An apparatus for forming a particle mat for the production of particleboard has a transport belt having a stretch moving in a longitudinal transport direction and forming a deposition surface in turn defining a floor of a deposition space, a dispenser upwardly delimiting the space and including a dispensing roller for depositing particles as a mat in the space on the longitudinal moving deposition surface, a pair of transversely spaced and longitudinally extending upper guides extending in the space generally at the dispenser, and a pair of transversely spaced and longitudinally extending lower guides extending in the space underneath the respective upper guides and generally at the deposition surface. A pair of longitudinally extending, continuous, and transversely spaced flexible sheets each extend the full longitudinal length of the deposition space and have an inner edge secured to one of the guides of a respective one of the pairs of guides and an outer edge. The sheets each pass around the other of the guides of the respective pair of guides and therefore each have a section extending generally vertically between the respective upper and lower guides. Tensioners engages the outer edges of the sheets and maintains the wall sections taut and generally planar between the respective upper and lower guides. Thus the deposition space is transversely delimited by the sections of the sheets.

Particleboard is made by forming a mat of particles mixed with an appropriate normally heat-activatable binder on a conveyor belt. This mat is prepressed between rollers and then normally subdivided into panels that are hot pressed into finished boards that are trimmed to size for the end user. Equipment for doing this is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,468,188, 4,647,417, 4,645,632, and 4,681,523 as well as in the patents and references cited therein.
The mat-forming apparatus typically comprises a dispensing roller having a plurality of like axially spaced disks carried on a rotating horizontal shaft. A reinforced synthetic-resin conveyor belt has a horizontal upper stretch spaced below this drum and is continuously driven to move this upper stretch longitudinally downstream. Binder-coated particles are fed to the drum and pass through it to land on the conveyor belt and form a mat of uniform thickness that is subsequently processed as described above into a particleboard (which term is here intended to cover chipboard, fiberboard, and similar materials formed of particles that themselves do not extend the full width, thickness, or length of the finished product).
In order to preform the mat and prevent the particles from spilling outside the machine, walls are provided extending longitudinally along each side of the area of the conveyor belt on which the particles are dropped by the dispensing drum. These walls are formed of sheet metal plates. When the mat-forming space is long it is necessary to use a succession of lapped plates. As a result the edge of the mat thus formed is not very neat, in particular when long particles or fibers are being deposited, as the slight change in width where one plate ends and the next one starts can disrupt the fibers at the edge of the mat.
It is also standard to change the overall height of the distributing space, typically by raising or lowering the dispensing rolls, in order to achieve a different effect or to use a different type of particle. When such a height change is made it is therefore necessary to swap out the wall plates altogether with ones having the desired height, so that down time for such a change is substantially increased.

Mat-making apparatus for particleboard manufacture


A manipulator joint includes an encoder having a body and shaft. The encoder body may be fixed to a first housing and the encoder shaft may be fixed to a second housing. The second housing is separate from, distal to, and rotatable with respect to the first housing. Rotation of the second housing may be about a common axis shared with the first housing. A hollow driveshaft, rotatably coupled to the second housing, extends across the joint from the second to the first housing. A torque limiter may be fixedly coupled to the second housing and releasably coupled to the driveshaft. The encoder may be configured to output an absolute angular position of the first housing with respect to the second housing. A method of detecting an over-torque condition of the manipulator joint includes transmitting commands from a processor to the drive motor and receiving data from the encoder.

Remotely operated vehicles are used in various situations where unsafe or hostile conditions are present. For example, bomb disposal, fire rescue, chemical spills, and military combat are just a few uses in such situations. Such systems typically include a remotely controlled or robotic manipulator arm for carrying out various tasks. It is desirable that the manipulator arm be light and strong. A manipulator arm typically includes one or more manipulator joints, and one or more manipulator links, where the manipulator joint architecture is a critical element of the overall mechanical system. As used herein, a manipulator link refers to an interconnecting structural member extending between two manipulator joints or a structural member extending from one manipulator joint. Desirable features of a manipulator joint used in field operations include a rugged drive mechanism, environmentally sealed housing, joint overload protection, and joint position feedback.
Unlike fixed manipulator arms, for example those used in a factory, where the loads are known and can be accounted for in the manipulator arm design, a manipulator arm on a remotely operated vehicle may encounter a wide variety of loads placed upon it. Further, the remotely operated vehicle may overturn or encounter an obstacle placing a very large load on the arm. The forces resulting from these loads are focused on the joints of the arm.
In order to prevent damage to a joint, typical manipulator joints may include a torque limiter. The torque limiter is designed to provide movement of the joint when a certain amount of torque is placed on the joint. This prevents the joint from being damaged and saves the cost of a repair or replacement of the joint.
Typical joints include a drive motor. Further, an encoder at the drive motor typically determines the position of the drive motor's shaft. The rotation of the drive motor shaft leads to a known movement of the arm that can be determined using the encoder's data and knowledge of the drive mechanism of the joint. For example, the power transmitted from the drive motor shaft to the joint may be geared such that ten drive motor shaft revolutions in a clockwise direction corresponds to five degrees of joint rotation in a counter-clockwise direction. In this example, a processor could calculate that encoder output data indicating thirty driveshaft revolutions in a clockwise direction corresponds to a joint rotation of fifteen degrees in a counter-clockwise direction. However, the processor coupled to the typical joint could not use this information to determine if the torque limiter in a joint had slipped due to overload.
A problem occurs when excessive torque is placed upon the joint of the manipulator arm and the manipulator joint slips from a known first position to a second position without a corresponding rotation of the drive motor shaft. In such a case, the second position is unknown by the motor encoder. In fact, if the slippage is not detected, and if the second position is calculated using data from an encoder of the drive motor, the calculated second position will not accurately reflect the true second position. For example, say that a weight resting on a surface was attached to an end of a manipulator arm via a flexible tether. A user desires to lift the weight above the surface and a rotation of a manipulator joint, at the opposite end of the arm, would affect such lifting. Assume however that the weight at the end of the arm would result in a torque at the joint that was greater than a maximum torque set for the joint's torque limiter. In such a case, the drive motor shaft would rotate and cause the joint to proportionally rotate until all of the slack was removed from the tether and tension was added to the tether. Up to this point, the joint's position is determinable given the encoder's data and the knowledge of the drive mechanism of the joint. However, just after this point, the drive motor will continue to rotate while the shaft remains stationary due to the slippage of the joint's torque limiter. As a consequence, because joint position is based solely on data from the encoder operationally connected to the drive motor shaft and knowledge of the drive mechanism of the joint, the actual position of the joint is unknown. Consequently, a reset or recalibration must be performed. Such a reset or recalibration may even be necessary when the manipulator arm has not been in use, or has been unpowered, because unknown loads may have caused slippage of the manipulator joint during handling or transport. Further, the operator may not be aware of the slippage caused by an overload condition and may not be able to properly initialize or control the manipulator arm.
Thus, there is a need in the electric manipulator joint field to create an improved and useful joint and encoder device to solve the problems mentioned above.


The invention relates to a method for quantifying components, wherein certain components are each determined based on a plurality of audio signals and can be calculated by the application of a linear conversion on the audio signals, said method comprising: determining a quantification function to be applied to the components by testing a condition relative to an audio signal and depending on a comparison made between a psycho-acoustic masking threshold relative to the audio signal and a value determined based on the reverse linear conversion and quantification errors of the components by the function.

The present invention relates to devices for coding audio signals, intended especially to be deployed in applications concerning the transmission or storage of digitized and compressed audio signals.
The invention pertains more precisely to the quantization modules included in these audio coding devices.
The invention relates more particularly to 3D sound scene coding. A 3D sound scene, also called surround sound, comprises a plurality of audio channels each corresponding to monophonic signals.
A technique for coding signals of a sound scene used in the "MPEG Audio Surround" coder (cf. "Text of ISO/IEC FDIS 23003-1, MPEG Surround", ISO/IEC JTC1/SC29/WG11 N8324, Jul. 2006, Klagenfurt, Austria), comprises the extraction and coding of spatial parameters on the basis of the whole set of monophonic audio signals on the various channels. These signals are thereafter mixed to obtain a monophonic or stereophonic signal, which is then compressed by a conventional mono or stereo coder (for example of the MPEG-4 AAC, HE-AAC type, etc). At the decoder level, the synthesis of the reconstructed 3D sound scene is done on the basis of the spatial parameters and the decoded mono or stereo signal.
The coding of the multichannel signals requires in certain cases the introduction of a transformation (KLT, Ambisonic, DCT, etc.) making it possible to take better account of the interactions which may exist between the various signals of the sound scene to be coded.
It is always necessary to increase the audio quality of the sound scenes reconstructed after a coding and decoding operation.

