous tuning between colors. The use of ZTN cells however, renders this filter slower than the one demonstrated by Billings.
Nematic liquid crystals have several advantages for use in color-selective filters, namely, they exhibit large modulations for relatively small changes in applied voltage and their operation consumes very little electrical power. However, nematic liquid crystals respond to changes in the magnitude and not the polarity of an applied electric field. Therefore although they can be switched rapidly in one direction by an applied field, they are switched in the opposite direction by removing the field and their response time, governed by relatively slow elastic restoring forces, is limited to about 20 ms. Such a response time is much too slow for frame-sequential color displays where the overall picture color is "mixed" in time-sequential frames of the three primary colors. Current nematic liquid crystal displays "mix" the picture color spatially from a miniature triad of three primary color filters. This spatial arrangement suffers from poorer picture resolution when compared to the temporal one. For frame-sequential display applications, a liquid crystal is needed which responds in less than the 10 ms required for a "flicker free" display. Ferroelectric liquid crystals (FLC's), responding to the polarity and magnitude of an applied electric field, switch in the 100 us regime which is easily fast enough for the above requirement. A frame-sequential color display system was pointed out by White (J. C. White, "Color LCD TV," Phys. Technol., 19, 91 (1988)), where he suggested the use of fluorescent tubes with rapidly decaying phosphors as a means for color-sequential backlighting of an FLC monochrome display.
As is the case with TN cells, surface-stabilized ferroelectric liquid crystal (SSFLC) devices, which have been well documented in the literature, (K. Skarp, M. A. Handschy, "Ferroelectric liquid crystal material properties and applications," Mol. Cryst. Liq. Cryst., 165, 439 (1988); N. A. Clark, M. A. Handschy, and S. T. Lagerwall, Mol. Cryst. Liq. Cryst., 94, 213 (1983)) can also be used in conjunction with pleochroic dyes or birefringent elements, to generate color. A liquid crystal device, employing a ferroelectric liquid crystal cell and a birefringent film, placed between parallel or crossed polarizers, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,711,530. This device employs the selective interference of light to improve the display quality of the liquid crystal cell by suppressing a range of transmitted colors. A method of fabricating a wavelength-selective filter by incorporating SSFLC devices in a Lyot filter is taught by Masterson et al. (H. J. Masterson, G. D. Sharp, and K. M. Johnson, "A Ferroelectric Liquid Crystal Tunable Filter," Opt. Lett., 14, 1249 (1989). The ability to operate the SSFLC devices as switchable waveplates is employed to modulate the retardation of each stage of the filter and so alter the range of transmitted wavelengths. This paper describes a canonical Lyot filter, which is made up of several stages of retarders between crossed polarizers, with the optical retardance of each stage being twice that of the previous stage. This paper further teaches that the nth stage of the Lyot filter requires 2.sup.n-1 FLC devices. Hence, the three-stage Lyot filter demonstrated in this paper required seven FLC devices. The filter was used to demonstrate switching between two different spectral bands. This type of filter, when implemented with two or more stages, could give adequate color saturation for frame-sequential video applications, but the number of FLC devices required, produces a complex and expensive filter that is difficult to manufacture.
A continuously tunable filter employing a smectic A* liquid crystal electroclinic cell, (G. Andersson, I. Dahl, P. Keller, W. Kuczynski, S. T. Lagerwall, K. Skarp, and B Stebler, "Submicrosecond electro-optic switching in the liquid crystal smectic A* phase: The soft mode ferroelectric effect," Appl. Phys. Lett., 51, 640 (1987)) has been demonstrated by Sharp et al. (G. D. Sharp, K. M. Johnson, and D. Doroski, "Continuously tunable smectic A* liquid crystal color filter," Opt. Lett., 15, 523 (1990)). The filter employs an electroclinic cell in conjunction with a birefringent element and quarter wave-plate, placed between parallel polarizers, to continuously tune the transmission across a portion of the visible spectrum. Although the filter can be tuned rapidly in <100 ns, it is only operable in a very narrow, controlled temperature range. Furthermore, it does not have a wide enough tuning range to include the three additive primary colors. It is therefore unsuitable for display applications.

Fast switching color filters for frame-sequential video using ferroelectric liquid crystal color-selective filters


Methods of preparing a polyaspartic ester composition comprise reacting a primary diamine reactant composition with a diester reactant composition under conditions to prepare a polyaspartic ester composition having a primary amine value of less than 35 mg KOH/g wherein, at the time of the reaction, the combined water content of the primary diamine reactant composition and the diester reactant composition is less than 300 ppm. Compositions and methods of use of the compositions are also described.