Quantization after linear transformation combining the audio signals of a sound scene, and related coder


An emulation system and emulation method for a no longer available microcontroller, having a supplyable microcontroller and emulation software able to be run thereon, and having an interpreter, the emulation software forming a software layer between the hardware of the available microcontroller and an operating software of the no longer available microcontroller, and the software being adapted in such a way that the hardware of the available microcontroller in conjunction with the additional emulation software behaves like the hardware of the no longer available microcontroller, and the interpreter is adapted in order to represent address, code and data information of the operating software of the no longer available microcontroller to functionally equivalent address, code and data information of the available microcontroller.

The stockpiling of components within the framework of future delivery obligations of control devices once the production has ceased entails financial risk. If not enough components are kept in stock prior to the discontinuation, then a costly post-production development looms, which ultimately must serve the entire variance in the field, however. If too many components are stockpiled, then the stock-keeping will cause expense, and components must also be scrapped once the post-production delivery obligation has expired. The most critical component in the stockpiling is the microcontroller, since it is the most complex, expensive and also the most risky component in a post-production control device development, especially the software. Moreover, for the micro controller, in particular, there still exists no (identical) second source.
One approach for solving this problem is to implement the software modules of the no longer available microcontroller in an FPGA (field-programmable gate array) and to mount it on an MCM (multi chip module) in the otherwise old packaging and mechanisms of the control devices. However, this presupposes that the software of the complete no longer available microcomputer is still in existence. When developing the microcontroller, this software would most likely have to be developed as well and ultimately be available in all supplied variants, development stages and derivations. Furthermore, the FPGA would have to a high number of gates. It must be assumed that a current FPGA is able to represent a one year old microcontroller in the first place.
Another approach is to network the hardware modules of the no longer available microcontroller from identical hardware modules of various available microcontrollers on an MCM, for example, and to mount it in the otherwise old packaging or mechanisms. This is a typical control device measure in the development of new microcontrollers, in which a development board is created from existing modules of microcontroller families of the particular manufacturer. For example, the first evaluation board (EVA) of the Golden Oak consisted of 2 microcontrollers, and the time processing unit (TPU) was used from one of them, and the other modules from the other. The communication of the separate modules must be implemented via the external bus of the microcontroller, which may entail performance losses as a result of the slow external communication. The software within the sense of a universal control device would therefore have to be modified or expanded by at least the external communication of the x microcontrollers.
Another approach suggests a complete replacement of the no longer available control device by a control device of the next control device generation, either with a compatible plug or with a plug adapter. It is assumed here, however, that a customer- or project-specific newer control device of the next control device generation exists. The additional functions produced as a result of the further development, or the additional software would have to be disabled. Moreover, it is assumed that no functional concept breaks or software changes or a functional re-design have taken place, if the outlay in connection with the change is to be restricted to the data application alone. Presumably, a software release would have to be used following the migration between the control device generations.
Given the. many uncertainties, none of the previously known approaches therefore offers a reliable management of the stockpiling problem.

Emulation system and method for a no longer available microcontroller


A system and method of facilitating search by color processes an image of an item to obtain its color space parameter values and/or color names based on the color space parameter values, and adds the color space parameter values and/or color names as color attribute of the item. When a user inputs a color as a search criterion, the method searches the color attributes of items, and returns a list of items matching the color selected by the user.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to computer data search, and more particularly to a method of providing one or more color attributes to items to make them searchable by color.
2. Description of Related Art
One advantage of online shopping is that it allows users to easily search and compare merchandise on various seller websites. In addition to enabling users to search products by product categories and/or brands, some websites have a search by color feature to help users to locate products more quickly.
Existing search by color techniques often provide unsatisfactory results, because they are based on text, and not on actual color. In one example, a user may be looking for a pair of green shoes and may input keywords "green" and "shoes" in the search box on the screen of an online shopping system. The system may search text descriptions of products for the keywords "green" and "shoes," and then may provide a list of all products whose text descriptions include the words "green" and "shoes." The list may mistakenly include Green Cross™ brand brown shoes, because the brand includes the word "green" and the brand name is a part of the text description of the shoes. Consequently, the list may be longer than it should be, and may be inaccurate.
Another problem of existing search by color techniques is that different online shopping websites may refer to the same color using different words. For example, different websites may refer to the color maroon as "dark red," "crimson," or "reddish brown". The use of different names may prevent complete identification of matching colors, or may again provide inaccurate results (e.g. when searching for brown items, something that is "reddish brown," but which is actually maroon, may be identified).
One result of the use of different syntax is that a user may describe a color differently from the way a website may. For example, if a user inputs "dark green shoes" into the search box of an online shopping website, but the website does not differentiate among shades of colors and does not include words "light" or "dark" in product text descriptions, the website may return results that show green shoes, but not dark green shoes. Consequently, a pair of shoes perfectly matching the user's requirements may be erroneously excluded from the list of shoes provided to the user.
A further problem of existing search by color techniques is that not all product text descriptions have explicit color information. If a website defines a Gucci™ handbag as "signature GG fabric," this handbag may not be included in the list provided to a user looking for a light brown handbag, although it is known that the color of the signature GG fabric is light brown.
Therefore, a search by color method providing more accurate search results would be desirable.

Method and system of facilitating search by color


A recording apparatus in which a heat-sensitive sheet wound in the form of a roll is drawn out for a printing operation is improved in performance in various manners, for instance, by controlling the loading and forwarding of the heat-sensitive sheet, or by controlling the printing means such as thermal printers, or by improving sheet conveying means such as conveying rollers.. Specific features include a two sheet entry path into the recording apparatus, one for accommodating a single sheet and one for accommodating a roll of sheet material. Further, the printing units are arranged in a staggered manner in a transverse direction relative to the delivery direction of the recording material, and each of the printing units has a predetermined main scanning length. In addition, any wandering or meandering of the sheet material can be detected accurately by detecting an angle of a roller arm in contact with the upper surface of the sheet material.

This invention relates to recording apparatuses, and more particularly to a recording apparatus which is effectively used for a CAD (computer-aided automatic drafting device) which records data on a recording sheet of large size such as size A0.
Typical examples of an apparatus for recording data on a recording sheet of size A0 are a printing apparatus of photographic system and a recording apparatus of electrostatic recording system. They are extensively employed in a large number of fields. On the other hand, a CAD for facilitating the formation of design drawings has been put in practical use, and a variety of recording apparatuses for such a CAD have been also proposed in the art.
In recording data on a recording sheet of large size such as size A0, it is not preferable to use all the parts of the recording sheet simultaneously, because the recording apparatus which can record data in this manner is unavoidably intricate in construction. In order to overcome this difficulty, a recording means having a predetermined main scanning length is used to scan the recording sheet relatively in the auxiliary scanning direction.
In a recording apparatus of electrostatic recording system, for instance a charging member whose main scanning length is substantially equal to the width of a recording sheet is used to charge the recording sheet to form a latent image thereon, and the latter is developed by applying toner or ink droplets thereto, to form the image.
When the recording means scans the recording sheet in a relative mode, the following two methods are employed: In the first method, the recording means scans the recording sheet which is at rest. In the second method, the recording means is at rest, while the recording sheet is conveyed.
In this connection, in the case where it is required to accurately convey a large size recording sheet of large size such as that of size A0 with a plurality of coaxial rollers the cylindrical outer walls of those rollers must be polished with high precision.


A drill string rotation angle sensor diagnostic system includes a first rotation angle sensor assembly, a second rotation angle sensor assembly, an operator interface; and a control module. The control module is configured to receive a first signal from the first rotation angle sensor assembly, receive a second signal from the second rotation angle sensor assembly, determine if a valid state exists based on the first signal and the second signal, and indicate a fault on the operator interface if a valid state does not exist.

Mobile drilling machines, such as blasthole drilling machines, are typically used for drilling blastholes for mining, quarrying, dam construction, and road construction, among other uses. The process of excavating rock, or other material, by blasthole drilling comprises using the blasthole drill machine to drill a plurality of holes into the rock and filling the holes with explosives. The explosives are detonated causing the rock to collapse. The rubble of the collapse is then removed and the new surface that is formed is reinforced. Many current blasthole drilling machines utilize rotary drill rigs, mounted on a mast, that can drill blastholes anywhere from 6 inches to 22 inches in diameter and depths up to 180 feet or more.
In order to drill to deeper depths, it is often necessary to add additional pipe segments to extend the drill string. When doing so, a rotary head of the drill string is disconnected from the lower pipe segments and raised to allow a new pipe segment to be rotated into line with the string. During this process, it is important to ensure the correct rotational alignment of each pipe segment with the rest of the drill string and with the drilling machine as a whole. Therefore, it is necessary to have accurate means of monitoring the rotational position of the drill string. This monitoring can be performed by means of arc sensors and magnet sets. However, like most sensors, this system can sometimes malfunction. There is therefore a need for a method of quickly and accurately diagnosing and troubleshooting the sensing system.
The prior art has failed to adequately address this issue. Many drilling machines, such as that disclosed by U.S. Publication No. 2014/0338975 to Hoult, utilize magnetic rotation sensors. Hoult uses magnetic sensors to determine the location of a drill head. However, none of these systems provide the diagnostic verification needed.

Rotation angle sensing and advanced diagnostics


A pseudo-differential amplifier circuit 1 is constructed from two equivalent amplifiers 2 and 3 that amplify a pair of input signals without using a differential pair. This pseudo-differential amplifier circuit 1 is used in an arithmetic unit in each of the A-D converter circuits AD1 through ADm in a parallel pipeline A-D converter 10.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pseudo-differential amplifier circuit including two amplifiers and an A-D (analog-to digital) converter using the pseudo-differential amplifier circuit and, more particularly, to a pipeline A-D converter using the pseudo-differential amplifier.
2. Description of the Related Art
A pipeline A-D converter using a differential amplifier circuit is publicly known. An example of the differential amplifier circuit is shown in FIG. 10. In the differential amplifier circuit 100 in FIG. 10, a predetermined voltage Vp1 is applied to the gate of each PMOS transistor MP1, and a predetermined voltage Vn1 is applied to the gate of an NMOS transistor MN4. Each gate of two NMOS transistors MN3 that make up a differential pair is an input terminal to the differential amplifier circuit 100, and two input voltages ViA and ViB are respectively input to the input terminals.
Further, each junction between PMOS transistors MP2 and NMOS transistors MN2 is an output terminal of the differential amplifier circuit 100, and output voltages VoA and VoB are respectively output from the output terminals. The output signal of a common-mode feedback circuit CMFB is input to the gate of each NMOS transistor MN1, and the output voltages VoA and VoB are adjusted thereby.
Here, let lo denote the current flowing through the NMOS transistors MN3 that make up a differential pair. Then, a source current Io/4 flows through each of the inverter amplifiers A1 and A2 that form a feedback circuit. The current Io flows through each series-connected circuit consisting of PMOS transistor MP2 and NMOS transistors MN2 and MN1. Two switches SW1 and SW2 are turned on, to form conductive states, when a signal input to the A-D converter is sampled. When the signal input to the A-D converter is held, both switches are turned off, to form cut-off states.
In recent years, as communication speed in mobile communications and the Internet has become high, the resolution and quality of images in video apparatus have become high, and the speed in disk media have become high, demand for high performance A-D converters has been accelerated. In particular, A-D converters that achieve high speed and high precision at low voltage and low power consumption by using CMOS have been desired.
However, the differential amplifier circuit 100 shown in FIG. 10 is a complete differential type and requires a large amount of bias current for desired output current. Therefore, such a differential amplifier circuit is inefficient with high power consumption, so that it has been disqualified for achieving reduction of power consumption in an A-D converter. Further, the differential amplifier circuit 100 of complete differential type has multi-stages of transistors connected in series between a source voltage and the ground, so that operation at low voltage is limited. Therefore, it has also been disqualified for reduction of voltage in an A-D converter.
The present invention has been made to solve the above problems. Its first object is thus to provide a pseudo-differential amplifier circuit that achieves low power consumption by composing a pseudo differential amplifier circuit using two cascade amplifiers in place of a differential amplifier circuit and also operates at low voltage.
Further, the second object of the present invention is to provide an A-D converter that uses the above pseudo-differential amplifier circuit.
According to an aspect of the present invention, a pseudo-differential amplifier circuit includes a first amplifier that amplifies and outputs a first input signal, a second amplifier that amplifies and outputs a second input signal, which has the opposite signal level of the first input signal. The above first and second amplifiers are of the same circuit configuration, have the same characteristics, each operable to pseudo-amplify and output one of the pair of input first and second signals.
According to the present invention, a pseudo-differential amplifier circuit is formed, without a differential pair used, from a pair of first and second amplifiers having the same circuitry and characteristics and respectively amplifying a pair of input signals. Therefore, it is possible to obtain a circuit that has the function of differential amplification and operates at low voltage as well as low power consumption.
The pseudo-differential amplifier circuit may have first and second capacitors connected in series between the output terminals of the first and second amplifiers, third and fourth capacitors connected in series between the input terminals of the first and second amplifiers, a buffer section that conveys the voltage at the junction between the first and second capacitors to the junction between the third and fourth capacitors, and a switch section that applies a predetermined voltage to the junction between the first and second capacitors and controls the voltage, depending on input control signals. By these means, fluctuations in average value of the output voltages of the amplifiers in the pseudo-differential amplifier circuit can be prevented, so that a high-performance pseudo-differential amplifier circuit that achieves reduction of power consumption and operation at low voltage can be obtained.
Specifically, when a predetermined voltage is applied from the switch section, the first and second capacitors respectively memorize the voltage difference between the predetermined voltage and the average value of the two signals output from the first and second amplifiers. On the other hand, the third and fourth capacitors make the voltage difference applied to the amplifiers through the buffer section. Construction in this way prevents the average value of the output voltages of the amplifiers in the pseudo-differential amplifier circuit from fluctuating, and a high-performance A-D converter that can achieve low power consumption and low-voltage operation can be obtained.
An A-D converter in accordance with another aspect of the present invention is equipped with a sampling and hold circuit that samples and holds a pair of analog signals having mutually opposite voltage levels and a plurality of A-D converter circuits that A-D convert a pair of output signals output from the sampling and hold circuit and perform predetermined computation to output the results as a pair of input voltages to a next-stage A-D converter circuit. Each of these A-D converter circuits in the A-D converter has a sub-A-D converter that A-D converts a pair of input voltages, a sub-D-A converter that D-A converts the data obtained by the A-D conversion, a pair of arithmetic units that respectively perform arithmetic operations for the input pair of voltages using the voltages obtained by the sub-D-A converter, and a pseudo-differential amplifier circuit consisting of a pair of amplifiers that have the same circuitry and the same characteristics and performing pseudo-differential amplification for the voltages obtained by the arithmetic units.
In the A-D converter, a pseudo-differential amplifier circuit is used in each of the A-D converter circuits that perform A-D conversion and predetermined computation for a pair of output signals output from the sampling and hold circuit to output the results as a pair of input voltages to a next-stage A-D converter circuit. By this means, low power consumption and low-voltage operation can be achieved.
According to another aspect of the present invention, an A-D converter includes a sampling and hold circuit that samples and holds a pair of analog signals having mutually opposite voltage levels and a plurality of A-D converter circuits that A-D convert a pair of output signals output from the sampling and hold circuit and perform predetermined computation to output the results as a pair of input voltages to a next-stage A-D converter circuit. At least one of these A-D converter circuits includes a sub-A-D converter that A-D converts a pair of input voltages, a sub-D-A converter that D-A converts the data obtained by the A-D conversion, a pair of arithmetic units that respectively perform arithmetic operations for the input voltages using the voltage obtained by the sub-D-A converter, and a pseudo-differential amplifier circuit including a pair of amplifiers that have the same circuitry and the same characteristics and performing pseudo-differential amplification for the voltages obtained by the arithmetic units.
Further, in the A-D converter, a pseudo-differential amplifier circuit is used in at least one of the A-D converter circuits that perform A-D conversion and predetermined computation for a pair of output signals output from the sampling and hold circuit to output the results as a pair of input voltages to a next-stage A-D converter circuit. An ordinary differential amplifier circuit is used in the other A-D converter circuits. By these means, while low power consumption and low-power operation in the A-D converter can be achieved, a decline in performance caused by fluctuations in the average value of the output voltages of the amplifiers in the pseudo-differential amplifier circuit can be prevented. Therefore, a high performance A-D converter that achieves low power consumption and low-voltage operation can be obtained.
In this case, each of the other ordinary A-D converter circuits of the above A-D converter circuits may have a sub-A-D converter that A-D converts a pair of input voltages, a sub-D-A converter that D-A converts the data obtained by the A-D conversion, a pair of arithmetic units that respectively perform arithmetic operations for the input voltages using the voltages obtained by the sub-D-A converter, and a differential amplifier circuit that performs differential amplification for the voltages obtained by the arithmetic units.
Preferably, the above pseudo-differential amplifier circuit includes first and second capacitors connected in series between the output terminals of the above amplifiers, third and fourth capacitors connected in series between the input terminals of the above amplifiers, a buffer section that conveys the voltage at the junction between the first and second capacitors to the junction between the third and fourth capacitors, and a switch section that applies a predetermined voltage to the junction between the first and second capacitors and controls the voltage, depending on input control signals.
In this case, when a predetermined voltage is applied from the switch section, the first and second capacitors respectively memorize the voltage difference between the predetermined voltage and the average value of the two signals output from the amplifiers. On the other hand, the third and fourth capacitors make the voltage difference be applied to the amplifiers through the buffer section. In all cases, each amplifier in the pseudo-differential amplifier of the present invention may be a single-end amplifier. If the first and second amplifiers are single-end amplifiers, further reduction of power consumption and operation at lower voltage can be achieved.