Two-component polyurea coating compositions containing a polyisocyanate in combination with a polyaspartic ester component are known. They are suitable for the formation of coatings and can be adjusted to produce coatings that are hard, elastic, abrasion resistant, solvent resistant, and especially weather resistant.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,126,170 discloses a process for making polyurethane coatings in which an isocyanate-reactive component b) includes a polyaspartic ester mixture made from an optionally-substituted maleic or fumaric acid ester and a primary amine. U.S. Pat. No. 6,458,293 discloses a method for making an asymmetric polyaspartic ester mixture by sequentially (a) forming an ester mixture containing a dimethyl-substituted first ester component and a second ester component substituted with an alkyl group having at least two carbon atoms and (b) reacting the ester component with an amine component, such that the equivalent number ratio of the first ester component and the second ester component is sufficient to prevent the formation of a reaction-stopping crude mixture containing dimethyl fumarate crystals. US Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0075477 describes a process for preparing aspartates.

Polyaspartic ester compositions, and methods of making and using same


A plotting and drafting apparatus comprises a drawing implement having a body, a rule portion and a device for connecting the rule portion to the body. The body has a first surface and a first generating device for generating a first series of juxtaposed parallel linear magnetic poles in the first surface. The poles of the first series extend linearly in a first direction of parallelism with adjacent poles being spaced apart laterally from each other in a first direction normal to the first direction of parallelism. The rule portion has a datum edge disposed at an angle relative to the first direction of parallelism. The apparatus further includes a supporting device having a second surface for supporting the drawing implement and has a second generating device for generating a second series of juxtaposed parallel linear magnetic poles in the second surface. The poles of the second series extend linearly in a second direction of parallelism with adjacent poles being spaced apart laterally from each other in a second direction normal to the second direction of parallelism. The magnetic attraction between the poles of the first series associated with the drawing implement and the poles of the second series associated with the supporting device retains the drawing implement in alignment and on the second surface.

The invention relates to a plotting and drafting apparatus having a magnetic guide for maintaining the orientation of a drawing implement on a surface.
For many years it has been known to use a T-square for drawing parallel lines on a drawing, etc. Typically, the drawing is fastened to a drafting board and the T-square has a guide edge which rests upon a straight side edge of the drafting board. The T-square has a straight datum edge extending perpendicularly to the guide edge. The guide edge rides on the straight side edge of the drafting board and is used to guide movement of the T-square in order to maintain the T-square and datum edge in a desired orientation relative to the drafting board. This permits a draftsman to draw parallel lines or to position other instruments. T-square must be used on a board or table having a straight side edge, and furthermore forces applied to the T-square, particularly to an outer end of the datum edge of the T-square, can deflect the T-square from normal alignment. Such forces might be applied, for example, when drawing lines, and therefore, lines drawn adjacent the outer end of the T-square may not be parallel or aligned with lines adjacent an inner end of the T-square. The T-square can therefore lead to inaccurate unparallel lines.
Drafting can also be done using a drafting board with an attached drafting machine. Typically, a drafting machine is fastened to a portion of the drafting board and uses a mechanical arrangement of tracks, endless loops and pulleys, etc. to guide a drawing implement with a datum edge across a surface of the drafting board with great accuracy. Such a machine enables a draftsman to draw parallel lines relatively easily. In addition, drafting machines typically have a drafting head which often has one or more straight edges pivotally mounted thereto. The straight edges can be pivoted to permit the draftsman to draw a line at any angle relative to the horizontal and vertical dimensions of the drafting board. Drafting machines and drafting heads however, require precise machining and can be expensive.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,672,062 describes an apparatus designed to overcome some of the disadvantages with early drafting equipment by using a magnetic roller on a ferrous surface of a drafting board. Magnets in the roller attempt to eliminate relative skidding between two ends of the roller and the board and tend to maintain the roller in alignment. Thus, the roller may be drawn across the surface with minimal slippage against the surface and therefore, tracking of the roller is relatively accurate. It would appear that in order to draw parallel lines on a drawing, it is imperative that the roller not be removed from the drawing. Should the roller be removed, it becomes necessary to re-align the roller on the surface. Thus, it can be difficult to re-establish proper placement of the roller in order to draw parallel lines. Thus, the alignment of the drawing implement depends upon the placement of the magnetic roller on the drafting board.
Besides their uses in drafting, drawing implements such as parallel rulers are used in navigation to transfer bearing and course headings from one portion of a nautical chart to another. Parallel rulers have two parallel rulers each having respective straight edges and being connected to each other by cross-members. The cross-members are pivotal with respect to each ruler and therefore by moving one ruler parallel to the other, the cross-members are rotated and the rulers are further spaced apart or brought closer together while maintaining the respective straight edges parallel at all times.
Usually parallel rulers are used by aligning the straight edge on the first ruler with a particular course heading, holding the first ruler firmly on the chart, and the moving second ruler away from the first ruler. The second ruler is then held firmly on the chart and the first ruler is brought close to the second ruler by the pivotal action of the cross-members. Then, the first ruler is held firmly on the chart and the second ruler is moved away from the first ruler again. This process is referred to as "walking" the rulers across the chart and is used to transfer selected course headings to any portion of the chart.
Parallel rulers are limited in transferring bearings accurately from relatively widely spaced apart positions on the chart due to the limited degree of spacing of the edges of the parallel rulers as limited by the connecting cross-members extending between the rulers. In addition, as the rulers are walked over the chart, slippage can inadvertently occur between the rulers and the chart and introduce an error into the transferred heading. Furthermore, there is a chance of the rulers inadvertently slipping upon taking each "step", and therefore the degree of error in the transferred heading is cumulative. Consequently parallel rulers can result in erroneous headings.
With any of the above-mentioned devices it is sometimes necessary to remove the drawing implement from the drafting board or chart in order to re-position paper or to observe the drawing or chart on which the drawing implement is being used. In addition, it is desirable to maintain alignment of the drawing implement on the surface of the drafting board and it would be of great advantage to be able to draft on a table or flat surface other than a drafting board. Furthermore, it is desirable to reduce the number of moving parts in the alignment mechanism of the drawing implement in order to reduce alignment problems associated with wear, tensioning, slippage, friction, etc. associated with those parts.

Plotting and drafting apparatus with magnetic guide


A method for treating cough in a mammal comprising administering to said mammal an anti-tussive effective amount of a GABA-B selective agonist such as ##STR1## is described.

The present invention relates to the use of GABA-B selective agonists in treating cough in mammals.
Gamma amino butryic acid (GABA) is a ubiquitous inhibitory neurotransmitter in the CNS and peripheral nervous systems (F. E. Bloom. Neurohumoral Transmission and the central nervous system. The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, 7th Ed. (A. G. Gilman, L. S. Goodman, T. W. Rall and F. Murad, eds), MacMillan Publishing, N.Y., 1985, p. 250.). Evidence strongly suggests that GABA mediates the inhibitory actions of local interneurons in the brain and also mediates presynaptic inhibitory effects within the spinal cord. GABA appears to bind to at least two distinct types of receptors. Of these, GABA-A receptors have been well characterized and are coupled to chloride channels (J. Bormann. Electrophysiology of GABA-A and GABA-B receptor subtypes. Trends Neurosci., 11, 112-116, 1988.). It is to these GABA-A receptors that benzodiazepines bind and exert anticonvulsant and anxiolytic effects through a facilitation of the action of GABA (E. Costa. Polytypic signalling at GABAergic synapses. Life Sci., 42, 1407-1417, 1988.). These receptors can be selectively blocked with convulsant agents such as bicuculline. In contrast, GABA-B receptors are less well understood, although baclofen is a specific agonist at these bicuculline-insensitive receptors (N. Bowery. GABA-B receptors and their significance in mammalian pharmacology. TIPS Revies, 10, 401-407, 1989, and N. G. Bowery, A. Doble, D. R. Hill, A. L. Hudson, J. S. Shaw, M. J. Turnball and R. Warrington. Bicuculline-insensitive GABA receptor on peripheral autonomic nerve terminals. Eur. J. Pharmac., 71, 53-70, 1981.). It now appears that GABA-B receptors are coupled to either calcium or potassium channels (J. Bormann. Electrophysiology of GABA-A and GABA-B receptor subtypes. Trends Neurosci., 11, 112-116, 1988.).
GABA-B selective agents may not elicit the side effects associated with selective or non-selective activation of GABA-A receptors. For example, benzodiazepines facilitate responses at GABA-A receptors and produce troublesome side-effects of motor-incoordination, confusion, light-headedness and other adverse psychomotor and psychological effects (S. C. Harvey. Hypnotics and sedatives. The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, 7th Ed. (A. G. Gilman, L. S. Goodman, T. W. Rall and F. Murad, eds), MacMillan Publishing, N.Y., 1985, pp. 349-350.).
Nosalova et al. recently described an antitussive effect for gabalinoleamide, a non-selective agonist at GABA receptors (G. Nosalova, D. Varonos, Z. Papadopoulou-Daipotis, P. Visnovsky and A. Strapkova. GABAergic mechanisms in the central control of cough. Acta Physiologica Hungarica, 70, 189-194, 1987.). They relate the antitussive and respiratory depressant effect of gabalinoleamide to an action at GABA-A receptors because similar effects are mentioned with respect to muscimol, a selective GABA-A agonist.