Pseudo-differential amplifier and analog-to-digital converter using the same

Semiconductor Technology Academic Research Center


A process for flushing the rounded top head and rounded bottom head of a vessel used in an adsorption process in which the rounded top head and the rounded bottom head of the vessel are flushed with a flush fluid. The extract stream from the adsorption process is split into a desorbent rich stream and desorbent lean steam. The flushing fluid is a fraction separated from a desorbent lean split of the extract stream.

Petroleum refining and petrochemical processes frequently involve the processing of fluids over particulate solids contained within a pressure vessel. Internal partitions can subdivide the interior of a pressure vessel into different chambers to permit staged or multiple contacting operations within a single vessel. These partitions routinely take the form of, or are used in conjunction with, collection or distribution grids. Process requirements, such as the collection and distribution of fluids, regularly dictate the employment of flat partitions. Concomitantly, pressure vessels usually are closed by rounded "heads" at each end. The rounded head and flat interior partitions at each end of a vessel create a head space whose configuration is not suited to process purposes, risking contamination or deterioration of the process if this head space itself becomes contaminated and subsequently mixes with the high purity process fluid.
Further, flat partitions are subject to structural damage from differential pressures of as little as 15 kPa or even less across the partition. Structural damage to a partition has the potential to create leaks across the partition or in associated distribution/collection piping.
Thus, maintaining structural integrity of interior end partitions requires pressure balancing between the head space and the adjoining volume on the process side of the partition. The head space can serve as an equalization chamber through a small opening or port in the partition communicating head fluid to and from the process chamber on the opposite side of the partition. However, this arrangement risks some inefficiency in the process through process fluid passing into the head space, resulting in some loss in yield. Alternatively, subsequent reversal of flow of the head fluid into the process chamber has the potential to contaminate the process and final product.
A specific technology which illustrates the above problem is the simulated moving bed ("SMB") adsorbent process described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,985,589. The process distributes and collects process streams from multiple chambers with multiple zones, or beds, of adsorbent defined by internal partitions located within a pressure vessel and arranged as distribution/collection grids. Periodic shifting of the input and effluent streams through the chambers simulates movement of the adsorbent and permits delivery or withdrawal of process streams with a desired concentration via flat distribution grids.
The head space resulting from the flat distribution grids and a concave end is flushed by a small flow of a flush fluid, usually comprising a desorbent material. A desorbent material normally is selected so that passage of this material into the adsorbent bed through a grid opening does not contaminate the products of the process.
However, the periodic shifting of the input and effluent streams through the chambers of adsorbent can effect a buildup of contaminants in the desorbent through leakage through the grid opening, particularly in the bottom head of the chamber.
Further, the addition of desorbent to the adsorbent bed through the grid opening can interfere with the optimization of purity and recovery by taking up adsorbent capacity and hindering an accurate accounting of flow through the adsorbent beds.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,595,665, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, addresses some of these issues by channeling the fluid generated by a head flush into a low volume chamber (referred to herein as "snorkel") in the head space and withdrawing fluid from the pressure vessel through the snorkel. Withdrawing fluid generated by the head flush and channeling the fluid through the snorkel reduces or eliminates the circulation of fluid between the equalization chamber and the adjacent process chamber and minimizes the amount of contamination that can result from any circulation of fluid resulting from pressure fluctuations. The withdrawal of fluid through the snorkel also provides a non-contaminating path for withdrawing leakage from the equalization chamber of the vessel.
However, this feature fails to address the fluid that is used as the flush fluid in the system. More specifically, the use of desorbent as a flush fluid unnecessarily increases the energy requirements of the process as the desorbent withdrawn fluid must be recovered and purified via fractionation before re-use in the process.
Therefore, there remains a need for an effective and efficient process for flushing of the various components of a simulated moving bed process.

Process for flushing top and bottom heads of a vessel


A sample cooling device for histological samples is connectable to a power network for supplying electrical voltage to the device. The sample cooling device comprises a measuring apparatus for measuring a magnitude of an input line voltage present at the sample cooling device, and a transformer having a primary coil that comprises at least three coil pickoffs, and a secondary coil. The sample cooling device further comprises a switching means that connects two of the coil pickoffs to the power network as a function of the magnitude of the input line voltage, so that a magnitude of an output voltage present at the secondary coil has a predefined or predefinable voltage value irrespective of the magnitude of the input voltage. A corresponding method for supplying electrical power to a sample cooling device for histological samples is also disclosed.

A plurality of variously embodied sample cooling devices for histological samples are known from the existing art. The sample cooling devices have in common the fact that they comprise a compressor that, for operation of the sample cooling device, must be connected to a power network. The line voltage furnished by energy suppliers is different in many countries, and can range from 100 V to 240 V. This in turn requires differently configured compressors which are designed so they can be operated with the line voltage existing in the respective country. The result of this is that, because of the different line voltages in the individual countries, manufacturers of sample cooling devices must furnish a plurality of sample cooling device variants that differ from one another in terms of the configuration of the compressor.
A disadvantage of furnishing a plurality of sample cooling device variants is that the production volume of the particular compressor types used for each sample cooling device variant is small, since a different compressor type must be used for each line voltage. Acquisition costs for the individual compressor types are therefore high. Higher administrative and logistical costs also result from the plurality of sample cooling device variants. In addition, damage can occur to the sample cooling devices, in particular to the compressors, if they are supplied with the wrong line voltage.
The object of the invention is therefore to furnish a sample cooling device that is suitable for use in various countries having different line voltages, and thus does not exhibit the disadvantages recited above.

Sample cooling device for histological samples


A control method of a machine tool includes the steps of: determining a raised height, and determining a maneuvering height; causing the tool to move horizontally to a machining position; causing the tool to move vertically to a machining height to machine the workpiece; causing the tool to move vertically to the raised height, and when the tool is at the maneuvering height, causing the tool to move horizontally to a next machining position while the tool is moving vertically; causing the tool to move vertically to the maneuvering height while the tool is moving horizontally to the next machining position; and causing the tool to move vertically to the machining height to machine the workpiece.

A conventional machining method is to be performed by a machining system including a machine tool and a computer that is connected electrically to the machine tool and that is used to control operation of the machine tool. Referring to FIG. 1, the machine tool includes a table 12 for supporting a plate-shaped workpiece 11, and a tool 13 disposed relative to the table 12. When the workpiece 11 is to be machined, the computer (not shown) first controls the tool 13 to move horizontally to a machining position 14, next controls the tool 13 to move vertically toward the workpiece 11 to a stand-by height 15, and then controls the tool 13 to move vertically toward the workpiece 11 to a machining height 16 to machine the workpiece 11. After that, the computer controls the tool 13 to move vertically back to the stand-by height 15, and later controls the tool 13 to move horizontally to a next machining position 17. When the tool 13 has been moved to arrive at the next machining position 17, the computer controls the tool 13 to move vertically toward the workpiece 11 once again to the machining height 16 to machine the workpiece 11, and finally controls the tool 13 to move vertically away from the workpiece 11 and back to the stand-by height 15. The aforementioned steps are performed repeatedly to implement machining operation.
It is evident from the above that, in the conventional machining method, the tool 13 is moved either horizontally or vertically. However, the aforementioned approach for moving the tool 13 is relatively inefficient, and the overall time required for the machining operation is increased.


The present invention relates to an apparatus for analyzing a sleep structure according to non-restrictive weight detection. The apparatus includes load cells one installed in the predetermined locations of a bed and configured to detect the weight of a target person; low-pass filters for outputting low-pass filtered signals that belong to the outputs of the load cells; high-pass filters for outputting high-pass filtered signals that belong to the outputs of the load cells; a multiplexer for selecting any one from among the outputs of the low-pass filters and the high-pass filters; a controller configured to detect information about the target person's sleep from the low-pass filtered signals and the high-pass filtered signals, which belong to the outputs of the high-pass filters and the low-pass filters, respectively, and are input through the multiplexer, and determine the target person's sleeping pattern; and a display unit for displaying determination results of the controller.