Use of GABA-B selective agonists as anti-tussive agents


Estimating product inventory comprises determining a rate of sales events for a product and an amount of time that has elapsed since a previous product availability estimate from the product. Then, a new product availability estimate for the product is determined based on the rate sales events for the product. The rate of sales events for the product can be determined based on product data feeds from the merchant or other sales data.

Computer networks, such as the internet, enable transmission and reception of a vast array of information. In recent years, for example, some commercial retail stores have attempted to make product inventory information and other data related to product sales available to customers over the internet. However, most of this information is stored in legacy systems, from which it is time consuming and expensive to obtain. As a result, much of the online information provided by individual retailers is inaccurate. Similarly, a number of third party businesses have attempted to organize local product information (for example, by scraping websites or other systems that expose product information, etc.) across multiple retailers and to provide the information over the internet. These attempts have also not been successful, likely due to difficulties accessing reliable data with high coverage of products, retailers, and locations. In addition, where inventory data is obtained, it is often stale by the time it reaches the third party; thus, the inventory data may not be accurate.
Thus, a need exists in the art for a system that provides customers with accurate local product information covering multiple products, retailers, and locations.


A method of estimating the available grip margin of a tire of a vehicle rolling on a ground involves:                estimating a quantity Rslip ca, i.e., the ratio of the slip contact area and the total contact area of the tire on the ground;        determining, in a signal processing unit, the grip potential used Pμ,used and/or the available grip margin of the tire Pμ,avail from the quantity and pre-established data corresponding to the type of the tire, where Pμ,avail=1−Pμ,used; and        recording in a memory the grip potential used and/or the available grip margin of the tire.

The available grip margin is a characteristic suitable to inform a driver of the level of use of a potential of his tires and to alert him to the approach of the grip limit.
International Patent Publication No. WO 03/066399 discloses a method of determining the maximum grip coefficient of a tire and the percentage of potential used, including the steps of selecting a plurality of fixed points in space (that is to say, points that are fixed in a reference frame associated with the vehicle being used), which points lie at different azimuths along the circumference in at least a sidewall of the tire, obtaining a corresponding number of measurements of circumferential distance variation (extension or contraction) at these fixed points when the tire is rolling on the ground or the road, and the measurement signals are processed so as to extract the maximum grip coefficient and the percentage of potential used.
This method allows these characteristics to be determined from distance variations measured on the rolling tire. This method requires, however, that there be a slip zone in a contact area of the tire.

Method of estimating an available grip margin of a tire when rolling


A system may identify, by a first service, one or more faulted data links associated with a network device of the datacenter and update, by a second service, a configuration of the network device to remove data traffic from the identified one or more faulted data links based on a redundancy threshold associated with the network device. The system may also generate a repair ticket message associated with the identified one or more faulted data links and transmit test traffic across the identified one or more faulted data links while monitoring for a repair ticket resolution message associated with repairing the identified one or more faulted data links.

A cloud platform (i.e., a computing platform for cloud computing) may be employed by many users to store, manage, and process data using a shared network of remote servers. Users may develop applications on the cloud platform to handle the storage, management, and processing of data. In some cases, the cloud platform may utilize a multi-tenant database system. Users may access the cloud platform using various user devices (e.g., desktop computers, laptops, smartphones, tablets, or other computing systems, etc.).
In one example, the cloud platform may support customer relationship management (CRM) solutions. This may include support for sales, service, marketing, community, analytics, applications, and the Internet of Things. A user may utilize the cloud platform to help manage contacts of the user. For example, managing contacts of the user may include analyzing data, storing and preparing communications, and tracking opportunities and sales.
The cloud platform may be configured with data links configured to transport data across the platform or to services and entities outside of the platform. In some cases, one or more of the data links may fail (e.g., because of physical damage to hardware, configuration errors, data congestion, etc.), which may cause latency, increased data signaling related to resending data packets, among other performance issues. Some systems supporting data links configured to transport data can be improved.


A tire noise reduction device including at least one sound absorbing member of flexible polyurethane foam to be attached to an inner surface of a tire facing a cavity of the tire. The sound absorbing member includes a first sound absorbing layer placed on a tire inner surface side thereof and a second sound absorbing layer placed on a tire reverse inner surface side thereof, with the second sound absorbing layer being disposed on the first sound absorbing layer. The second sound absorbing layer has a density lower than that of the first sound absorbing layer. The second sound absorbing layer is of a thickness that is greater than or equal to that of the first sound absorbing layer. The second sound absorbing layer extends annularly in the tire circumferential direction, while the first sound absorbing layer includes a plurality of the sound absorbing members.

A cavity resonance phenomenon that occurs in an airtightly sealed tire cavity formed between the rim of a wheel and a pneumatic tire mounted on the rim is a major factor of tire noise. Noise around 250 Hz regularly heard during running or impulsive sounds generated in running over joint lines or the like of a road, for example, is involved with the cavity resonance phenomenon.
As a technique for reducing noise caused by such a cavity resonance phenomenon, there is known, for example, a technique such that a sound absorbing member of a porous material such as urethane resin foam is disposed on the inner surface of a tire facing the tire cavity to thereby reduce noise caused by the cavity resonance phenomenon (see a patent document 1, for example). On the other hand, the sound absorbing member has chipping and cracking arising from friction against the inner surface of the tire which is repeatedly deformed during running. Therefore, by increasing the density of the sound absorbing member, the mechanical strength of the sound absorbing member is enhanced to thereby suppress occurrence of chipping and cracking, enhancing durability.
However, mounting of the sound absorbing member with a high density increases tire weight, whereby an increase in unspring mass of the tire creates a problem of degrading ride comfort. Another problem is that it is difficult to obtain sufficient durability which can satisfy high requirements in the case of simply increasing the density of the sound absorbing member.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Kokai Publication 2003-226104

Tire noise reduction device and pneumatic tire


A combination of integrated circuit (IC) flatpacs used in combination to tch selected sonar microphone inputs from a circular receiving array to position a beam containing a sounding target intermediate to an equal number of left and right microphone pickups and selectively switching through weighted delay circuits for beam forming to present the target in this receiving beam electronically on a flat display with digital control of "coarse" seven and one-half degrees and "fine" one-tenth degree increments to provide a display of the bearing of the target.

This invention relates to inner space target detection where a sound detection system of sonar is positioned in an inner space vehicle or at an inner space station.
In prior known sonar devices of this type a plurality of sonar microphones are positioned about the vehicle or station such as in a circular configuration of sonar microphones arranged to listen through 360.degree. which microphones had to be switched in a desirable way to provide bearing of the target in the inner space. The prior known switching device was a mechanical rotary switch utilizing a plurality of brushes on slip ring and commutator style contacts to provide the desired combination of switch arrangement to connect the sonar microphones in the proper combination to the correct taps of delay lines to form a beam or beams at this bearing. The mechanical switching arrangement of this known type is most successful in operation but its operation is limited to a few hours since the mechanical switch contacts deteriorate rapidly and require frequent cleaning operations which shut down the equipment during these cleaning operations. Accordingly, it is desirable to eliminate such mechanical switching means since cleaning at intervals of time is inherent in such switches and it is desirable to mechanize such a switching system with non-mechanical or electronic, preferably solid state switching arrangements. Additionally, the accuracy of the mechanical switches is dependent on and limited by the mechanical dimensions and their stability with time.

The United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


Energy efficient transmission of content can be provided using a variety of techniques. In an example technique, portions of content can be transmitted from a first computing device to a second computing device for display. A wireless radio of the first computing device can be placed into a low power mode between transmissions of the portions of content. In another example technique, one or more portions of content can be decoded, displayed, encoded, and transmitted by a first computing device for mirroring on a second computing device. One or more other portions of the content can be transmitted in encoded format to the second device without being decoded and displayed by the first device. In another example technique, a wireless radio of a first device can be placed into a low power mode in between transmission of commands to a second computing device to control content.

Smart phones and other mobile devices are quickly replacing more traditional computers for many tasks, such as web browsing, watching video content, and playing games. In fact, the typical smart phone is already more powerful than computers of only a handful of years ago. Although smart phones can perform many of the tasks of traditional computers, smart phones still faces a number of limitations. For example, because smart phones are smaller than traditional computers and laptops, smart phones have a smaller keyboard and a smaller display.
One way to compensate for the small display on a smart phone or other mobile device is to wirelessly mirror the smart phone's display on a larger display. However, due to the nature of current wireless display technology, the smart phone has to continuously transmit information to the wireless display, which drains the battery of the smart phone quickly. For example, a Wi-Fi transmitter on a smart phone, if in use continuously, can account for one-third, or more, of the total power consumption of the smart phone.
Therefore, there exists ample opportunity for improvement in technologies related to energy efficient wireless display.