Generally, in sleep medical science, the sleeping stages of a sleeping person are divided into wakefulness/stages 1˜4Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep, and the quality of sleep of the sleeping person is evaluated through the analysis of the sleeping stages.
Currently, for technology for analyzing the sleeping stages of a sleeping person, [1] the analysis of sleeping stages using the frequency analysis of an electroencephalogram, [2] the analysis of sleeping stages using Heart Rate Variability (HRV), [3] the analysis of sleeping stages using oxygen saturation, and [4] the analysis of sleeping stages using an actigraph and an accelerometer are mainly used. Of the above-described methods, methods used for easily analyzing the sleeping stages at low cost are the methods [3] and [4].
[1] The method using an electroencephalogram considerably inconveniences a sleeping person because the sleeping person must sleep with electrodes attached to his or her head, and uses a high-priced brain wave amplifier, so that it is used only for special examination in a hospital.
[2] The method for measuring HRV also inconveniences a sleeping person in the case where electrodes are used. Furthermore, there is technology for detecting variation in heartbeat through non-restrictive electrocardiogram measurement using conductive fiber. However, in this technology, the skin of the sleeping person must come into close contact with the conductive fiber.
[3] The method using oxygen saturation also inconveniences a sleeping person because sensors must be attached to the sleeping person's fingers, ears and the like.
[4] The method using the wrist/waist type actigraph and an accelerometer cannot completely eliminate the inconvenience to patients because the accelerometer must be mounted on the wrist or the waist.
Meanwhile, in the case where weak sleeping stages 1˜2 do not proceed to strong sleeping stages 3˜4 due to snoring, insomnia or the like, it may be difficult to enjoy normal life due to drowsiness experienced during the daytime in daily life. In order to analyze such sleeping stages, electroencephalogram analysis using polysomnography, which is conducted in a hospital, must be carried out.
In the electroencephalogram analysis, the sleeping person's brain waves measured during sleep are divided according to frequency range, and the sleeping stages are determined based on the intensities in respective frequency ranges.
However, electroencephalogram analysis is performed by attaching electrodes to the head of a patient, so that it is difficult for the patient to sleep as usual due to the unfamiliar electrodes.
Movement that occurs during sleep is an important factor indicating whether a sleeping person has awoken. When movement occurs during sleep, the sleeping person is in a slightly awoken state or a completely awoken state. Accordingly, whether the sleeping person sleeps or is awake by analyzing the movement can be detected.
For the measurement of movement, a wristwatch type or waist attachment type movement detection device using an accelerometer has been developed. However, the wrist type/waist type detection device is problematic in that it may disturb the sleep of the sleeping person because inconvenience during sleep must be endured.
Furthermore, most existing sleep measurement devices are disadvantageous in that they cannot provide various sleep analysis signals.

Apparatus for analyzing a sleep structure according to non-constrained weight detection

Seoul National University Industry Foundation


A process for separating non-oxidizable compounds from a mixture containing at least one oxidizable compound. The mixture is contacted with ozone to oxidize oxidizable compounds to form oxidized compounds which are then converted to water-soluble hydrazones, followed by separation of the hydrazones from the mixture using precipitation, liquid/liquid extraction, chromatography, etc.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a process by which ozone oxidizable compounds are separated from non-oxidizable compounds in biomass extracts. More particularly, this invention relates to the separation of cephalomannine and related ozone oxidizable compounds from taxol and other non-oxidizable taxaries in extracts of biomass containing a complex mixture of compounds.
2. Description of the State of Art
Between the years 1958 and 1980, extracts of over 35,000 plant species were tested for anticancer activity as part of an NCI-sponsored program. Chemists Monroe E. Wall and M.C. Wani first isolated a crude extract concentrate from yew tree (Taxus brevifolia) bark and wood samples in 1963. Initial screening showed the extract to be a potential anticancer agent, being very active against an unusually wide range of rodent cancers. Isolation of the active agent in the crude extract took several years due to the very low concentrations of the agent present in the plants and due to the difficulty of separating the closely-related diterpenoids. The active agent was identified, the structure determined and the compound was named taxol, in 1971. Despite taxol's excellent activity in model tumor systems, clinical trials were delayed owing to short supplies of the drug and formulation problems related to the drug's low solubility.
In ongoing clinical trials, taxol has shown promising results in fighting advanced cases of ovarian, breast and other cancers. Recently, taxol was approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of refractory ovarian cancer; however, taxol is extracted in limited quantities from a natural vegetation that is in short supply.
Currently, taxol is isolated on a large scale only from the bark of Taxus brevifolia. However, taxol can be potentially isolated on a large commercial scale from other parts of Taxus and also from cell cultures of Taxus. See U.S. Pat. No. 5,019,504, issued to Christen et al. The method of isolation of taxol from any natural source is complex. A particularly difficult and expensive part of the isolation of taxol is the separation of the closely-related diterpenoid cephalomannine. The only structural difference between taxol and cephalomannine, as shown in structures 1 and 2 of FIG. 2, respectively, involves the side chain portion of the compound, thus giving rise to similar chemical properties. Achieving a clean separation of these closely related compounds is extremely difficult, but can be accomplished by various means of chromatography. However, the use of chromatography on a commercial scale is an extremely expensive step in the process of separating compounds and would be ultimately reflected in the cost of the drug.
There have been some methods developed for improving the separation of taxol from cephalomannine; however, chromatography is still required for a complete separation of the two compounds. For example, Kingston et al. reported a method, under stoichiometric or catalytic conditions, to modify the side chain of cephalomannine in the presence of taxol in purified and/or partially-purified taxane mixtures. See, Kingston et al. Journal of Organic Chemistry, 55 (2): 259-261 (1992), incorporated herein by reference. In the partially-purified mixture, disclosed by Kingston et al., taxol and cephalomannine were present in a total amount of about 80% by weight. Selective oxidation of the tiglate group of cephalomannine using osmium tetroxide under stoichiometric or catalytic conditions yielded a diol, shown in FIG. 3 as structure 3, and did not affect the structure of taxol. The diol was separated from the reaction mixture by silica gel chromatography as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.
The above technical paper by Kingston et al. discloses a process whereby the chemical properties of cephalomannine are altered thus allowing for a cleaner separation of taxol from the newly formed diol; however, as explained in further detail below, the Kingston et al. process is not suitable for use with unpurified taxane mixtures. A very long reaction time is required for the complete oxidation of cephalomannine by osmium tetroxide. Furthermore, the very high ratio of osmium tetroxide to cephalomannine results in a two-fold disadvantage. First, the reagent osmium tetroxide is very expensive, i.e., $76.00 per gram from one common commercial supplier in 1993. Second, due to the extreme toxicity of osmium tetroxide, careful handling is required for both the reagent and the resulting waste associated with the process.
There is still a need, therefore, for an inexpensive, simple, safe and effective separation of cephalomannine from taxol at a wide range of purities.

Process for separating cephalomannine from taxol using ozone and water-soluble hydrazines or hydrazides


Power information from an input signal is used to detect the presence of speech. A reference point is established as the moment of detection of the speech. During a period between the reference point and a subsequent point distant from the reference point by a predetermined range, the input signal is linearly changed to a corresponding signal having a predetermined period. Feature parameters are extracted from the signal with the predetermined period. The feature parameters are replaced by preset noise parameters in a portion having no speech component therein. Standard speech patterns of particular preset words are determined and similarities between the extracted feature parameters containing the noise parameters and the standard patterns are calculated and mutually compared. The foregoing steps are performed while the separations are varied within the predetermined range. Similar steps are performed as the reference point is shifted by a unit period, and similarities are calculated and mutually compared. Speech duration is detected by use of movement of the power information. A process end time is determined by use of the speech duration time and a time dependent variation in the similarities. The selected preset word corresponds to a maximum of the similarities obtained when the reference point reaches the process end time. The selected word is then outputted as the recognition result.

This invention relates to a method and an apparatus for speech recognition.
Some speech recognition systems require voices of a user to be preregistered. The preregistered voices are used as references in recognizing the contents of speech of the user.
Advanced speech recognition systems dispense with such voice preregistration and are usable by unspecified persons. The advanced systems include a word dictionary which holds standard voices in the form of parameters. During a speech recognition process, the patterns of input voices are compared with the pattern of standard voices.
"Simple Speech Recognition Method for Unspecified Speakers" by Niyada et al., in Meeting of the Acoustical Society of Japan, pp 7-8 (March 1986), discloses one example of such an advanced speech recognition system.

Method and apparatus for speech recognition

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


The present invention relates to peptides for the treatment or prevention of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), non-alcoholic fatty liver (NAFL), non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), hepatic steatosis (fatty liver), liver inflammation, cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma or fibrosis, especially liver fibrosis.