Energy-efficient transmission of content over a wireless connection


At the time of preliminary photographing for exposure adjustment, an image pickup screen is divided into n blocks S100 and color decision processing is executed for sorting each block into a block belonging to monochromatic light and a block belonging to light other than the monochromatic light S102. A reference luminance value LSi (LSi=(Ri+2Gi+Bi)/4) is set for the block belonging to the light other than the monochromatic light as a luminance value Li of the block S104 and a higher value than the reference luminance value LSi is set for the block belonging to the monochromatic light as the luminance value Li S106. Then, exposure is adjusted so that an average E of this luminance value Li can match a target luminance value X (reflectivity of 18%) S108, S110. Accordingly, the monochromatic light can be prevented from being displayed more brightly than needed, and, as a result, photographing is enabled with a more appropriate exposure.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus which adjusts exposure using luminance values of a plurality of blocks consisting of at least one pixel that constitute a photoelectrically converted image pickup screen.
2. Description of the Related Arts
Up to now, an apparatus of this type which adjusts exposure so that an average luminance value of an image pickup screen at the time of photometry can reach a target luminance value (luminance value for reflectivity of 18%) has been proposed. In this apparatus, after luminance values of a plurality of blocks which constitute the image pickup screen have been respectively calculated, photographing is enabled with an appropriate exposure by obtaining these averages as an average luminance value and adjusting exposure so that this average luminance value can reach the target luminance value. Moreover, in addition to this, an apparatus (for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 7-26874) which tries to realize accurate photometry by performing preliminary photometry and practical photometry so that the luminance range of an object screen can be within the luminance range in which photometry of a CCD is enabled is also proposed.
However, in such apparatus, monochromatic light may be displayed more brightly than needed. This is based on the fact that as the proportion of monochromatic light (for example, red) to an image pickup screen at the time of photometry increases, an average luminance value of the image pickup screen decreases and exposure is adjusted so that this average luminance value can reach a target luminance value. This becomes a cause which results in the color saturation of a display apparatus such as a CRT, and a sense of incompatibility may be generated in those who watch this display apparatus. Further, there was a drawback that if achromatic light, for example, a white portion (reflectivity of about 90%) can be seen in an image pickup screen at the time of photometry, white is displayed darkly due to the correction of exposure to a target luminance value, and, conversely, if a black portion (reflectivity of about 3%) can be seen in the image pickup screen, black is displayed brightly due to the correction of exposure.
An object of an apparatus of the present invention is to enable photographing with a more appropriate exposure.
An apparatus of the present invention employs the following means to attain the aforementioned object.
A first apparatus of the present invention is an apparatus for adjusting exposure using luminance values of a plurality of blocks consisting of at least one pixel that constitute a photoelectrically converted image pickup screen, comprising reference luminance value calculating means which calculates reference luminance values of the plurality of blocks sorting means which sorts the plurality of blocks into blocks belonging to monochromatic light and blocks belonging to light other than the monochromatic light luminance value setting means which sets higher values than the reference luminance values calculated by the reference luminance value calculating means as the luminance values of the blocks belonging to the monochromatic light among the sorted plurality of blocks and sets the reference luminance values calculated by the reference luminance value calculating means as the luminance values of the blocks assigned to the light other than the monochromatic light; and exposure adjusting means which adjusts exposure based on the set luminance values.
In a first apparatus of the present invention, reference luminance value calculating means calculates reference luminance values of a plurality of blocks, and sorting means sorts a plurality of blocks into blocks belonging to monochromatic light and blocks belonging to the light other than the monochromatic light. Then, luminance value setting means sets higher values than the reference luminance values calculated by the reference luminance value calculating means as the luminance values of the blocks belonging to the monochromatic light from the plurality of blocks sorted by the sorting means, sets the reference luminance values calculated by the reference luminance value calculating means as the luminance values of the blocks belonging to the light other than the monochromatic light and exposure adjusting means adjusts exposure based on the set luminance values. According to this first apparatus of the present invention, since the luminance values of the blocks assigned to the monochromatic light are set higher than the reference luminance values and exposure is adjusted based on these set luminance values, the monochromatic light can be prevented from being brighter than needed, and, as a result, photographing is enabled with a more appropriate exposure.
In such a first apparatus of the present invention, the sorting means can also be made a means which sorts a plurality of blocks based on signal ratios of RGB (red, green and blue) signals in the blocks.
Further, in the first apparatus of the present invention, the luminance value setting means can also be made a means of setting the maximum signal value among elements of RGB signals as the luminance values of the blocks belonging to the monochromatic light.
A second apparatus of the present invention is an apparatus for adjusting exposure using luminance values of a plurality of blocks consisting of at least one pixel that constitute a photoelectrically converted screen, comprising sorting means which sorts the plurality of blocks into at least two groups using a threshold regarding a predetermined color luminance value correction means which corrects the luminance values of the plurality of blocks using a predetermined weight which corresponds to the sorted groups; and exposure adjusting means which adjusts the exposure based on the corrected luminance values.
In the second apparatus of the present invention, sorting means sorts a plurality of blocks into at least two groups using a threshold regarding a predetermined color, and luminance value correcting means corrects luminance values of a plurality of blocks using a predetermined weight which corresponds to the sorted groups. Then, exposure adjusting means adjusts exposure based on corrected luminance values. According to this second apparatus of the present invention, since luminance values are corrected in accordance with the color information of an image pickup screen, photographing is enabled with a more appropriate exposure in accordance with the conditions of an object.
In a second apparatus of the present invention, the sorting means can also be made a means which sorts a plurality of blocks based on signal ratios of RGB signals in the blocks.
Moreover, in a second apparatus of the present invention, the threshold regarding the predetermined color can be a threshold in which a plurality of blocks are sorted into a block belonging to achromatic light, a block belonging to monochromatic light and a block belonging to normal light other than the achromatic light and the monochromatic light. In the second apparatus of the present invention according to this aspect, the luminance value correcting means can be a means which uses a great weight in the order of the block belonging to the achromatic light, the block belonging to the normal light and the block belonging to the monochromatic light. Thus, since exposure is adjusted by preferentially evaluating an object having a tone and low evaluating the achromatic color, the effect caused by the achromatic light can be reduced when adjusting the exposure, and, as a result, photographing is enabled with a more appropriate exposure.