NAFLD (nonalcoholic fatty liver disease), defined by the presence of hepatic accumulation of triglycerides in the hepatocytes in absence of any other etiology of liver disease, is the most common cause of chronic liver disease in the Western world. Its clinical-histologic phenotype extends from nonalcoholic fatty liver (NAFL) to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), characterized by liver inflammation and progressive fibrosis, leading to cirrhosis and end stage liver disease as well as hepatocellular carcinoma.
Whereas the estimated prevalence of NAFLD ranges from 6 to 33% in the general population, the prevalence of NASH only ranges from 3 to 5%, but NASH-related cirrhosis has become the second leading indication for liver transplantation in the United States. Hospitalizations for NAFLD have increased by 97% since the year 2000.
There are no drugs currently approved to prevent or treat NAFLD or NASH.
Therefore, there is a need for new treatments for preventing or treating nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), and hepatic steatosis (fatty liver).
Fibrosis is a pathological condition where fibrous connective tissue invades any organ, usually as a consequence of inflammation or other injury. Several compounds are known to treat fibrosis but do so inadequately. Thus, attempts to develop a clinically effective fibrosis have been unsuccessful, and there is still a need to find treatments for fibrosis.

Peptides for treatment and prevention of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and fibrosis

INSERM (INSTITUT NATIONAL DE LA SANTÉ ET DE LA RECHERCHE MÉDICALE


Disclosed are a method of generating a webpage template and a server. The method of generating a webpage template comprises: collecting webpage data of a webpage, and generating a webpage template of the webpage according to the webpage data. By means of the present invention, the problem in the prior art that a method of generating a webpage template depends relatively strongly on a target website is solved, thereby reducing the dependence of the method of generating a webpage template on the target website.

With respect to webpage browsing, a compression technology is proposed in the conventional technology, which, by extending an HTTP request, allows a website to provide a template and an incremental file, and when a client accesses the same template webpage, it is only necessary to download the template for the first time, it is only necessary to download the incremental file for other requests, and an original page is reconstructed by using the incremental file and a template file, thereby reducing the traffic of access to the client. Therefore, the technology can use the same part among multiple webpages to compress the traffic.
The inventors find that the defect of the technology lies in that a target website has to support the protocol, the dependence on the target website is relatively strong, and the target website is required to provide a template and a corresponding incremental file on its own, which is also one of the reasons why the compression technology cannot be widely used.
In addition, the manner of automatically generating a template in the prior art is mainly based on parsing a webpage DOM (Document Object Model) tree structure and extracting a common part. The method has a large calculation amount, difficulty in extracting templates, and poor compatibility. Moreover, the existing common template generation program is for a single website, and the processing scale is small.
When a user browses a webpage, a terminal device needs to receive a great number of webpage data sent by a server, to implement webpage display. A significant amount of repeated data often exists among the displayed webpages; each time the user browses the webpages having the repeated data, the repeated data needs to be repeatedly loaded and repeatedly transmitted, which not only occupies more bandwidth in a transmission process but also increases the response time during webpage loading, resulting in slow webpage browsing speed.
With respect to the problem in the prior art that the method of generating a webpage template depends relatively strongly on a target website, an effective solution has not yet been developed at present.

Webpage template generating method and server


A closure assembly includes a slider for opening and/or closing an elongate closure mechanism including a pair of opposing closure members. The slider includes a first separator finger and a second separator finger, each of which is articulably connected to a hinge member. The first and second separator fingers extend between the closure members and may be articulated between a closing position, in which the separator fingers are adjacent each other, and an opening position, in which the separator fingers are laterally spaced from each other. In the opening position, the separator fingers urge the members apart. Closing bars and retention members may also be included to facilitate re-closing the closure members and retaining the slider in an operative position thereon.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a closure assembly including an elongate closure mechanism and a slider having an articulating separator member.
2. Description of the Background of the Invention
Closure mechanisms that include a slider for occluding and de-occluding one or more pairs of opposing interlocking profiles are known. The slider facilitates relatively easy opening and closing of the interlocking profiles. A difficulty with such closure mechanisms, however, is preventing leakage around a separating member when the slider is disposed in a fully closed position on the interlocking profiles.
In one instance, a slider includes a separator finger that extends only between an upper pair of opposing interlocking profiles so that the slider does not separate a lower pair of opposing interlocking profiles. When slid along the closure mechanism in an opening direction, the slider only opens the upper pair of opposing interlocking profiles. A user then manually opens the lower pair of opposing interlocking profiles, such as by pulling the profiles apart. When slid along the closure mechanism in a closing direction, the slider includes projections that are adapted to cause the upper and lower pairs of opposing interlocking profiles to move together and engage mutually.
In another instance, a slider for a closure mechanism having upper and lower pairs of opposing interlocking profiles has an opening plow that separates the upper and lower pairs of interlocking profiles when slid in an opening direction along the closure mechanism. The plow is a vertical member depending from a top wall of the slider and a horizontal member extending laterally from a lower end of the vertical member outwardly toward left and right sidewalls of the slider between the upper and lower interlocking profiles. The horizontal member presses against a backing member extending between the upper and lower interlocking profiles to separate the interlocking profiles without having the vertical member engage the interlocking profiles.


A vital signs monitor comprising a first device capable of being disposed at a selected location on a patient to pass at least exhaled gases therethrough; a second device coupled to the first device to perform a plurality of resistive measurements of certain predetermined parameters of the exhaled gases and a plurality of optical absorption measurements of other predetermined parameters of the exhaled gases; and a third device coupled to the second device responsive to the plurality of resistive measurements and the plurality of optical absorption measurements to provide individual read outs of at least a value of carbon dioxide in the exhaled gases, a value of tidal volume of the exhaled gases and a value of a respiration rate of the patient.

The present invention relates to a patient monitoring system and more particularly to a vital signs monitor and an alarm system incorporated therein.
A need exists in the health care area for a low cost, reliable method of measuring patient respiration characteristics on a continuous basis and alarming when the measured parameters exceed certain preset thresholds.
Many situations exist where this monitoring capability can be life saving. Examples being (1) intraoperative monitoring in heavy sedation with or without local anesthesia (ultrasonic ovum retrieval, herniorrhaphy, breast biopsy, etc.), (2) emergency room monitoring, (3) recovery room monitoring, (4) intensive care unit monitoring, (5) patient transportation from an accident scene to a hospital, from a nursing home to the hospital, and finally during transportation of the patient after general anesthesia from the operating room to the recovery room.
The candidates for the monitoring are patients with or requiring (a) arrival in the recovery room after an operation which required heavy sedation with or without local anesthesia, (b) obstructive pulmonary disorders, (c) cardio vascular instabilities due to trauma, (d) post surgery anesthesia care, (e) high medicinal loading, (f) evaluation for commitment to ventilator support machines, (g) weaning from ventilators and (h) known predisposition to apnea episodes.
The monitor will alarm when threshold levels are exceeded relating to (1) tidal volume (TV) (volume of exhaled gas), (2) respiration rate (RR), (3) minute volume (RR.times.TV), (4) approximate oxygen consumed per breath, (5) approximate end tidal carbon dioxide, and (6) combinations of the above.
Additionally, the monitor will continuously display all analog values and the monitor will also provide a display of flow rate showing the dynamic movement of gases through the airway.
The monitoring of these vital signs is critical to the emergency and critical care patient. Changes in pulmonary function can signal life threatening events, respiratory arrest, apnea, hypoxemia and brain death.
Present technology relies on continual visual observation of a patient in a potentially threatening state, as well as an indirect measure of pulmonary or ventilatory function.
Visual observations have problems associated with it that are due to the inability of humans to provide continuous surveillance of a situation for a long period of time without loss of attention. This attention span is further minimized when duties are concurrently expanded to other tasks and patients.
Periodic blood gas analysis has value, but it is time consuming, and in acute changes of ventilation the time to act is very short. The blood gas analysis will show a trend in a patient's condition, but use of a mass spectrometer for the gas analysis has limited value especially in acute changes of ventilation and, thus, will not save a patient who experiences a rapid change in vital signs.
Continuous use of pulse oxyimeters will monitor arterial oxygen that is hemoglobin bound and provide readings of percentage saturation of hemoglobin (red blood cell) oxygen. This method has two major draw backs.
(1) When any patient motion exists at the sensor site the readings are unreliable due to the fact that the machine must necessarily look for readings that have noise artifacts and reject them when they are not compatible with prior averages. This causes present readings to be late. Since diminished pulmonary function can cause irreversible brain damage in 2 to 4 minutes, late readings are intolerable. Additionally, the patient at high risk frequently is being transported (motion) during the trauma, the trauma in and of itself can induce physical responses (motion).
(2) The rate that arterial oxygenation levels decline in the present of pulmonary arrest is dependant on several factors, namely, cardiac output, patient age, medicinal loading, physical condition, and other patient pathologies including poor peripheral perfusion. A common observation is complete pulmonary arrest, and oxygen arterial saturation levels of 80 to 95% several minutes after the pulmonary arrest.
Another method of assessing pulmonary function is to quantitize end tidal carbon dioxide. By measuring expired carbon dioxide as a percentage in terms of its partial pressure in the expired or exhaled gases, a measure of the rate of metabolism can be estimated since essentially all exhaled carbon dioxide which is the product of metabolism is excreted from the lungs through the mouth. Presently end tidal carbon dioxide is measured only in general anesthesia use. Even in the event that end tidal carbon dioxide was used universally, it is subject to problems associated with low tidal volume and the associated rebreathing of anatomical and mechanical dead space gases causing sufficient rises in the partial carbon dioxide pressures of exhaled gases. Also, at low respiration rates due to the solubility of carbon dioxide, it readily dissolves in blood gases by passing through tissue lining at very low partial pressures, allowing for false negative conditions to exist.
Further in an emergency environment false positives can occur as a result of esophageal carbon dioxide from stomach contents, for instance, beer and carbonated sodas.
A device is available that monitors the presence or absence of respiration by monitoring tidal flows and alarms at a preset time on the cessation of respiration. Such a device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,063,938. The device disclosed in this patent does not provide quantitative information on patient tidal volumes.


An elevator system includes at least one elevator serving at least one floor having a collective call panel and at least one second floor having a destination call panel. A plurality of views to be presented in a car panel are recorded in the elevator system, and a view to be presented in the car panel at any given time is selected based on the floor data of the elevator car.

When the floor level served by an elevator system has a destination call panel, the elevator cars do not need floor call buttons intended for floor calls. Correspondingly, on a floor level that only has up call buttons or down call buttons floor call buttons are needed in the elevator cars so that an elevator passenger could give a floor call in the elevator car to destination floor he/she desires. As a result of the arrangement in question, on the floors which comprise up-down call buttons a passenger must give a floor call in the elevator car whereas on the other floors, which comprise destination call panels, he/she does not need to give a floor call in the elevator car which easily causes unnecessary uncertainty and confusion in the giving of calls and thus makes the arrival of the passenger at his/her destination more difficult.
Attempts have been made to solve the problem by, among other things, locking (passivating) the floor call buttons of a car panel when the elevator car is at floors that have a destination call panel. A problem in these prior-art solutions is, however, that because the floor call buttons of the car panel are visible, although they are locked, the floor call buttons of the car panel cause confusion amongst the passengers arriving in the elevator car from floor levels provided with destination call panels. The confusion arises from passengers being unsure of whether they should still press floor call button of the car panel even though they have indicated their destination floor by means of a destination call panel on a floor level. Since a locked floor call button does not react when pressed, it can cause even more confusion in a passenger if he/she presses a locked floor call button.
The same basic problem causing the confusion is also in those prior-art solutions in which the floor call buttons of the car panel are not locked when the elevator car is at floor levels provided with destination call panels. In this case some of the passengers can refrain from giving a destination call on a floor level, move into some elevator car that is stopping or has stopped at the floor level, and indicate their destination floor only by pressing a floor call button in the elevator car. As a consequence the optimal routing and allocation of calls of the elevators suffers, in which case the transport capacity of the elevator system, particularly in peak hours, can be reduced and some passengers who have given a destination call can even be forced to stay on a floor level because there is not room in the elevator car owing to the "surplus" passengers.

Elevator system having car panel with adjustable views based on floor data, and methods of operating the same


A soil release promoting copolymer of poly(ethylene terephthalate/ethylene isophthalate) and poly(oxyethylene terephthalate/oxyethylene isophthalate) having a weight average molecular weight in the range of 6,000 to 40,000 is prepared by reacting an ethylene terephthalate/ethylene isophthalate copolymer with polyethylene glycol in the presence of a transesterification catalyst. The soil release promoting copolymer provides improved soil release properties for oil and greasy stains on polyester fabrics at high and low wash temperatures, is stable even at high alkalinity levels, and can be used at lower loadings than conventional soil release polymers without loss of efficacy.

1. Field Of The Invention
This invention relates to improved soil release promoting copolymers, method for production thereof and liquid and particulate detergent compositions containing copolymers. More particularly, this invention relates to soil release copolymers having improved hydrolytic stability and shelf life and improved soil release promoting properties, particularly for removal of oily soil from polyester fabric.
2. Description Of The Prior Art
The use of PET-POET soil release promoting polymers is well documented in the patent literature. Representative examples of the patent literature disclosing the use of PET-POET and similar polymers in the treatment of synthetic textile materials is general and in laundry detergent compositions in particular include, among others, U.S. Pat. No. 3,557,039 (and its corresponding British Patent G.B. No. 1,088,984); U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,652,713; 3,723,568; 3,959,230; 3,962,152; 4,125,370; 4,132,680; 4,569,772; and British Patent Specifications G.B. Nos. 1,154,370; 1,317,278; 1,377,092.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,557,039 to McIntyre et al. shows the preparation of such copolymers by the ester interchange and subsequent polymerization of dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) and ethylene glycol (EG) in the presence of a mixed catalyst system of calcium acetate hemihydrate and antimony trioxide. A similar reaction is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,959,280 to Hays, this patent further using polyethylene oxide as one reactant in addition to DMT and EG monomers. The PET-POET copolymers of Hays are characterized by a molar ratio of ethylene terephthalate units to polyethylene oxide terephthalate units of from about 25:75 to about 35:65, by the polyethylene oxide of the polyethylene oxide terephthalate having a molecular weight of from about 300 to 700, by the molecular weight of about 25,000 to about 55,000, and by a melting point below 100.degree. C.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,652,713 forms antistatic fibers, films and other shaped articles from compositions in which polyethylene terephthalate is mixed with a polyether-polyester block copolymer such that the polyether segment constitutes from 0.1 to 10.0% by weight based on the total weight of the mixture. The polyether-polyester block copolymer can be prepared by melt-polymerizing (condensation polymerization) polyethylene terephthalate of number average molecular weight of from 1,000 to 2,000 with polyethylene glycol having a number average molecular weight of from 1,000 to 50,000 at a highly reduced pressure and elevated temperature in the presence of antimony trioxide and trimethyl phosphate.
According to G.B. No. 1,317,278 to Ambler, et al. high molecular weight (e.g. spinning grade or film-forming) polyethylene terephthalate is reacted with polyethylene glycol (MW=300 to 20,000) at a temperature in the range of 100.degree. C. to 300.degree. C., preferably at atmospheric pressure in the presence of conventional ester exchange catalyst, for example, antimony oxides, calcium acetate, tetraalkyltitanates and stannous octoate.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,125,370 to Nicol discloses PET-POET soil release promoting random copolymers having an average molecular weight in the range of about 5,000 to about 200,000, with a molar ratio of ethylene terephthalate to polyethylene oxide terephthalate of from about 20:80 to 90:10, the polyethylene oxide linking unit having a molecular weight in the range from about 300 to 10,000. These polymers can be prepared according to the procedure disclosed in the aforementioned patent U.S. Pat. No. 3,959,280 to Hays or by the process described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,479,212 to Robertson et al.
PET-POET soil release promoting polymers are also commercially available, for example, the products Alkaril QCJ and QCF from Alkaril Chemicals, Inc.; Milease T from ICI America; and Zelcon from E.I. duPont de Nemours and Co.
While satisfactory soil release promoting property has been obtained from the commercially available products, as described in the literature, there have been problems with regard to the stability, as well as effectiveness, of these copolymers during storage and under actual use conditions. Thus, U.S. Pat. No. 4,125,370 teaches providing a concentration of certain hardness ions to promote deposition of the soil release polymers on the fabrics being washed and to promote soil release performance. U.S. Pat. No. 4,569,772 teaches that detergent compositions containing PET-POET polymers tend to lose their soil release promoting properties on storage if the compositions contain alkaline builders. The patentees overcome the tendency by comelting the PET-POET copolymer with a water soluble alkali metal polyacrylate and converting the melt to solid particles.
Nevertheless, still further improvements are required for the stability and oily soil release properties of soil release promoting copolymers, especially at low temperatures and under alkaline wash conditions. Furthermore, since the detergent compositions containing soil release promoting polymers are intended primarily for use as a consumer item for sale to individual users for home laundry washing machines it is apparent that cost of additives is a critical factor for the manufacturer and, therefore, any means which can lower production costs without adversely affecting performance or consumer acceptance is of great practical importance.
Generally, those of skill in the art relating to the soil release promoting polymers have concentrated their efforts towards improving product performance by modifying the ratios of PET to POET, or modifying molecular weight of the oxyethylene linking units or by adding still additional stabilizing ingredients, and so on.