Apparatus which adjusts exposure on luminance value of photoelectrically converted image pickup screen


A cylinder-piston rod unit includes a sealing ring adjacent at least one end of the cylinder for forming a fluid-tight seal between the cylinder and the piston rod. The sealing ring includes a substantially axially extending sleeve portion and a substantially radially extending flange portion. A sealing-pressure application ring, which is subject to a circumferential tensioning force over at least the lower part of the operating temperature range of the sleeve portion, surrounds the sleeve portion and exerts a radial sealing force against the sleeve portion. The sealing ring is secured to the cylinder by the flange portion.

Cylinder piston rod units are used for many technical applications and more particularly in the field of motor-vehicles. In this latter field, cylinder piston rod units are e.g. used as gas springs and more particularly as oscillation dampers. Motor-vehicles are used under considerably varying operational temperatures. The operational temperature is not only dependent on the surrounding temperature conditions, but also on the temperature increase which results from operation. So, oscillation dampers of motor-vehicles are frequently subject to a range of operational temperatures which varies between -40.degree. C. and +180.degree. C. It is required that the sealing effect between the piston rod member and the piston rod guiding and sealing unit adjacent one end of a cylinder is maintained within such a wide range of operational temperatures.


A fuel cell module includes a first fuel cell layer and second fuel cell layer. Each fuel cell layer includes a plurality of membrane electrode assemblies arranged in a planar shape. Each membrane electrode assembly includes an electrolyte membrane, an anode disposed on one surface of the electrolyte membrane, and a cathode disposed on the other surface of the electrolyte membrane. Each fuel cell layer also includes interconnectors each of which electrically connects the anode of one of adjacent membrane electrode assemblies to the cathode of the other. The first fuel cell layer and second fuel cell layer are arranged so that one polarity of each membrane electrode assembly of the first fuel cell layer is opposed to the same polarity of each membrane electrode assembly of the second fuel cell layer.

In recent years, attention has focused on a fuel cell that has a high energy conversion efficiency and does not generate a harmful material during a power generation reaction. As one example of such a fuel cell, a polymer electrolyte fuel cell operating at a low temperature of 100° C. or less is known.
The polymer electrolyte fuel cell has a fundamental structure in which a solid polymer membrane as an electrolyte membrane is disposed between an anode and a cathode. The polymer electrolyte fuel cell is a device where hydrogen is supplied to the anode, oxidant gas containing oxygen is supplied to the cathode, and power through the following electrochemical reaction is generated.Anode: H2→2H++2e−  (1)Cathode: ½O2+2H++2e−→H2O  (2)In the anode, the supplied hydrogen is decomposed into hydrogen ions and electrons as shown in formula (1). The hydrogen ions travel toward the cathode through the solid polymer electrolyte membrane, and the electrons travel to the anode through an external circuit. In the cathode, the oxygen contained in the oxidant gas supplied to the cathode reacts with the hydrogen ions and electrons that have traveled from the anode, thereby generating water as shown in formula (2). Thus, in the external circuit, the electrons travel from the anode to the cathode, and hence power can be taken out.
Particularly, the polymer electrolyte fuel cell has a lower operating temperature and a higher output density than those of other types of fuel cells. Recently, especially, the polymer electrolyte fuel cell has been expected to be applied to a power source of a mobile device and a power source of an on-vehicle device. As such a polymer electrolyte fuel cell, Patent Literature 1 discloses a fuel cell stack formed by stacking planar-array fuel cell layers each of which includes a plurality of membrane electrode assemblies arranged in a planar shape.