Soil release polymers having improved performance, stability and economy


Systems and method for extracting attributes from text content are described. Example embodiments may include a computer implemented method for extracting attributes from text data, wherein the text data is obtained from at least one information source. As described, the implementation may include receiving, from a user, an address for the at least one information source and an attribute name, creating a tagged information file by associating a part of speech tag to text data obtained from the at least one information source, identifying a location of the attribute name in the tagged information file using an approximate text matching technique and determining at least one attribute descriptor from the tagged information file wherein the tagged information file is parsed based on a part of speech tag associated with the attribute name to determine a conclusion of the attribute descriptor.

Since the advent of large scale and persistent storage and compute capabilities across homes, corporations, and government, large amounts of text data can be, and have been, stored with few barriers to retrieval or dispersal. The ability to extract information from text data has, as a consequence, assumed increasing significance. Applications that use forms of text mining may be found in fields ranging from business intelligence solutions to academics, being used for analysis of patent and academic literature, indexing, clustering, and search and information extraction.
Existing techniques in the field of text mining, or value extraction from a set of text data may involve supervised or unsupervised machine-learning methods. However, the extraction of exact attribute values from unstructured data is still a grey area, with the most accurate methods dependent on a large amount of user input, or training data. In order to circumvent such a requirement, or augment accuracy, some existing methods may additionally use classification techniques upon the dataset. However, data classification techniques carry with them a significant risk of ignoring some data which may, in turn, contain valid values of attributes in the text.
What is needed, then, is a reliable and accurate off-the-shelf solution for attribute or value extraction from text data that is able to work without any need for sample input or training. It is additionally important that any such solution be domain independent, and capable of functioning on structured or unstructured text in any domain.

Systems and methods for extracting attributes from text content


A knife includes a knife blade and an ergonomic knife handle carried by the knife blade, the ergonomic knife handle including a knife handle frame having at least one finger opening sized and configured to accommodate at least one finger of a user.

Knives which are used to cut cakes and other foods typically include an elongated handle and a knife blade which extends from the handle. In use of the knife, a user grips the handle by wrapping his or her fingers around the handle. In executing the cutting motion, however, it may be necessary for the user to bend the angle of the wrist in such a manner that the wrist may be strained.
Accordingly, a knife having an ergonomic handle which minimizes wrist strain in a user is desirable.


A seat adjusting apparatus for a vehicle includes a supporting member pivotally supported at a base member by a first bearing, a pinion gear driven by a driving device, a sector gear engageable with the pinion gear and a restriction mechanism formed at the sector gear for restricting a relative rotation between the pinion gear and the sector gear. The restriction mechanism includes a contact portion coming in contact with the pinion gear so that a component force of a reaction force, which works in a direction in which the first bearing is separated from the second bearing, acting on the pinion gear is reduced. A thickness of a first tooth root of a tooth included in the teeth formed at the sector gear is larger than a thickness of a second tooth root of the other teeth formed at the sector gear.

A seat lifter apparatus is usually provided to a seat for a vehicle in order to adjust a height of the seat according to a physical attribute or preference of a seat occupant. A known seat lifter apparatus disclosed in JP2009-154638A includes a four-bar linkage which is constituted by a base, a front lift link, a lower arm and a rear lift link attached to the lower arm by means of a pin. The rear lift link is formed with a sector gear for engaging with a pinion that is driven and rotated by a motor. The four-bar linkage is driven and operated by the pinion, thereby moving the lower arm upward and downward. The sector gear includes a no-teeth portion, where no teeth are formed, at each circumferential end of the sector gear. The pinion stops rotating when the pinion mounts on the no-teeth portion, which serves as a stopper.
A lifter mechanism disclosed in JP2006-282019A also employs a for-bar linkage. According to the lifter mechanism, a pinion gear and a sector gear both positioned at a front portion drive a rear link via a link rod. Upward and downward movements are stopped by means of a contact between the pinion gear and a no-teeth potion, where no teeth are formed, formed at the sector gear, and by means of a contact between a long hole formed on a seat side frame and a connecting pin fixedly provided at the sector gear.
According to the seat lifter apparatus disclosed in JP2009-154638A, however, when the pinion stops the rotation, a contact portion between each of the no-teeth portions of the sector gear and a tooth of the pinion comes to be under a large load. In this large load, a component force acting in a radial direction of the sector gear (that is, in a direction in which the pinion and the pin are separated from each other) is larger than a component force acting in a circumferential direction of the sector gear. The teeth of the pinion or a bearing portion of a rotation shaft of the pinion may be worn out under a repetitive application of the large load, possibly causing a tooth clatter. In particular, in case that the seat lifter apparatus is operated downward when an occupant is seated on the seat, a weight of the occupant also acts downward in addition to a driving torque of the pinion driven by the motor, which may cause even larger load.
As with the seat lifter apparatus disclosed in JP2009-154638A, according to the lifter mechanism disclosed in JP2006-282019A, a force is applied to a contact portion between the pinion gear and the sector gear in a direction in which an axis of the pinion gear and an axis of the sector gear are separated from each other. In addition, a contact portion between the long hole and the connecting pin comes to be under a reaction force against the contact therebetween. However, it is often difficult to distribute the above-mentioned two forces to above-mentioned two contact portions evenly at the same time, and either one of the two contact portions may receive an excessive force. In case that the excessive force acts to the pinion gear and to the sector gear, a similar phenomenon may occur to that in JP2009-154638A. In case that the excessive force acts to the long hole and to the connecting pin, the long hole or the connecting pin may be deformed.
A need thus exists for a seat adjusting apparatus for a vehicle, which is not susceptible to the drawback mentioned above.


A cigarette includes a tobacco rod in which a tobacco filler containing cut tobacco is wrapped with a cigarette paper, the tobacco rod being constituted by a distal end portion, a proximal end portion and a center portion, and a filter, the proximal end portion being connected to the filter. The distal end portion includes a volatile flavor-containing material incorporated in a gel of a polysaccharide, the center portion includes or does not include the volatile flavor-containing material, the proximal end portion includes or does not include the volatile flavor-containing material, and there is no case where both the center portion and the proximal end portion include the volatile flavor-containing material.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cigarette with an increased amount of volatile flavor delivery in smoke at the time of the initial puff.
2. Description of the Related Art
A menthol cigarette is generally produced by adding menthol flavor to cut tobacco, and processing the cut tobacco into a cigarette by using a tobacco rolling machine. In such menthol cigarette, it is known that the amount of menthol that is fed to the mouth at every puff gradually increases from the initial puff to the completion of smoking. Namely, the amount of menthol that is fed to the mouth at the initial period of smoking (at the times of the first and second puff) is smaller than that in the later period of smoking. By this fact, a smoker feels insufficient menthol feeling at the initial period of smoking. It is considered that the delivery amount of the menthol in the smoke is increased by simply increasing the amount of menthol with which cut tobacco is impregnated, but the above-mentioned problem of gradual increase cannot be solved by this technique, and if menthol is added by a too much amount, it is likely that the menthol that has been excessively added exudes on the cigarette paper, which consequently contaminates the package of the product. Furthermore, since menthol is volatile, there is a problem under conventional flavor-adding processes that menthol volatilizes during storage and a desired amount of menthol is not released at the time of smoking.
Meanwhile, various techniques relating to cigarettes aiming at controlling the delivery amount of a tobacco-derived component and smoke flavor have been known since before. For example, European Patent Publication No. 468298 discloses a cigarette constitution in which a tobacco rod is constituted by two sections and different types of tobacco fillers are used in the respective sections. U.S. Pat. No. 4,759,380 discloses a constitution in which cut tobacco of good quality is disposed in the distal end portion of a cigarette and inexpensive cut tobacco is disposed in the proximal end portion. Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 61-108364 discloses a technique for improving feeling of satisfaction at the initial period of smoking by disposing cut tobacco containing a high content of nicotine in the distal end portion of a tobacco rod.
Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No. 4,730,628 discloses a segment-type cigarette in which the density of cut tobacco at the distal end has been increased so as to suppress the tip dropping of the cut tobacco. Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 62-190070 discloses a design and a method for the production of a cigarette by which a smoke flavor/tar ratio at the initial period of smoking is increased more than that in conventional cigarettes and homogeneous smoke flavor can be provided at the time of smoking, by disposing tobacco having high smoke flavor in the distal end portion of the tobacco rod.
Furthermore, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 01-128777 and Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 06-209756 disclose segmented cigarettes. Furthermore, Jpn. UM Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 03-50892 discloses a cigarette comprising segments respectively containing different flavors.
As mentioned above, various techniques for controlling the smoke flavor of tobacco at the initial period of smoking can be found, but there is no cigarette that can enhance the menthol feeling at the initial period of smoking, prevent exuding of menthol on a cigarette paper during storage and significantly maintain the delivery amount of menthol at the time of smoking even after storage.

Cigarette with increased volatile flavor delivery