A system for accessing a database of a plurality of image data sets includes an acquisition unit which acquires a query for searching the database for an image data set or an image data subset comprised in an image data set. The query includes at least one medically relevant term which defines a search criteria. A determining unit determines the image data set or the image data subset included in the image data set based on the strength of semantic matches between the at least one medically relevant term and (a) corresponding medical annotation(s) describing the image data set. A retrieving unit retrieves the determined image data set or image data subset from the database.

As medical imaging technologies advance, more and more 3D image data sets are acquired by medical scanners and stored in image databases, such as Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS). Such systems contain a huge amount of medical cases that could be of value to radiologists for improving clinical decisions and treatment plans based on this available data.
European patent application entitled "Accessing Medical Image Databases Using Anatomical Shape Information", filed by Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V on Sep. 29, 2006 under application number 06300994.8 (not disclosed yet), describes a system for retrieving a volumetric data subset comprised in a data storage for volumetric image sets, the system comprising a first query unit for composing a first query for retrieving the data storage for a volumetric image data set comprising the volumetric image data subset; a second query unit for composing a second query for retrieving the volumetric image data set for the volumetric image data subset, the second query comprising anatomical structure information for identifying an anatomical structure within the volumetric image data set; a first determination unit for determining the volumetric image data set, based on the first query; a second determination unit for determining the volumetric image data subset of the volumetric image data set, based on the anatomical structure identified within the volumetric image data set, using the anatomical structure information comprised in the second query; and a retrieval unit for retrieving the determined volumetric image data subset. The system is thus capable of retrieving a reduced amount of data describing the anatomical structure, i.e., a subset of a volumetric image data set, based on anatomical shape information.

Accessing medical image databases using medically relevant terms


Using an undifferentiated mouse CL6 cell line, DMSO was added to induce its differentiation into cardiac muscular cells in order to obtain gene fragments whose expression elevated upon the induction. The isolated gene had zinc finger domains and showed a significant homology to the Sp1 family genes. Furthermore, a human gene corresponding to this mouse gene was isolated. The protein encoded by this gene existed in the nucleus and bonded to a GC-box. The protein was revealed to repress the transcription regulatory activity of the CMV promoter and thus serves as a transcription factor.

G-rich elements, such as GC-box or GT-box, are sequences that bind to transcription factors which have been found in promoter sequences of various genes including house keeping genes as well as tissue specific genes, parentally expressing genes, etc. The G-rich elements are closely related to development and differentiation, in addition to gene expression upon the binding of transcription factors.
Sp1 has been found as a DNA-binding transcription factor that binds to the GC-box of the SV-40 promoter sequence to regulate the transcriptional activity of the promoter (Dynan W S. et al. (1983) Cell 35, 79-87; Gidoni D. et al. (1984) Nature 312, 409-13). The Sp1 has three zinc finger domains in its C-terminal region and binds to a GC/GT-box through the domains (Kadonaga J T. et al. (1987) Cell 51, 1079-90). Moreover, it has been known that the Sp1 has two glutamine-rich regions required for the activation of transcription (Courey A J. et al. (1988) Cell 55, 887-98), and yet two serine/threonine-rich regions. Transcription factor homologues, Sp2 (Kingsley C. et al. (1992) Mol Cell Biol 12, 4251-61), Sp3, and Sp4 (Hagen G. et al. (1992) Nucleic Acids Res 20, 5519-25), with a high homology to the Sp1 are known to exist and they comprise a family. Each transcription factor has three highly conserved zinc finger domains in its C-terminal region, and besides, a glutamine-rich region and/or a serine/threonine-rich region. While the Sp3 and Sp4, similarly to the Sp1, bind to a GC/GT-box (Hagen G. et al. (1992) Nucleic Acids Res. 20, 5519-25; Hagen G. et al. (1994) EMBO J 13, 3843-51), the Sp2 is reported not to bind to a GC-box and rather binds to a GT-box in the Vα promoter region of TCR (Kingsley C. et al. (1992) Mol. Cell. Biol. 12, 4251-61).
Recently, many transcription factors with high homology to the three zinc finger domains of Sp1 have been reported (Philipsen S. et al. (1999) Nucleic Acids Res. 27, 2991-3000). As in the case with Sp1, they all have been shown to have three zinc finger domains in its C-terminal regions and bind to a GC/GT-box; however, other regions share only a low homology with the Sp-family and do not have a glutamine-rich region that functions as a transcription activation region in Sp1.
These GC/GT-box binding transcription factors have been known to enhance or repress the transcriptional activity, and thus, are considered to regulate gene expression in various cells during development, differentiation, and such. Such characteristics of the GC/GT-box binding transcription factors described above presently make them remarkable as targets in developing therapeutic agents.

Transcription factor having zinc finger domain